Heated Anti-Transgender Documentary Takes Over Twitter

By Amanda Coopersmith, June 13, 2023

Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire tweeted that he had “successfully co-opted the first day of Pride Month” after his highly controversial anti-trans documentary “What is a Woman” went viral on Twitter.

The film became the center of free-speech debate last week after Twitter CEO Elon Musk overrode the platform’s previous decision to limit the film’s distribution for “hateful speech” and promoted the video to his 147.2 million followers. Caption: “every parent should watch this.”

The Daily Wire reported that the video had 170 million views on Twitter as of June 5 (the 2023 Super Bowl had 113 million across platforms).

The 95-minute self-proclaimed “documentary you’re not supposed to see” follows Walsh on his quest to discover the “truth” about womanhood in a culture that divorces sex from gender. Produced by Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire and released to subscribers in 2022, the film has become one of the most controversial Trump-era documentaries. The film’s star, far-right talk show host and anti-trans children’s book author Matt Walsh, was named The New Republic’s 2022 Transphobe of the Year.

On June 1, The Daily Wire’s Co-CEO Jeremy Boering brought the film back into the culture wars when he shared that Twitter had backtracked on a signed distribution partnership after viewing the film and was limiting the film’s visibility due to two instances of intentional misgendering.

Boering appealed directly to Musk, saying, “if Twitter is going to throttle one side of one of the most important debates facing society, it cannot claim to champion free speech.”

Musk responded that removing a video for misgendering “was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed.” Two Twitter execs, including the Head of Trust and Safety, have since resigned.

“The Streisand Effect on this will set an all-time record!” Musk tweeted following the debacle, a reference to the digital phenomenon in which efforts to suppress information inadvertently boost its visibility.

The Rundown

The film begins with Walsh’s cross-country tour interviewing bystanders and progressive experts, including gender-confirmation surgeon Dr. Marci Bowers, gender-affirming therapist Gert Comfry, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Patrick Grzanka, Professor of Pediatrics Michelle Forcier, LGBTQ+ Congressman Mark Takano, and the Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Rodrigo Lehtinen.

Rolling Stone reported that many interviewees were unaware that Walsh was involved in the project and had been told it was a movie “exploring the real lives of people in the LGBTQIA+ communities.”

The experts get airtime to talk about their work before Walsh jumps in with his seemingly “gotcha” question: What is a woman?

Some say they cannot answer because they do not identify as women or that women define womanhood. When Grzanka says that “a woman is a person who identifies as a woman,” Walsh asks if he’s heard of a circular definition.

As Grzanka notes, Walsh is seeking an essentialist definition of gender, or “a set of biological or cultural characteristics that are associated with one gender.”

Walsh says he is just looking for “an answer,” but laments after each interview that he feels no closer to understanding womanhood.

Unsatisfied, he jets off to Nairobi, Kenya. After a “white-man in Africa” scene flush with elephants and spear-throwing, Walsh introduces the concept of transgender people to the Maasai tribe. Their confusion and laughter are presented as proof that this is a “Western phenomenon.”

Walsh then unleashes his anti-trans pundits, former sex researcher Debra Soh, psychologist and right-wing media commentator Jordan Peterson, therapist Sara Stockton and child psychiatrist Miriam Grossman.

These experts “debunk” the “myths” of prevailing gender theories and warn of the consequences of unilaterally supporting children’s gender identities and allowing them to take “experimental treatments.”

Walsh also finds sources to support his favorite anti-trans talking points. Scott Newgent, a trans man who received phalloplasty in his forties, flashes a scar on his arm and discusses post-op complications to show the “dangers” and “irreversible” consequences of trans-affirming surgery.  Two cis-women athletes talk about losing opportunities to trans athletes. An anonymous father claims to have received jail time in British Columbia for refusing to use his child’s preferred pronouns. According to the Toronto Star, the father was charged with contempt after repeatedly sharing his son’s personally identifying information and medical status online during a family law case related to his transition.

At the height of the fear-mongering, trans experts discuss how the next generation is rejecting gender and social mores as TikTok videos of teens post-top surgery flash across the screen. A drag queen hangs out with kids. This is the nightmare: Walsh is moved to action.

The remainder of the film is dedicated to Walsh’s “activism.” He rents a basement in Loudoun County, Virginia to attend a resident-only school board meeting where he calls the board “child abusers” for supporting trans children, writes a children’s book that mocks gender-affirming care, and trolls a non-binary couple on Dr. Phil during a “gender pronoun debate.”

The final scene shows Walsh’s wife in the kitchen – making a sandwich? She gets the last word: a woman is an adult human female who needs help opening a jar. Cue credits.

Critical Reception

The Intelligencer does not advise pressing play. The movie has six reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, none from top critics.

Fox has remained mum on the film, though both Fox and Daily Mail profiled the film’s anti-trans runner Selina Soule on Friday.

Amanda Coopersmith is a Stanford-techie-turned-journalist who writes at the intersections of tech, gender, LGBTQ+ issues, and politics. She is a Master’s student in Cultural Reporting and Criticism at NYU Journalism. @acoopersmith4