Torrey Peters has never written with her detractors in mind, and she doesn’t plan to start just because her debut novel, Detransition, Baby, is now a bestseller. “I think it’s very important to not write defensively,” she says, reflecting on how the book was at risk of being weaponized as a transphobic talking point. “I’m conscious about who I choose as my audience, but I’m not conscious about thinking of all the ways that bigots could twist my words.” 

In the novel, hot trans girl protagonist Reese has grown weary of the chaotic social life she leads and starts to consider entering a co-parenting setup with her ex, Ames, who has detransitioned after living as a trans woman and is now having a baby with a cis woman—also his boss—named Katrina. Peters’ emotionally intell...