TERFs are the worst. How anyone can be a feminist and not believe in the equality of every person astounds me. So, these Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists really get on my nerves. I know, as a male, I’m in no place to dictate what your feminism should be, I also won’t sit here and mansplain feminism either. But as someone who is a keen supporter of equality, I wholeheartedly feel that trans people should be included in feminism.

Over the last couple of months, I have felt a myriad of different emotions surrounding this topic – the majority of them being anger and sadness. Every other day I have looked at Twitter and had the sudden urge to throw my phone to the other side of the room. I feel sorry for my flatmates because the number of times I have screamed in anger recently is substantial, to say the least.

The abominable abyss which is Twitter is strife with false illusions of what the Gender Recognition Act reform would mean. Those who don’t support the reforms, seem to think that it will mean any man could just walk into a woman’s bathroom and sexually assault them, which just isn’t the case. Not only is it enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 that trans people can use the bathroom of their choice but, if you look at the proposed reforms, you find that an individual would have to wait 3 months before they could self-identify as their gender. But if anyone disagrees with these so-called feminists they are ousted as being misogynistic and sexist, even the women. I am all for calling out misogyny but someone telling you that your opinion is hurtful to a whole community of people is not misogyny, it is the punishment of being a bigot. 

One of my most recent hated Twitter TERFs include JK Rowling. There are not enough hours in the day to discuss JK Rowling, her clear transphobic stance has left many of her fans feeling hurt and betrayed. She also has a book series, that she publishes under a male penname. The most recent, telling the story of a man who dresses up as a woman to kill his female victims in bathrooms, I think I know where she gets her statistics from now. Now, my hatred of transphobes doesn’t just extend to women, that should go without saying.  There are plenty of bigoted men out there, but they don’t tend to be feminists. 

I do find it strange, however, that TERFs use being criticised for their transphobic views to label someone as misogynistic. I saw one article refer to the existence of trans people as “the new gender identity orthodoxy” and suggesting that women who do not adhere to it are being hounded out of public life. In my mind, if someone doesn’t believe people can change sex and don’t ‘believe’ in trans people and are public about it, that is a hate crime and should be treated as such.  To believe otherwise seems like a step back to when being homophobic, racist, or sexist was acceptable in the workplace – all this seems like a disgusting double standard. I’m not ruling out that there might be misogyny within some trans activism (especially on Twitter), but it does seem a bit farfetched to label every trans activist as a misogynist. 

The debate seems to be even bigger in Scotland as reforms to the GRA are being passed through parliament. There is even a massive divide within the SNP. I find this incredibly disheartening. I have supported the SNP for a long time but after finding out that a woman who is a proud supporter of the Trans exclusionary group LGB Alliance had been elected as the Equalities Officer in the NEC I feel nothing but dismay. She has also blocked half of the queer youth in the SNP. Definitely sounds like a woman who believes in equality *insert eye roll*. There’s also a specific Edinburgh SNP MP who has publicly supported a woman who published tweets enrobed with transphobia and anti-Semitism. On top of this, a trans activist within the SNP, who I wrote an article about, has left the party after numerous attempts of complaining to National Executive Committee about their experience of transphobia and bullying within the party. If the SNP want to see themselves as a supporter of an equal Scotland, they need to step up their game.

I just wish people, especially in a left-wing party, would get on the correct side of history. It seems the same abuse and injustice is happening to trans people now as it was to gay people 50 years ago. I want people to understand that trans people are not a threat to anyone’s existence, they are just trying to lead a life in the body they feel comfortable in. 

I will never understand, as a cis-gendered white male, the torture of not only being a trans person but also a woman. However, the way to stop assaults and rape is not through belittling an already suppressed community, it is by teaching young boys that is not okay in any circumstance to mistreat another person. It is done by ceasing the existence of toxic masculinity and holding those who do wrong to account. As Alison Sudol wrote, in ‘Feminists Don’t Wear Pink: and other lies’, “If girls can be taught to be proud of girls and boys to think that being a girl is pretty great too, the world would be a whole different can of beans.” What saddens me the most, however, is seeing other members of the LGBTQ+ community not supporting Trans people, they fought for us during Stonewall, therefore, we need to stand with them now.