Jennifer Finney Boylan and transgender people

Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author, professor, and activist. She has written several memoirs and novels and has frequently appeared in the media to discuss trans issues.

Notable work involving gender and media includes:

  • Her memoir She’s Not There (2003)
  • Serving on the GLAAD Board
  • Writing a New York Times opinion column (2007-2022)
  • Her memoir Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
  • Unsuccessfully lobbying behind the scenes to boycott/cancel RuPaul’s Drag Race (2014)
  • Being a consultant for Jeffrey Tambor on the dramedy Transparent (2014)
  • Appearing as Caitlyn Jenner’s friend on I Am Cait (2015)
  • Giving the thumbs up to an anti-trans article by Lisa Selin Davis (2017)
  • Signing the Harper’s letter with J.K. Rowling, later withdrawn (2020)

Background

Boylan was born June 22, 1958. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1980, then completed graduate work in English at Johns Hopkins University. She was a professor at Colby College from 1988 to 2014, after which she took an appointment at Barnard. Several of her early books were published prior to transition. She wrote a an opinion column for the New York Times from 2007 to 2022 among other writing.

Boylan has been married since 1988 and began transition in 2000. They have two children, one of whom is also trans.

She served on the board of GLAAD and has held other roles at organizations benefiting sex and gender minorities. She has appeared on Oprah and the Caitlyn Jenner reality show I Am Cait.

2020 Harper’s Letter

Boylan was a signatory on the 2020 “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” in Harper’s Magazine. That open letter was criticized for the high percentage of “gender critical” people in the media. Boylan asked to be taken off, while trans economist Deirdre McCloskey left her name on.

Books

  • Remind Me to Murder You Later (1988)
  • The Planets (1991)
  • The Constellations: A Novel (1994)
  • Getting In (1998)
  • She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003)
  • I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir (2008)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror (2010)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor (2011)
  • Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
  • Foreword fo Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community (2014)
  • You Are You (2015)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Bullies of Greenblud (2016)
  • Long Black Veil (2017)
  • Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs (2020)
  • Mad Honey: A Novel (2022)

Resources

Jennifer Finney Boylan (jenniferboylan.net)

Harvard University, Hollis Archives (hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu)

Twitter (twitter.com)