‘The Free Press’ vs. transgender people

by Andrea James Reviewed April 4, 2026 7 min read

The Free Press is an American group blog that publishes consistently anti-transgender content.

Background

In January 2021, Bari Weiss launched the Substack Common Sense (renamed The Free Press in 2022). Due to its right-wing slant, by September 2024, the blog had a valuation of $100 million.

Columnists

Nellie Bowles
Matthew Continetti
Tyler Cowen
Matti Friedman
Niall Ferguson
Martin Gurri
Coleman Hughes
Eli Lake
Charles Lane
Larissa Phillips
Kat Rosenfield
Jed Rubenfeld
Abigail Shrier
Ruy Teixeira
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Bari Weiss
Suzy Weiss

Staff writers and editors

Frannie Block
Josh Code
Sean Fischer
Isaac Grafstein
Gabe Kaminsky
Madeleine Kearns
Jana Kozlowski
Joe Nocera
River Page
Olivia Reingold
Madeleine Rowley
Freya Sanders
Peter Savodnik
Rupa Subramanya
Maya Sulkin
Oliver Wiseman
Emily Yoffe

Contributors

note: this list focuses on anti-trans contributors and is not exhaustive.

Notable anti-trans moments

Abigail Shrier’s 2021 interview with Marci Bowers and Erica Anderson on gender diverse youth
Katie Herzog’s 2021 claim that medical schools are “denying biological sex”
Sue Evans’ 2022 account of whistleblowing at UK’s Tavistock Clinic
Suzy Weiss’ 2022 interview with ex-trans activist Chloe Cole
Aaron Sibarium’s 2022 attack on The American Academy of Pediatrics
J. Michael Bailey’s 2023 retracted claims about “rapid-onset gender dysphoria“
Jamie Reed’s 2023 attacks on clinical practices at Washington University Transgender Center in St. Louis, later a scandal regarding Reed’s handling of children’s private medical information
Emily Yoffe’s 2023 puff piece on an unsupportive parent of a gender diverse child, later debunked by the child (whom Yoffe did not interview)
Megan Phelps-Roper’s 2023 podcast series defending transphobic author J.K. Rowling
Leighton Woodhouse 2022 piece on the “parental rights” movement of anti-trans parents
Riittakerttu Kaltiala’s 2023 attacks on gender affirming youth care in Finland
Tamara Pietzke’s 2024 attacks on gender affirming youth care at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington
Bari Weiss‘ 2024 interview with conservative trans media figure Brianna Wu
Jesse Singal’s 2025 criticism of Bluesky

Selected anti-trans writing

Page, River (June 29, 2025). The Revisionist History of Pride Month: We have gay rights because thousands of ordinary people were brave enough to live openly, not because a trans woman of color threw a brick at a bar. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-revisionist-history-of-pride

Polumbo, Brad (June 25, 2025). Press 3 for Moral Panic. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/press-3-for-moral-panic

Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2025). The End of Youth Gender Transition? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-end-of-youth-gender-transition

Frericks, Anson (February 7, 2025), The Sad Saga of Bud Light. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-sad-saga-of-bud-light

Kearns, Madeleine (May 2, 2025). Evidence for Pediatric Gender Transitions ‘Very Low,’ Says U.S. Government Report. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/evidence-for-pediatric-gender-transitions

Yoffe, Emily (January 25, 2025). Eithan Haim: ‘We Took On the Federal Leviathan and We Won.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-we-took-on-the-federal

Yoffe, Emily (January 19, 2025). EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s Day One Executive Order on ‘Male and Female.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-day-one-executive-order-male-female-gender-ideology-pronouns

Kearns, Madeleine (January 13, 2025). Biden’s Transgender Prison Policy Goes to Trial. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/biden-transgender-federal-prison-policy-rhonda-fleming

Kawaller, Ben (December 30, 2024). Should Fifth Graders Learn What It Means to Be Transgender? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/should-fifth-graders-learn-about-transgender-ideology original title: Should Fifth Graders Learn About Transgender Ideology?

Page, River (December 18, 2024). The Price of Pursuing the Truth About Transgender Medicine. Plus. . . The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-price-of-telling-the-truth-about

Singal, Jesse (December 17, 2024). Jesse Singal: Bluesky Has a Death Threat Problem. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/jesse-singal-bluesky-has-a-death-threat-problem

Editors (December 17, 2024). Abigail Shrier Was Vilified. Now She’s Been Vindicated. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/abigail-shrier-was-vilified-youth-gender-care

Reed, Jamie (December 3, 2024). Why I Hope the Supreme Court Upholds the Ban on Child Transition. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/supreme-court-gender-transiton-skrmetti-whistleblower-jamie-reed

Bari Weiss, Michael Moynihan, Batya Ungar-Sargon (Nov 5, 2024). Election Night with The Free Press! The Free Press https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU6bS-sx_yU

Abigail Shrier, Ana Kasparian, Andrew Yang, Vivek Ramaswamy, Anna Khachiyan, Ben Domenech, Brianna Wu, Coleman Hughes, Dasha Nekrasova, Eli Lake, Eliana Johnson, Frank Luntz, Frannie Block, Joe Nocera, John McWhorter, Kat Rosenfield, Kmele Foster, Konstantin Kisin, Marianne Williamson, Mark Halperin, Matthew Continetti, Matt Welch, Michael Shellenberger, Nancy Rommelmann, Nellie Bowles, Olivia Reingold, Olly Wiseman, Peter Savodnik, Rikki Schlott, Ritchie Torres, Ruy Teixeira, Salena Zito, Shane Smith, Jonathan Haidt, Nick Gillespie, Jed Rubenfeld, and Sohrab Ahmari!

Weiss, Bari (October 18, 2024). Brianna Wu Says She Didn’t Change. The Progressive Movement Did. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/brianna-wu-bari-weiss-gamergate-progressive-antisemitism-honestly

Page, River (August 24, 2024). How ‘Tranny’ Became a Slur. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-tranny-became-a-slur

Block, Frannie (August 1, 2024). Hospital Reviews Gender Care After Therapist Blows the Whistle. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/hospital-reviews-gender-care-after

Shrier, Abigail (July 18, 2024). Abigail Shrier: California’s New Law Lets Schools Keep Secrets from Parents. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/abigail-shrier-california-gender-law-newsom

Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2024). Whistleblower Surgeon Could Face a Decade in Prison. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-surgeon-eithan-haim-prison

Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2024). A Doctor Told the Truth. The Feds Showed Up at His Door. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-gender-distressed-children-indicted

Shrier, Abigail (June 10, 2024). Abigail Shrier: How the Gender Fever Finally Broke. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/abigail-shrier-how-the-gender-fever-broke-trump-executive-order

Reed, Roxxanne (September 29, 2024). I Spent 13 Years Living as a Man. But After My Spouse’s Exposé, I’m Detransitioning. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/tiger-jamie-reed-detransition-wash-u-transgender-affirming-care

Davis, Lisa Selin (June 26, 2024). Biden Official Lobbied to Remove Age Restrictions on Gender Care. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/biden-official-lobbied-wpath-age-restrictions

Davis, Lisa Selin (May 17, 2023). How Therapists Became Social Justice Warriors. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-therapists-became-social-justice-warriors

Block, Frannie (May 14, 2024). EXCLUSIVE: Female Athletes Sue NCAA Over Transgender Competitors in Sports. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/exclusive-female-athletes-sue-ncaa-transwomen

Davis, Lisa Selin (April 10, 2024). The UK Mistreated Kids with Gender Dysphoria for Years. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/uk-gender-dysphoria-cass-review

Pietzke, Tamara (February 15, 2024). ‘I Was Fired After Blowing the Whistle’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-was-fired-after-blowing-the-whistle

Pietzke, Tamara (February 5, 2024). I Was Told to Approve All Teen Gender Transitions. I Refused. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-refused-to-approve-all-teen-gender-transitions

Reed, Jamie (December 31, 2023). Jamie Reed: The Courage to Admit You’re Wrong. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-jamie-reed-courage-admit-wrong

Kaltiala, Riittakerttu (October 30, 2023). ‘Gender-Affirming Care Is Dangerous. I Know Because I Helped Pioneer It.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/gender-affirming-care-dangerous-finland-doctor

Yoffe, Emily (April 3, 2023). ‘I Felt Bullied’: Mother of Child Treated at Transgender Center Speaks Out. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-felt-bullied-mother-of-child-treated

Riedel, Samantha (April 6, 2023). A Trans Teen Is Debunking an Article That Attacked Their Gender Clinic. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-teen-debunking-gender-clinic-article

Reed, Jamie (February 9, 2023). I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids

Sibarium, Aaron (December 7, 2022). The Hijacking of Pediatric Medicine. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-hijacking-of-pediatric-medicine

Davis, Lisa Selin (September 28, 2022). How Young Is Too Young for Sterilization? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-young-is-too-young-for-sterilization

Evans, Sue (August 4, 2022). How Tavistock Came Tumbling Down. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/how-tavistock-came-tumbling-down

Davis, Lisa Selin (July 30, 2022). The Beginning of the End of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-gender

Bailey, J. Michael (July 10, 2023). My Research on Gender Dysphoria Was Censored. But I Won’t Be. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/trans-activists-killed-my-scientific-paper

Woodhouse, Leighton (June 23, 2022). They Questioned Gender-Affirming Care. Then Their Kids Were Kicked Out of School. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/they-questioned-gender-affirming

Weiss, Suzy (April 19, 2022). The Testosterone Hangover. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/the-testosterone-hangover

Weiss, Suzy (February 21, 2022). Watching Lia Thomas Win. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/watching-lia-thomas-win

Shrier, Abigail (October 4, 2021). Top Trans Doctors Blow the Whistle on ‘Sloppy’ Care. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/top-trans-doctors-blow-the-whistle

Herzog, Katie (July 27, 2021). Med Schools Are Now Denying Biological Sex. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/med-schools-are-now-denying-biological

Shrier, Abigail (June 21, 2021). The Books Are Already Burning. Common Sense https://www.commonsense.news/p/the-books-are-already-burning