Jennifer Finney Boylan


Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author, transgender activist and reality television personality who is a professor at Barnard College and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She appeared on I Am Cait, a 2015-2016 spin-off of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, starring her friend Caitlyn Jenner.

Early life and education

Boylan was born as James Boylan in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and graduated from The Haverford School, a private, all-boys prep school in Haverford, Pennsylvania, in 1976. Boylan graduated from Wesleyan University in 1980, then completed graduate work in English at Johns Hopkins University.

Career

Boylan was on the faculty of Colby College from 1988 to 2014. In 2000, she was named "Professor of the Year" at Colby College. Starting in 2001 after her male-to-female transition, she began publishing under the name Jennifer Boylan. She moved to Barnard in 2014, where she is both Professor of English and Anna Quindlen Writer-in-Residence.
Boylan has written thirteen books, including novels, collections of short stories, and her autobiography. She has also contributed to the op-ed section of The New York Times. Her 2003 autobiography, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders was the first book published by an openly transgender American to become a bestseller. Her memoir, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs was published on April 21, 2020 with Celadon Books.
In 2013, Boylan was chosen as the first openly transgender co-chair of GLAAD's National Board of Directors. Boylan also serves on the Policy Advisory Board of Gender Rights Maryland and the Board of Trustees of the Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.

Public life

Boylan has spoken on numerous college campuses, including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and Barnard. Boylan has made appearances via a variety of media outlets to discuss her life, books, and activism. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, The Today Show, 48 Hours, and NPR. She made an appearance on 20/20 on April 24, 2015 in support of celebrity Caitlyn Jenner revealing she is a trans person and regularly appeared on screen and as a consultant on Jenner's reality show I Am Cait.
Based on the text of the appeal, she signed A Letter on Justice and Open Debate which appeared on Harper's Magazine website on 7 July 2020, including many high profile names, some with controversial positions on human sexuality within the trans community, such as J. K Rowling. On discovering the names of the other signatories post-publication, Boylan retracted her signature, whereas the transgendered LGBT activist Deirdre McCloskey remains on the list.

Personal life

Boylan is a trans woman. She has two children, Zaira and Sean, with Deirdre Boylan, whom she married in 1988. Boylan began transitioning from male to female in 2000, beginning with therapy, feminine clothing, and female hormone supplements. While undergoing sexual reassignment surgery, Boylan was convinced that her marriage to Deirdre would end. Today, the couple is still married and lives in New York City and Belgrade Lakes, Maine. Nine years after she began her transition, Boylan published an article for The New York Times stating that "my spouse and I love each other, and that our legal union has been a good thing – for us, for our children and our community".
Boylan plays keyboard instruments, and describes playing in various bands in her autobiography, as well as the zither.

Anthologies