Lionel Shriver vs. transgender people

Lionel Shriver is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Shriver has spoken at a conference by anti-trans hate group Genspect and has made many anti-trans comments in the media. Shriver has written for anti-trans publications, including UnHerd, The Critic, The Times, Spiked, and The Spectator.

Background

Shriver was born on May 18, 1957 in Gastonia, North Carolina. Shriver is a self-described tomboy who grew up with an older and a younger sibling. Shriver took social transition steps as a minor, including a name change at 15. Shriver earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master’s degree from Columbia University. Shriver has written many novels and has been a columnist.

Anti-trans activism

Shriver frequently logrolls for other anti-trans activists and appears on conservative media outlets:

“Western media has moved on to an enthrallment with transgenderism bizarrely out of proportion to the statistical rarity of true gender dysphoria—though children and people generally being so suggestible, the condition will doubtless grow more common.”

Shriver was signatory on a 2020 Sunday Times open letter defending anti-trans extremist J.K. Rowling.

Shriver praised trans eliminationist Helen Joyce’s book Trans: “Reasonable, methodical, sane, and utterly unintimidated by extremist orthodoxy, Trans is a riveting read.”

In a Washington Post article about Shriver’s 2022 nonfiction book Abominations:

Writing about transgender people either sends her down slippery-slope thinking — “We seem to be entering an era in which everything about ourselves that we don’t like is subject to revision” — or infantile cracks about pronouns and LGBTQ+ culture. (“A three-year-old bashing the keyboard would produce a more functional shorthand.”)

From a profile in The Times:

Shriver is “mystified” by the way in which the transgender debate has become so fraught, with death threats to writers and MPs. “The transgender thing just seems to make people completely crazy,” she says. “I just don’t think that what sex you are is that important. My sense of myself is not crucially female.”

As a teenager Shriver changed her name from Margaret Ann to Lionel because she was determined not to be eclipsed by her elder brother. “Women are supposed to be soft and nurturing and pliable and driven to please and looking out for others. Men are strong and determined, and goal driven and powerful. If you look at the stereotypes, anyone with any self-respect would want to be a man. I reject the stereotypes . . . I’m all for chucking them and one of my biggest problems with the transgender movement is it’s all about nailing them down.”

References

Levy, Ariel (May 25, 2020). Lionel Shriver Is Looking for Trouble. The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/01/lionel-shriver-is-looking-for-trouble

Maxwell, Abigail (April 26, 2016). Lionel Shriver is wrong—gender matters. Prospect https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/48774/lionel-shriver-is-wronggender-matters

Anti-trans coverage

US staff report (September 5, 2024). Lionel Shriver: I’m scared to visit Britain after Graham Linehan arrest. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/09/05/lionel-shriver-scared-visit-britain-graham-linehan-arrest/

Harvey, Chris (April 3, 2024). Lionel Shriver: ‘Transgenderism is a social mania.’ The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/lionel-shriver-mania-interview-transgenderism/

Athitakis, Mark (September 20, 2022). Lionel Shriver taunts the ‘culture police’ and more in her new book. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/20/lionel-shriver-taunts-culture-police-more-her-new-book/

Sylvester, Rachel (September 10 2022) Lionel Shriver: ‘Which sex you are isn’t that important.’ The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lionel-shriver-which-sex-you-are-isnt-that-important-8vq8m0cwd

Selected writing by Shriver

Shriver, Lionel (September 4, 2025). Will I be arrested next, after Graham Linehan? Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/09/04/will-i-be-arrested-next-after-graham-linehan/

Shriver, Lionel (June 28, 2025). ‘Trans rights’ has never been a civil rights issue. The Spectator Australia https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/06/trans-rights-has-never-been-a-civil-rights-issue/

Shriver, Lionel (April 27, 2023). Is trans the new anorexia? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/04/is-trans-the-new-anorexia/

Shriver, Lionel (August 6, 2021). Trans purity test has lost touch with reality. The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trans-purity-test-has-lost-touch-with-reality-qw5vkzmtp

Shriver, Lionel (September 15, 2018). One discouraging word and you’re a transphobe. The Spectator https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/one-discouraging-word-and-you-re-a-transphobe/

Shriver, Lionel (April 21, 2016). Gender – good for nothing. Prospect https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/gender-good-for-nothing https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/essays/48719/gendergood-for-nothing

Media

Genspect with Stella O’Malley and Lionel Shriver (December 24, 2025). Beyond Pronouns: Lionel Shriver Talks Civilization, Sanity, and the Trans Debate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWAbfcxV1po

Peter Boghossian with Lionel Shriver (October 21, 2025). Immigration Is THE Problem of Our Time w/ Lionel Shriver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmhEb0eVhcE

Piers Morgan Uncensored with Riley Gaines, Blaire White, Helen Webberley, Laurie Penny, and Lionel Shriver (September 5, 2025). “Flaming HYPOCRITE!” Linehan Arrest For Anti-Trans Posts & Free Speech Feat. Riley Gaines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIxkcyzi0OY

TRIGGERnometry with Konstantin Kisin, Francis Foster, and Lionel Shriver (May 11, 2025). Mania: How Societies Go Crazy – Lionel Shriver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N17dF847rpM

heretics with Andrew Gold and Lionel Shriver (April 14, 2025). The Left’s Most Hated Author Finally Speaks Out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJDLB3_P24

The Spectator with Kate Andrews and Lionel Shriver (November 6, 2024). Lionel Shriver on the election that smashed identity politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhZK1lM0pyk

Spiked with Fraser Myers and Lionel Shriver (October 23, 2024). Why I loathe Kamala Harris | Lionel Shriver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiqExmiNJck

GBNews / Uncancelled with Dan Wootton and Lionel Shriver (May 3, 2022). Has it become trendy to be trans? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB_jMq8hoUk

Centre for Independent Studies with Brendan O’Neill and Lionel Shriver (July 6, 2020). We must defend freedom of speech | Lionel Shriver | Brendan O’Neill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P60G1gJ3Q8Y

Intelligence Squared with Lionel Shriver, Trevor Phillips, David Lammy, Dawn Foster, and Kamal Ahmed (February 17, 2020). Debate: Identity Politics is Tearing Society Apart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVMYfuzhbxk

The Spectator with Douglas Murray and Lionel Shriver (October 30, 2019). Identity Politics: Lionel Shriver & Douglas Murray | The Spectator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddBKQIomyYI