In my youth I went on gay rights marches every year. I marched with trans people

I  first became aware of the misogyny in trans ideology in 2015. I was doing an MA in Social Work and the subject was ‘the value of feminist theory for social work practice in domestic violence. I was 50 at the time and although I have always been a feminist I joined the NorthWest feminist and anti capitalist group to get some up to date theory.

A colleague of mine was doing her dissertation on the reform of the Gender Recognition Act. I hadn’t thought much about this until then. Her dissertation was pro reforming it to allow people to instantly self ID. I then read an article by Miranda Yardley in the Morning Star questioning the effects of any proposed reforms of the GRA on womens rights.This was the first time I had heard of Miranda Yardly.

It was a brilliant thought provoking article and I posted it on website of said feminist group and asked that we discuss it. The very next day I was piled on by three transwomen who called me a TERF, said I was transphobic, mocked me and kicked me out of the group.

I was in shock! I was so upset. In my youth I went on gay rights marches every year. I marched with trans people.

I have raised awareness on Twitter, Facebook and supported others in doing so. I have spoken to friends and family.

Apart from getting kicked out of feminist group (described above)  I am treading a fine line in friendship with a friend of mine who is a lesbian but is totally pro trans and wont hear a word against them. She unfriended me for a while on FB. She said she knows I am not transphobic but is worried other people will think that I am. I am not.

CB, The truth matters