Factually! with Adam Conover Anti-Trans Playbook is Designed to Hurt Women, with Paisley Currah
Feb 25, 2026
Paisley Currah, a political science and gender studies professor who studies transgender governance, unpacks how anti-trans tactics fit into a wider rollback of civil rights. They trace how sports, medical bans, legal definitions of sex, and 'gender ideology' rhetoric are used as wedges. The conversation highlights political strategy, cultural anxieties, and local organizing pushing back.
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Anti-Trans Campaign Aims To Roll Back Feminism
- Anti-trans attacks are part of a broader strategy to dismantle civil rights by undermining legal doctrines that protect women and minorities.
- Paisley Currah explains the campaign targets gender language and sex definitions to roll back feminist legal gains and normalize administrative cruelty.
Use Data And Fairness To Counter Moral Panics
- Reframe contentious issues (sports, youth care) to focus on fairness and data rather than moral panic.
- Paisley suggests policies like hormone-duration criteria and tailored eligibility instead of blanket bans that harm kids.
Birth Sex Definitions Weaponize Stereotypes
- Defining sex strictly by birth assignment is the core legal move used to erase gender identity and attack trans recognition.
- Paisley links this move to historical sex-stereotype jurisprudence and shows it reintroduces stereotyped limits on women's opportunities.
