Medium and transgender people

Media coverage and transgender people Reviewed August 11, 2026 3 min read

Medium is an online publishing platform that has hosted a number of personal and group blogs by gender diverse writers, as well as several blogs by anti-trans writers.

Background

Medium was founded by Evan “Ev” Williams, who had previously co-founded Blogger and Twitter. Williams began developing Medium as a way to provide a publishing environment for writing longer than Twitter’s then-140-character limit. The platform launched in closed beta on August 15, 2012, initially allowing only invited users to publish.

In 2013, Medium expanded beyond its initial invitation-only model and became available more broadly. In April, Williams and Biz Stone announced that Medium’s incubator, Obvious Corporation, was being unwound, and Medium became an independent company. During 2014 to 2016, Medium developed from a relatively experimental blogging service into a major publishing platform. It increasingly hosted professional journalists, established publications, companies, and independent writers.

In January 2017, Medium laid off roughly 50 employees and announced that it was moving away from an advertising-supported model. In March, it introduced paid memberships and the Medium Partner Program, initially paying selected writers and publishers for content. In October, the program was opened to all writers and publishers. From 2018 to 2021, Medium increasingly centered its business around memberships, reader engagement, and payments to writers.

Williams stepped down as CEO in 2022 and became chair of the board. Tony Stubblebine replaced Williams as CEO.

Following the 2017 launch of Substack, many writers migrated from Medium to that platform.

Selected Medium group blogs with trans content

Main page: Medium: list of trans and gender diverse blogs

Note: some contributors have changed names in the time since they contributed. Listings represent the name used on the account as of 2026.

Gender 2.0

Medium page: gender-2-0
Scope: Trans and gender diverse topics
Active: 2015–2017
Contributors: see list here
Editor: Meredith Talusan (1demerith)

Gender from the Trenches

Medium page: gender-from-the-trenches
Scope: Trans and gender diverse topics
Active: 2019–2023
Contributors: see list here
Editors:
- Martie Sirois (martiesirois)
- KP_the_writer (kp-the-writer)

Identity Current

Medium page: the-identity-current
Scope: Identity-related topics, including trans and gender diverse identities.
Active: 2023–
Contributors: see list here
Editor: Tucker Lieberman (tuckerlieberman)

Prism & Pen

Medium page: prismnpen
Active: 2020–
Scope: LGBTQ
Contributors: see list here
Editors:
- Rachel Addison (racaddywrites)
- James Finn (jfinn6511)
- Tucker Lieberman (tuckerlieberman)
- Kay Luna (kayluna)
- Jonny Masters (jonnymasters)
- Logan Silkwood (logansilkwood)
- Esther Spurrill-Jones (estherspurrilljones)

Trans Equality Now!

Medium page: transequalitynow
Active: 2017–2019
Scope: Transgender rights
Contributors: see list here
Editors:
- National Center for Transgender Equality (transequality)
- Nat’l Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund (ncteactionfund)

A Trans Life

Medium page: trans-people-center
Active: 2019–2025
Scope: LGBTQ+ with trans focus
Contributors: see list here
Editor: Naomi Kurz (beautygirl)

Personal blogs

Trans and gender diverse authors with frequent posts:

Gillian Branstetter (gillbranstetter / gillbranstetter)
James Finn (jfinn6511 / james-finn)
Amethysta Herrick (amethysta) [archive]
Tucker Lieberman (tuckerlieberman)
Parker Molloy (parkermolloy)
Devon Price (devonprice)
Julia Serano (juliaserano)

Conservative trans activists

Ex-trans activists

Selected Medium blogs with anti-trans content

Arc Digital

Transgender Map profile: Arc Digital
Website: arcdigital.media
Medium page: arc-digital
Active: 2016–
Scope: Opinion pieces
Contributors: see list here
Editors:
- Berny Belvedere: co-founder; editor (2016–2023)
- Ryan Huber: co-founder; contributor (2016–2018)
- Nicholas Grossman: contributor (2017–); editor (2023–)

Areo Magazine

Transgender Map profile: Areo Magazine
Website: areomagazine.com
Medium page: areo-magazine
Active: 2016–2023
Scope: Politics, culture, and science
Contributors: see list here
Editors:
- Malhar Mali: founder; editor {2016–2018)
- Helen Pluckrose: editor (2018–2021)
- Iona Italia: editor (2021–2023)