January 12, 2026

What’s Really Behind the Trans Backlash?

58 minutes

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Everywhere we look, the backlash against trans lives is growing louder. We’re facing policies targeting healthcare, book bans erasing our stories, coordinated campaigns to sow fear and confusion. This backlash isn’t happening in isolation, though. It’s part of a much larger cultural and political force determined to roll back gender justice for all of us. Today In the Den, Sara and acclaimed policy analyst Julie Kohler dig into what’s beneath the backlash across America—how it formed, why it’s intensifying now, and how it’s shaping our politics, our families, and our public life. Julie weaves research, history, and storytelling to show the connective tissue between attacks on the trans community, assaults on reproductive freedom, and attempts to reassert rigid gender norms.

Special Guest: Julie Kohler

Julie Kohler is an acclaimed writer whose work has appeared in CNN, The Washington Post, MSNBC, The Daily Beast, and many other outlets. She is also the co-creator, executive producer, and host of the Wonder Media Network podcast White Picket Fence. The podcast has won multiple awards, including a 2025 Webby Award for Best News & Politics (Limited Series & Special) Podcast and a 2024 Signal Award for Best News & Politics Podcast. Julie has two decades of experience working in philanthropy, advocacy, and higher education and is a highly sought out speaker on a variety of topics pertaining to gender justice, policy, and politics. She is the president of BMK Consulting, a philanthropic and nonprofit strategy consulting firm, and a Senior Advisor at the New School's Institute for Race, Power and Political Economy. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Democracy Alliance, a progressive donor network, and as a fellow in residence at the National Women's Law Center. She has served on the boards of many organizations working to strengthen democracy, including, currently, the Pipeline Fund. She has a Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota and lives in Washington, DC with her family.

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