Jessica Riedl and transgender people

Jessica Riedl is an American economic policy analyst who holds conservative views about being transgender. Riedl has worked at several anti-trans organizations, including the Heritage Foundation and the Manhattan Institute.

Background

Jessica Riedl was born on September 19, 1975, grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, and graduated from Appleton East High School in 1994. Riedl earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1998 and a master’s degree at Princeton University in 2001. From 1996 to 1999, Riedl was a tax policy advisor to Republican Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

Riedl then worked at the Heritage Foundation from 2001 to 2011 as the Grover Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs. Riedl later moved into government work, serving for six years as chief economic policy advisor to Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman from 2011 to 2017 and as staff director of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth. Riedl designed budget and spending policy for the presidential campaigns of Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney.

In 2017, Riedl joined the Manhattan Institute, researching federal tax, spending, and economic policy for their Economics21 program.

In November 2025. Riedl joined The Brookings Institution as a Budget and Tax Fellow.

Riedl and spouse Sara Elizabeth (Klimenko) Riedl (born 1977) have two children.

Views and research

Riedl is a staunch fiscal conservative who argues that the U.S. long-term budget problem stems not from “wasteful” defense or discretionary spending or insufficient taxes, but from unsustainably large and growing obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and related healthcare programs. Riedl argues that these entitlements and their interest costs will drive deficits and debt dramatically higher over the next decades.

To avert a fiscal crisis, Riedl proposes a 30-year blueprint combining spending cuts and moderate revenue increases.

Riedl’s spending blueprint would gradually raise the full-benefit retirement age for Social Security, trim benefit growth for higher-income retirees, shift Medicare toward a “premium-support” model with greater cost sharing for wealthier seniors, and slow growth of Medicaid and discretionary spending.

Riedl’s revenue blueprint would modestly raise payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, cap the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance, and let certain tax extenders expire. Riedl believes the result would be stabilizing the national debt at roughly 95–100% of gross domestic product.

Gender transition and response

Riedl came out publicly as trans at age 49 in February 2025. writing:

“I’m not an activist and I’m more moderate on transgender policy issues. But I’m also not naïve about the intense abuse and demonization my community endures from politicians, demagogues, and bullies who defend themselves by dismissing transgenderism as some made-up mental delusion with no legitimate biological basis.”

Riedl then expressed transmedicalist views, claiming transgender people likely have a neurological difference of sex development. This is a compelling scientific hypothesis that many transmedicalists feel is more socially acceptable than other disease models, especially psychopathology models and psychosexual pathology models. Riedl claims to have medical evidence of this personally: “Medical scans and examinations—performed as a volunteer in medical studies—have since confirmed my predominantly female brain biology, along with other biological characteristics that have countered my outwardly male appearance.”

In a bit of a Gish gallop, Riedl shared 31 links (starting with some basic lay summaries) citing a number of studies that found evidence supporting this hypothesis:

For a sample of the research on the (very real) biology of transgenderism, from basic overviews to dense medical studies, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

See the full list of Riedl’s citations below. Immediately after this summary of transgender brain studies, Riedl’s employer Manhattan Institute published “Transgender Brain Studies are Fatally Flawed,” by Riedl’s coworkers Colin Wright and “Christina Buttons” with help from anti-trans brain researcher Sammy Stagg.

None of Riedl’s appeal to science and scientism stopped what came next.

In June, David French announced that Riedl was joining The Dispatch. Immediately after, anti-trans conservatives mounted a harassment campaign against Riedl. Riedl criticized X accounts BabylonBee and NotTheBee for posting personal information about Riedl, including a photo of Riedl’s family. Babylon Bee leader Joel Berry posted: “This autogynephilic pervert spent all last night crashing out and personally threatening staff at The Babylon Bee over DMs and he didn’t even have the right site. He had us confused with Not The Bee, which Kyle and I don’t run. The photo in question, which has since been taken down by NTB, shows “Jessica,” whose real name is Brian, with his family, who he cruelly deprived of a father and husband to pursue a fetish. The photo was a Facebook photo posted by Brian himself, and has widely circulated online.”

Riedl seemed surprised that being conservative meant nothing to anti-trans activists at Manhattan Institute and beyond:

“Here is a key point: I came out as transgender the so-called “right way.” I waited until I was an adult (my 40s) to officially transition. I never sought out women’s sports teams or cis women’s spaces. I never “abandoned my family,” and in fact moved forward only with their enthusiastic encouragement. I limited my coming out announcement to a single tweet and Substack post explaining my updated name and appearance. And then I immediately returned to conservative economic policy and devising solutions to runaway debt, inflation, and sluggish economic growth.

That meant turning down every media request to profile me as a transitioning conservative, and refusing to rebrand myself online as a culture warrior (I’m moderate on transgender policy issues). I even clarified that I will not police pronouns or names (at least among the well-meaning), and have no problem working with trans-skeptics. I spent months working to keep my transition as low-key and inoffensive as possible because it does not define me, and I still want to be seen as an economist first.

And while the conservative policy community responded with strong support, those efforts bought me Zero goodwill with trans-obsessed culture warriors and social media mobs.”

Alyssa Steinsiek minced no words in a commentary following the attacks on Riedl, writing:

I take umbrage not with Riedl’s desire to live a life free of harassment, which all of us deserve, but with her belief that she’s somehow above the rest of us. I’ve seen countless trans women castigated for the crime of existing while trans, but it’s infuriating that Riedl thinks her conservative values and work history can protect her from the truth every Quisling must learn sooner or later: The leopards are always going to eat your face.

The “leopards” reference is internet slang derived from a Twitter post: “‘I never thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party.”

In November 2025, following revelations that Manhattan Institute’s in-house anti-trans extremist Leor Sapir was lead author of the Trump Administration’s US HHS report attacking trans healthcare, Riedl took a position at the Brookings Institution in their Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

References

Reiter, Aiden (November 19, 2025). The banks’ delicate dance. Politico https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2025/11/19/the-banks-delicate-dance-00658392

Steinsiek, Alyssa (July 18, 2025). TWIBS: Leopards Eat Jessica Riedl’s Face. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/twibs-leopards-eat-jessica-riedls-face

Coverage in anti-trans press

“Sam J” (July 1, 2025). OOF! Joel Berry TROUNCES ‘Jessica’ Riedl for Threatening Babylon Bee Staff Over a Story THEY Didn’t Write. Twitchy https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/07/01/joel-berry-jessica-riedl-n2415025

Harris, David (July 8, 2025). The Public Shaming of a Simple Economist. American Reformer https://americanreformer.org/2025/07/the-public-shaming-of-a-simple-economist/

Selected writing by Riedl

Riedl, Jessica (July 15, 2025). When the Online Mob Came After Me—and My Kids. Jessica Riedl https://www.jessicariedl.blog/p/when-the-online-mob-came-after-meand

Riedl, Jessica (February 6, 2025). Yes, My Name has Changed… but my focus on center-right economic policy will continue. Jessica Riedl https://www.jessicariedl.blog/p/yes-my-name-has-changed

Citations in Riedl’s coming out post

Presented in order of citation.

Rebecca R. Helm (December 19, 2019). [Twitter post] Friendly neighborhood biologist here… vIa the “Gender Dysphoria Bible” https://genderdysphoria.fyi/tweets/AF3D6480ED
AsapSCIENCE (September 20, 2018). The Science of Being Transgender ft. Gigi Gorgeous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MitqjSYtwrQ via Kim, Brenda Kelley (September 24, 2018). The Science of Being Transgender. Labroots https://www.labroots.com/trending/videos/12801/science-explains-transgender
What is the Cause of Gender Incongruence? “Gender Dysphoria Bible” https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/causes
How Hormones Work. “Gender Dysphoria Bible” https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/hormones
Sun, Simón(e) D (June 13, 2019). Stop Using Phony Science to Justify Transphobia. Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/voices/stop-using-phony-science-to-justify-transphobia/
Baker, Toni (February 5, 2020). Gene variants provide insight into brain, body incongruence in transgender. JAGWire https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200205084203.htm via Science Daily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200205084203.htm Press release for Theisen, J. G., Sundaram, V., Filchak, M. S., Chorich, L. P., Sullivan, M. E., Knight, J., Kim, H.-G., & Layman, L. C. (2019). The Use of Whole Exome Sequencing in a Cohort of Transgender Individuals to Identify Rare Genetic Variants. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53500-y
Savic, I., Garcia-Falgueras, A., & Swaab, D. F. (2010). Sexual differentiation of the human brain in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation. In Progress in Brain Research (pp. 41–62). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-53630-3.00004-x
Kreukels, B. P. C., & Guillamon, A. (2016). Neuroimaging studies in people with gender incongruence. International Review of Psychiatry, 28(1), 120–128. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2015.1113163
Boucher, F. J., & Chinnah, T. I. (2020). Gender Dysphoria: A Review Investigating the Relationship Between Genetic Influences and Brain Development. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, Volume 11, 89–99. https://doi.org/10.2147/ahmt.s259168
Hines, M., Constantinescu, M., & Spencer, D. (2015). Early androgen exposure and human gender development. Biology of Sex Differences, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-015-0022-1
Foreman, M., Hare, L., York, K., Balakrishnan, K., Sánchez, F. J., Harte, F., Erasmus, J., Vilain, E., & Harley, V. R. (2018). Genetic Link Between Gender Dysphoria and Sex Hormone Signaling. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 104(2), 390–396. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2018-01105
Auyeung, B., Baron-Cohen, S., Ashwin, E., Knickmeyer, R., Taylor, K., Hackett, G., & Hines, M. (2009). Fetal Testosterone Predicts Sexually Differentiated Childhood Behavior in Girls and in Boys. Psychological Science, 20(2), 144–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02279.x
Nguyen, H. B., Loughead, J., Lipner, E., Hantsoo, L., Kornfield, S. L., & Epperson, C. N. (2018). What has sex got to do with it? The role of hormones in the transgender brain. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(1), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-018-0140-7
Bakker, J. (2018). Brain structure and function in gender dysphoria. Endocrine Abstracts. https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.56.s30.3
Garcia-Falgueras, A., & Swaab, D. F. (2008). A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity. Brain, 131(12), 3132–3146. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awn276
Berglund, H., Lindstrom, P., Dhejne-Helmy, C., & Savic, I. (2007). Male-to-Female Transsexuals Show Sex-Atypical Hypothalamus Activation When Smelling Odorous Steroids. Cerebral Cortex, 18(8), 1900–1908. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhm216
Gizewski, E. R., Krause, E., Schlamann, M., Happich, F., Ladd, M. E., Forsting, M., & Senf, W. (2009). Specific Cerebral Activation Due to Visual Erotic Stimuli in Male-to-Female Transsexuals Compared with Male and Female Controls: An fMRI Study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6(2), 440–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00981.x
Gizewski, E. R., Krause, E., Schlamann, M., Happich, F., Ladd, M. E., Forsting, M., & Senf, W. (2009). Specific Cerebral Activation Due to Visual Erotic Stimuli in Male-to-Female Transsexuals Compared with Male and Female Controls: An fMRI Study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6(2), 440–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00981.x
Zubiaurre-Elorza, L., Junque, C., Gomez-Gil, E., Segovia, S., Carrillo, B., Rametti, G., & Guillamon, A. (2012). Cortical Thickness in Untreated Transsexuals. Cerebral Cortex, 23(12), 2855–2862. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhs267
Luders, E., Sánchez, F. J., Tosun, D., Shattuck, D. W., Gaser, C., Vilain, E., & Toga, A. W. (2012). Increased Cortical Thickness in Male-to-Female Transsexualism. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 02(03), 357–362. https://doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2012.23040
Simon, L., Kozák, L. R., Simon, V., Czobor, P., Unoka, Z., Szabó, Á., & Csukly, G. (2013). Regional Grey Matter Structure Differences between Transsexuals and Healthy Controls—A Voxel Based Morphometry Study. PLoS ONE, 8(12), e83947. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083947
Rametti, G., Carrillo, B., Gómez-Gil, E., Junque, C., Segovia, S., Gomez, Á., & Guillamon, A. (2011). White matter microstructure in female to male transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A diffusion tensor imaging study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(2), 199–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.05.006
Kranz, G. S., Hahn, A., Kaufmann, U., Küblböck, M., Hummer, A., Ganger, S., Seiger, R., Winkler, D., Swaab, D. F., Windischberger, C., Kasper, S., & Lanzenberger, R. (2014). White Matter Microstructure in Transsexuals and Controls Investigated by Diffusion Tensor Imaging. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(46), 15466–15475. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2488-14.2014
Hahn, A., Kranz, G. S., Küblböck, M., Kaufmann, U., Ganger, S., Hummer, A., Seiger, R., Spies, M., Winkler, D., Kasper, S., Windischberger, C., Swaab, D. F., & Lanzenberger, R. (2014). Structural Connectivity Networks of Transgender People. Cerebral Cortex, 25(10), 3527–3534. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu194
Yokota, Y., Kawamura, Y., & Kameya, Y. (2005). Callosal Shapes at the Midsagittal Plane: MRI Differences of Normal Males, Normal Females, and GID. In 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference (pp. 3055–3058). 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference. IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/iembs.2005.1617119
Lin, C.-S., Ku, H.-L., Chao, H.-T., Tu, P.-C., Li, C.-T., Cheng, C.-M., Su, T.-P., Lee, Y.-C., & Hsieh, J.-C. (2014). Neural Network of Body Representation Differs between Transsexuals and Cissexuals. PLoS ONE, 9(1), e85914. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085914
Soleman, R. S., Schagen, S. E. E., Veltman, D. J., Kreukels, B. P. C., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Lambalk, C. B., Wouters, F., & Delemarre-van de Waal, H. A. (2013). Sex Differences in Verbal Fluency During Adolescence: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study in Gender Dysphoric and Control Boys and Girls. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10(8), 1969–1977. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12083
T. Cohen-Kettenis, P., H.M. van Goozen, S., D. Doorn, C., & J.G. Gooren, L. (1998). Cognitive ability and cerebral lateralisation in transsexuals. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 23(6), 631–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-4530(98)00033-x
Hunt, D. D., Carr, J. E., & Hampson, J. L. (1981). Cognitive correlates of biologic sex and gender identity in transsexualism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 10(1), 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01542675
Junger, J., Habel, U., Bröhr, S., Neulen, J., Neuschaefer-Rube, C., Birkholz, P., Kohler, C., Schneider, F., Derntl, B., & Pauly, K. (2014). More than Just Two Sexes: The Neural Correlates of Voice Gender Perception in Gender Dysphoria. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e111672. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111672
Medical Organization Statements on “medical necessity of treatments for gender dysphoria.” Advocates for Trans Equality https://transhealthproject.org/resources/medical-organization-statements/

Media

Public App with Kyla Scanlon and Jessica Riedl (April 16, 2025). How Political Tribalism Is Enabling Bad Economic Policy | Jessica Riedl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nybPj2V6xbA