The Gender Dissidents SurveyThis matters to me because I see opportunities being stripped from women and girls on a systematic basis. Women’s spaces, women’s sport, women’s identities – it seems like everything is up for grabs.
I have voiced my opinion on social media, and made sure that my children hear my side of the argument.
Tons of abuse, threats of doxxing (although I am very careful because I would be sacked), threats of assault.
Clytemnestra , Geordie Mum. Quiet-abiding, rarely raise my head above the parapet
I care about all rights and equal rights, but I am a woman, a lesbian. I have been called a terf, verbally abused on line and during marches, having to be in a group for fear of reprisal… for saying a sex and gender are not the same, being called transphobic for saying a trans woman is not a biological woman and certainly not a lesbian.
I have to be careful about my views at work for fear of repercussions especially when trying to raise safeguarding concerns for young children and people who say they are trans…without any proper evaluation or analysis of their living situation.
I’ve joined marches, online groups, twitters, help crowd funding to name a few.
I have been called terf, bitch, cunt.
DK, Womansworld65
I tell my two children (one of each sex) that there are no such thing as boy or girl toys/books/colours/hobbies. I will not allow anyone to claim their preferences/personality means they were born in the wrong body. I also refuse to be an unwilling participant in AGP paraphilia/fetish. Womanhood isn’t a costume you can wear, a set of behaviours you can mimic or a club you can join.
I’ve shown my family (who at first thought I was being unkind) current ‘transwomen’ Alex, Rachel, Big Steph, Laurel, Morgane and Lily M. Opened their eyes, big time.
I have been accused of being ‘obsessed’. I point out that I am the mother of a 5 year old girl and that I am determined to stop fetishist men having unfettered access to her changing rooms and sports.
Flintster, Woman. Mum
Women and children’s safety and well-being is being rolled back. In plain sight. The civil service is not impartial while it unquestioningly adopts Stonewall’s ideologies. Women – and lesbians in particular – are afraid of speaking up. I have questioned us using Stonewall for gathering adult experiences on child sex abuse and been accused of being homophobic as a result.
I responded to GRA consultation. I’ve written to and met my MP. I’ve said no at work to the expansion of harmful practices as regards children (giving them unlicensed drugs), and blindly following Stonewall and Mermaids.
I have been accused of being homophobic and of not caring about trans people.
I care because I want to use spaces such as changing rooms, toilets, etc without being harassed and/or intimidated.
I have responded to my child’s school’s consultation on PHSE. I have reminded local organisations about the Equalities Act 2010.
A, terrified public policy woman
My adult life has been marred by bullying, invariably by men, especially those in positions of power, but also from those with whom I was intimate.
I experienced verbal and psychological abuse from my husband, directed at me and my children. I was fortunate to be directed to my local DV shelter by a friend. We did not have to move in, but received help from the wonderful women who worked there.
As I age, I find more and more relief in the company of women. There is a special bond that forms between women in the absence of men. The space feels safer and warmer, and women respond differently to one another when not subjected to the male gaze.
That women who need single-sex spaces for recovery can have that taken from them by the insistence by men who claim to be are women is almost impossibly painful. Those spaces have been set up by women, for women. I feel so angry when men demand the right to enter.
I have responded online to consultations, written to MPs and MSPs. I have donated online to campaign for women’s rights. I have spoken out on social media, using my own name, despite threats of violence, and to my career.
Until last year, I was tied up in an unhappy marriage and too unwell to travel. Now coronavirus is interfering with my freedom, but I hope to join up with other women in the near future, either to meet with ReSisters group, or attend an organised meeting.
I have received public threats on Twitter, both of physical harm and threats to my career, one of which was a credible threat to report me to the governing body of my profession, which fortunately was not carried through.
I am fortunate to have lived in a place where I was physically out of reach for physical threats or UK police reports and therefore I have felt able to speak more freely than otherwise.
Sarah, 50ish human female
I care because homosexual bisexual gifted and neurodiverse kids in the throngs of puberty and adolescence are now being convinced that they were “born in the wrong body” and must transition or they will commit suicide.
I have spoken with the school and teachers , supported hundreds of other parents online and through my local PROGD support group, talked to anyone who will listen, and I have recently started an international parents group challenging gender affirmative care for children and adolescents.
People think I’m not supportive of my kid and treat me like an enemy. I’m excluded from my “liberal” friends and community now.
Alexandra, Parent who is thinking critically and wants to protect my child
I care because I saw the violence issued towards women by trans activists and read accounts of women being physically attacked in public. I was concerned about predatory men pretending to be trans gaining access to vulnerable children and women.
I have tweeted support for gender critical women and trans women.
My account has been swarmed over, I’ve been called every type of name under the sun, Aidan Comerford attempted to doxx me, I’ve had to lock my account and use a pseudonym.
Emma, Any movement that claims that women are the problem IS the problem, Ireland
I care because if I had been born 10 or 20 years later, I am 100% certain I would have “transitioned” and would most likely now be among the growing number of detransitioners. I am horrified at the glorification of mutilation of women’s and children’s bodies as a “brave” “choice.” I am terrified for my own daughter and I hope that by the time she is old enough to learn about this shameful chapter in history, it will be just that: history, relegated to the dustbin.
I have not done nearly as much as I would like to. I work in a field that is full of trans-identified males and their vocal allies, and I cannot afford the career and economic consequences if I am blacklisted in my profession due to being smeared as a “TERF.” I am active on social media, for a time under my full name, but now under just my first name.
I have been very fortunate thus far to have avoided being targeted or doxxed by trans-rights “activists.” However, I am very afraid for my and my daughter’s future if I ever am.
M, concerned single mom, Germany
As a mother, I am appalled by the message to children that there might be something wrong with their body just because they don’t fit into society’s stupid rigid stereotypes for girls and boys. As a feminist I am concerned about the natural erosion of women’s hard won rights that comes from eroding the definition of the word woman. I am worried about women losing their safe spaces and women-only platforms.
I have written to my MP and spoken to close family members but I don’t really post on social media and I would be too anxious to post about this. I did tweet using the #theycallmeTERF hashtag once but that’s all. I have supported petitions and crowd funding for legal battles though.
I haven’t really spoken up so no. It makes me feel very anxious.
Jen, Australia
It matters to me because I believe there are many of us who have lived under one set of understandings (I am 60) and others who are more progressive and are angry if I don’t understand their position or have doubts about it. It seems that if you don’t agree you are ‘hater’ or on the side of injustice. It’s a little too much.
However, I have gay family members and gay friends, children of my friends are gay or trans-gender and I treat them with the same love and respect as anyone else.
I may have doubts about the issue on a grander scale, but I feel like some will label me a ‘hater’ if I share or have doubts at all.
I don’t want to discuss it with over-passionate people.
Mary, Believer in God through Jesus Chris, mom of two adult children and three step-children, professional, and I stay active (exercise), USA
The Gender Dissidents Survey