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David French vs. transgender people

David French is an American lawyer, writer, and anti-transgender extremist.

French is an initial signatory of the anti-trans 2017 Nashville Statement by the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood.

In 2023, Kathleen Kingsbury and Patrick Healy brought French on to the notoriously anti-trans Opinion section at the New York Times. Their decision was a major event in the Times’ anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s.

Background

David Austin French was born on January 24, 1969 in Opelika, Alabama.

French earned a bachelor’s degree from Lipscomb University in 1991 and a law degree from Harvard in 1994.

French has been a prominent conservative activist. French served as legal counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice and the Alliance Defending Freedom. French was president of Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) until 2005. From 2007 to 2014 French served in the Army as a judge-advocate general officer stationed in Iraq.

Following discharge, French wrote for National Review from 2015 to 2019 and was a senior fellow at the National Review Institute. French is a senior editor for The Dispatch and has authored several books.

French and spouse Nancy live in Franklin, Tennessee and have three adult children.

2017 Nashville Statement

French was a signatory of the anti-gay and anti-trans Nashville Statement. Other anti-trans signatories include:

Anti-trans writing

In 2022, French wrote in The Dispatch:

“I’m a person who believes in the traditional Christian doctrines of marriage and sexual morality. I don’t believe in sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman. I don’t agree that trans men are “men” or that trans women are “women,” and while I strive to treat every person I encounter with dignity and respect, I don’t use preferred pronouns because their use is a form of assent to a system of belief to which I don’t subscribe.”

References

Staff report (January 4, 2023). GLAAD responds to New York Times hiring anti-LGBTQ attorney as opinion columnist. GLAAD https://glaad.org/releases/glaad-responds-new-york-times-hiring-anti-lgbtq-attorney-opinion-columnist/

Anti-trans coverage

Kingsbury, Katie; Healy, Patrick (January 3, 2023). David French Joins The Times as an Opinion Columnist. New York Times Company https://www.nytco.com/press/david-french-joins-the-times-as-an-opinion-columnist/

Selected writing by French

French, David (October 2, 2022). When Culture Wars Go Way Too Far: State efforts to break families over transgender issues threaten foundational American rights. The Dispatch https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/when-culture-wars-go-way-too-far/

Resources

The Dispatch (thedispatch.com)

Nancy French (nancyfrench.com)

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (cbmw.org)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

National Review (nationalreview.com)

New York Times (nytimes.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)