Jenny’s work appears regularly in the New York Times, Medium and many other major news outlets.
Jenny Boylan: “I’m All Done Defending My Humanity.”
Another week, another clever “think piece” by someone who feels it does the world a real service to explain why…
Caitlyn Jenner and the Conservative Barbecue
Can Caitlyn Jenner change the Republican party? Or will she be like the pig in the chef’s hat on the…
Susan Faludi and the Mystery of Identity
“I think trans people are heroes,” Jennifer Boylan says. “I would also say that I wouldn’t want to get between anybody and the…
Does this Gender Make Me Look Fat?
A talk at Aspen about trans experience with Fox News’ Kristen Powers. Listen to the podcast here.
A 2016 Alphabet: from A to Ziggy
The worst year ever, reviewed alphabetically. (L, Lincoln Chafee! Dude, feel the Chafe!)
The Strangest Christmas Gift, Ever
Why did they come to our door, year after year — bearing sex toys, Jack Daniels, and broken toy soliders? Was it me?…
Really? You’re Blaming Transgender People for Trump?
It was the morning after the election. The bottle of Champagne I’d opened as part of an anticipated victory celebration…
Marijuana Laws Harsh Nation’s Mellow
Perhaps it’s my 1970s adolescence that has left me with the feeling that my use of cannabis is somehow risqué.…
Five Days
Five Days • November 3, 2016 • Pushing thru the market square so many mothers sighing News had just come over,…
The Trump Carousel
As Joni Mitchell once observed, we’re captive on a Carousel of Trump. How Donald seized a beloved New York City landmark…
The Bitch is Back: Older, Wiser, and (Getting) Happier
When Jennifer Finney Boylan is asked, “Don’t you want more, sometimes?” she gently replies: “Well, no one ever wants less.”…
The Normalization of Hate
I know who is responsible for the fear I feel when I hear gunfire. It’s you, Mr. Trump, just as…
Me and Prof. Edward Albee
We were sitting in his loft in TriBeCa, Edward Albee and I, talking about families. Edward and his partner, the…
The Woman Card: Feminism and the 2016 Election
The historic candidacy of Hillary Clinton meets a Supreme Court vacancy and a presumptive Republican nominee with overwhelming unfavorables amongst…
On Being a Transgender American
“I spent the first half of my life being afraid,” says Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of the bestselling memoir of…
Let’s Talk About Sex
Esther Perel’s TED talks about fidelity have been watched more than 13 million times, and her book Mating in Captivity…
Campaigning Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu
There was Hillary Clinton, faltering and unsteady. For a moment I wondered if she was going to make it. In…
Lessons From a Life in Two Genders
Twelve years into her marriage with her partner, Jennifer Finney Boylan transitioned to womanhood. In this interview filmed at the…
The XY Games: What ‘Gender Testing’ Reveals About the Olympics, and Ourselves.
IN the 1936 Olympic Games, the sprinter Stella Walsh — running for Poland and known as the fastest woman in the world…
Imagining Grace
Deirdre “Grace” Boylan, wife of transgender activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, speaks about change, love, and resilience. Jenny is the writer…
Bring Moral Imagination Back in Style
What my hearing loss is teaching me about the suffering of others.
Donald Trump, You Are Not My Voice
Last night, in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention Donald Trump said he’d fight for LGBTQ Americans, and the…
Conventional Wisdom
Sure, this year’s Republican convention marks a disruption in the space-time continuum. But can it live up to that time…
Why Third Party Candidates Are Like Raccoons in Your Chimney
The thing about third party candidates is that, like love affairs, they are not unlike having raccoons in your chimney.…
Where did the Orlando shooter learn his hate? Hint: It wasn’t from Osama bin Laden.
Donald Trump wasted no time. “Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn’t…
A Woman at the Boys’ Reunion
Do my former classmates accept me as transgender out of compassion or simply loyalty?
A Twist in Her Plot
I arrived at the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins in September 1985, bearing a box of books, a Kaypro word…
Modern Love: The Podcast | ‘Maddy’ Just Might Work After All
In the 13th episode of Modern Love: The Podcast, the transgender activist, author, New York Times Op-Ed writer, Barnard and…
Can’t Decide? Maybe That’s Your Best Choice
ARE Americans having a hard time making up their minds? We can’t decide. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won the…