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James Kirchick vs. transgender people

James Kirchick is a conservative American writer and anti-transgender activist. Kirchick is part of the LGB separatist movement of anti-trans activists who believe that trans and queer people are undermining the rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Kirchick has collaborated with other LGB separatists, including Andrew Sullivan and Katie Herzog.

Kirchick is a senior fellow with the anti-trans group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and has written for anti-trans publications, including The Free Press, UnHerd, Tablet, The Dispatch, The New York Times, and The Atlantic.

Background

James R. “Jamie” Kirchick was born on December 22, 1983 to lawyers William Dean Kirchick and Carol Rudnick Kirchick, who works at Roxbury Latin School.

James Kirchick attended Roxbury Latin School, a sex-segregated private preparatory school in Boston, graduating in 2002. Kirchick then earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2006.

Kirchick was an assistant editor at New Republic from 2007 to 2009 and a writer at large at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 2010 to 2011. Kirchick lived in Germany in 2012 on a one year Robert Bosch fellowship. Kirchick began writing for Tablet magazine in 2013.

Kirchick was a fellow at Foreign Policy Initiative from 2013 to 2017. While there, Kirchick published the 2014 book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. in 2014. Kirchick was a visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution from 2017 to 2021. Kirchick began writing for Air Mail in 2021.

Kirchick then held a nonresident senior fellow role at the Atlantic Council from 2022 to 2025, simultaneously holding a senior fellow position at Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. While in those roles, Kirchick began contributing to the New York Times in 2024, the Axel Springer Global Reporters Project in 2025, as well as The Dispatch in 2025.

References

Collington, Faefyx (August 19, 2024). Here’s everything wrong with that James Kirchick Atlantic piece. Into https://www.intomore.com/culture/heres-everything-wrong-with-that-james-kirchick-atlantic-piece/

Steinsiek, Alyssa (August 14, 2024). Queer Liberation Isn’t Over, James Kirchick. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/queer-liberation-isnt-over

Burns, Katelyn (July 17, 2019). The LGBTQ civil rights fight is far from over. Vox https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/7/17/20697174/lgbtq-civil-rights-fight-not-over

West, TJ (July 15, 2019). No, James Kirchick, The Gay Rights Movement Isn’t Over. Medium https://tjwest3.medium.com/no-james-kirchick-the-gay-rights-movement-isnt-over-fc104c79d15

Kerri, Amanda (July 2, 2019). The Atlantic, James Kirchick Dishonor Pride With a Serving of Crap. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/7/02/atlantic-james-kirchick-dishonor-pride-serving-crap

Selected anti-trans writing by Kirchick

Kirchick, James (August 12, 2024). How the Gay-Rights Movement Lost its Way. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/glaad-hrc-gay-rights-movement-obsolescence/679402/

Kirchick, James (March 23, 2024). All That Is Solid Melts into Theory How did a once obscure academic notion called “gender identity” triumph over material reality? Credit—or blame—Judith Butler. Air Mail https://airmail.news/issues/2024-3-23/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-theory

Kirchick, James (Spring 2023). From Queer to Gay to Queer. Liberties https://libertiesjournal.com/articles/from-queer-to-gay-to-queer/

Kirchick, James(August 13, 2023). Pinkwashing the Thought Police: A movement devoted to equal rights for gays has been overtaken by ‘queers’ championing a censorship regime. Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/pinkwashing-thought-police

Kirchick, James (November 10, 2022). Norah Vincent’s Gender Trouble. Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/norah-vincent-gender-trouble-jamie-kirchick

Kirchick, James (May 31, 2022). ‘The First Amendment Created Gay America.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-first-amendment-created-gay-america

Donnelly, Giselle; Kirchick, James (November 30, 2020). The increase in LGBTQ support for Trump has a silver lining. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/30/trump-lgbtq-voters-support-silver-lining/

Kirchick, James (February 22, 2020). Et Tu, A.C.L.U.? Air Mail https://airmail.news/issues/2020-2-22/et-tu-a-c-l-u

Kirchick, James (June 28, 2019). The Struggle for Gay Rights Is Over. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/battle-gay-rights-over/592645/

Kirchick, James (August 29, 2017). When Transgender Trumps Treachery. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/opinion/transgender-trump-chelsea-manning.html

Kirchick, James (January 22, 2014). Pressuring Journalists Won’t Protect Transgender People. Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/pressuring-journalists-wont-protect-transgender-people/

Kirchick, James (3 May 2013). How GLAAD Won the Culture War and Lost Its Reason to Exist. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/how-glaad-won-the-culture-war-and-lost-its-reason-to-exist/275533/

Coverage in anti-trans press

Hookstead, David (April 2, 2023). Bill Maher And Gay Panelist Call Out ‘Trendy’ Push To Convince Kids They’re Transgender. Outkick https://www.outkick.com/culture/bill-maher-and-gay-panelist-call-out-trendy-push-to-convince-kids-theyre-transgender

Books

Kirchick, James (2022). Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 9781627792325.

Kirchick, James (2017). The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age. Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300218312

Media

The Free Press with Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Bret Stephens, Lee Fang, James Kirchick (Oct 28, 2024). Should the U.S. Still Police the World? with Matt Taibbi, Bret Stephens, Lee Fang & James Kirchick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJPg_6kWXg

Comedy Cellar USA with Noam Dworman and James Kirchick (Jun 21, 2024). Live from the Table: Trump, Tariffs and Israel with James Kirchick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFy9rYVjfuY

Give Them An Argument w/ Ben Burgis, David Griscom, and Matthew Whalan (May 31, 2024). DEBATE: Ben Burgis vs. Jamie Kirchick on the Campus Palestine Protests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i28eqduyh8U

Give Them An Argument w/ Ben Burgis, David Griscom, and Matthew Whalan (May 20, 2024). Season 6 Episode 18: Ben’s Munk Debate w/Jamie Kirchick (ft. David Griscom & Matthew Whalan). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0WEWI7CgA

The Dispatch with Jonah Goldberg and Jamie Kirchick (Feb 28, 2024). Hidden History of Gay Washington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX4AKNeoXaM

Eminent Americans with Daniel Oppenheimer, Blake Smith, and James Kirchick (May 30, 2023). The Fall of the White American Gay. https://substack.com/@jameskirchick/p-124624042

Rancho Mirage Writers Festival with Adam Nagourney and James Kirchicj (Mar 14, 2023). James Kirchick—Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqR9CUnhXjs

Twenty Summers with Andrew Sullivan and James Kirchick (Nov 30, 2022). Secret City: James Kirchick and Andrew Sullivan in Conversation | Twenty Summers 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCpidae2y6Y

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and James Kirchick (Aug 25, 2022). James Kirchick On The Hidden History of Gay Washington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bX4M9Vh0eQ

Skeptic with Michael Shermer and James Kirchick (Jul 26, 2022). Ronald Reagan’s Surprising Attitude Toward Homosexuality (James Kirchick). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdjS7CFhMU

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover and James Kirchick (July 8, 2022). James Kirchick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7hwUteM1gU alt url https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/james-kirchick-laipj7/

Ashton Cohen with James Kirchick (Nov 1, 2021). The Decline of Liberalism on the Left. Guest: James Kirchick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2x9uZrVybc

The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan, Jamie Kirchick, and Katie Herzog (July 2, 2021). Katie Herzog & Jamie Kirchick On Pride And The Alphabet People. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/transcript-katie-herzog-and-jamie

TEDx Talks with James Kirchick (March 20, 2018). Free speech | James Kirchick | TEDxYale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUTdvvSkmPE

Michelangelo Signorile with James Kirchick (Oct 24, 2008). James Kirchick interview, part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcgNCOEk37o

Resources

James Kirchick (jameskirchick.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

New York Times (nytimes.com)

Atlantic Council (atlanticcouncil.org)

Tablet (tabletmag.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Aspen Institute (aspeninstitute.org)

The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)

Substack (substack.com)

The Free Press (thefp.com)

Air Mail (airmail.news)

UnHerd (unherd.com)

The New Republic (newrepublic.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)