Humble pie appears to be on the menu after Brianna Wu admitted she was “wrong” for trying to hear out transphobes on their bigoted beliefs.
The games developer turned controversial political commentator wrote a lengthy post on social media saying she is “sorry” for attempting to meet trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) in the middle on trans issues.
The 48-year-old, who describes herself as a transexual woman, has regularly faced criticism for her rhetoric around LGBTQ+ issues, particularly on the trans community.
She describes herself as a transmedicalist – an individual who believes being transgender is a medical issue that must be treated via healthcare such as hormones or surgery. Transmedicalists typically believe (falsely) that non-binary people are not legitimately transgender.
In her apology, Wu said she “genuinely thought” trying to listen to TERF points, which typically amount to the erasure or public exclusion of trans people, would lead to a “healthier conversation” on trans rights.
“The problem is, [TERFs] are getting crazier and more extreme,” she said.
“If you admit ‘trans women don’t belong in women’s sports,’ they agree, but call you a man the whole time. If you admit, ‘I understand I am a biological man, but this is how I want to live my life and talking about me like this is degrading,’ they scream about free speech.
“If you admit that hurtful language is part of free speech but you don’t have to associate with people that degrade you, they act like the victim and call you a man and then say you should be thrown in an insane asylum.”
Wu further accused anti-trans activists of being “incapable of looking for a middle ground” on the rights of trans people, adding that they simply enjoy “degrading us.”
“They want maximalist policies on everything,” she continued. “They’d throw a fully transitioned, fully passing trans woman in male prison genpop and laugh as she got [AIDS] from being raped.”
‘Go f**k yourself’
The former developer then called on her “trans sisters” to forgive her, saying she doesn’t know “what to do.”
“I think many of our most extreme ideas are bad, but theirs are worse. So if I have to pick, I choose us.”
Unfortunately for Wu, many people online refused to accept her apology.
Journalist Katelyn Burns responded to the statement in a post on Bluesky, saying simply: “go f**k yourself.”
In 2024, while professing that so-called “autogynephilia” is “clearly real,” Wu began personally insulting Burns, calling her “mentally ill,” and saying she didn’t understand “how the state hasn’t taken your children away.”
Just hours after posting her apology statement, Brianna Wu stated: “I want trans women to cede sports, locker rooms where we have penises and go back to a strict medical pathway. I also want to strongly raise standards for young adults undergoing medical transition,” to which one critic replied: “You are not an ally nor a ‘sister’. Be quiet for several days.”
In a final statement, she declared that all issues between her and other trans women are “settled,” adding: “if anyone wants to reset things, unblock and move forward, I am happy to do that.”
Who is Brianna Wu?
Brianna Wu first gained prominence in late 2014 after facing harassment during the “Gamergate” fiasco in the late 2010s.
A year prior, she released the video game Revolution 60, an action-adventure sci-fi game co-created by Wu and Amanda Warner. The game was repeatedly attacked by right-wingers after it was listed as one of the 10 best indie games showcased at the PAX East gaming conference in 2013.
Wu, Anita Sarkeesian, and Zoe Quinn became the centre-point of a years-long widespread harassment campaign by members of the online forum 8chan, who baselessly claimed they had earned favourable media attention because the gaming industry had been infiltrated by “social justice warriors.”
Emerging from the harassment campaign as a prominent voice in politics and gaming, Wu eventually tried to run for a Congressional seat in 2018. She lost the Democratic primary in September that year, receiving around 23 per cent of the vote.
In the years following, she gradually descended into expressing gender-critical views.
Earlier this month, she expressed her opposition to a GlamourUK magazine cover featuring trans women, saying: “Would I have named ‘the dolls’ woman of the year? Of course not.”
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