Melissa Gira Grant | Journalism

Recent Work

This Isn’t an Insurrection. It’s an Alliance.
The New Republic
January 6, 2021

Saving Lisa Montgomery’s Life Requires More Than Stopping Her Execution
The New Republic
January 6, 2021

The Election in Georgia Is About Reproductive Justice
The New Republic
January 5, 2021

Select Features

Nick Kristof and the Holy War on Pornhub
Having declared victory in its war on Backpage and sex work, the liberal-conservative coalition has pivoted to porn
The New Republic
December 10, 2020

The Dangerous Inversions of the Debate Around Trans “Censorship”
The author of a book on the supposed “transgender craze seducing our daughters” claims she is being silenced. It is a very loud silence.
The New Republic
November 23, 2020

Getting Out the Vote in the Maze of Mass Incarceration
Denying people the vote is presumed—wrongly—to be part of the deprivation of being locked up.
The New Republic
October 28, 2020

QAnon Is Using the Anti-Trafficking Movement’s Conspiracy Playbook
Both are swimming in the same false claims and exaggerated campaigns.
The New Republic
August 19, 2020

The Unfinished Business of Women’s Suffrage
The women who remain locked out of the right to vote are the fractured legacy of a fractured movement.
The New Republic
August 10, 2020

The Occult, Terrorizing Politics of QAnon
Q’s followers were promised a war. Now, as federal agents snatch people off the streets, they believe it’s arrived.
The New Republic
August 3, 2020

The Dark Obsessions of QAnon Are Merging With Mainstream Conservatism
With Republican candidates and Trump embracing the strange, child trafficking–fixated movement, it can no longer be dismissed as merely a conspiracy theory.
The New Republic
July 14, 2020

The Rush to Redefine “Defund the Police”
An abolitionist demand rose to mainstream prominence. Now every politician and cable news talking head is suddenly an expert.
The New Republic
June 9, 2020

The Pandemic Surveillance State
In the drive to “reopen” the economy, the means to radically expand tech-based surveillance and criminalize our everyday lives are there for the taking.
The New Republic
May 8, 2020

The Trump Administration Finally Broke the Anti-Trafficking Movement
The bipartisan movement to “combat trafficking” was built on many of the same superficialities as the First Family, but everyone has their limit.
The New Republic
February 18, 2020

The New Majority Behind Sex Work Decriminalization
An exclusive look at a groundbreaking policy transformation. There are lessons for the left to learn here.
The New Republic
January 30, 2020

Human Trafficking Prevention Month Is a Dangerous Joke
For more than a decade, the designation has meant very little beyond self-serving press releases and bad reporting.
The New Republic
January 15, 2020

Culture War in the Workplace
Inside the court battle over trans employment discrimination
The New Republic
January 13, 2020

The New Orleans Police Raid That Launched a Dancer Resistance
The Appeal
May 30, 2018

7 Sex Workers On What It Means To Lose Backpage
The Cut
April 10, 2018

Broken Covenant: A Homeless Youth Organization’s Assault on Trafficking Is Making Women More Vulnerable
The Appeal
January 22, 2018

Family, Former Attorney of Queens Woman Who Fell To Her Death In A Vice Sting Say She Was Sexually Assaulted, Pressured to Become An Informant
The Appeal
December 15, 2017

ICE Is Using Prostitution Courts to Stalk Immigrants
The Village Voice
July 18, 2017

The NYPD Arrests Women for Who They Are and Where They Go — Now They’re Fighting Back
The Village Voice
November 22, 2016

An Escort Killed Her Client In Self-Defense — Then Came The Aftermath
BuzzFeed News
March 30, 2016

How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence
The Guardian
December 5, 2015