Jamie Reed’s Big Tent

Rep. Wheeler and why you don’t need a PhD in gender woo to fight for women and girls

March 27, 2025

Earlier this morning, Jamie Reed published a post on Substack titled, “Big Tent New Hampshire.” The post does a great job of explaining the events of March 25 in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where the NH League of Women Voters held a completely biased “listening session” with state Representative Jonah Wheeler and City Councilor Karen Hill, both Democrats.

Wheeler was there to defend his vote on HB 148, which allows business establishments and some sports associations to maintain female-only sports and spaces. Hill was there to complain that Wheeler’s vote on HB 148 constitutes a “racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic agenda,” along the lines of Project 2025.

I was there to represent the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International USA, which works to advance the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights throughout US law and policy, in supporting Representative Wheeler, along with the LGB Courage Coalition and some members of Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender (DIAG).

The New York Sun did an excellent job of covering the event (archived version here). According to the Sun:

Despite the vocal opposition to Mr. Wheeler and shouts for him to “shut up,” there was a significant portion of the audience in support of the legislator. Ms. Reed travelled to New Hampshire for the event, as did gender-critical author and attorney, Kara Dansky. There were several detransitioners and members of a group called LGB Courage Coalition. They wore pins that looked like transgender “progress flags” with the transgender-supporting colors cut out.

“I am here specifically as a Democrat, as a lesbian, and as a whistleblower from a pediatric gender center to stand up with a fellow Democrat who is finally taking a position I can support publicly,” Ms. Reed told the Sun.

Ms. Reed said despite Mr. Newsom’s recent statements, she doesn’t think the party is on the verge of changing its positions. She said a Democratic Party executive at the town hall told her he didn’t care about polling on the issue. “This is like Germany in the 1920s and 1930s,” Ms. Reed said he told her of Mr. Wheeler’s stance.

Ms. Dansky agreed that the change will be slow — but she’s fighting hard to make it happen. “A lot of Democrats got it wrong on gay marriage and they changed their minds and apologized,” Ms. Dansky told the Sun. “They did it on that. They can do it on this.”

Jamie explains:

The evening kicked off three hours early at a local pub, where our team rallied. We’ve been boots-on-the-ground in New Hampshire for months, targeting this battleground state to protect kids from puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries with our limited resources. We’ve built trust with local leaders and knew we had to show up for Rep. Jonah Wheeler, a young Democrat in his 20s who took office at 19. He’s a natural—loves people, thrives in politics. At the restaurant, he chatted effortlessly with supporters, dissecting the Clinton-era Democratic landscape he’s too young to have lived through.

The event, hosted by the local League of Women Voters, reeked of bias from the start. As we entered the library, we overheard three LWV leaders muttering about “cis women” needing to support “all women” and warning of “outside agitators” like me, Kara Dansky, Cori Cohn, Simon Amaya Price, Elle Palmer, Lauren Leggieri, plus DIAG supporters and local women. I grabbed a second-row seat and struck up a chat with the Democratic Executive Committee leader before things kicked off. He’d later read a prepared statement tearing into Wheeler’s votes. I asked about his background; he dodged. He demanded to know if I’m an expert—I am, so that was easy. When I asked his take on Democratic polling, he snapped that it’s irrelevant, claiming we’re in 1930s Germany. I suggested we stop talking; he bristled. I told him I get called a Nazi online plenty and didn’t need it in person.

After Wheeler and Hill gave opening statements, the LWV opened the session up to questions. One man wearing torn fishnets called Wheeler a fascist. Later during the session, the same man shouted at a man filming the proceedings that he was a “member of the fucking media!” (he wasn’t). He also dug through the bag of an actual reporter without her permission. Throughout, the gender zealots in the room kept snapping their fingers when someone said something they liked, and hissing when someone said something they didn’t. The LWV allowed people to sit on the floor and crowd doorways, creating a serious safety risk.

A local woman was there to support Representative Wheeler and we were chatting afterwards. She said, “That was terrifying!” I said, “I know, but it was nothing compared to events I have attended in the past.” She just shook her head at the insanity of it all.

Jamie concludes:

Takeaways? We must meet people where they are. Not everyone needs to name-drop Skrmetti, Chase Strangio, or John Money to have a say. If folks can just get to “we can’t sex change kids,” that’s enough. If everyone who feels that in their gut could voice it without facing a research gauntlet, we’d be out of this mess.

I want a big tent, free speech—no policing words or expecting newcomers to master the ‘gender’ minefield without support. More welcomers, fewer gatekeepers, and we’d win. Post-event, I marveled at folks saying, “I don’t know that—can you explain?”

That’s Rep Wheeler’s strength: he knows what he knows and doesn’t need a gender PhD. He knows that women have rights that need to be respected and “we can’t sex change children” and let that be enough.

When we fill the tent with the millions who can say that we win.

I agree, for reasons that might be surprising, and possibly even controversial. Read on to learn why.

Paid-only content follows. If you are not already a paid subscriber and would like access to content that delves deeper into the movement to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls and to stop the abolition of sex, please consider becoming one today.