Tag: “TERF”

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Healthcare

As a doctor I fear that predatory men will take advantage of “gender identity” rules to assault vulnerable women in hospitals

I’m a senior doctor, who qualified into a very male dominated profession. Sexism (even when inadvertent) was & is the norm, and difficult to get addressed. As it is, female patients’ problems can be dismissed readily if the diagnosis isn’t obvious.

My biggest fear is that predatory men will take advantage of “gender identity” rules to assault vulnerable women in hospitals, as they have in prisons already.

I have started to engage on Twitter: the pile-on to JK Rowling’s tweets have been galvanising for me on this issue. It took a while for me to understand that “transwomen” had extended beyond the realm of people who had actually transitioned (or were in the process of it) to people who are male-bodied and not committed to transition.

I have also contacted my medical indemnity association: the NHS guidance is very woolly on what happens if female patients object to the presence of an obvious man in a hospital ward.

Essentially, the staff are told to try to justify it to the other patients and if all else fails, find a single room for one or other of the parties.

I have been told that I should be ashamed to be a doctor, that they feel “sorry for patients” having to deal with me. I have been placed on a “TERF” blocklist. I have been called racist, homophobic, and inevitably “transphobic” (and that was after bringing up examples of women prisoners being raped).

I have had to lock my account, particularly as I am worried that I will be reported to the regulator for being critical of gender-identity, and could face sanctions on my career.

N, Doctor

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Healthcare

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

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Healthcare

As a survivor of sexual assault I cannot stand by and allow men to invade the spaces where women should feel safe.

This matters to me because female rights are slowly being diluted by a small majority of misogynistic men. As a survivor of sexual assault I cannot stand by and allow men to invade the spaces where women should feel safe.

I feel angry that these groups of men feel that they can appropriate female language and can call people who are standing up for their rights as Terfs, transphobic, or other derogatory terminology. Mansplaining at its finest, a very dangerous path we are heading down.

I have drawn the attention of friends who were not even aware of what has been happening. I have provided evidence to family and friends about the proposed changes to women’s rights and the dangers that come with allowing men to identify as female. I would like to raise my voice more and am considering an anonymous blog or twitter page so that I can contribute to this safely.

In terms of my friends and family I have found that they have been open to the information that I have provided. However, I am currently employed in a profession that certainly promotes inclusivity and an understanding of the feelings of others so I would be worried about the consequences if I was to speak of these things on a higher platform.

A, Feminist

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Healthcare Others

Sex based stereotypes have massively increased with social media where the most lauded women look like Kardashians.

I have never understood why just because I have a female body I should have lesser opportunities than my brother, why I should be listened to less than my male bodied colleagues. After a lifetime of this I understand that women are oppressed on account of their biology.

At about age 6 I told my mum I was a boy and she should refer to me by a boys name and she should also inform my teacher. I remember the fury I felt when the teacher referred to me by my female name! I don’t really remember why I wanted to be seen as a boy. I think I had told someone i wanted to be a pilot and their response was girls can’t be pilots ( this was 1970s). I fear that if that happened now I would be on a trans pathway whereas in reality at that age I had absolutely no conception of gender but was learning about sexism.

I  fight on behalf of my 6 yr old self and all other “gender non-conforming” children. 

In my opinion sex based stereotypes have massively increased with social media where the most lauded women look like Kardashians.

I have spoken to friends,  colleagues (although warily), have pointed out the mistake  in an online training package where gender was listed as a protected characteristic but not sex. I’ve posted on social media about this.

I’ve been put on terf blocker or block terfs or whatever list. I left the Scottish Green Party. I’ve become politically homeless.

M

Categories
Education Healthcare

A woman is a material reality

I know that women are punished for being women, not for pretending to be women. A woman is a material reality. Our oppression is sex-based and we need to be able to speak about it. I’m also extremely worried about the loss of single sex spaces and how that endangers women. I am disgusted that female sports are being overtaken by men and I worry a LOT about gender non-conforming children being told they’re in the wrong bodies. That is the very opposite of safeguarding. I have been terrified at the way women have been harassed, threatened, doxxed, taken to court, sacked, slandered and physically attacked for believing in the reality of biological sex, and that prevents me from saying more.

I have very occasionally tweeted about it and I have ‘liked’ tweets by others who have spoken out.

I have been roasted by acquaintances on social media. I’ve had to leave online groups. I’ve received abuse on Twitter from lots of people including a man holding a baseball bat who boasted he liked to kill TERFs.

Kath, Teacher

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Healthcare

There also appears to be absolutely no empirical basis to this movement.

I fundamentally believe that individuals who experience dysphoria and distress due to issues with their biological sex and how they feel about it, must be given access to appropriate forms of support and assistance to allow them to understand the causes of that distress and move on with their lives. This is not happening in any meaningful way before these individuals are sent down a medical pathway which does not resolve their distress nor address its psychological causes.

I am suspicious of the politicisation and co-opting of this issue by fringe groups who seek to infringe women’s hard-won civil liberties and protections; and I deplore the actions of former gay rights organisations (e.g. Stonewall) which, rather than disbanding after social equality for us was achieved recently, has embraced the political project of individuals who appear to be little more than men’s rights activists cosplaying as women.

I work with autistic young people, and  I am aware that this group is vulnerable to the influence of ‘transgender’ activism insofar as confusion over sexuality interacts with rigid thinking (e.g. I am a boy and I like other boys, therefore I must be a girl). This has the possibility of causing real psychological and social damage to such individuals.

I am extremely concerned that ‘trans rights’ activists will not discuss their wants or concerns with wider society. Gay rights were won through openness and understanding; ‘trans rights’ (whatever these may actually BE) appear to be advanced via stealth: institutional capture; policy change; shaming of concerned voices; silencing concerned individuals by demonising them as phobic or ‘TERFs’. There also appears to be absolutely no empirical basis to this movement. Is ‘trans merely a manifestation of developmental distress (which is a natural aspect of puberty) interacting with other psychological or psychiatric factors? Is it a cultural phenomenon?

I have shared my concerns with my manager at work, and shared GC content with her. I have asked questions on Twitter (and never received an answer) of trans rights activists. I have challenged a team of researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University, who are running a survey on gay men’s sexual health, over their use of Stonewall’s unscientific terminology and highlighted this as a source of potential bias in their research.

DM, Gender sceptic from Edinburgh

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Parent

I have a lesbian daughter, and I am appalled at the silencing of women under the guise of progressiveness. It’s dangerous.

I have spoken up wherever I have felt it safe to do so; shared my opinions with friends and family; networked with a wider group of women.

My sister and I ran a campaign challenging gender stereotypes a few years ago – through this we have been ‘outed’ as ‘terfs’ and have received abuse from strangers. I have lost my oldest friend who accused us both of being ‘Terfs’

Emma, Mother, daughter, sister, aunt, campaigner – adult human female

Categories
Education Healthcare

I worry for the long term effects that this ideology will have on children

I care because women as a sex class are fundamentally different to men and the language used recently erases these differences.

The reason women face sexism is due to us having the majority of the reproductive burden and to suggest men could claim to be a woman and face the same thing minimises it.

Finally, I worry for the long term effects that this ideology will have on children as no enough research has been done in this area.

I have spoken to some friends and family regarding these issues, particularly the effects on children. I follow many gender critical people/organisations/communities to stay up to date and educated on the topic.

When speaking to one family member about the topic, I barely scratched the surface before they started calling me a “TERF” and saying they were disappointed in me. I haven’t touched on the topic with my family since.

L

Categories
Education survivor trans familiy

If we cannot name our oppression, we cannot fight it

This feels like such an important issue for me for several reasons.

I have personally experienced the ways in which trans identifying males entering female only spaces completely changes the dynamic, effectively silencing female voices, even when the purpose of the space has been designed precisely to elevate women’s voices.

I see the violence and hostility directed at women for wanting to talk about our sex based rights as yet another iteration of male aggression, entitlement and dominance. Furthermore, I can foresee the long-term consequences of allowing gender ideology to supplant biological sex as effectively undoing all of the work of the women’s movement of the last century. If we cannot name our oppression, we cannot fight it.

Initially, I started posting articles and my own opinions on this issue on social media. I have also attended several events and protests that have sought to highlight or discuss this issue. I have also attended meetings for women only with a similar purpose. I have had private discussions offline with friends and family. And finally, I chaired a meeting on the sex based rights of women and girls.

Personally, I have lost several friends over this issue, or experienced others distancing themselves from me over it. I have also had disagreements with family members.

It has been scary, as a survivor of male violence including family violence, and having ptsd symptoms associated with it, to be confronted with shouting and aggressive posturing from masked individuals at the protests and meetings I have attended.

It has made me feel incredibly ‘unsafe’. It has also been unpleasant to be accused of bigotry, transphobia or branded a terf in online spaces. Lastly, my teenage niece is talking about her desire to transition, and this has adversely affected my relationship with her, and caused deep grief and stress to herself and other members of my family at a very uncertain time.

Jo , Concerned auntie, educator and advocate for women and girls

Categories
Education Healthcare Parent

I know how important language is

I care because I can see how important this is to women’s rights. I could not understand that people were making untrue statements such as trans women are women – and this was to be recognised legally. I know how important language is to if we redefine woman then women’s rights are also under threat. I started looking into the issue further and was horrified to see the promotion of gender ideological ideals being pushed in schools (the various agencies they use and the games they play such as the dice – that is not sex education – it is entirely hedonistic), children being given hormone blockers with little empirical evidence of the long term effects. I cannot believe that this is being allowed here in the UK. I am a mother, I taught for 15 years and I am shocked that children have not been protected from this – absolute madness.

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I’ve been on Twitter and I have informed friends which include teachers, nursers, and specialist children’s service workers. None of them knew about this. I don’t feel I can share anything publicly,

I reasoned if something as benign as JK.Rowling’s series of tweets was deemed hate speech (seriously this term needs explaining as there was nothing hateful in those tweets) I thought people might think I was transphobic and bigoted.

I have no issue with people want to dress or present but I do believe that sex education should not be about gender identity – rather it should be biologically based with discussion on sexual orientation (gay, lesbian, bi, heterosexual) with discussion on intimacy and love discussed too.

I have had someone calling me ‘asshole’, TERF, bigot and ignorant on social media (Twitter) when talking with others about not feeling we could share anything publicly, the thread was asking if anyone had joined anonymously just to discuss this issue – many of us had. Someone intercepted the discussion (nothing derogatory about any group of people, it was only saying things like ‘I wasn’t aware of this issue). I have not been rude or hostile to anyone in the discussions.

C, Feeling concerned about gender ideology