The Gender Dissidents SurveyI believe women should retain their sex-based rights and sexual orientation refers to sex, not gender. I’m also horrified by medical treatment of gender non-conformity, same-sex attraction, and girls who wish to escape the reality of being female.
I’ve spoken up with friends, family, online. I’ve written an article in the misogyny and homophobia of “gender identity” ideology.
I’ve lost friends, but had no employment problems.
H. M. , Homo. Not ‘Queer’. Not ‘Cis’, New Zealand
I care as someone who holds two degrees in biomedical science, seeing the spreading of misinformation about biological sex as though it is a debatable hypothesis.
I care as a woman who sees other women shouted down daily, dismissed as hysterical, ageist/misogynistic slurs used against them, all for the crime of organising as a class and wanting to speak about our rights.
I care as an aunt to a 15 year old girl who refuses to use the bathroom outside of class time after they made all of the toilets unisex for inclusivity and boys think it’s funny to intimidate girls in them.
I reply to things on twitter but try not to draw too much attention to myself for fear of backlash,
JD, Netherlands
This matters to me because I believe in truth and TWAW (transwomen are women) or TMAM (transmen are men) isn’t the truth.
I’ve discussed with people (not in real life, though) and posted comments on social platforms.
I have been treated like a stupid who can’t distinguish between sex and gender (me!) and that more rights for transwomen, even if my rights as a woman are given away, are a price to pay (!!!) for equality (because they’re the most oppressed minority etc.). All this from a male engineer.
Patty, I’m Italian and in Italy this madness hasn’t arrived yet, so all this doesn’t affect me personally, but I think it’s important to support my fellow women friends in the UK and everywhere because nobody can erase women’s sex-based rights, Italy
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
Men are not women, and I don’t want to pretend otherwise to be agreeable. Men don’t belong in our sports or our spaces, and have no right to police our language.
I’ve corresponded with like-minded women, donated $ to women’s orgs and followed the issue on social media.
I have been told I am making mountains out of molehills, that I am a bigot.
Natalia W, Adult human female, Canada
I used to be a trans ally, 100% about TWAW. However, back of my mind was always “where does this logically take us” Then I read about terfs, and how horrible they are. I discovered I agreed with everything they said. Men are not women, porn is not empowering and sex work is not like other work. Then I read all the hatred towards these woman and started getting filled with despair and depression. I just could not believe the world had gone so haywire. I started getting enraged.
I care because our rights as women are disappearing, how men have colonized women and taken our sports, and have taken over and bastardized feminism. All their pushing for sex work and kids to be in states of perpetual puberty. I could not stay silent anymore.
I started off anonymously on Twitter, then was banned after I refused to call a man who posted a pic of himself with an assault weapon and the words Kill Terfs, a woman. I was banned. His post stayed.
I then started talking at work, here and there. I started talking to my girlfriends and my sisters. I started posting GC stuff on my facebook and then I started challenging the pro trans people I met. I met up with a rad fem group where I live and attended a Megan Murphy talk at the TPL, which was protested by 1000 men and antifa screaming Shame in my face.
I post all the time about this issue so people can see what is happening to women and understand this extreme misogyny is not a vulnerable minority, it is a men’s rights group with a ton of power. It has nothing to do with the left.
I have been banned twice from twitter, once over the man with the gun and the second over the man who claimed JK Rowling was a pedophile. I refused to use pronouns. I have been called a Nazi by an old friend. A long time love called me a transphobic bigot and I continue to be told “I am obsessed”. Of course I am, we are fighting for our very rights. I have also been shunned professionally by a VP who I attended rallies with. Suddenly I was a right wing bigot.
Deanna S, left wing socialist GC\Radfem. Never backing down, Canada
Growing up as a girl, then becoming a woman, our experiences are too specific to our sex. No male can ever claim they are “us” as well without knowing those feelings we all had growing and maturing as women/girls in society.
V Brown, Canada
This matters to me because I don’t want to lose years and years of women and men fighting for women’s rights just because a man “identifies” as a woman.
I have “liked”, followed, and spoken up on social media with like minded individuals
I have been harassed and called names as a result of speaking my mind.
S, Canada
As a woman this is very close to my heart. I’m an abuse and rape survivor, and a lesbian. I also have endometriosis which is hard enough without having people tell me I can’t call myself a woman!
I have connected with radfems and gender critical feminists around the world, via Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. I have supported other women and tried to spread awareness of the issues, and am currently in the process of organising an in-person group for women supporting women.
I’ve been sent death and rape threats for years now, suicide baiting, name calling, attempts to manipulate me and trigger my ptsd. Every day I am bombarded with hate – I have to take mini breaks every so often to manage my mental health.
K, 31, Australian, critical feminist
I care because I am a woman, a woman with a daughter. Just like me my daughter is a “Tom boy”.
I never wanted to be a girl either it’s not fun. So I ran around with a group of mostly guy friends. However I still like boys so I would date.
When I was 15 years old I lost my virginity to my first real boyfriend. He must have thought that made him have some ownership over me. I was abused beaten and raped, threatened and very scared to move against him. He carefully separated me from my friends and family. He carefully destroyed me and any confidence I had.
As I got older I realized how dangerous some men really are to women. In a world that is made for men we are seen as lesser then. Anyone with a penis being in the same bathroom as me is scary. I don’t want to be scared in a bathroom or a dressing room. I also need a place to talk, having someone their who has or did have a penis would make me uncomfortable.
I’m not against Trans people. They 100% deserve safety and rights too! But why is it that for them to have rights women have to give away the safety we barely have. It feels like Trans women don’t understand and that might be because our experiences are not the same. That’s ok too.
But opening up women exclusive places because someone says they are a woman is very scary.
Biology is real! What about in sports? Will women have to compete with someone who has male biology? Just bc they call themselves a woman? It’s so not fair. This is not the society I wanted for my daughter. It’s also so confusing. I too spent my whole childhood wishing I was a boy. When my boobs came and I got my period I cried because I wanted to be a boy.
In today’s world, society would tell me to transition. But it would have been wrong for me. Now as a adult I know that I am who I am. I don’t have to change. I am a woman, a mother and I am a little rough around the edges. I keep my hair short. I dress how I want and my fiancé still loves me for me. If I had changed I never would have found my happiness.
I have tried my best to speak out on social media and raise other women up. Sadly there is a scary amount of opposition who don’t care about women’s rights they just want the title. They bring down a storm on your job, your family and everything they can attach to you. What a scary thing. Even if your boss agrees with you, they still have to fire you or lose their business!? That is terrifying.
This “agree with me or suffer the consequences” culture that’s happening. This “cancel culture” has moved to regular people. No longer does an angry mass demand a show be taken off the air.
Now they look at a small town mom and say, “agree with me or I will take everything from you”(it’s actually terrifying if you think about it.)
I’m also a artist so I use some of my art to send a message. It’s usually one drawing on black background and large vibrant words. I’m trying to reach out across the line and ask for thoughtful conversation instead of a angry swarm waiting to destroy on command. I’m no one’s enemy.
The consequences seem to be similar for everyone. Like I said before, even if I’m just asking for conversation or a debate to try and see the problems for what they are I am met with blind hate.
Like a swarm of angry bees waiting to sting whoever comes near their hive, we’re not allowed to touch this conversation. So I’ve had hateful slurs thrown at me. Long time friends have unfriended me and I’m made to feel like being a regular woman is a hateful thing in itself.
C. Mutt, I’m a mom and a Artist. My nature is to love and Create. I believe all people have the Right to be safe, happy and live their best life, USA
The Gender Dissidents Survey