Brianna Wu Says She Didn’t Change. The Progressive Movement Did.

There’s no one quite like Brianna Wu. 

She’s a trans woman who advocates passionately for trans healthcare, but also thinks many trans activists have lost the plot and are alienating women and feminists. She’s a progressive who once called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez one of the best politicians in America, but is also a staunch supporter of Israel. She was a victim of an alt-right cyberattack during the Gamergate scandal, but now thinks that the far left has become just like that mob. She’s a feminist who has argued for more female representation in the gaming industry, but believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have gone way too far. 

Brianna says her politics haven’t actually changed much. It’s the Democratic Party and the left that have changed, and it’s making the left, she argues, unelectable. But she’s not sitting by while it runs itself into the ground. She wants Democrats to get back to common sense, kitchen-table issues. Which is why she’s speaking out and why she’s launched a political action committee, Rebellion, that’s fundraising in the 2024 election cycle. 

At The Free Press, we cover a lot of people whose politics have evolved over the past decade. But I’m not sure anyone has gone through that evolution as publicly as Brianna Wu.

To be honest with you, there’s no clear way to sell this conversation because it’s so fascinating and wide-ranging. We cover everything from Brianna’s upbringing in a conservative religious home to her favorite video games. (She happens to be a Super Mario Bros. champion.) We discuss Israel and why Brianna identifies as a Zionist. We talk about feminism and the trans-rights movement. And, of course, the upcoming presidential election.

I have to tell you, I’ve done a lot of interviews on Honestly. This stands out to me as one of the best. 

Watch our conversation here:

Or, if you prefer, listen to it here:

Below is an edited and condensed transcript of our conversation:

On childhood, growing up in Mississippi, and her gender transition:

Bari Weiss: We all contain many universes, you particularly so, and I think the right way to ground the conversation about your political changes is by telling people a little bit about the world you were born into. You grew up in Mississippi. Take us back there. 

Brianna Wu: Well, I was adopted into a kind of fringe right, Christian family. And we ended up in Mississippi. My dad decided to leave the Navy and go back to his birthplace. I grew up in the poorest state in America, but my dad is a rich surgeon who started a set of gynecology clinics when healthcare prices were exploding in the ’90s. So we were very, very well-off. You know, I was a closeted trans child, so I had that rebel spirit inside, going to church three times a week. I’ve had a lot of experiences over my life, and I think it’s kind of given me a broad perspective that informs this subtlety that you see in my politics. 

Bari Weiss: So you’re adopted and you’re raised in Mississippi. Dad had been in the Navy. You’re in a conservative Christian family. And as you just said, you’ve described yourself as a boy who desperately wanted to be a girl. Can you explain what that meant?