Skip Navigation
Author

Melissa Gira Grant

Melissa Gira Grant is a staff writer at The New Republic, the author of Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work (published by Verso), and the co-director of They Won’t Call It Murder (executive produced by Field of Vision). She was a senior reporter at The Appeal, and a contributing writer at The Village Voice and Pacific Standard.


All Articles
May 9, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Republicans’ Anti-Trans Assault Has an Achilles Heel
By cruelly targeting minorities, the GOP could accidentally create a new constituency.
April 27, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Confused About Mifepristone’s Status? That’s Exactly What Republicans Want
While the Supreme Court temporarily preserved access to the abortion pill, these constant switches make it harder for those seeking abortion, as well as their providers.
April 20, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
What to Watch for in the Supreme Court’s Mifepristone Ruling
The justices could decide to revive a Victorian-era vice law that bans the mailing of abortion materials entirely.
April 12, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Conservatives Are Turning to a 150-Year-Old Obscenity Law to Outlaw Abortion
With the Comstock Act of 1873 coming back to life, reproductive care, LGBTQ protections, and a host of other civil rights are now at risk.
April 6, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Republicans Lose Another Anti-Trans Smear Campaign
The tactic failed again in this week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
April 4, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
The Weird Religious Fervor of the Trump Faithful
The MAGA circus hits the courthouse in Manhattan.
March 16, 2023
MagazineMelissa Gira Grant
Conservatives Are Trying to Ban Books in Your Town. Librarians Are Fighting Back.
How a right-wing mania is destroying the social fabric of communities across America
March 2, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Ron DeSantis Is Chasing Conservative Clout at the Expense of His Real Constituents
The governor and 2024 aspirant is building his national brand by making life hell for regular Floridians.
January 11, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
The Conservatives Who Attacked School Boards in 2022 Are Now Going After Libraries
Moms for Libraries is set to inject right-wing politics into school reading shelves.
January 3, 2023
Melissa Gira Grant
Welcome to Ron DeSantis’s 2024 Campaign Against “Wokes”
The Florida governor and potential presidential contender used his inauguration address to target his favorite bogeyman.
December 20, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Failed Coup Leader of the Year: Kari Lake
The Arizona Republican echoed all of Trump’s election denial strategies from 2020. But this time, none of them worked.
November 22, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Elon Musk’s Anti-Trans Twitter Regime
Not content with reactivating accounts that spewed anti-trans content, Musk’s Twitter has now banned a group that organizes to protect people at LGBTQ events from far-right violence.
November 21, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
The Massacre at Club Q Should Not Have Felt Inevitable
The attack on this LGBTQ community space did not come without warning.
November 9, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
On an Otherwise Normal Election Day, Kari Lake Was the Last MAGA Standing
While she’s not yet tried to claim outright victory, her supporters are readying a “Stop the Steal” redux.
November 8, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
The “Constitutional Sheriffs” Movement Is Planning to Disrupt Election Day
A group of law enforcement officers who think their authority supersedes the federal government’s are running for elections across the country—and monitoring voters at the polls.
October 20, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
The MAGA Queen of Election Denial
Arizona was the epicenter of Trump’s “Stop the Steal.” Now Kari Lake is its lead proselytizer for the 2022 midterms.
September 28, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Doxxed Doctors, Library Bomb Threats, and Attacks on Pride Centers: A Week in Escalating Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Amid a rising right-wing tide of threats, recent incidents have sadly not been out of the norm.
September 22, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Happy Banned Book Week! Schools Are Increasingly Going After LGBTQ Books.
In the last year, works by more than 1,200 authors were banned, affecting nearly four million students.
September 20, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Glenn Youngkin Enlists in the Republican Governors’ War on Trans Kids
The GOP used to pass laws to scapegoat marginalized groups. Now it’s turning to executive fiat instead.
September 14, 2022
Melissa Gira Grant
Republicans Are Spreading a Bogus “Rainbow Fentanyl” Panic Ahead of the Midterms
The GOP is ramping up its rhetoric about Biden, the border, kids, and overdoses.

Our Writers

Kate AronoffClimate & Energy
Matt FordLaw & The Courts
Melissa Gira GrantLGBTQ Rights
Jason LinkinsPower & Plutocracy
Timothy NoahPolitics & Economy
Ellie Quinlan HoughtalingBreaking News
Edith OlmstedBreaking News
Hafiz RashidBreaking News
Greg SargentPolitics & Democracy
Grace SegersCongress & Elections
Alex ShephardPolitics & Media
Heather Souvaine HornClimate Change
Michael TomaskyPolitics & Ideas
About The New Republic’s history