I was formed by 1970s and 80s feminism. Women had – and/or made – their own spaces. A couple of years ago I became aware that this now was seen as ‘exclusionary’. As a survivor of sexual abuse the idea of men being able to easily access spaces by saying they ‘identified as a woman’ is very frightening to me. It seemed vital that self-ID should not be introduced via reforms to the Gender Recognition Act.
As a lifelong socialist I am appalled by the way in which the Left seems to have abandoned any kind of recognition of sex-based inequality. It frightens me that girls and young women are labelled transphobic for trying to protect their own dignity, privacy and safety. It frightens me that women from conservative religious groups risk being further marginalised if they cannot access female-only spaces.
I have been fairly vocal on social media – FB and Twitter. I’ve gone to a Woman’s Place UK meeting. I made a submission to the consultation about possible reform to the Gender Recognition Act. I also wrote to my MP about this topic. I’ve also raised this issue within the religious group I belong to – the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
I suspect that I am getting less freelance work from one particular organisation as a result of being gender critical. This annoys me hugely as I have done a lot of very good work for them. I’ve been barred from a Quaker FB Discussion group whose moderators all support gender identity theory. I’ve lost one FB friend and for a while my daughter – then a student blocked me.
Sibyl Ruth, Writer, library worker, parent and step-parent, gender critical feminist., SibylWrites
The Gender Dissidents Survey 