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David Frum vs. transgender people

David Frum is a conservative Canadian-American political commentator and anti-transgender activist. Frum was a major figure in anti-LGBT activism in the 1990s, though Frum has since acknowledged some of those views were wrong.

Background

David Jeffrey Frum was born June 30, 1960 in Toronto. Frum is a nepo baby whose family was also involved in writing and publishing. Frum earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Yale University in 1982 and a law degree from Harvard in 1987.

A major figure in the neoconservative movement that led America into the Iraq War, Frum wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Manhattan Institute, the Weekly Standard, and the National Post.

Frum was tapped to write speeches for George W. Bush, leaving in 2002. Frum joined neocon think tank American Enterprise Institute and continued litigating support for the Iraq invasion. Frum became a US citizen in 2007. Frum was a blogger for National Review and worked on Rudy Giuliani’s presidential run. Frum was asked to leave American Enterprise Institute in 2010.

Frum married “mommy blogger” and anti-transgender activist Danielle Crittenden Frum in 1988. They have three children, Miranda Ann Frum (1991–2024), Nathaniel Saul Frum (born 1993) and Beatrice Sarah Worthy Frum (born 2001). 

Anti-LGBT activism

Frum was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage. Frum later acknowledged this was wrong.

Frum joined The Atlantic as a senior editor in March 2014. During that time, under editor and anti-trans activist Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine ramped up its attacks on the transgender rights movement.

Frum commented on the transphobic 2018 cover story about the ex-transgender movement by Jesse Singal:

Frum was certainly right about that.

In 2020, Frum analyzed the transgender political positions of Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren, name dropping Joe Rogan’s views on transgender athletes: “After the transgender mixed martial arts fighter Fallon Fox began—literally—smashing opponents’ heads…”

Frum made several appearances on the anti-transgender podcast The Femsplainers co-hosted by Frum’s spouse and Christina Hoff Sommers.

References

Coyne, Andrew; Frum David (December 1995). How Far Do We Take Gay Rights? Saturday Night, pp. 66-75. 

Frum, David (March 11, 1997). Gay Marriage. Slate https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1997/03/gay-marriage-2.html

Frum, David (June 27, 2011). I was wrong about same-sex marriage. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/27/frum.gay.marriage/index.html

Frum, David (October 11, 2007). “Rudy & Me”National Review. Archived from the original

Frum, David (2020). Bernie Can’t Win. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/bernie-sanderss-biggest-challenges/605500/

Frum, David (March 21, 2024) Miranda’s Last Gift. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/david-frum-miranda-daughter-grief/677815/

Obituary (February 21, 2024). Miranda Frum. The Globe and Mail https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/miranda-frum-obituary?id=54427346

Resources

David Frum (davidfrum.com)

New Majority (newmajority.com) [archive]

FrumForum (frumforum.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)