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Lawrence Krauss vs. transgender people

Lawrence Krauss is a physicist and anti-transgender activist. Krauss is editor of The War on Science, an anthology that includes many other anti-trans activists.

Krauss was a participant in the anti-trans Censorship in the Sciences conference in 2025.

Background

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss was born on May 27, 1954 in New York City and grew up in Toronto. Krause attended Carleton University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1977. Krauss earned a doctorate from MIT in 1982.

Krauss taught at Yale from 1985 to 1993, then at Case Western Reserve University from 1993 to 2006. In 2008, Krauss began teaching at Arizona State University.

In 2019, Krauss was named President of the non-profit Origins Project Foundation which holds discussions on science, culture, and social issues. That year, Karuss started The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss.

Karuss received significant funding from sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, defending Epstein after conviction. Krauss acknowledged attending private events with Epstein through a connection with Steven Pinker. Following a 2018 Buzzfeed article that outlined several accusations of sexual misconduct by Krauss, Arizona State began their own investigation. Krauss was placed on paid administrative leave in March 2018 and was recommended for dismissal. Krauss “retired” at the end of that academic year.

The War on Science

Krauss edited the 2025 book The War on Science: Thirty-Nine Renowned Scientists and Scholars Speak Out About Current Threats to Free Speech, Open Inquiry, and the Scientific Process. The book contains essays by a number of anti-transgender activists.

The book’s publisher, Post Hill Press, focuses on right-wing content, conservative Christian literature, and conspiracy theories. They have published books by conservatives including Dan Bongino, Herman Cain, Adam Carolla, Kirk Cameron, and Oliver North.

The War on Science was blurbed by Sabine Hossenfelder, Jonathan Rauch, Greg Lukianoff, and Healther Mac Donald. The book has the following structure:

  • Introduction and Overview
  • Section 1: Free Speech, Victimhood, and Ideology
  • Section 2: Ideological Corruption of Academic Disciplines
  • Section 3: Cancel Culture
  • Section 4: The Impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Bureaucracies on Scholarship in Academia and Beyond
  • Section 5: Gender, Race, Ideology, Science, and Scholarship
  • Section 6: What Can Be Done?
  • Epilogue, References, Authors List

Contibutors are:

  • Dorian Abbot: Science and Politics: Three Principles, Three Fables
  • John Armstrong: How Do You Decolonize Mathematics?
  • Peter Boghossian: Understanding Why Plagiarists Are Not Fired: From Veritas to DEI
  • Maarten Boudry: The Tyranny of Victimhood: How Progressives Turned Regressive
  • Alex Byrne: A Deafening Silence: Bioethics and Gender-Affirming Health Care (with Moti Gorin)
  • Nicholas Christakis: Excerpts from a Conversation with Sam Harris in October 2017 About Free Speech, Universities, and Cancel Culture and Teaching Inclusion in a Divided World
  • Roger Cohen: DEI in Science and Medicine: Missing Metrics and Measures (with Amy L. Wax)
  • Jerry Coyne: The Ideological Subversion of Biology (with Luana S. Maroja)
  • Richard Dawkins: Scientific Truth Stands Above Human Feelings and Politics
  • Niall Ferguson: The Treason of the Intellectuals
  • Janice Fiamengo: Equity Hiring, by an Equity Hire
  • Solveig Gold: An Apology for Philology (with Joshua Katz)
  • Moti Gorin: A Deafening Silence: Bioethics and Gender-Affirming Health Care (with Alex Byrne)
  • Karleen Gribble: The Desexing of Language in Women’s Health Research and Care: A Story of Marginalization of Science, Cultural Imperialism, and Abuse of Power
  • Carole Hooven: Why I Left Harvard
  • Geoff Horsman: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: The Dismal Pseudoscience Threatening Science
  • Joshua Katz: An Apology for Philology (with Solveig Gold)
  • Sergiu Klainerman: Radical Equalitarianism and Mathematics
  • Lawrence M. Krauss: Introduction and Overview
  • Anna Krylov: Spotlight on Scientific Censorship (with Jay Tanzman)
  • Luana Maroja: The Ideological Subversion of Biology (with Jerry Coyne)
  • Christian Ott: Delicious Moral Treats
  • Bruce Pardy: How the Law Went Woke
  • Jordan Peterson: The Archetypal Fate of the Universities
  • Steven Pinker: A Five-Point Plan to Save Universities from Themselves
  • Richard Redding: Depoliticizing Science Requires Revolutionary Reform of the Professoriate
  • Arthur Rousseau: Gender-Affirming Care: The Abandonment of Medical and Academic Standards (with Lauren Schwartz)
  • Gad Saad: Universities as Dispensers of Parasitic Idea
  • Sally Satel: Social Justice, MD—Medicine under Threat
  • Lauren Schwartz: Gender-Affirming Care: The Abandonment of Medical and Academic Standards (with Arthur Rousseau)
  • Alan Sokal: How Ideology Threatens to Corrupt Science
  • Alessandro Strumia: The Leaning Ivory Tower
  • Judith Suissa: The Gender Wars and Academic Freedom (with Alice Sullivan)
  • Alice Sullivan: The Gender Wars and Academic Freedom (with Judith Suissa)
  • Jay Tanzman: Spotlight on Scientific Censorship (with Anna Krylov)
  • Abigail Thompson: The Two Universities Redux
  • Amy Wax: DEI in Science and Medicine: Missing Metrics and Measures (with Roger B. Cohen)
  • Elizabeth Weiss: Burying Science Under Indigenous Religion
  • Frances Widdowson: Indigenization Destroys Academic Values: The University of Lethbridge Case

Origins podcast

Snce 2019, Krauss has hosted The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss. Guests include all the usual suspects:

References

Jones, Sarah (August 10, 2025). How the New Atheists Joined the MAHA War on Science. New York https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/new-atheists-maha-war-on-science.html

Howard, Jonathan (August 1, 2025). The Book ‘The War on Science’ Reveals How 39 Renowned Scientists and Scholars Enabled the War on Science. Science-Based Medicine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/warscience/

Weitz, Joshua (July 26, 2025). False Equivalencies in Framing The Source of ‘The War on Science.’ Science Matters https://joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/false-equivalencies-in-framing-the

McClernan, Nancy (March 1, 2025). The War on Science – thirty-nine infamous reactionary grifters, racists and transphobes edited by creepy Lawrence Krauss. Pinkerite https://www.pinkerite.com/2025/03/the-war-on-science-thirty-nine-infamous.html

Darby, Luke (August 19, 2019). Private jets, parties and eugenics: Jeffrey Epstein’s bizarre world of scientists. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/18/private-jets-parties-and-eugenics-jeffrey-epsteins-bizarre-world-of-scientists

Stewart, James B. (July 31, 2019). Jeffrey Epstein Hoped to Seed Human Race With His DNA. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-eugenics.html

Patel, Neel (July 13, 2019). Jeffrey Epstein liked palling around with scientists—what do they think now? The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/13/20692415/jeffrey-epstein-scientists-sexual-harassment

Alexis Potter and Chase Hunter B. (July 12, 2019 ). Former ASU professor Lawrence Krauss received $250,000 from Jeffrey Epstein. Arizona State Press https://www.statepress.com/article/2019/07/former-asu-professor-lawrence-krauss-received-250000-from-jeffrey-epstein

Moreno, J. Edward (July 12, 2019). Lawrence Krauss, accused of sexual misconduct, received $250K from Jeffrey Epstein. The Arizona Republic  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2019/07/12/former-asu-physicist-lawrence-krauss-got-250-k-jeffrey-epstein/1718659001/

Aldhous, Peter (July 11, 2019). Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A “Science Philanthropist” And Donated Millions To These Researchers. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-science-donations

Mangan, Katherine (October 25, 2018). Arizona State U. Physicist Offers Lengthy Rebuttal to Sexual-Misconduct Accusations. The Chronicle of Higher Education

Haag, Matthew (October 22, 2018). Lawrence Krauss to Retire From Arizona State After Sexual Misconduct Accusations. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/science/lawrence-krauss-retires-sexual-harassment.html

Shea, Parker (September 29, 2018). ASU’s Origins Project to move under Interplanetary Initiative. The State Press http://www.statepress.com/article/2018/09/spscience-asu-origins-project-to-move-under-interplanetary-initiative

Rapanut, Kimberly (August 7, 2018). Lawrence Krauss violated ASU sexual harassment policies, investigation shows. The State Press http://www.statepress.com/article/2018/08/spscience-asu-investigation-states-lawrence-krauss-groped-woman-while-on-asu-funded-trip

Wadman, Meredith (August 3, 2018), University finds prominent astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss grabbed a woman’s breast. Science  https://www.science.org/content/article/university-finds-prominent-astrophysicist-lawrence-krauss-grabbed-woman-s-breast

Ryman, Anne (March 7, 2018). ASU professor Lawrence Krauss: Sex-misconduct allegations are ‘absurd,’ ‘libelous.’ AZcentral https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/03/07/asu-professor-lawrence-krauss-says-sex-misconduct-allegations-absurd-libelous/405134002/

Chang, Kenneth (March 7, 2018). Arizona State Suspends Lawrence Krauss During Inquiry Over Sexual Misconduct Accusations. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/science/lawrence-krauss-arizona-state.html

Scragg, Chris (February 25, 2018). ASU professor Lawrence Krauss accused of sexual misconduct. The State Press http://www.statepress.com/article/2018/02/spscience-asu-professor-lawrence-krauss-accused-of-sexual-misconduct

Aldhous, Peter; Ghorayshi, Azeen; Hughes, Virginia (February 22, 2018). Celebrity Atheist Lawrence Krauss Accused Of Sexual Misconduct For Over A Decade. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeed.com/peteraldhous/lawrence-krauss-sexual-harassment-allegations

Horgan, John (November 20, 2015). Is Lawrence Krauss a Physicist, or Just a Bad Philosopher? Scientific American https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/is-lawrence-krauss-a-physicist-or-just-a-bad-philosopher/

Wolfe, Alexandra (April 1, 2011). Jeffrey Epstein’s society friends close ranks. Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/katie-couric-woody-allen-jeffrey-epsteins-society-friends-close-ranks

Selected publications by Krauss

Krauss, Lawrence M. (July 16, 2025). Trump’s War on Science. Quillette https://quillette.com/2025/07/16/trumps-war-on-science/

Krauss, Lawrence M. (August 1, 2025). The war on science isn’t limited to the U.S. The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-higher-education-trump-administration-science-canada-free-speech/

Krauss, Lawrence M. (November 11, 2024). Lawrence Krauss: Get the DEI out of science funding, Elon! National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/lawrence-krauss-get-the-dei-out-of-science-funding-elon

Books

  • The War on Science (2024), Post Hill Press, ISBN 979-8888457566
  • The Edge of Knowledge (2023), Post Hill Press, ISBN 978-1637588567
  • The Known Unknowns (2023), Head of Zeus/Apollo, ISBN 978-1801100649
  • The Physics of Climate Change (2021), Post Hill Press, ISBN 978-1642938166
  • The Greatest Story Ever Told—So Far: Why Are We Here? (2017), Atria Books, ISBN 978-1-4767-7761-0
  • A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing (2012), Atria Books, ISBN 978-1-4516-2445-8
  • Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science (2011), Atlas & Company ISBN 978-0-393-06471-1
  • Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond (2005), Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-03395-2
  • Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth…and Beyond (2001), Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 0-316-18309-1
  • Quintessence: The Search for Missing Mass in the Universe (2000), Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-03741-0
  • The Physics of Star Trek (1996), Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-00559-4
  • Fear of Physics: A Guide for the Perplexed (1994), Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-02367-3
  • Beyond Star Trek: Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time (1998), HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0060977573
  • The Fifth Essence (1989), Basic Books, ISBN 978-0465023752

Resources

Lawrence M. Krauss (lawrencemkrauss.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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