Feminist views on transgender topics#The term "TERF"

Late 18th-century English feminists Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Robinson referenced the Chevalier d'Éon as an example of an inspiring woman.{{cite web|date=6 June 2012|title=Portrait mistaken for 18th-century lady is early painting of transvestite|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jun/06/portrait-18th-century-early-transvestite|author-last=Brown|author-first=Mark|access-date=24 September 2023|work=The Guardian}}

In 1866, anti-rape activist Frances Thompson became the first transgender woman to testify before the United States Congress when she testified about the abuse Black women faced during the Memphis massacre of 1866.{{cite magazine|date=8 March 2021|title=Black Trans Women Have Always Been Integral in the Fight for Women's Rights|url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a35746428/black-trans-women-fight-for-womens-rights/|author-last=Preston|author-first=Ashlee Marie|access-date=24 September 2023|magazine=Harper's Bazaar}}

In 1919, the German Weimar Republic–era Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, a sexuality advocacy and research institution, was founded in Berlin. As well as advocating for women's emancipation, sex education, and access to contraception, the institute prominently endorsed LGBT rights and oversaw the development of several advances in trans healthcare, including coining the term "transsexualism" and performing sex reassignment surgery.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aO7YCwAAQBAJ&q=gay+berlin |title=Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity |author-last=Beachy |author-first=Robert |date=2015 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0307473134 |language=en}}{{cite book|author-first=Ralf |author-last=Dose |title=Magnus Hirschfeld: The Origins of the Gay Liberation Movement |location=New York City |publisher=Monthly Review Press |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-58367-437-6}}{{cite book|author-first=Elena |author-last=Mancini |title=Magnus Hirschfeld and the Quest for Sexual Freedom |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2010 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mWXFAAAAQBAJ&dq=Helene+St%C3%B6cker+same-sex&pg=PA25 25]}} Institute founder Magnus Hirschfeld's closest collaborator in the feminist movement was Helene Stöcker, whose {{Interlanguage link|Deutscher Bund für Mutterschutz und Sexualreform|de|Deutscher Bund für Mutterschutz und Sexualreform}} was directly affiliated with the institute.{{Cite journal |last=Matte |first=Nicholas |date=2005-10-01 |title=International Sexual Reform and Sexology in Europe, 1897–1933 |journal=Canadian Bulletin of Medical History |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=253–270 |doi=10.3138/cbmh.22.2.253 |issn=2816-6469 |pmid=16482697|doi-access=free }} Both Hirschfeld and Stöcker viewed women's liberation as intertwined with that of gay and transgender people.{{Cite news |last=Mathieson |first=Stuart |date=4 April 2022 |title=Hirschfeld and early rights activism |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/hirschfeld-and-early-rights-activism-1.4844305 |access-date=9 October 2022 |quote=Through this effort, Hirschfeld met the feminist Helene Stöcker. Both were convinced that the struggles for women's, gay and trans liberation were intertwined{{nbsp}}... |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009222039/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/hirschfeld-and-early-rights-activism-1.4844305 |url-status=live }} Anarchist feminist Emma Goldman also spoke favourably of the institute's work, writing in one of her letters to Hirschfeld that it was "a tragedy{{nbsp}}... that people of a different sexual type are caught in a world which shows so little understanding for homosexuals and is so crassly indifferent to the various gradations and variations of gender and their great significance in life."Goldman, Emma (1923). "Offener Brief an den Herausgeber der Jahrbücher über Louise Michel" with a preface by Magnus Hirschfeld. Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen. 23: 70. Translated from German by James Steakley. Goldman's original letter in English is not known to be extant. Soon after the Nazis took power in 1933, the institute was forcibly shut down, becoming the first large target of the Nazi book burnings.{{Cite web |title=Magnus Hirschfeld |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/magnus-hirschfeld-2 |access-date=8 October 2022 |website=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007223806/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/magnus-hirschfeld-2 |url-status=live }}{{Citation |last=Bauer |first=Heike |title=Book Destruction from the Medieval to the Contemporary |date=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDNvBAAAQBAJ |work= |pages=17–18 |editor-last=Partington |editor-first=Gill |chapter=Burning Sexual Subjects: Books, Homophobia and the Nazi Destruction of the Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137367662_2 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9781137367662_2 |isbn=978-1-137-36766-2 |access-date=2022-10-07 |editor2-last=Smyth |editor2-first=Adam |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010052552/https://books.google.com/books?id=vDNvBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, corresponding roughly to the second wave of feminism, there were several notable clashes between feminists (especially early radical feminists) over the inclusion of trans women in feminist spaces.

A significant early dispute occurred in 1973 during a scheduled performance at the West Coast Lesbian Conference by transgender lesbian folk-singer and co-organiser of the event Beth Elliott.{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |title=What Is a Woman? The dispute between radical feminism and transgenderism |last=Goldberg |first=Michelle |date=5 August 2014 |work=New Yorker Magazine |access-date=1 December 2019 |archive-date=13 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113031943/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |url-status=live}} Elliott had previously served as vice-president of the San Francisco chapter of the lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis and edited the chapter's newsletter, Sisters, but had been expelled from the group the same year on a 35–28 vote on the grounds that she did not qualify as a woman.{{cite news|url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/transgender_activism_S.pdf|title=Transgender Activism|last=Stryker|first=Susan|work=glbtq archives|access-date=1 December 2019|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024110629/http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/transgender_activism_S.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|title=How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States|last=Meyerowitz|first=Joanna J|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-674-04096-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFP2PmYPBBAC&pg=PT289|pages=289–}} After a lesbian separatist group leafleted the conference against her presence, a vote was held among attendees on whether to allow her to remain, with over two-thirds voting in her favor. Despite the results of the vote, Elliott chose to leave after threats of further disruption were made. The following day of the event, Robin Morgan used her keynote speech to criticise Elliott, describing her as a "man" and "an opportunist, an infiltrator, and a destroyer – with the mentality of a rapist."Robin Morgan, "Keynote Address" Lesbian Tide. May/Jun73, Vol. 2 Issue 10/11, p30-34 (quote p 32); for additional coverage see Pichulina Hampi, Advocate, 9 May 1973, issue 11, p. 4{{cite book |jstor=10.7560/752948 |title=Califia Women: Feminist Education against Sexism, Classism, and Racism |pages=28–29 |author= Pomerleau, Clark |year=2013 |publisher=University of Texas Press |doi=10.7560/752948 |isbn=978-0-292-75295-5 }}

Later the same year, a conflict arose between Jean O'Leary, a founder of lesbian advocacy organization Lesbian Feminist Liberation, and Sylvia Rivera and Lee Brewster, after O'Leary said in a speech at the Christopher Street Liberation Day event: "we support the right of every person to dress in the way that she or he wishes. But we are opposed to the exploitation of women by men for entertainment or profit."{{cite AV media |date=June 1973 |title=Jean O'Leary of Lesbian Feminist Liberation Speaks at 1973 NYC Pride |medium=video |url=https://vimeo.com/57691610 |access-date=16 October 2020 |time=00:58}} O'Leary later regretted her stance against trans women and drag queens, saying that "looking back, I find this so embarrassing because my views have changed so much since then. I would never pick on a transvestite now."{{Cite book |last=Duberman |first=Martin B |url=https://archive.org/details/stonewall00dube |title=Stonewall |publisher=Dutton |year=1993 |isbn=9780525936022 |pages=236 |language=en |oclc=1036873329 |author-link=Martin Duberman |url-access=registration |via=the Internet Archive}} "It was horrible. How could I work to exclude transvestites and at the same time criticize the feminists who were doing their best back in those days to exclude lesbians?"{{cite book |author-last=Marcus |author-first=Eric |author-link=Eric Marcus |date=2002 |title=Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights |location=New York |publisher=Harper |page=156 |isbn=9780060933913 |oclc=1082454306}}

After a trans woman asked to join the Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT) in 1978, the organization voted to exclude trans women.{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Becki |year=1995 |title=The House that Jill Built: A Lesbian Nation in Formation |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-7479-9}} LOOT wrote: "A woman's voice was almost never heard as a woman's voice—it was always filtered through men's voices. So here a guy comes along saying, 'I'm going to be a girl now and speak for girls.' And we thought, 'No you're not.' A person cannot just join the oppressed by fiat."

Radical feminist Janice Raymond published The Transsexual Empire in 1979.{{cite book | title=The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-male | last=Raymond | first=Janice G. | publisher=Teachers College Press | location=New York | isbn=978-0807762721 | year=1994 | edition=2nd | url=https://janiceraymond.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The%20Transsexual%20Empire.pdf | access-date=24 May 2019 | archive-date=8 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108205024/http://janiceraymond.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The%20Transsexual%20Empire.pdf | url-status=live }} In it, she criticised contemporary medical and psychiatric approaches to gender transition, arguing instead that "the problem of transsexualism would best be served by morally mandating it out of existence," and accused trans women of reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes. Several academics, researchers and writers characterized these views as transphobic and/or hate speech.{{cite journal|last=Rose|first=Katrina C.|year=2004|url=http://www.ifge.org/?q=node/237|title=The Man Who Would be Janice Raymond|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234214/http://www.ifge.org/?q=node%2F237 |archive-date=29 March 2019|journal=Transgender Tapestry|volume=104}}{{cite book|first=Julia|last=Serano|author-link=Julia Serano|year=2007|title=Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity|pages=233–234|publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9781580051545}}{{cite book|last=Namaste|first=Viviane K.|author-link=Viviane Namaste|year=2000|title=Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People|pages=33–34|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226568102}}{{cite journal|last=Hayes|first=Cressida J.|author-link=Cressida Heyes|year=2003|title=Feminist Solidarity after Queer Theory: The Case of Transgender|journal=Signs|volume=28|number=4|pages=1093–1120|doi=10.1086/343132|jstor=10.1086/343132|s2cid=144107471}} Empire included a chapter criticising "the transsexually constructed lesbian-feminist", devoting a section to Sandy Stone, a trans woman who worked as a sound engineer for feminist record collective Olivia Records. The collective publicly defended Stone, but after continued pressure, including an incident where a trans-exclusionary group that issued death threats showed up to an Olivia event with guns, Stone resigned. Stone later wrote The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto,{{cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=Sandy |s2cid=18936678 |title=The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto |journal=Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies |date=1 May 1992 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=150–176 |doi=10.1215/02705346-10-2_29-150 |language=en|citeseerx=10.1.1.462.3925 }} a response to Raymond's Empire and a foundational work in the field of transgender studies.{{Citation|last=Bettcher|first=Talia|title=Feminist Perspectives on Trans Issues|date=2014|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/feminism-trans/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Spring 2014|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=13 April 2019|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328062920/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/feminism-trans/|url-status=live}}

Not all early radical feminists opposed trans acceptance.{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Cristian |title=Radical Inclusion: Recounting the Trans Inclusive History of Radical Feminism |journal=Transgender Studies Quarterly |date=2016 |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=254–258 |doi=10.1215/23289252-3334463|doi-access=free }} Andrea Dworkin, for example, viewed gender reassignment surgery as a right for transgender people.{{cite book |last=Dworkin |first=Andrea |author-link=Andrea Dworkin |url=https://archive.org/details/womanhating00dwor |title=Woman Hating |publisher=E. P. Dutton |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-525-47423-4 |location=New York City |page=[https://archive.org/details/womanhating00dwor/page/186 186-187] |url-access=registration}}{{Cite book |last=Duberman |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z_LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161 |title=Andrea Dworkin: The Feminist as Revolutionary |date=2020-09-08 |publisher=The New Press |isbn=978-1-62097-586-2 |pages=161 |language=en |author-link=Martin Duberman |access-date=9 October 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009231726/https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z_LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161 |url-status=live }} She wrote a letter to Raymond critical of The Transsexual Empire, which commented that of the transgender people she met in Europe (who she called a "small, vigorously persecuted minority"), she "perceived their suffering as authentic", and related their experiences to Jewish and female experiences. Dworkin said that it was a myth "that there are two polar distinct sexes".{{cite book |last=Dworkin |first=Andrea |author-link=Andrea Dworkin |url=https://archive.org/details/womanhating00dwor |title=Woman Hating |publisher=E. P. Dutton |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-525-47423-4 |location=New York City |page=[https://archive.org/details/womanhating00dwor/page/175 175] |url-access=registration}}

The notion that human sex is not a naturally discrete binary, and that this conception is the result of gendered cultural and political processes, was later taken up and developed by authors like Anne Fausto-Sterling{{cite book |last1=Viveros Vigoya|first1=Maria |editor1-last=Disch |editor1-first=Lisa |editor2-last=Hawkesworth |editor2-first=Mary |title=The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199328581 |page=859 |chapter=Sex/Gender|year=2016 }}{{cite book |author=Fausto-Sterling, Anne |title=Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2000 |page=ix |isbn=0-465-07714-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780465077137/page/n12/mode/1up |url-access=registration}} and Judith Butler.{{cite book |last1=Kirby |first1=Vicky |title=Judith Butler: Live Theory |date=2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |page=23}}{{cite web |last1=Mikkola |first1=Mari |title=Feminist Perspectives on Sex and Gender |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-gender/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2022 Edition) |access-date=26 July 2022 |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601002408/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-gender/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Judith |title=Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity |date=1990 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |page=12}}

Concerning the oversight of the existence of these trans-inclusive radical feminist views, as well as of the role of trans women in the feminist struggle, historian Susan Stryker remarked that "transsexual women were active in the radical feminist movement of the late 1960s, but were almost entirely erased from its history after 1973."{{cite journal |last1=Stryker |first1=Susan |title=Stray Thoughts on Transgender Feminism and the Barnard Conference on Women |journal=The Communication Review |date=15 September 2008 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=217–218 |doi=10.1080/10714420802306726 |s2cid=145011138 }}

The third wave of feminism saw much greater acceptance of transgender rights, largely due to the influence of philosophers such as Kimberlé Crenshaw and Judith Butler,{{cite news |last=Grady |first=Constance |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth |title=The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained |work=Vox |date=20 June 2018 |access-date=26 April 2019 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405172242/https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=The Rolling Revolution in Sex and Gender: A History|url=https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/07/19766/|last1=Yenor|first1=Scott|date=31 July 2017|website=Public Discourse|publisher=Witherspoon Institute|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215060405/https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/07/19766/|url-status=live}} who argued for greater inclusion and examination of other developing fields (such as critical race theory and queer theory) within feminism. Butler in particular argued that women's liberation required a questioning of gender itself, and that accepting gay, trans, and gender-nonconforming people would promote this sort of questioning.

Other feminist authors like Cressida Heyes have embarked on projects of "finding grounds for solidarity" between trans and cisgender women, considering "woman" a family-resemblance concept rather than an essential or univocal one.{{cite journal |last1=Stoljar |first1=Natalie |title=Essence, Identity, and the Concept of Woman |journal=Philosophical Topics |date=1995 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=261–293 |doi=10.5840/philtopics19952328 |jstor=43154214 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43154214 |access-date=20 December 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220213447/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43154214 |url-status=live }}

In the early 1990s, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (MichFest) ejected a transgender woman, Nancy Burkholder.{{cite book|last1=Van Gelder|first1=Lindsy|first2=Pamela Robin|last2=Brandt|title=The Girls Next Door: Into the Heart of Lesbian America|date=3 October 1997|pages=73|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-684-83957-8}} From that point on, the festival maintained it was intended for "womyn-born womyn".{{cite web|url=http://michfest.com/festival_community_statements.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006161540/http://michfest.com/festival_community_statements.htm|title=Michigan Womyn's Music Festival: Community Statements|archive-date=6 October 2014|publisher=MichFest|access-date=30 December 2017}} The group Camp Trans formed to protest this policy and to advocate for greater acceptance of trans women in the feminist community. A number of prominent trans activists and feminists were involved in Camp Trans, including Riki Wilchins, Jessica Xavier, and Leslie Feinberg.{{Cite book|last1=Riemer|first1=Matthew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4qRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA308|title=We Are Everywhere: A Visual Guide to the History of Queer Liberation, So Far|last2=Brown|first2=Leighton|date=2019|publisher=Ten Speed Press|isbn=978-0-399-58181-6|pages=308–309|language=en}} MichFest considered allowing post-operative trans women to attend, but this was criticized as classist, as many trans women could not afford sex reassignment surgery.{{cite book |year=2006 |last1=Hand|first1=MichaelMichael|last2=Sreedhar|first2=Susanne |chapter=The Ethics of Exclusion: Gender and Politics at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival |editor-first=Krista |editor-last=Scott-Dixon |title=Trans/Forming Feminisms: Trans/Feminist Voices Speak Out |publisher=Sumach Press |location=Toronto |pages=164–65 |isbn=978-1-894-54961-5 |oclc=70839321}} Lisa Vogel, MichFest's organizer, said protesters from Camp Trans engaged in vandalism. The festival ended in 2015.{{cite journal |last1=Ring |first1=Trudy |title=This Year's Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Will Be the Last |url=https://www.advocate.com/michfest/2015/04/21/years-michigan-womyns-music-festival-will-be-last |website=The Advocate |date=21 April 2015 |access-date=13 June 2015 |archive-date=15 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615102416/http://www.advocate.com/michfest/2015/04/21/years-michigan-womyns-music-festival-will-be-last |url-status=live }}

File:Existrans 2017 (37931618881).jpg with banner reading "Collective feminist revolutionaries against all hetrocissexist and racist violence" from Paris, 2017]]

Many fourth-wave feminists are trans-inclusive. US organizations such as the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Planned Parenthood{{cite web |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/trans-and-gender-nonconforming-identities/what-do-i-need-know-about-trans-health-care |title=What do I need to know about trans health care? |work=Planned Parenthood |access-date=10 May 2019 |archive-date=11 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511180448/https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/trans-and-gender-nonconforming-identities/what-do-i-need-know-about-trans-health-care |url-status=live }} support and advocate for trans rights, as do most Canadian feminist organizations{{Citation|last=Cattapan|first=Alana|title=Open Arms and Crossed Legs? Subjectivity and Trans-Inclusion in Canadian Feminist Organizations|date=2008|url=https://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2008/Cattapan.pdf|access-date=4 August 2019|archive-date=13 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213133126/http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2008/Cattapan.pdf|url-status=live}} and most African feminists.Camminga B. Disregard and danger: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the voices of trans (and cis) African feminists. The Sociological Review. 2020;68(4):817-833. doi:10.1177/0038026120934695 | quote="Feminists from the African continent have for the most part responded, at least on public platforms, in support of transgender women{{nbsp}}... the narrative of trans-exclusionary feminism in the Global North, which currently seems to be dominant at least in a popular cultural sense, is seemingly not an issue in the same way on the African continent." The influence of trans-exclusionary feminists has waned significantly, though they are still somewhat influential in some countries, including the United Kingdom.

Queer feminist philosopher Judith Butler has argued for feminist solidarity with trans and gender-nonconforming people and has been critical of philosophers, such as Sheila Jeffreys, who they argue engage in attempts to dispute trans people's sense of identity.{{cite news |author-last1=Butler |author-first1=Judith |title=Judith Butler on gender and the trans experience: "One should be free to determine the course of one's gendered life" |url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2009-judith-butler-on-gender-and-the-trans-experience-one-should-be-free-to-determine-the-course-of-one-s-gendered-life |access-date=10 October 2018 |publisher=Verso Books |date=26 May 2015 |archive-date=11 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911131833/https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2009-judith-butler-on-gender-and-the-trans-experience-one-should-be-free-to-determine-the-course-of-one-s-gendered-life |url-status=live }} In a 2014 interview, Butler argued for civil rights for trans people: "[N]othing is more important for transgender people than to have access to excellent health care in trans-affirmative environments, to have the legal and institutional freedom to pursue their own lives as they wish, and to have their freedom and desire affirmed by the rest of the world." Butler also described criticisms of trans people by Jeffreys and Janice Raymond as "prescriptivism" and "tyranny". Butler stated trans people are not a product of medical discourse but rather develop new discourses through self-determination.{{cite web|author-last1=Butler |author-first1=Judith |author-last2=Williams |author-first2=Cristan |title=Gender Performance: The TransAdvocate interviews Judith Butler |url=http://www.transadvocate.com/gender-performance-the-transadvocate-interviews-judith-butler_n_13652.htm |website=The TransAdvocate |date=May 2014 |access-date=24 July 2015 |archive-date=29 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429140934/https://www.transadvocate.com/gender-performance-the-transadvocate-interviews-judith-butler_n_13652.htm |url-status=live}}

In 2012, Jeffreys wrote in The Guardian that she and other critics of "transgenderism" had been subjected to intimidation campaigns on the internet, suggesting that trans rights advocates feared criticism of "the practice of transgenderism."{{cite news |date=29 May 2012 |title=Let us be free to debate transgenderism without being accused of 'hate speech' |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/29/transgenderism-hate-speech |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218135507/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/29/transgenderism-hate-speech |archive-date=18 February 2021 |author-first=Sheila |author-last=Jeffreys}} The article was a response to {{cite news |date=25 May 2012 |title=Radical feminists are acting like a cult |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/25/radical-feminism-trans-radfem2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127025255/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/25/radical-feminism-trans-radfem2012 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |author-first=Roz |author-last=Kaveney}}

In a 2009 paper in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Canadian feminist Viviane Namaste criticised "Anglo-American feminist theory" for relying on "transsexual women to ask its own epistemological questions", further arguing that the realities of trans lives were "chillingly absent from Anglo-American feminist theory and its framing of the Transgender Question" and the knowledge gained by that feminism consequently "has been of little benefit to transsexual women ourselves."{{cite journal |date=2009 |title=Undoing Theory: The 'Transgender Question' and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory |journal=Hypatia |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=11–32 |doi=10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01043.x |jstor=20618162 |author-last1=Namaste |author-first1=Viviane |s2cid=145627130}}

American academic Susan Stryker wrote in 2007 that first-wave feminism had commonalities with the transgender rights movement "[t]o the extent that breaking out of the conventional constrictions of womanhood is both a feminist and transgender practice".{{cite book |doi=10.1057/9780230593664_5 |chapter=Transgender Feminism |title=Third Wave Feminism |year=2007 |author-last1=Stryker |author-first1=Susan |pages=59–70 |isbn=978-0-230-52174-2 }} Stryker stated that transgender issues had led feminist scholars to question notions of biological sex and associated transgender theorizing with the rise of postmodern epistemology in third-wave feminist thought.

In a 2015 interview, radical feminist Catharine MacKinnon cited Simone de Beauvoir's quotation about "becom[ing] a woman" to say that {{nowrap|"[a]nybody}} who identifies as a woman, wants to be a woman, is going around being a woman, as far as I'm concerned, is a woman". MacKinnon says that she has always seen "discrimination against trans people as a form of sex-based discrimination".{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Cristan |date=7 April 2015 |title=Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: The TransAdvocate interviews Catharine A. MacKinnon |url=http://www.transadvocate.com/sex-gender-and-sexuality-the-transadvocate-interviews-catharine-a-mackinnon_n_15037.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224025556/http://www.transadvocate.com/sex-gender-and-sexuality-the-transadvocate-interviews-catharine-a-mackinnon_n_15037.htm |archive-date=24 December 2018 |access-date=22 December 2018 |publisher=The TransAdvocate}} In a 2022 lecture at Oxford University, MacKinnon continued to express her support for transfeminism and transgender sex equality, and criticized the postmodernism, liberalist anti-stereotyping approach, and anti-trans feminism.{{Cite web |author=Catharine A. MacKinnon|date=November 28, 2022 |title=Exploring Transgender Law and Politics|url=https://signsjournal.org/exploring-transgender-law-and-politics/#_ftnref36 |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |language=en-US}} Her lecture was subsequently edited and published in the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism in 2023.{{cite journal |author-last1=MacKinnon |author-first1=Catharine |title=A Feminist Defense of Transgender Sex Equality Rights |journal=Yale Journal of Law & Feminism |date=2023 |hdl=20.500.13051/18252 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13051/18252 |access-date=18 July 2023}}

Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell has said that "the thought that the relationship between character and reproductive bodies might change has long been present in feminism," citing de Beauvoir as well as Mathilde Vaerting.{{cite journal |date=2012 |title=Transsexual women and feminist thought: toward new understanding and new politics |url=http://www.mulabi.org/articulos_para_la_pagina/ts%20women%20and%20fist%20thought.pdf |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |volume=37 |pages=857–881 |doi=10.1086/664478 |author-last=Connell |author-first=Raewyn |number=4 |s2cid=146383764 |access-date=25 November 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110144/http://www.mulabi.org/articulos_para_la_pagina/ts%20women%20and%20fist%20thought.pdf |url-status=live }}

Lesbian feminist Sara Ahmed has said that an anti-trans stance is anti-feminist, and that trans feminism "recalls" earlier militant lesbian feminism.{{cite book|author-last1=Ahmed |author-first1=Sara |title=Living a Feminist Life |date=2017 |edition=1st |publisher=Duke University Press Books |location=North Carolina, U.S. |isbn=978-0822363194}}{{cite journal|author-first=Sara |author-last=Ahmed |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article-abstract/3/1-2/22/91760 |title=An Affinity of Hammers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019210153/https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article-abstract/3/1-2/22/91760 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |journal=Transgender Studies Quarterly|date=2016 |volume=3 |number=1–2 |pages=22–34|doi=10.1215/23289252-3334151 |url-access=subscription }}

Kimberlé Crenshaw wrote in favor of trans inclusion in intersectional feminism: "People of colour within LGBTQ movements; girls of colour in the fight against the school-to-prison pipeline; women within immigration movements; trans women within feminist movements; and people with disabilities fighting police abuse—all face vulnerabilities that reflect the intersections of racism, sexism, class oppression, transphobia, able-ism and more. Intersectionality has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion."{{cite news |author-first1=Kimberlé |author-last1=Crenshaw |title=Why intersectionality can't wait |date=24 September 2015 |access-date=20 September 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/09/24/why-intersectionality-cant-wait/ |archive-date=18 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218135510/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/09/24/why-intersectionality-cant-wait/ |url-status=live }}

Argentine feminist Maria Lugones has argued that the gender binary is a colonial imposition that has been used to divide and subjugate people.{{cite journal |last1=Lugones |first1=Marìa |title=Toward a Decolonial Feminism |journal=Hypatia |date=2010 |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=742–759 |doi=10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x |s2cid=143897451 |url=https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/ref/article/view/36755 |access-date=3 January 2023 |archive-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130085009/https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/ref/article/view/36755 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} Building on Lugones's work, Brooklyn Leo of Pennsylvania State University has argued that "the resistant-creative work of trans bodies of color liberates not just the folds of our own flesh from the Western gaze, but also sustains a new place of possibility for the cis accomplices who also refuse the privileges of the colonial/modern gender system."{{cite journal |last1=Leo |first1=Brooklyn |title=The Colonial/Modern [Cis]Gender System and Trans World Traveling |journal=Hypatia |date=2020 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=454–474 |doi=10.1017/hyp.2020.27 |s2cid=226725843 }}

In a 2020 paper in Feminist Criminology, Nishant Upadhyay of University of Colorado, Boulder argued that "transphobia is enmeshed in white feminism's colonial and white supremacist epistemological frameworks, and that their transphobia, in turn, continues to reproduce gender as a colonial myth" and that the "reduction of the category of 'woman' has been long challenged" by "Black, Indigenous, women of color, Third World, and transnational feminists for decades, if not centuries".{{cite journal |last1=Upadhyay |first1=Nishant |title=Coloniality of White Feminism and Its Transphobia: A Comment on Burt |journal=Feminist Criminology |date=October 2021 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=539–544 |doi=10.1177/1557085121991337 |s2cid=234096594 }} In her book Me, Not You, Alison Phipps argues that "white feminism has a long history of policing the border" and that trans-exclusionary feminists "have much in common with conservatives who claim that increased immigration will result in increased rape".{{Cite web |title=Manchester University Press - Me, not you |url=https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526155801 |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=Manchester University Press |language=en-US |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307193612/https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526155801/ |url-status=live }}

Caterina Nirta of Royal Holloway, University of London has argued that both trans people and feminists would benefit from abandoning "the categorical compartmentalisation of identity and spaces."{{cite journal |last1=Nirta |first1=Caterina |title=A Critique of the Model of Gender Recognition and the Limits of Self-Declaration for Non-Binary Trans Individuals |journal=Law and Critique |date=July 2021 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=217–233 |doi=10.1007/s10978-021-09286-y |s2cid=226790423 |doi-access=free }}

Commenting on Québec's Bill 2 in 2021, Florence Ashley of the University of Toronto has argued for the abolition of gender markers in legal documents, saying that they "help naturalize social categorizations based on gender" and pointing to historical research that found such markers were first introduced in France for the purposes of enforcing conscription, preventing queer couples from getting married, preventing gender diversity, and marking women as lessers under the law.{{Cite web|url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2021/gender-markers-are-useless-so-why-not-abolish-them/|title=Gender markers are useless, so why not abolish them?|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207142251/https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2021/gender-markers-are-useless-so-why-not-abolish-them/|url-status=live}} Marie Draz of San Diego State University has argued that the "hegemonic account of gender as the organization of biological sex serves to obscure the role of racial and colonial domination and the differential allocation of gender across racial lines" and that legal gender classification serves as an "anchor point that reiterates the power of the state to classify and know its citizens."{{cite journal |title=Born This Way? Time and the Coloniality of Gender |journal=The Journal of Speculative Philosophy |date=2017 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=372–384 |doi=10.5325/jspecphil.31.3.0372 |last1=Draz |s2cid=148994708 |url=https://philarchive.org/rec/DRABTW }}

{{main|Gender-affirming surgery}}

In her 1974 book Woman Hating: A Radical Look at Sexuality, radical feminist writer and activist Andrea Dworkin called for the support of transgender people, whom she viewed as "in a state of primary emergency" due to "the culture of male–female discreteness". She wrote: "every transsexual has the right to survival on his/her own terms. That means every transsexual is entitled to a sex-change operation, and it should be provided by the community as one of its functions." She also said that "transsexuality as we know it" might disappear within communities built on androgynous identity, as there would no longer be any gender roles to conform to.{{cite web |url=http://archive.feministtimes.com/%e2%80%aa%e2%80%8egenderweek-andrea-was-not-transphobic/ |title=#GenderWeek: Andrea was not transphobic |last=Stoltenberg |first=John |publisher=Feminist Times |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001619/http://archive.feministtimes.com/%e2%80%aa%e2%80%8egenderweek-andrea-was-not-transphobic/ |archive-date=15 January 2018 |url-status=dead }}

In 1977, Gloria Steinem wrote that while she supported the right of individuals to identify as they choose, in many cases transgender people "surgically mutilate their own bodies" in order to conform to a gender role tied to physical body parts, concluding with the quote: "If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?" Although meant in the context of transgender issues, the quote is frequently misinterpreted as a general statement about feminism.{{Cite book| last = Steinem| first = Gloria| title = Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions| publisher = Henry Holt & Co.| year = 1984| location = New York| edition = 1st| isbn = 9780805042023| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KVHmzw43TgkC| access-date = 7 June 2020| archive-date = 19 August 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200819140343/https://books.google.com/books?id=KVHmzw43TgkC| url-status = live}}{{rp|206–210}} The same year, she also expressed disapproval that the heavily publicized transition of tennis player Renée Richards (a trans woman) had been characterized as "a frightening instance of what feminism could lead to" or as "living proof that feminism isn't necessary", and wrote, "At a minimum, it was a diversion from the widespread problems of sexual inequality." Steinem's statements led to her being characterized as transphobic for some years. In a 2013 interview with The Advocate, she repudiated the interpretation of her text as an altogether condemnation of gender-affirming surgery, stating that her position was informed by accounts of gay men choosing to transition as a way of coping with societal homophobia. She added that she sees transgender people as living "authentic lives" that should be "celebrated".

Janice Raymond's The Transsexual Empire purported to examine the role of transgender identity in reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes, in particular the ways in which the "medical-psychiatric complex" was medicalizing gender identity, and the social and political context that contributed to the image of gender-affirming treatment and surgery as therapeutic medicine. Raymond maintained that this was based in the "patriarchal myths" of "male mothering", and "making of woman according to man's image", and that transgender identity aimed "to colonize feminist identification, culture, politics and sexuality."Raymond, Janice. (1980). The Transsexual Empire, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HwvbAAAAMAAJ&q=appropriating 104] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218135457/https://books.google.com/books?id=HwvbAAAAMAAJ&dq=appropriating |date=18 February 2021 }} Several authors have since characterized this work as extremely transphobic and constituting hate speech, as well as lacking any serious intellectual basis.

In her own 1987 book Gyn/Ecology, Mary Daly, who had served as Raymond's thesis supervisor,{{Cite web|title=Feminist theologian Mary Daly dies|url=https://www.ebar.com/news///240420|access-date=3 July 2020|website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.|language=en|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308171932/https://www.ebar.com/news///240420|url-status=live}} argued that as gender-affirming surgery cannot reproduce female chromosomes or a female life history, it could "not produce women".Daly, Mary, Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, pbk. [1st printing? printing of [19]90?] 1978 & 1990 (prob. all content except New Intergalactic Introduction 1978 & prob. New Intergalactic Introduction 1990) ({{ISBN|0-8070-1413-3}})). Sheila Jeffreys and Germaine Greer have made similar remarks.{{cite news | last= Bindel | first= Julie | author-link= Julie Bindel | title= The ugly side of beauty | work=The Guardian | date= 2 July 2005 | url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/02/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety | access-date= 22 August 2021 | archive-date= 25 February 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210225140358/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/02/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety | url-status= live }} In a response to related remarks by Elizabeth Grosz, philosopher Eva Hayward characterized this type of view as telling trans people who have had gender-affirming surgery: "Don't exist."{{cite journal |last1=Hayward |first1=Eva S. |title=Don't Exist |journal=Transgender Studies Quarterly |date=2017 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=191–194|doi=10.1215/23289252-3814985 }}

{{main|Personal pronouns}}

At the 1973 West Coast Lesbian Conference in Los Angeles, keynote speaker Robin Morgan stated that she would not refer to trans women with feminine pronouns, as transgender women, unlike her, had not experienced a lifetime as women and therefore could not understand the pain of cisgender women.Robin Morgan, "Keynote Address", Lesbian Tide, May/June 1973, Vol. 2, Issue 10/11, pp. 30–34 (quote p. 32); for additional coverage, see Pichulina Hampi, Advocate, May 9, 1973, issue 11, p. 4.

In Gender Hurts (2014), Sheila Jeffreys argues that using pronouns reflecting biological sex is important for feminists, as the feminine pronoun represents respect for cisgender women's historical subordination. She believes trans women can't hold this status, as they haven't experienced the same oppression, and using feminine pronouns for them masks their retained masculine privilege.{{cite book|last1=Jeffreys|first1=Sheila|title=Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism |pages=5 |date=2014|edition=1st|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon-on-Thames, UK|isbn=978-0415539401}} In April 2015, radical feminist legal theorist Catharine A. MacKinnon responded, stating that Jeffreys' stance on pronouns is based on a nature-based moral view, which contradicts feminist achievements, especially from the political analysis of gender politics.

{{as written|Some feminists|reason=Don't stick a 'Who?' template here: the term 'Some feminists' is straight out of the source.}} argue that trans women cannot fully be women because they were assigned male at birth and have experienced some degree of male privilege.{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Samantha |title=Women's issues are different from trans women's issues, feminist author says, sparking criticism |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/13/womens-issues-are-different-from-trans-womens-issues-feminist-author-says-sparking-criticism/?noredirect=on |access-date=11 October 2018 |agency=The Washington Post |date=13 March 2017 |archive-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017045301/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/13/womens-issues-are-different-from-trans-womens-issues-feminist-author-says-sparking-criticism/?noredirect=on |url-status=live }}{{Dubious|date=December 2022}} Radical feminists generally see gender as a system in which women are oppressed for reasons intrinsically related to their sex, and emphasize male violence against women, particularly involving institutions such as the sex industry, as central to women's oppression.{{cite journal |last1=Mackay |first1=Finn |title=Radical Feminism |journal=Theory, Culture & Society |date=December 2015 |volume=32 |issue=7–8 |pages=332–336 |doi=10.1177/0263276415616682 |s2cid=220719287 }}{{cite book |last1=Bettcher |first1=Talia Mae |editor1-last=Disch |editor1-first=Lisa |editor2-last=Hawkesworth |editor2-first=Mary |title=The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199328581 |pages=407–427 |chapter=Intersexuality, transgender and transsexuality|year=2016 }}

The sociologist Patricia Elliot argues that the view that one's socialization as a girl or woman defines "women's experience" assumes that women's experiences are homogeneous and discounts the possibility that trans and cis women may share the experience of being disparaged for their perceived femininity.{{cite journal |last1=Elliot |first1=Patricia |title=Who Gets to Be a Woman?: Feminist Politics and the Question of Trans-inclusion |journal=Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice |date=2004 |volume=29 |issue=1 |page=16 |url=http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/1166 |access-date=12 October 2018 |quote=The first assumption is that one's socialization as a girl or woman defines "women's experience" as something shared. But this assumption downplays differences among women, as if the sociological norms one identifies as part of a patriarchal gender order are evenly applied to all in one cookie-cutter model, or as if girls and women have the same relationships to those norms. It also fails to ask about possible similarities of experience between trans and non-trans women (both of whom may have been disparaged for their femininity). |archive-date=12 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214554/http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/1166 |url-status=live }} Similarly, Transfeminist Manifesto author Emi Koyama contends that, while trans women may have experienced some male privilege before transitioning, trans women's experiences are also marked by disadvantages resulting from being trans.{{cite book|author1-link=Emi Koyama |last1=Koyama |first1=Emi |title=Transfeminist Manifesto |date=2001 |page=3 |url=http://eminism.org/readings/pdf-rdg/tfmanifesto.pdf |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010143204/http://eminism.org/readings/pdf-rdg/tfmanifesto.pdf |url-status=live }}

In "Growing Up Trans: Socialization and the Gender Binary", Michelle Dietert and Dianne Dentice write that when youth embody non-standard gender roles or otherwise deviate from expectations of their assigned sex, the gender binary becomes a form of control by authorities, enforcing social norms upon them. In their view, this begins at early socialization, and transgender youth, especially gender-nonconforming children, often experience different treatment, leading to a fear of reprisals as they attempt to please their family and peers and navigate their understanding of their gender and societal expectations.{{cite journal |last1=Dietert |first1=Michelle |last2=Dentice |first2=Dianne |title=Growing up trans: Socialization and the gender binary |journal=Journal of GLBT Family Studies |date=2012 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=24–42 |quote=When individuals deviate from gender binary arrangements by expressing gender norms and roles not associated with their biological assignment at birth, authorities submit control by utilizing gender binary discourse beginning in early socialization and lasting throughout the individual's life. During early socialization, we suggest that transgender individuals must negotiate their family and peer relationships relative to established, norm-driven gender binary discourse which oftentimes result in anxiety, fear of appraisals for not conforming to gender norms, and differential treatment from both family members and peers.|doi=10.1080/1550428X.2013.746053 |s2cid=143015502 }} They argue that socialization affects transgender youth differently, especially if they are gender-nonconforming.{{cite journal |last1=Dietert |first1=Michelle |last2=Dentice |first2=Dianne |title=Growing up trans: Socialization and the gender binary |journal=Journal of GLBT Family Studies |date=2012 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=24–42 |doi=10.1080/1550428X.2013.746053 |s2cid=143015502 }}

Transfeminist Julia Serano has referred to implying that trans women may experience some degree of male privilege pre-transition as "denying [them] the closet", and has compared it to saying that a cisgender gay person experienced straight privilege before coming out. She has also compared it to if a cisgender girl was raised as a boy against her will, and how the two scenarios tend to be viewed differently by a cisgender audience, despite being ostensibly similar experiences from a transfeminine perspective. Finally, she has noted how the idea of "male socialization" or "male privilege" tend to be weaponized against transfems, an example being "if a trans woman gets upset, angry, or assertive, and someone attempts to pin that on her supposed "male privilege" — yet they would never have considered calling out those same behaviors if they thought that she was a cis woman".{{Cite web |url=https://juliaserano.medium.com/why-are-amab-trans-people-denied-the-closet-7fd5c740ce30 |title=Why are AMAB trans people denied the closet? |last1=Serano |first1=Julia |date=2 March 2022 |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116234350/https://juliaserano.medium.com/why-are-amab-trans-people-denied-the-closet-7fd5c740ce30 |url-status=live }}

In 2017, while discussing whether trans women are women, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, "trans women are trans women." She acknowledged that transgender women face discrimination for being transgender and said she sees this as a serious issue, but also said, "we should not conflate the gender experiences of trans women with that of women born female."{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/3/15/14910900/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-transgender-women-comments-apology|title=The controversy over Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and trans women, explained|last=Crockett|first=Emily|date=15 March 2017|publisher=Vox|access-date=13 January 2018|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114020516/https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/3/15/14910900/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-transgender-women-comments-apology|url-status=live}} She later expanded on her comments, saying, "From the very beginning, I think it's been quite clear that there's no way I could possibly say that trans women are not women. It's the sort of thing to me that's obvious, so I start from that obvious premise. Of course they are women, but in talking about feminism and gender and all of that, it's important for us to acknowledge the differences in experience of gender. That's really what my point is. Had I said 'a cis woman is a cis woman, and a trans woman is a trans woman', I don't think I would get all the crap that I'm getting, but that's actually really what I was saying."{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=David |title=Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on transgender row: 'I have nothing to apologise for' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/21/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-nothing-to-apologise-for-transgender-women |access-date=20 September 2019 |agency=The Guardian |date=21 March 2017 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414015918/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/21/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-nothing-to-apologise-for-transgender-women |url-status=live }}

Laurel Westbrook and Kristin Schildt have argued that the gender that trans people are classed as by society can vary from space to space, with the spaces segregated according to strict interpretations of biology doing so to uphold the oppositeness of genders required for heterosexuality and gender binarism.{{cite journal |last1=Westbrook |first1=Laurel |last2=Schilt |first2=Kristen |title=Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System |journal=Gender & Society |date=February 2014 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=32–57 |doi=10.1177/0891243213503203 |jstor=43669855 |s2cid=146382206 }} Shannon Weber of Wellesley College has argued that "excluding transgender women from admission [to women's colleges] by virtue of biological determinism falls into the same types of anti-feminist ideologies that would historically bar all women from education based on assumptions about the meaning of their biology."{{cite journal |last1=Weber |first1=Shannon |title='Womanhood does not reside in documentation': Queer and feminist student activism for transgender women's inclusion at women's colleges |journal=Journal of Lesbian Studies |date=2 January 2016 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=29–45 |doi=10.1080/10894160.2015.1076238 |pmid=26701768 |s2cid=37246238 }}

In 1996, Germaine Greer (at the time a fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge) unsuccessfully opposed the appointment to a fellowship of her transgender colleague Rachael Padman.{{cite web|last=Garner|first=Clare|title=Fellows divided over don who breached last bastion|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/fellows-divided-over-don-who-breached-last-bastion-1257781.html|website=The Independent|access-date=7 March 2014|date=25 June 1997|archive-date=7 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307162149/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fellows-divided-over-don-who-breached-last-bastion-1257781.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|editor-last=Featherstone|editor-first=Mike|title=Body Modification|date=2000|publisher=Sage|location=London|isbn=9780761967958|pages=219–220|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBs1PCbwF_0C|edition=1st publ.|access-date=25 April 2019|archive-date=18 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218135458/https://books.google.com/books?id=EBs1PCbwF_0C|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Reynolds|first=Flo|title=Arts history: Germaine Greer|url=http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/germaine-greer/|website=Concrete|access-date=7 March 2014|date=19 February 2013|archive-date=7 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307215701/http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/germaine-greer/|url-status=live}} Greer argued that because Padman had been assigned male at birth, she should not be admitted to Newnham, a women's college. Greer later resigned from Newnham.[http://www.pfc.org.uk/news/1997/gfolly02.htm In the news:1997] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625052911/http://www.pfc.org.uk/news/1997/gfolly02.htm |date=25 June 2006 }} Press For Change.org.uk{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com:80/people/bc/1999/06/22/greer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010601071715/http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/06/22/greer |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 June 2001 |title=Brilliant Careers – Germaine Greer |work=Salon.com |date=22 June 1999 |access-date=25 July 2009 }}{{cite news |last1=Burwell |first1=Ian |title=Germaine Greer, profile: Writer who has not backed down from fight with transgender community |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/germaine-greer-profile-writer-who-has-not-backed-down-from-fight-with-transgender-community-a6742721.html |access-date=10 October 2018 |agency=The Independent |date=20 November 2015 |archive-date=11 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011020746/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/germaine-greer-profile-writer-who-has-not-backed-down-from-fight-with-transgender-community-a6742721.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|newspaper = The Times|quote=Dr Greer: "Dr Padman's past was kept secret from us on the governing body. We were told by people outside the college making fun of Newnham and, frankly, we feel we have been made monkeys of."|date = 24 June 1997| title = Fellow who had sex change divides all-women college| last=Wilkins|first=Emma}}

A 2004 opinion piece by British radical feminist Julie Bindel titled "Gender Benders, beware" printed in The Guardian caused the paper to receive two hundred letters of complaint from transgender people, doctors, therapists, academics and others. The editorial expressed her anger at Kimberly Nixon and her views on transgender people.{{cite news |last1=Bindel |first1=Julie |title=My trans mission |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/aug/01/mytransmission |access-date=15 April 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=1 August 2007 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412191101/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/aug/01/mytransmission |url-status=live }} Transgender activist group Press for Change cite this article as an example of 'discriminatory writing' about transgender people in the press.{{cite web|title=Transsexual People and the Press: Collected Opinions from Transsexual People Themselves|url=http://pfc.org.uk/files/Transsexual_People_and_the_Press.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927062232/http://pfc.org.uk/files/Transsexual_People_and_the_Press.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2010|last=Burns|first=Christine|date=23 November 2004|publisher=Press for Change|page=10|access-date=14 April 2019|url-status=dead}} Complaints focused on the title, "Gender benders, beware", the cartoon accompanying the piece,{{failed verification|date=April 2020}}Claire McNab [http://www.pfc.org.uk/pfclists/news%2Darc/2004q1/msg00061.htm Re: UK: Gender benders, beware]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [The Guardian] McNab's reaction to PfC list on article and the disparaging tone, such as "Think about a world inhabited just by transsexuals. It would look like the set of Grease" and "I don't have a problem with men disposing of their genitals, but it does not make them women, in the same way that shoving a bit of vacuum hose down your 501s [jeans] does not make you a man."{{citation| last = Bindel| first = Julie| title = Gender Benders, beware| work = The Guardian| date = 31 January 2004| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/31/gender.weekend7| access-date = 19 December 2016| archive-date = 21 December 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161221142009/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/31/gender.weekend7| url-status = live}}{{cite news |last1=Denham |first1=Jess |title=Death threats force feminist campaigner out of university debate |date=17 September 2013 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/death-threats-force-feminist-campaigner-out-of-university-debate-8821362.html |access-date=15 April 2019 |newspaper=The Independent |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415172941/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/death-threats-force-feminist-campaigner-out-of-university-debate-8821362.html |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Transfeminism}}

File:Marsz Równości 2021 w Krakowie, 20210814 1924 3552.jpg, Poland]]

Transfeminism, or trans feminism, aims to synthesize feminist and transgender discourse. Transfeminists argue that there are multiple forms of oppression and sexism, and that trans and cisgender women have shared interests in combating sexism. Influential transfeminists include Julia Serano and Diana Courvant.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} According to Emi Koyama, the two primary principles of transfeminism are that all people should not only be allowed to live their own lives in whichever way they choose and define themselves however they feel is right, but should also be respected by society for their individuality and uniqueness, and that each individual has every right, and is the only one to have the right, to possess complete control over their own bodies. There shall be no form of authority—political, medical, religious, or otherwise—that can override a person's decisions regarding their bodies and their wellbeing, and their autonomy is fully in the hands of that sole individual.{{cite web|last1=Koyama|first1=Emi|title=The Transfeminist Manifesto|url=http://eminism.org/readings/pdf-rdg/tfmanifesto.pdf|access-date=17 April 2018|archive-date=10 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010143204/http://eminism.org/readings/pdf-rdg/tfmanifesto.pdf|url-status=live}} Transfeminist critics of mainstream feminism say that as an institutionalized movement, feminism has lost sight of the basic idea that biology is not destiny. In fact, they argue, many feminists seem perfectly comfortable equating sex and gender and insisting on a given destiny for trans persons based on nothing more than biology.{{cite book |last=Courvant |first=Diana |chapter=Thinking of Privilege |pages=458–463 |editor-last1=Anzaldúa |editor-first1=Gloria |editor-last2=Keating |editor-first2=AnaLouise |title=This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93682-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zhhzwEACAAJ |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405003500/https://books.google.com/books?id=1zhhzwEACAAJ |url-status=live }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/942 |title=Transgender debate: against exclusion |last1=Murphy |first1=Emma |last2=Lantz |first2=Sarah |date=28 October 1998 |website=Press for Change |access-date=3 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511002854/http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/942 |archive-date=11 May 2008}} Transfeminism aims to challenge the fixedness of gender that its supporters believe traditional approaches to women's studies depend upon.Salamon, Gayle (2008). "Women's Studies on the Edge", p. 117. Duke University Press, Durham. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-4274-8}}.

Cyberfeminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on cyberspace, the Internet, and technology. The term was coined in the early late-1980s and early-1990s,{{Cite book |last1=Haraway |first1=Donna J. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816650477.001.0001 |title=Manifestly Haraway |last2=Wolfe |first2=Cary |date=2016-04-01 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |doi=10.5749/minnesota/9780816650477.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-8166-5047-7}} particularly after the publication of "A Cyborg Manifesto" by feminist Donna Haraway, which argued for feminism to move beyond the limitations of traditional gender, feminism, and politics. Out of cyberfeminism grew xenofeminism, arguing for the use of technology as a means towards the abolition of gender. Feminist collective Laboria Cuboniks published a manifesto titled Xenofeminism: A Politics for Alienation that argued against the conception of nature as immutable and the conception that what is natural is good, declaring that "if nature is unjust, change nature!"{{Cite news |url=http://xenofeminism.org/manifesto |title=Xenofeminist Manifesto – xenofeminism |work=xenofeminism |access-date=31 July 2018 |archive-date=6 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806210656/http://xenofeminism.org/manifesto |url-status=live }} Xenofeminism has positioned itself as explicitly trans-inclusive and as rejecting the gender binary.{{cite journal |author-last1=Huc-Hepher |author-first1=Saskia |title=Queering the web archive: A xenofeminist approach to gender, function, language and culture in the London French Special Collection |journal=Humanities and Social Sciences Communications |date=25 November 2021 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1057/s41599-021-00967-8 |s2cid=244637814 |doi-access=free }} Feminist Helen Hester has linked DIY self-help movements by second wave feminists and biohacking performed by trans people as a continuing lineage of emancipation.{{cite journal |author-last1=Richter |author-first1=Sarah |title=Xenofeminism |journal=Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory |date=2 September 2018 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=283–286 |doi=10.1080/0740770X.2018.1524623 |s2cid=219609653 }} In a 2019 article in Feminist Review, Emily Jones said the movement noted how "essentialism and identity politics haunt the contemporary feminist and queer movement" and that instead of "wishing to eradicate what are seen as gendered traits, xenofeminism wants gender to explode and diffract: 'let a hundred sexes bloom!'. Thus, for xenofeminism, gender-abolitionism is about disrupting asymmetric gender systems and dispersing them, unpicking 'culturally weaponized markers of identity that harbour injustices', including gender as well as race, ability, class and sexuality."{{cite journal|date=November 2019|title=Feminist Technologies and Post-Capitalism: Defining and Reflecting Upon Xenofeminism|url=http://repository.essex.ac.uk/24502/1/E.%20Jones%2C%20FINAL%2C%20clean%20-%20Feminist%20Tech%20and%20Post-Capitalism%2C%20Xenofeminism%2C%20FR%20Open%20Space%20Digital%20Labour%202018.pdf|journal=Feminist Review|volume=123|issue=1|pages=126–134|doi=10.1177/0141778919878925|author-last1=Jones|author-first1=Emily|s2cid=182184864}}

{{Main|Gender-critical feminism}}

File:TERF sticker.jpg

Feminists who describe themselves as "gender-critical" say that biological sex is "real, important, and immutable" and is "not to be conflated with gender identity", and that feminism should organize with emphasis on the basis of sex rather than gender.{{cite web |title=Woman accused of transphobia wins landmark employment case |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19362788.maya-forstater-wins-landmark-employment-case-gender-critical-beliefs/ |access-date=10 June 2021 |website=HeraldScotland |date=10 June 2021 |language=en |archive-date=10 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110132924/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19362788.maya-forstater-wins-landmark-employment-case-gender-critical-beliefs/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=10 June 2021 |title=Maya Forstater: Woman wins tribunal appeal over transgender tweets |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57426579 |access-date=10 June 2021 |archive-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115003307/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57426579 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last=Smith |author-first=Helen-Ann |date=24 April 2021 |title=Maya Forstater: Woman who lost job over transgender views warns of 'scary' precedent if her tribunal appeal fails |work=Sky News |url=https://news.sky.com/story/maya-forstater-woman-who-lost-job-over-transgender-views-warns-of-scary-precedent-if-her-tribunal-appeal-fails-12285218 |access-date=26 June 2021 |quote=Ms Forstater is a tax expert and a feminist and is the protagonist in a bitter legal battle about sex, gender and free speech. |archive-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630103055/https://news.sky.com/story/maya-forstater-woman-who-lost-job-over-transgender-views-warns-of-scary-precedent-if-her-tribunal-appeal-fails-12285218 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|last=Observer editorial|date=27 June 2021|title=The Observer view on the right to free expression|work=Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/27/the-observer-view-on-the-right-to-free-expression|access-date=27 June 2021|quote='Gender-critical' beliefs refer to the view that someone's sex – whether they are male or female – is biological and immutable and cannot be conflated with someone's gender identity, whether they identify as a man or a woman. The belief that the patriarchal oppression of women is grounded partly in their biological sex, not just the social expression of gender, and that women therefore have the right to certain single-sex spaces and to organise on the basis of biological sex if they so wish, represents a long-standing strand of feminist thinking. Other feminists disagree, believing that gender identity supersedes biological sex altogether.|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207222533/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/27/the-observer-view-on-the-right-to-free-expression|url-status=live}} In her book Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism, Kathleen Stock described those whom she considered gender-critical feminists as being critics of gender in the sense of social stereotypes. Stock wrote: "Gender-critical feminists particularly rebel against the idea, implicit in gender identity theory, that what makes you a woman or a man is a feeling. As far as they are concerned, this feeling could only be, deep down, about the applicability of restrictive and damaging sex-associated stereotypes to yourself."

These feminists are also often referred to as transgender-exclusionary radical feminists or TERFs by their opponents.{{cite news|author-last=Boylan |author-first=Jennifer Finney |date=1 June 2021 |title=Opinion: A Scottish political party treated trans people like the Loch Ness monster. It won't be the last time. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/01/scottish-political-party-treated-trans-people-like-loch-ness-monster-it-wont-be-last-time/ |access-date=26 June 2021 |quote=While Alba supported Scottish independence, it also offered a safe harbor for anti-trans activists and so-called "gender critical" feminists, sometimes also known, especially in Britain, as TERFs (transgender exclusionary radical feminists).}}{{cite news |author-last=Morgan |author-first=John |date=21 May 2021 |title=British University Apologizes for Disinviting Academics Over Gender Views |work=Inside Higher Ed |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/05/21/british-university-apologizes-disinviting-academics-over-views-gender |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=26 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626174956/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/05/21/british-university-apologizes-disinviting-academics-over-views-gender |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last1=Smythe |author-first1=Viv |title=I'm credited with having coined the word 'Terf'. Here's how it happened |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 November 2018 |access-date=13 April 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened |archive-date=25 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125115202/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |author-last1=Ditum |author-first1=Sarah |title=What is a Terf? How an internet buzzword became a mainstream slur |magazine=New Statesman |date=29 September 2017 |access-date=13 April 2019 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/09/what-terf-how-internet-buzzword-became-mainstream-slur |quote=On the other hand, if you are a feminist, the bar to being called a 'terf' is remarkably low. Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray achieved it by writing an article in which she pointed out that someone born and raised male will not have the same experiences of sexism as a woman; novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie likewise made the grade by answering 'transwomen are transwomen' when asked whether she believed that 'transwomen are women'. |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420133941/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/09/what-terf-how-internet-buzzword-became-mainstream-slur |url-status=live }} They hold beliefs considered transphobic by many other feminists,{{cite web |url=https://theoutline.com/post/6536/british-feminists-media-transphobic |title=Why Is British Media So Transphobic? |author-last1=Miller |author-first1=Edie |date=5 November 2018 |publisher=The Outline |language=en |access-date=3 May 2019 |quote=The truth is, while the British conservative right would almost certainly be more than happy to whip up a frenzy of transphobia, they simply haven't needed to, because some sections of the left over here are doing their hate-peddling for them. The most vocal source of this hatred has emerged, sadly, from within circles of radical feminists. British feminism has an increasingly notorious TERF problem. |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019192628/https://theoutline.com/post/6536/british-feminists-media-transphobic |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last1=Dalbey |author-first1=Alex |title=TERF wars: Why trans-exclusionary radical feminists have no place in feminism |url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/terf-meaning/ |access-date=27 January 2019 |work=Daily Dot |date=12 August 2018 |archive-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128082722/https://www.dailydot.com/irl/terf-meaning/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last=Dastagir |author-first=Alia |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/16/feminism-glossary-lexicon-language/99120600/ |title=A feminist glossary because we didn't all major in gender studies |work=USA Today |date=16 March 2017 |access-date=24 April 2019 |quote=TERF: The acronym for 'trans exclusionary radical feminists,' referring to feminists who are transphobic. |archive-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720073940/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/16/feminism-glossary-lexicon-language/99120600/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.indy100.com/article/joanna-cherry-snp-twitter-trans-rights-campaigners-pride-lgbt-edinburgh-8972341 |title=SNP MP criticised for calling trans campaigners at Edinburgh Pride 'misogynistic' |date=24 June 2019 |website=indy100 |language=en |access-date=26 June 2019 |archive-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114045153/https://www.indy100.com/article/joanna-cherry-snp-twitter-trans-rights-campaigners-pride-lgbt-edinburgh-8972341 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/12/famous-lesbian-site-taken-anti-trans-feminists-now-lesbian-media-standing/ |title=Famous lesbian site taken over by anti-trans 'feminists'. Now lesbian media is standing up. |author-last=Bollinger |author-first=Alex |date=19 December 2018 |website=www.lgbtqnation.com |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-date=5 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605233013/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/12/famous-lesbian-site-taken-anti-trans-feminists-now-lesbian-media-standing/ |url-status=live}} such as the belief that transgender identities are invalid, incoherent, or irrelevant, opposition to certain kinds of legal recognition and medical care for transgender people, and support for exclusion of trans women from women's spaces and organizations in favor of single-sex spaces.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/transgender-for-beginners-trans-terf-cis-and-safe-spaces-1.3769653 |title=Transgender for beginners: Trans, terf, cis and safe spaces |author-last1=O'Connell |author-first1=Jennifer |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |date=26 January 2019 |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-date=26 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126223339/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/transgender-for-beginners-trans-terf-cis-and-safe-spaces-1.3769653 |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/terf/ |title=Terf wars and the ludicrous lexicon of feminist theory |last1=Wordsworth |first1=Dot |magazine=The Spectator |date=5 May 2018 |access-date=22 September 2018 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909203623/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/terf/ |url-status=live }}

Claire Thurlow states that "what was once termed TERF{{nbsp}}... is now more often referred to as gender critical feminism/feminist{{nbsp}}... despite efforts to obscure the point, gender critical feminism continues to rely on transphobic tropes, moral panics and essentialist understandings of men and women. These factors also continue to link trans-exclusionary feminism to anti-feminist reactionary politics and other 'anti-gender' movements."{{cite journal |last1=Thurlow |first1=Claire |title=From TERF to gender critical: A telling genealogy? |journal=Sexualities |date=2022 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=962–978 |doi=10.1177/13634607221107827|s2cid=252662057 }} Feminist Viv Smythe, who is credited with coining the term "TERF", says it was intended to be a "technically neutral description{{nbsp}}... to distinguish TERFs from other {{bracket|radical feminists}}{{nbsp}}... who were trans*-positive/neutral."{{cite journal|url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article-abstract/3/1-2/254/91781/Radical-InclusionRecounting-the-Trans-Inclusive |title=Radical Inclusion: Recounting the Trans Inclusive History of Radical Feminism |date=1 May 2016 |publisher=Duke University Press |author-last=Williams |author-first=Cristan |journal=TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=254–258 |doi=10.1215/23289252-3334463 |access-date=3 February 2018 |archive-date=8 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908131417/https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article-abstract/3/1-2/254/91781/Radical-InclusionRecounting-the-Trans-Inclusive |url-status=live|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}{{cite web |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/63485327 |title=trans*, adj. |website=Oxford English Dictionary |year=1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218214516/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/63485327 |archive-date=18 December 2021 |url-status=live}}

These feminists generally prefer the term "gender-critical",{{cite web |author-last1=Flaherty |author-first1=Colleen |title='TERF' War |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/29/philosophers-object-journals-publication-terf-reference-some-feminists-it-really |access-date=12 April 2019 |website=Inside Higher Ed |date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407014511/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/29/philosophers-object-journals-publication-terf-reference-some-feminists-it-really |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |author-last1=Goldberg |author-first1=Michelle |title=The Trans Women Who Say That Trans Women Aren't Women |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/12/gender-critical-trans-women-the-apostates-of-the-trans-rights-movement.html |access-date=12 April 2019 |magazine=Slate |date=9 December 2015 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412191052/https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/12/gender-critical-trans-women-the-apostates-of-the-trans-rights-movement.html |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |author-last1=Vasquez |author-first1=Tina |title=It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women |journal=Bitch Media |date=17 February 2014 |url=https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism |access-date=13 April 2019 |archive-date=13 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413190326/https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism |url-status=live }} and often consider TERF to be inaccurate,{{cite magazine |author-last1=MacDonald |author-first1=Terry |title=Are you now or have you ever been a TERF? |magazine=New Statesman America |date=16 February 2015 |access-date=13 April 2019 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been-terf |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414015914/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been-terf |url-status=live }} or a slur.{{cite magazine |author-last1=Goldberg |author-first1=Michelle |title=What Is a Woman? |magazine=The New Yorker |date=4 August 2014 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |access-date=20 November 2015 |quote=TERF stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist.' The term can be useful for making a distinction with radical feminists who do not share the same position, but those at whom it is directed consider it a slur. |archive-date=13 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113031943/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last1=Compton |author-first1=Julie |title='Pro-lesbian' or 'trans-exclusionary'? Old animosities boil into public view |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pro-lesbian-or-trans-exclusionary-old-animosities-boil-public-view-n958456 |access-date=19 March 2019 |work=NBC News |date=14 January 2019 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619112530/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pro-lesbian-or-trans-exclusionary-old-animosities-boil-public-view-n958456 |url-status=live }} Those described as TERFs or gender-critical are not necessarily associated with radical feminism. While these parties lack influence in academic feminist philosophy,{{cite web |author-last1=Flaherty |author-first1=Colleen |date=6 June 2018 |title=By Any Other Name |website=Inside Higher Ed |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/06/philosophy-really-ignoring-important-questions-about-transgender-identity |access-date=6 May 2019 |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519075321/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/06/philosophy-really-ignoring-important-questions-about-transgender-identity |url-status=live }} they are relatively powerful in opposing transgender rights in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/terf-trans-women-britain.html |title=Opinion {{!}} How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans |author-last=Lewis |author-first=Sophie |date=7 February 2019 |work=The New York Times|access-date=5 May 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115191351/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/terf-trans-women-britain.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |author-first1=Sally |author-last1=Hines |title=Trans and Feminist Rights Have Been Falsely Cast in Opposition |date=13 July 2018 |access-date=2 May 2019 |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/13/trans-and-feminist-rights-have-been-falsely-cast-in-opposition |quote=Despite strong historic and contemporary links between many sections of feminist and trans communities, the anti-transgender sentiments expressed by some leading journalists and amplified through the use of social media are extremely problematic. While anti-transgender feminists are a minority, they have a high level of social, cultural and economic capital. Within these narratives, trans and feminist rights are being falsely cast in opposition. |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428185125/https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/13/trans-and-feminist-rights-have-been-falsely-cast-in-opposition |url-status=live }} Commenting on the bestselling books Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism by Kathleen Stock and Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by Helen Joyce, New Statesman writer Louise Perry observed that gender-critical ideas that had been on the fringes in 2004, when Julie Bindel was accused of transphobia, had become mainstream in the United Kingdom by 2021.{{cite magazine|author-last=Perry |author-first=Louise |date=July 2021 |title=It's still possible to 'cancel' gender-critical feminists, but this strategy won't work |magazine=New Statesman |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2021/07/it-s-still-possible-cancel-gender-critical-feminists-strategy-won-t-work |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913115407/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2021/07/it-s-still-possible-cancel-gender-critical-feminists-strategy-won-t-work|archive-date=13 September 2021|access-date=31 July 2021}}

In July 2018, Sally Hines, a University of Leeds professor of sociology and gender studies scholar, wrote in The Economist that feminism and trans rights have been falsely portrayed as being in conflict by a minority of anti-transgender feminists, who often "reinforce the extremely offensive trope of the trans woman as a man in drag who is a danger to women." Hines criticized these feminists for fueling "rhetoric of paranoia and hyperbole" against trans people, saying that they abandon or undermine feminist principles in their anti-trans narratives, such as bodily autonomy and self-determination of gender, and employ "reductive models of biology and restrictive understandings of the distinction between sex and gender" in defense of such narratives. She concluded with a call for explicit recognition of anti-transgender feminism as a violation of equality and dignity, and "a doctrine that runs counter to the ability to fulfill a liveable life or, often, a life at all."{{cite news |date=13 July 2018 |title=Trans and Feminist Rights Have Been Falsely Cast in Opposition |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/13/trans-and-feminist-rights-have-been-falsely-cast-in-opposition |url-status=live |access-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502004748/https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/13/trans-and-feminist-rights-have-been-falsely-cast-in-opposition |archive-date=2 May 2019 |author-first1=Sally |author-last1=Hines}}

In February 2019, feminist theorist, writer, and Yale professor Roxane Gay said issues that impact marginalized women, such as sexual harassment and misconduct, extend to trans women as well, and that trans-exclusionary feminists have "woefully failed" to consider trans women's experience. She points out that the intersection between trans women and race lead to high suicide and murder rates for Black trans women. Describing the effects of transphobia as "appalling" and as leading to trans people's maltreatment and suffering, Gay stated: "I think a lot of feminists are very comfortable being anti-trans. And that's painful to see because we should know better, having been marginalized as women throughout history and today. How dare we marginalize others now?"{{cite web |author-last=Gunz |author-first=Rafaella |date=16 February 2019 |title=Roxane Gay: 'A lot of feminists are very comfortable being anti-trans' |url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/roxane-gay-a-lot-of-feminists-are-very-comfortable-being-anti-trans/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628213944/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/roxane-gay-a-lot-of-feminists-are-very-comfortable-being-anti-trans/ |archive-date=28 June 2019 |access-date=28 June 2019 |website=Gay Star News}} In September 2020, Judith Butler said that trans-exclusionary radical feminism is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen".{{cite news |date=22 September 2020 |title=Judith Butler on the culture wars, JK Rowling and living in 'anti-intellectual times' |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times |access-date=17 November 2021 |work=New Statesman |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417111403/https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times |url-status=live }}

Hines states that trans-exclusionary radical feminists are a minority among feminists, and that they have published a declaration that advocates the concept of sex-based rights.{{cite journal |last1=Hines |first1=Sally |title=Sex wars and (trans) gender panics: Identity and body politics in contemporary UK feminism |journal=The Sociological Review |date=2020 |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=699–717 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934684 |s2cid=221097483 |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/163972/8/0038026120934684.pdf |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=14 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214191345/https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/163972/8/0038026120934684.pdf |url-status=live }} In June 2021, the Association for Women's Rights in Development said that the sex-based rhetoric employed by trans-exclusionary radical feminists "misuses concepts of sex and gender to push a deeply discriminatory agenda."{{cite web |date=17 June 2021 |title=Trojan horses in human rights spaces: anti-rights discourses, tactics and their convergences with trans-exclusionary feminists |url=https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/trojan-horses-human-rights-spaces |access-date=2 December 2021 |publisher=Association for Women's Rights in Development |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129053832/https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/trojan-horses-human-rights-spaces |url-status=live }} In October 2021, they described anti-gender movements as a fascist trend and cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people.{{cite news |last=Butler |first=Judith |date=23 October 2021 |title=Why is the idea of 'gender' provoking backlash the world over? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2021/oct/23/judith-butler-gender-ideology-backlash |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117074438/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2021/oct/23/judith-butler-gender-ideology-backlash |url-status=live }} Earlier, in May 2021, Nancy Kelley, the head of Stonewall, compared gender-critical feminism to antisemitism.{{cite news |date=29 May 2021 |title=Stonewall boss defends new strategy amid criticism |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57281448 |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120135227/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57281448 |url-status=live }}

In January 2022, the Council of Europe approved a report, written by General Rapporteur on LGBT+ rights Fourat Ben Chikha, which condemned "extensive and virulent" attacks on LGBT+ rights.{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Nick |date=25 January 2022 |title=Council of Europe condemns 'virulent attacks on LGBT rights' in the UK, Hungary and Poland |work=i |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/world/council-of-europe-condemns-virulent-attacks-on-lgbt-rights-uk-1423399 |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130182653/https://inews.co.uk/news/world/council-of-europe-condemns-virulent-attacks-on-lgbt-rights-uk-1423399 |url-status=live }} The report condemned "the highly prejudicial anti-gender, gender-critical and anti-trans narratives which reduce the fight for the equality of LGBTI people to what these movements deliberately mischaracterise as 'gender ideology' or 'LGBTI ideology'. Such narratives deny the very existence of LGBTI people, dehumanise them, and often falsely portray their rights as being in conflict with women's and children's rights, or societal and family values in general. All of these are deeply damaging to LGBTI people, while also harming women's and children's rights and social cohesion."{{cite web |date=January 2022 |title=Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe |url=https://pace.coe.int/pdf/911ac3536941232933a71c004e055f6929a592fa07647be69cbef8c03f0d8ba7/resolution%202417.pdf |access-date=22 December 2022 |publisher=Council of Europe |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404194621/https://pace.coe.int/pdf/911ac3536941232933a71c004e055f6929a592fa07647be69cbef8c03f0d8ba7/resolution%202417.pdf |url-status=live }}

In April 2022, feminist author Jude Doyle also argued that the TERF movement became infiltrated by fascists from the mid-2010s and poses a global threat to feminism.{{cite news |last=Doyle |first=Jude |author-link=Jude Doyle|date=1 April 2022|title=How the far-right is turning feminists into fascists |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/far-right-feminist-fascist-220810 |access-date=8 May 2022 |work=Xtra Magazine}} Earlier in September 2020, Butler said that "it is painful to see that Trump's position that gender should be defined by biological sex, and that the evangelical and right-wing Catholic effort to purge 'gender' from education and public policy accords with the trans-exclusionary radical feminists' return to biological essentialism."{{cite news |date=23 September 2020 |title=Judith Butler artfully dismantles trans-exclusionary feminism and JK Rowling. Hang this in the Louvre immediately |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/09/23/judith-butler-trans-exclusionary-gender-critical-feminism-jk-rowling-transphobia/ |access-date=24 November 2021 |work=Pink News |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124054700/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/09/23/judith-butler-trans-exclusionary-gender-critical-feminism-jk-rowling-transphobia/ |url-status=live }}

Some gender-critical feminists have been linked to conservative groups and politicians who oppose legislation that would expand transgender rights in the United States,{{Cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/4/02/how-conservatives-are-using-feminism-fight-against-lgbtq-equality|title=How Conservatives Are Using 'Feminism' to Fight Against LGBTQ Equality: A calculated alliance based on transphobia is fueling the fight against the Equality Act.|date=2 April 2019|last1=Vera|first1=Elena Rose|last2=Greenesmith|first2=Heron|website=The Advocate|language=en|access-date=6 May 2019|archive-date=6 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506205019/https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/4/02/how-conservatives-are-using-feminism-fight-against-lgbtq-equality|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/04/radical-feminists-and-conservative-christians-team-up-against-transgender-people|title=Radical Feminists and Conservative Christians Team Up Against Transgender People|work=The Daily Beast|last=Michaelson|first=Jay|date=4 September 2016|access-date=6 May 2019|language=en|archive-date=18 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218135431/https://www.thedailybeast.com/radical-feminists-and-conservative-christians-team-up-against-transgender-people|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/conservative-group-hosts-anti-transgender-panel-feminists-left-n964246|title=Conservative group hosts anti-transgender panel of feminists 'from the left'|date=29 January 2019|last=Fitzsimons|first=Tim|work=NBC News|language=en|access-date=6 May 2019|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503015702/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/conservative-group-hosts-anti-transgender-panel-feminists-left-n964246|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/republicans-equality-act-lgbt-womens-rights|title=Republicans Are Trying To Kill An LGBT Bill In Congress By Arguing It Hurts Women|date=2 April 2019|last=Holden|first=Dominic|work=BuzzFeed News|language=en|access-date=6 May 2019|archive-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505130133/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/republicans-equality-act-lgbt-womens-rights|url-status=live}} the United Kingdom,{{cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/christian-right-feminists-uk-trans-rights/|title=Christian right and some UK feminists 'unlikely allies' against trans rights|date=18 October 2018|last1=Probost|first1=Claire|last2=Archer|first2=Nandini|website=openDemocracy|language=en|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114171404/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/christian-right-feminists-uk-trans-rights/|url-status=live}} and Australia.{{cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5891672/christians-feminists-australia-transgender-fighting/|title=Conservative Christians, feminists unite to fight transgender rights in Australia|date=11 September 2019|last=Savage|first=Rachel|publisher=NGlobal News|language=en|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114171721/https://globalnews.ca/news/5891672/christians-feminists-australia-transgender-fighting/|url-status=live}} The Southern Poverty Law Center, an American civil rights nonprofit, reported in 2017 that American Christian right groups were trying to "separate the T from LGB" by casting transgender rights as antagonistic to feminism and lesbian or gay people. The report said this trend was "part of a larger strategy, meant to weaken transgender rights advocates by attempting to separate them from their allies, feminists and LGBT rights advocates."{{Cite web|date=23 October 2017|title=Christian Right tips to fight transgender rights: separate the T from the LGB|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/23/christian-right-tips-fight-transgender-rights-separate-t-lgb|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509105216/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/23/christian-right-tips-fight-transgender-rights-separate-t-lgb|archive-date=9 May 2019|access-date=9 May 2019|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}}

In January 2019, The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank, hosted a panel with members of the self-described radical feminist organization Women's Liberation Front opposed to the US Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Heron Greenesmith of Political Research Associates, an American liberal think tank, said that this collaboration was in part a reaction to the trans community's "incredible gains" in civil rights and visibility, and that anti-trans feminists and conservatives capitalize on a "scarcity mindset rhetoric" whereby civil rights are portrayed as a limited commodity that must be prioritized to cisgender women over other groups. Greenesmith compared this rhetoric to the prioritization of the rights of citizens over non-citizens and white people over people of color. Bev Jackson, one of the founders of the LGB Alliance, once argued that "working with The Heritage Foundation is sometimes the only possible course of action" since "the leftwing silence on gender in the U.S. is even worse than in the UK." She later clarified these comments, saying she did find links to The Heritage Foundation "problematic" due to their support for "anti-women policies", "Yet it was their publicity that made it possible to launch a gender-critical movement in the U.S."{{Cite web|url = https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/21/lgb-alliance-founder-bev-jackson-heritage-foundation-tweets/|title = LGB Alliance founder defends "feminists" working with Heritage Foundation|date = 21 August 2020|access-date = 9 June 2021|archive-date = 3 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210603012155/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/21/lgb-alliance-founder-bev-jackson-heritage-foundation-tweets/|url-status = live}}

In a 2020 article in Lambda Nordica, Erika Alm of the University of Gothenburg and Elisabeth L. Engebretsen of the University of Stavanger, said that there was "growing convergence, and sometimes conscious alliances, between "gender-critical" feminists (sometimes known as TERFs - Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists), religious and social conservatives, as well as right-wing politics and even neo-Nazi and fascist movements" and that the convergence was linked to "their reliance on an essentialised and binary understanding of sex and/or gender, often termed 'bio-essentialism.{{' "}}{{cite journal |last1=Alm |first1=Erika |last2=Engebretsen |first2=Elisabeth L. |title=Gender Self-identification |journal=Lambda Nordica |date=15 June 2020 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=48–56 |doi=10.34041/ln.v25.613 |s2cid=225712334 |doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3048285 |hdl-access=free }} Another 2020 article, published in The Sociological Review, said that "the language of 'gender ideology' originates in anti-feminist and anti-trans discourses among right-wing Christians, with the Catholic Church acting as a major nucleating agent", and that the term "saw increasing circulation in trans-exclusionary radical feminist discourse" from around 2016. It further stated that "a growing number of anti-trans campaigners associated with radical feminist movements have openly aligned themselves with anti-feminist organisations."{{cite journal |last1=Pearce |first1=Ruth |last2=Erikainen |first2=Sonja |last3=Vincent |first3=Ben |title=TERF wars: An introduction |journal=The Sociological Review |date=July 2020 |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=677–698 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934713 |s2cid=221097475 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/161091701/0038026120934713.pdf }}

In a 2021 paper in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Hil Malatino of Pennsylvania State University said that gender-critical feminism in the US has "begun to build coalition with the evangelical Right around the legal codification of sex as a biological binary" and that "popular news media frames transphobia as part of a rational, enlightened, pragmatic response to what is variously called the 'trans lobby' and the 'cult of trans.{{' "}}{{cite journal |last1=Malatino |first1=Hil |title=The Promise of Repair: Trans Rage and the Limits of Feminist Coalition |journal=Signs |date=1 June 2021 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=827–851 |doi=10.1086/713292 |s2cid=235304979 }} Another 2021 paper, published in Law and Social Inquiry, said that "a coalition of Christian conservative legal organizations, conservative foundations, Trump administration officials, Republican party lawmakers, and trans-exclusionary radical feminists has assembled to redefine the right to privacy in service of anti-transgender politics", and that "social conservatives have cast the issue as one of balancing two competing rights claims rather than one of outright animus against a gender minority population."{{cite journal |last1=Wuest |first1=Joanna |title=A Conservative Right to Privacy: Legal, Ideological, and Coalitional Transformations in US Social Conservatism |journal=Law & Social Inquiry |date=November 2021 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=964–992 |doi=10.1017/lsi.2021.1 |s2cid=234808832 |doi-access=free }}

UN Women works to protect the rights of transgender people,{{cite web |url=https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2016/05/promoting-and-protecting-the-rights-of-lgbti|title=Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Lesbians, Bisexual Women, Transgender and Intersex Persons|publisher=UN Women |access-date=24 November 2021}}{{cite web |title=UN Women hosts first high-level event on gender diversity and non-binary identities at UN headquarters |date=18 July 2019 |url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/7/news-event-gender-diversity-and-non-binary-identities |publisher=UN Women |access-date=24 November 2021}} and "urgently calls on communities and governments around the world to stand up for LGBTIQ+ rights."{{cite web |title=UN Women statement for the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, 2020 |date=17 May 2020 |url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/5/statement-un-women-international-day-against-homophobia-transphobia-and-biphobia |publisher=UN Women |access-date=29 November 2021}}

The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) supports LGBTIQ rights and opposes the anti-gender movement, and has described trans-exclusionary feminists as "trojan horses in human rights spaces" that seek to undermine human rights; AWID said that anti-trans activity is "alarming", that "the 'sex-based' rhetoric misuses concepts of sex and gender to push a deeply discriminatory agenda" and that "trans-exclusionary feminists{{nbsp}}... undermine progressions on gender and sexuality and protection of rights of marginalized groups."{{cite web |title=Trojan horses in human rights spaces: anti-rights discourses, tactics and their convergences with trans-exclusionary feminists |date=17 June 2021 |url=https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/trojan-horses-human-rights-spaces |publisher=Association for Women's Rights in Development |access-date=29 November 2021 |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129053832/https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/trojan-horses-human-rights-spaces |url-status=live }}

The International Alliance of Women along with its over fifty affiliates worldwide support LGBT+ rights and have expressed concern over "anti-trans voices [that] are becoming ever louder and [that] are threatening feminist solidarity across borders."{{cite web |title=Transfeminism and the Women's Movement |date=15 March 2021 |url=https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/transfeminism-and-the-womens-movement/ |publisher=Icelandic Women's Rights Association (IAW Iceland) |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003232758/https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/transfeminism-and-the-womens-movement/ |url-status=live }}

In 2010, the Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women in Africa was formed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/trans-women-and-feminism-struggle-is-real/|title = Trans women and feminism: The struggle is real}}{{Cite web|url=https://livemag.co.za/transgender-in-south-africa/|title = To be young, black and transgender in South Africa – Livemag}}

During the 1990s, Argentine LGBT activism took off, and the end of the decade saw the entry of travestis{{efn|"Travesti" (meaning transvestite) was historically a pejorative used to designate trans women and crossdressers in South America. The word has been reappropriated by activists and is now used as a non-binary label for people assigned male at birth that have a transfeminine gender identity, but choose not to identify themselves as trans women.{{cite journal|pages=221–228|language=es|last=Berkins|first=Lohana|url=http://saludpublica.bvsp.org.bo/textocompleto/bvsp/boxp68/feminismos_bolivia.pdf#page=211|location=La Paz, Bolivia|isbn=978-9995423032|series=Serie Foros 2|publisher=Conexión Fondo de Emancipación|journal=Pensando los Feminismos en Bolivia|title=Travestis: una identidad política|date=February 2012|access-date=11 March 2019}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}}} into spaces of feminist discussion, marking the beginning of transfeminism in Argentina.{{cite web|url=http://latfem.org/aca-esta-lohana-diganle-en-la-cara-lo-que-piensan/#_ftnref4|title="Acá está Lohana. Díganle en la cara lo que piensan"|language=es|last=Bellucci|first=Mabel|date=1 March 2019|access-date=8 March 2019|publisher=LatFem|archive-date=13 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313041607/http://latfem.org/aca-esta-lohana-diganle-en-la-cara-lo-que-piensan/#_ftnref4|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://revistafurias.com/lohana-berkins-se-cimento-un-feminismo-muy-dificil-de-correr/|language=es|title=Lohana Berkins: "Se cimentó un feminismo que todavía es muy difícil de correr"|last=López|first=Analía Daniela|access-date=11 March 2019|publisher=Revista Furias|date=15 November 2013}} Lohana Berkins was a feminist and one of travesti activism's most prominent leaders.{{cite web|url=https://revistaanfibia.com/ensayo/no-se-nace-mujer-llega-una-a-serlo/|title=No se nace mujer, llega una a serlo|last=Wayar|first=Marlene|access-date=12 March 2019|year=2019|work=Anfibia|publisher=Universidad Nacional de San Martín|language=es}} Berkins got into feminism in the 1990s through meetings with lesbian feminists such as Alejandra Sarda, Ilse Fuskova, Chela Nadio and Fabiana Tron.{{cite web|url=https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/sociedad/3-291969-2016-02-07.html|title=La comandante de las mariposas|language=es|work=Página/12|last=Peker|first=Luciana|access-date=11 March 2019|date=7 February 2016}}

The Argentine government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina included trans-inclusive gender-based measures, with Minister of Women, Genders and Diversity Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta stating that "trans people are particularly vulnerable in our country."{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/world/feminists-argentina-government.html|title = These Three Feminists Are Changing Argentina from the Inside|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 11 May 2021|last1 = Gupta|first1 = Alisha Haridasani|last2 = Politi|first2 = Daniel|access-date = 9 June 2021|archive-date = 9 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210609135921/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/world/feminists-argentina-government.html|url-status = live}}

The Argentine feminist movement, including the National Gathering of Women, has seen debates over reforming the Spanish language to be more gender neutral in recent years.{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/12/05/teens-argentina-are-leading-charge-gender-neutral-language/| title = Teens in Argentina are leading the charge to eliminate gender in language| newspaper = The Washington Post| access-date = 9 June 2021| archive-date = 16 October 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211016063943/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/12/05/teens-argentina-are-leading-charge-gender-neutral-language/| url-status = live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/world/americas/argentina-gender-language.html|title = In Argentina, a Bid to Make Language Gender Neutral Gains Traction|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 15 April 2020|last1 = Politi|first1 = Daniel}}

The campaign to legalise abortion in Argentina has included transgender people, and after the movement was successful, the bill legalising abortion explicitly included trans and non-binary people.{{Cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/victory-for-argentinas-women-as-abortion-charges-are-dropped|title = Victory for Argentina's women as abortion charges are dropped|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 10 January 2021|access-date = 9 June 2021|archive-date = 9 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210609135921/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/victory-for-argentinas-women-as-abortion-charges-are-dropped|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/12/argentina-feminism-abortion-rights-ofelia-fernandez|title=Argentine Feminists Are About to Win the Fight for Abortion Rights|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609135923/https://jacobinmag.com/2020/12/argentina-feminism-abortion-rights-ofelia-fernandez|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/5-lessons-from-argentina-feminist-movement-fight-for-legal-abortions/|title=Five lessons from Argentina's feminist movements' fight for legal abortions}}

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network said that despite labelling themselves as feminists, TERF groups often collaborate with conservative and far-right groups.{{cite news |title='Rights aren't a competition': Anti-trans hate is on the rise in Canada, activists and advocates say |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/rights-aren-t-a-competition-anti-trans-hate-is-on-the-rise-in-canada-activists-and-advocates-say-1.5530155 |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=CTV News |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129071026/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/rights-aren-t-a-competition-anti-trans-hate-is-on-the-rise-in-canada-activists-and-advocates-say-1.5530155 |url-status=live }} According to journalist Neil Macdonald, Canada saw an increase in debates about transgender issues in feminism especially after the introduction of Bill C-16 in 2016, which added gender expression and gender identity as protected characteristics to the Canadian Human Rights Act and was opposed by a range of conservatives and some feminists, such as Meghan Murphy.{{cite news|last=Macdonald|first=Neil|date=13 May 2017|title=The far left and far right converge on transgender rights in Canada: Neil Macdonald|work=CBC.ca|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/trans-rights-bill-1.4113455|access-date=12 June 2021|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724060708/https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/trans-rights-bill-1.4113455|url-status=live}}

Feminist writer Margaret Atwood has said she disagrees with the views that trans women are not womenCatherine Conroy, [//www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/margaret-atwood-when-did-it-become-the-norm-to-expect-a-porn-star-on-the-first-date-1.3408922 Margaret Atwood: 'When did it become the norm to expect a porn star on the first date?'], in The Irish Times, 1 March 2018 or should not use women's washrooms.Lisa Allardice, [//www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/20/margaret-atwood-i-am-not-a-prophet-science-fiction-is-about-now Margaret Atwood: 'I am not a prophet. Science fiction is really about now'], in The Guardian, 20 January 2018 In May 2021, over 110 women's and human rights organisations in Canada signed a statement supporting trans-inclusionary feminism, stating that "trans people are a driving force in our feminist movements and make incredible contributions across all facets of our society."{{Cite web|url=https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2021-05-04-our-feminism-trans-inclusive|title=Our Feminism is Trans Inclusive. | Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights|access-date=12 June 2021|archive-date=12 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612151421/https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2021-05-04-our-feminism-trans-inclusive|url-status=live}} Canadian women's sporting organisations have also supported trans-inclusion, with the Canadian Women's Hockey League having an openly trans woman play, the Canada women's national soccer team having an openly non-binary player play, and Rugby Canada rejecting proposals to ban trans women from the sport.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/jessica-platt-cwhl-transgender-1.4483428| title = CWHL welcomes 1st openly transgender player {{!}} CBC Sports| access-date = 12 June 2021| archive-date = 17 November 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201117183016/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/jessica-platt-cwhl-transgender-1.4483428| url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/2020/09/23/after-coming-out-as-transgender-canadian-national-womens-soccer-player-quinn-just-the-same-old-quirky-person.html|title=After coming out as a transgender person, Canadian soccer player Quinn finds comfort and challenges in sport|website=Toronto Star|date=23 September 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://rugby.ca/en/news/2020/09/rugby-canada-provides-update-on-feedback-to-proposed-transgender-guidelines|title=Rugby Canada Provides Update on Feedback to Proposed Transgender Guidelines|date=3 September 2020 }}

In 1995, Kimberly Nixon, a trans woman, volunteered for training as a rape crisis counselor at Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter. When the shelter determined Nixon was trans, it expelled her, with staff saying it made it impossible for her to understand the experiences of their clients. Nixon disagreed, disclosing her own history of partner abuse, and sued on the grounds of discrimination. Nixon's attorneys argued there was no basis for the dismissal, citing Diana Courvant's experiences as the first publicly trans woman to work in a women-only domestic violence shelter. In 2007 the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear Nixon's appeal, ending the case.{{cite web |url=http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?lang=E&menu=34&item=1147 |title=Background on Nixon v Vancouver Rape Relief |publisher=Egale Canada |access-date=3 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207160530/http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?lang=E&menu=34&item=1147 |archive-date=7 February 2012 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/nixon/jan082001_lakeman.pdf |title=Excerpt from Proceedings |date=8 January 2001 |access-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002100647/http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/nixon/jan082001_lakeman.pdf|archive-date=2 October 2008}}Perelle, Robin (14 February 2007). [https://www.dailyxtra.com/rape-relief-wins-19610 Rape Relief wins: Supreme Court refuses to hear trans woman's appeal.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230225857/https://www.dailyxtra.com/rape-relief-wins-19610 |date=30 December 2017 }} Xtra The Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter was the centre of a further controversy regarding exclusion of transgender women when the City of Vancouver Council stopped awarding the shelter an annual $34,000 grant in 2019 over its exclusion of trans women.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/city-of-vancouver-to-cut-funding-to-women-s-group-on-basis-of-transgender-discrimination-1.5062688| title = City of Vancouver to cut funding to women's group on basis of transgender discrimination|work=CBC News}}

In January 2018, the Halifax Women's March came under criticism for a lack of intersectionality, with a number of Indigenous, Muslim, and trans feminist activists breaking away from the march to form a rally of their own, titled Walking the Talk.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/counter-rally-diverse-organization-halifax-women-s-march-1.4496892| title = Counter rally to women's march highlights diverse feminism in Halifax|work=CBC News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/canadian-federation-of-students/trans-women-feminism-iwd_a_23685917/|title = This Women's Day, Let's Promote Trans-Inclusive Feminism for All|date = 8 March 2019}} In March of that year, Gabrielle Bouchard was elected leader of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, the first transgender woman to hold the position.{{Cite web|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1088143/transgenre-feminisme-federation-femmes-quebec-ffq-emmanuelle-latraverse|title = Transgenre et féministe : Deux réalités irréconciliables?}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/fr/article/la-premiere-femme-trans-a-la-tete-de-la-ffq-veut-pousser-le-feminisme-au-dela-de-la-tolerance/|title=La première femme trans à la tête de la FFQ veut pousser le féminisme au-delà de la tolérance|date=11 December 2017 }}

Mainstream feminist organizations in the United States such as the National Organization for Women (NOW),{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Organization-for-Women|title=National Organization for Women {{!}} History, Goals, & Facts|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=14 April 2019|archive-date=12 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012210903/https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Organization-for-Women|url-status=live}} the League of Women Voters,{{cite web |title=LWVUS Joins Lawsuit to Protect Transgender Women in Sports |date=21 December 2020 |url=https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lwvus-joins-lawsuit-protect-transgender-women-sports |publisher=League of Women Voters |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831134551/https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lwvus-joins-lawsuit-protect-transgender-women-sports |url-status=live }} the National Women's Law Center{{cite web |title=Stop Using Girl Athletes to Justify Your Transphobia |date=16 February 2021 |url=https://nwlc.org/stop-using-girl-athletes-to-justify-your-transphobia/ |publisher=National Women's Law Center |access-date=26 March 2022}} and the Feminist Majority Foundation all support trans rights.{{Cite web|url=https://now.org/about/conference-resolutions/2018-national-now-resolutions/|title=2018 National NOW Resolutions {{!}} National Organization for Women|website=now.org|date=2 August 2018 |access-date=13 April 2019|archive-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428103747/https://now.org/about/conference-resolutions/2018-national-now-resolutions/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.feminist.org/welcome/mandp.asp|title=Mission and Principles|date=2014|website=Feminist Majority Foundation|access-date=12 April 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517054343/http://www.feminist.org/welcome/mandp.asp|url-status=live}} In 1997, NOW passed a resolution that affirmed trans inclusion within the organization; they also supported "recognition of transgender oppression" and issued a call "for education on the rights of transgender people."{{cite book |last=Valentine |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOv-kTqi8tsC&pg=PA195 |title=Imagining Transgender |date=30 August 2007 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-9021-3 |pages=195 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv125jv36 |quote=Despite the historically complex relationship between the women's movement and transexual {{sic}} women, in 1997 the National Organization for Women (NOW) passed a resolution recognizing that transexual women have a place in NOW.}}{{Cite web |title=NOW: Leading the Fight |url=https://now.org/resource/now-leading-the-fight/ |access-date=July 17, 2023 |website=National Organization for Women|date=24 November 2009 }} NOW president Terry O'Neill said the struggle against transphobia is a feminist issue.{{cite web |title=Why Transphobia Is a Feminist Issue |date=8 September 2014 |url=https://now.org/blog/why-transphobia-is-a-feminist-issue/ |publisher=National Organization for Women |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=21 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421033033/https://now.org/blog/why-transphobia-is-a-feminist-issue/ |url-status=live }} NOW has affirmed that "trans women are women, trans girls are girls."{{cite web |title=NOW Celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility |date=31 March 2021 |url=https://now.org/media-center/press-release/now-celebrates-transgender-day-of-visibility/ |publisher=National Organization for Women |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124014057/https://now.org/media-center/press-release/now-celebrates-transgender-day-of-visibility/ |url-status=live }} In a further statement NOW said that "trans women are women. They deserve equal opportunity, health care, a safe community & workplace, and they deserve to play sports. They have a right to have their identity respected without conforming to perceived sex and gender identity standards. We stand with you."{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/nationalnow/status/1392515410679930881|title= Trans women are women |publisher=National Organization for Women |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512162240/https://twitter.com/NationalNOW/status/1392515410679930881 |archive-date=12 May 2021}} NOW has said that {{" '}}debate' about trans girls and women in school sports spreads transphobia and bigotry through the false lens of 'fairness{{' "}} that amounts to a hate campaign.{{cite web |title="Debate" about Trans Girls and Women in School Sports Spreads Transphobia and Bigotry Through the False Lens of "Fairness" |date=5 May 2022 |url=https://now.org/blog/debate-about-trans-girls-and-women-in-school-sports-spreads-transphobia-and-bigotry-through-the-false-lens-of-fairness/ |publisher=NOW |access-date=19 July 2022 |archive-date=19 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719131131/https://now.org/blog/debate-about-trans-girls-and-women-in-school-sports-spreads-transphobia-and-bigotry-through-the-false-lens-of-fairness/ |url-status=live }}

Women's March, an organization launched in 2017 to protest the policies of the Trump administration, is also trans-inclusive, has stated that "trans women are women" and condemned TERFs.{{cite news |title=Feminist group Women's March refuses to back down after aggressive anti-trans pile-on: 'Stay mad' |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/07/22/womens-march-trans-twitter/ |access-date=27 July 2022 |work=PinkNews}} Women's March doesn't allow transphobia in its events.{{cite web |title=Rally for Women's/LGBTQ+ Rights |url=https://act.womensmarch.com/event/oct-2-2021-march/1809/ |publisher=Women's March |access-date=11 December 2023}} The National Women's Law Center "unequivocally supports the inclusion of trans women in women's sports" and has said that "in recent years, the far right has been attempting to divide, and thereby weaken, our feminist movement with fearmongering around transgender women athletes in women's sports."{{cite web |title=Once and For All: This Is Why We Support Trans Women and Girls in Sports |date=6 December 2023 |url=https://nwlc.org/once-and-for-all-this-is-why-we-support-trans-women-and-girls-in-sports/ |publisher=NWLC |access-date=7 December 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208215526/https://nwlc.org/once-and-for-all-this-is-why-we-support-trans-women-and-girls-in-sports/|archivedate=2023-12-08}} In 2020 the League of Women Voters joined a lawsuit to protect transgender women and girls in sports.{{cite web |title=LWVUS Joins Lawsuit to Protect Transgender Women in Sports |date=21 December 2020 |url=https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lwvus-joins-lawsuit-protect-transgender-women-sports |publisher=LWV |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831134551/https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lwvus-joins-lawsuit-protect-transgender-women-sports |url-status=live }}

A statement by 16 women's rights organizations including the National Women's Law Center, the National Women's Political Caucus, Girls, Inc., Legal Momentum, End Rape on Campus, the American Association of University Women, Equal Rights Advocates and the Women's Sports Foundation said that, "as organizations that fight every day for equal opportunities for all women and girls, we speak from experience and expertise when we say that nondiscrimination protections for transgender people—including women and girls who are transgender—are not at odds with women's equality or well-being, but advance them" and that "we support laws and policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, including in participation in sports, and reject the suggestion that cisgender women and girls benefit from the exclusion of women and girls who happen to be transgender."{{cite web |url =https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2020/02/Statement-from-Womens-Organizations-Supporting-Full-and-Equal-Access-to-Participation-in-Athletics-for-Transgender-People-nsa.pdf |title = Statement of Women's Rights and Gender Justice Organizations in Support of Full and Equal Access to Participation in Athletics for Transgender People|access-date = 2023-12-11 |date =|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909140603/https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2020/02/Statement-from-Womens-Organizations-Supporting-Full-and-Equal-Access-to-Participation-in-Athletics-for-Transgender-People-nsa.pdf|archivedate=2022-09-09 }}

In 2017, trans-exclusionary feminism became prominent in Mexico with the rise of Fourth Wave of Mexican feminism among young women and LQBTQ+ individuals. At the same time, the Frente Nacional por la Familia (National Front for Family), led a large national protest. This sparked the Mexican anti-gender and anti-LGBT movement. Feminism was highly influenced by feminist author, Laura Lecuona's popular essay Cuando lo trans no es transgresor ("When Trans Is Not Transgressive").{{Cite journal |last1=Manus |first1=Siobhan Guerrero Mc |last2=Neuhouser |first2=Julianna Stone |date=2023-12-11 |title=Gender Critical Feminism in Mexico: Origins, Particularities, Attributes |url=https://www.digest.ugent.be/article/id/89999/ |journal=DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies |volume=10 |issue=2 |doi=10.21825/digest.89999 |issn=2593-0281|doi-access=free }} Since then, Mexico has seen the rise of femicide, or the systemic murder of women and girls. Femicide does not exclude trans women because they also experience this violence.{{Cite journal |last=Mora |first=Ana Maria Miranda |date=2022-11-28 |title=The Normative Dilemmas of the Feminist Struggles Against (Trans-)Feminicide in Mexico |url=https://www.budrich-journals.de/index.php/feminapolitica/article/view/41278 |journal=Femina Politica – Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft |language=de |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=29–41 |doi=10.3224/feminapolitica.v31i2.03 |issn=2196-1646|doi-access=free }}

According to Hyun-Jae Lee of the University of Seoul, although "until the eighties modern Korean feminism had

been fairly cis-woman-centric and based on female identity, they did not officially exclude "biological men", refugees, or transgender people because of their biological sex" and that the "[trans-]exclusive stance of radical feminism never existed in Korean society before the 2000s."{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Hyun-Jae |title=A Critical Study of Identity Politics Based on the Category 'Biological Woman' in the Digital Era: How Young Korean Women Became Transgender Exclusive Radical Feminists |journal=Journal of Asian Sociology |date=2020 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=425–448 |jstor=26979894 }}

In 2016, the Korean-based online radical feminist community WOMAD split from the larger community Megalia after Megalia issued a ban on the use of certain explicit slurs against gay men and transgender people. This change in policy led to the migration of anti-LGBT members.{{Cite news|last=Kim|first=Ashley|date=8 September 2019|title=Womad: The New Face of Feminism in Korea?|work=Berkeley Political Review|url=https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2019/09/08/womad-the-new-face-of-feminism-in-korea/|access-date=2 October 2021}} WOMAD has caused controversy due to extreme online trolling and show extreme hatred towards transgender people;{{cite news|author=최형진 (Choi Hyung-jin)|url=http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2017112114271747345|script-title=ko:'아동 성폭행 논란' 워마드, 그 시작은 "성 소수자 혐오"|trans-title='Child sexual abuse controversy' WOMAD, the beginning of the website is "sexual minority hatred"|journal=Asia Economy|date=21 November 2017|language=ko}} for this reason, WOMAD have been called "Korean-style TERFs".{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.kr/transgender-queer/story_b_18434416.html|title=한국형 TERF인 '워마디즘' 비평|trans-title=Korean-style TERF "Womadism" criticism|journal=HuffPost Korea|date=1 November 2017|language=ko|access-date=2 December 2021|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824174551/https://www.huffingtonpost.kr/transgender-queer/story_b_18434416.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hankookilbo.com/v/f899557f27fb48f5a6db452f4b6a7558|author=Lim ye-in(임예인)|title=[2030 세상보기] 워마드와 미러링의 그림자|trans-title=[2030 World View] WOMAD and shadows of 'mirrroing'|journal=Hankook Ilbo|date=1 December 2017|language=ko|access-date=2 December 2021|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913124408/http://www.hankookilbo.com/v/f899557f27fb48f5a6db452f4b6a7558|url-status=live}} The organisers of the 2018 Hyehwa Station Protest barred trans women and non-binary people from attending the protest. In 2020, Sookmyung Women's University became the first Korean women's university to admit a trans student; however, the student later withdrew her acceptance after news of her acceptance sparked controversy.{{Cite web|url = http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200207000642|title = Transgender student withdraws after getting accepted to Sookmyung Women's University|date = 7 February 2020|access-date = 2 December 2021|archive-date = 2 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211202214505/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200207000642|url-status = live}}

The European Women's Lobby (EWL) is trans-inclusive.{{cite web |last1=Schratzberger-Vécsei |first1=Edith |title=European Coalition to end violence against women and girls demands for a sustainable year of focused actions on violence against women in 2017 |url=https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/letter_european_commission-european_coalition_to_end_vawg-fin-.pdf |publisher=European Women's Lobby |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124021210/https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/letter_european_commission-european_coalition_to_end_vawg-fin-.pdf |url-status=live }} EWL called for more attention and research into discrimination against trans women and lesbians and their specific health needs.{{cite web |title=Position Paper |url=https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/EWL_PositionPaper_on_Women_and_health_EN.pdf |publisher=EWL |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124021213/https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/EWL_PositionPaper_on_Women_and_health_EN.pdf |url-status=live }} EWL has said that "women with multiple identities are rendered more vulnerable to discrimination, violence and violation of their rights. The situation of (...) transgender women has long been made invisible. It is urgent to make sure that all policies are designed to not leave a single girl or woman behind."{{cite web |title=From Words to Action: 20 years of the Beijing Platform for Action: A European Women's Lobby review of the activities of the European Union |url=https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/beijing20ewlreport.pdf |publisher=European Women's Lobby |date=2015}}

The Danish Women's Society supports LGBTQA rights, and has stated that it takes homophobia and transphobia very seriously, that "we support all initiatives that promote the rights of gay and transgender people" and that "we see the LGBTQA movement as close allies in the struggle against inequality and we fight together for a society where gender and sexuality do not limit an individual."{{cite web |title=Køn, sex og seksualitet |language=da |trans-title=Gender, sex and sexuality |url=https://danskkvindesamfund.dk/dansk-kvindesamfunds-abc/koen/ |publisher=Dansk Kvindesamfund |access-date=18 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318135332/https://danskkvindesamfund.dk/dansk-kvindesamfunds%20-abc/koen/|archive-date=18 March 2022}}

In February 2020, an open letter was published in the Huffington Post signed by around 50 French feminists, including sociologist Christine Delphy and ex-Femen activist Marguerite Stern, questioning the presence of trans women in feminist movements.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtl.fr/actu/debats-societe/pourquoi-une-tribune-feministe-est-elle-accusee-de-transphobie-7800116510|title=Pourquoi une tribune féministe est-elle accusée de transphobie ?|date=19 February 2020 |access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422003238/https://www.rtl.fr/actu/debats-societe/pourquoi-une-tribune-feministe-est-elle-accusee-de-transphobie-7800116510|url-status=live}} The Huffington Post later removed the letter from their website.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2020/02/13/pourquoi-le-huffpost-a-t-il-depublie-une-tribune-sur-les-femmes-trans_1778272/|title=Pourquoi le "HuffPost" a-t-il dépublié une tribune sur les femmes trans ?|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608185024/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2020/02/13/pourquoi-le-huffpost-a-t-il-depublie-une-tribune-sur-les-femmes-trans_1778272/|url-status=live}} In response to the letter, several different feminist organisations, such as the Syndicat du travail sexuel, the Collectif NousToutes, and the Collages féminicides Paris, who Stern had previously been involved with, issued statements condemning transphobia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2020/02/13/quel-est-le-point-de-depart-de-la-polemique-sur-la-place-des-trans-dans-le-feminisme_1778259/|title=Quel est le point de départ de la polémique sur la place des trans dans le féminisme ?|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608185026/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2020/02/13/quel-est-le-point-de-depart-de-la-polemique-sur-la-place-des-trans-dans-le-feminisme_1778259/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.mediapart.fr/les-invites-de-mediapart/blog/050220/pour-un-feminisme-inclusif-envers-les-femmes-transgenres|title=Pour un féminisme inclusif envers les femmes transgenres|date=5 February 2020 |access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411132803/https://blogs.mediapart.fr/les-invites-de-mediapart/blog/050220/pour-un-feminisme-inclusif-envers-les-femmes-transgenres|url-status=live}}

In late-February 2020, a further group of feminists and feminist organisations released an open letter stating that they opposed the importing of "transphobic debates" into France and that creating divisions between cis and trans women "only serve the patriarchy."{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/02/26/le-debat-sur-la-place-des-femmes-trans-n-a-pas-lieu-d-etre_1779708/|title=Le débat sur la place des femmes trans n'a pas lieu d'être|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=17 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517001126/https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/02/26/le-debat-sur-la-place-des-femmes-trans-n-a-pas-lieu-d-etre_1779708/|url-status=live}}

Leading German women's organization Deutscher Frauenring is intersectional and opposes transphobia.{{cite web |title=Intersektionalität |language=de |trans-title=Intersectionality |url=https://deutscher-frauenring.de/intersektionalitaet/ |publisher=Deutscher Frauenring |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=26 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126101022/https://deutscher-frauenring.de/intersektionalitaet/ |url-status=live }} The umbrella organization for the German women's movement, the German Women's Council, has stated that "trans women are women and we need to represent them and defend their rights."{{cite news |title=Frauenrat unterstützt Selbstbestimmungsgesetz: "Wir dürfen Gewaltformen gegen Frauen nicht gegeneinander ausspielen" |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/queerspiegel/frauenrat-unterstutzt-selbstbestimmungsgesetz-trans-frauen-sind-frauen-und-mussen-von-uns-vertreten-werden-10073248.html |access-date=6 October 2023 |work=Der Tagesspiegel}}

In 2012, Jyl Josephson, professor of Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University–Newark, stated that in Iceland "transgender and gender scholars seem to have a more congenial and more recent relationship."{{Cite SSRN |ssrn=2108934 |title=Gender Equality and Trans Issues in Iceland |year=2012 |last1=Josephson |first1=Jyl}} Non-binary Icelandic journalist Owl Fisher has stated that "in Iceland the women's rights movement as a whole has been wholly supportive of trans rights for decades."{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/09/feminism-trans-rights-iceland-uk-movements|title=When feminism supports trans rights, everybody wins – just like in Iceland | Owl Fisher|website=TheGuardian.com|date=9 September 2019|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609133850/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/09/feminism-trans-rights-iceland-uk-movements|url-status=live}}

In 2019, Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir proposed a bill to introduce gender recognition via statutory declaration in the country. The bill was passed by the Althing by a vote of 45–0, with three abstentions.{{cite web|url=https://www.ruv.is/frett/new-law-to-help-trans-and-intersex-people|title=New law to help trans and intersex people|work=RÚV.is|date=19 June 2019|last=Elliott|first=Alexander|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=22 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622011052/https://www.ruv.is/frett/new-law-to-help-trans-and-intersex-people|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/21/trans-issues-britain-iceland-law-intersex-rights|title=On trans issues, Iceland has just put Britain to shame|work=The Guardian|date=21 June 2019|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624153236/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/21/trans-issues-britain-iceland-law-intersex-rights|url-status=live}}

On Women's Rights Day in Iceland in 2020, the Icelandic Women's Rights Association organised an event together with Trans Ísland that saw several different feminist organisations in the country discuss strategies to stop anti-trans sentiment from increasing its influence within Icelandic feminism.{{Cite web|url=https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/trans-people-and-feminist-solidarity/|title=Trans People and Feminist Solidarity|date=6 November 2020|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609133850/https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/trans-people-and-feminist-solidarity/|url-status=live}} Later that year, Trans Ísland was unanimously granted status as a member association of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association.{{Cite web|url = https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/04/30/trans-island-hluti-af-kvenrettindafelaginu?term=Trans%20%C3%8Dsland&rtype=news&slot=1|title = Trans Ísland hluti af Kvenréttindafélaginu|date = 30 April 2021|access-date = 10 June 2021|archive-date = 10 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210610151317/https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/04/30/trans-island-hluti-af-kvenrettindafelaginu?term=Trans%20%C3%8Dsland&rtype=news&slot=1|url-status = live}} In 2021 the Icelandic Women's Rights Association, noting the traditional sense of solidarity between the women's movement and LGBTQ+ movement, organized an event on how the women's movement could counter "anti-trans voices [that] are becoming ever louder and [that] are threatening feminist solidarity across borders."{{cite web |title=Transfeminism and the Women's Movement |date=15 March 2021 |url=https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/transfeminism-and-the-womens-movement/ |publisher=Icelandic Women's Rights Association |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003232758/https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/transfeminism-and-the-womens-movement/ |url-status=live }}

In January 2018, roughly 1,000 feminists in Ireland, including members of several feminist groups such as the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR), signed an open letter condemning an event held in Dublin by a group of UK-based trans-exclusionary radical feminists which opposed proposed reforms to the British Gender Recognition Act. The open letter stated that "the signatories of this letter, organise hand in hand with our trans sisters. Together, cis and trans, we are Irish feminism. Trans women are our sisters; their struggles are ours, our struggles theirs."{{cite web|first=Katie|last=Donohoe|url=https://gcn.ie/ireland-says-no-to-terfs/|title=Ireland Says No To TERFs|work=Gay Community News|date=24 January 2018|access-date=20 February 2022|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224001108/https://gcn.ie/ireland-says-no-to-terfs/|url-status=live}}

During the referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland that successfully saw the legalisation for abortion, the Together for Yes campaign group was explicitly trans-inclusive.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/39991/1/meeting-trans-migrant-disabled-groups-together-for-yes-abortion-rights-ireland|title=Meeting the diverse groups coming together for abortion rights in Ireland|date=9 May 2018|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608182104/https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/39991/1/meeting-trans-migrant-disabled-groups-together-for-yes-abortion-rights-ireland|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/6/feature-story-of-change-ireland-overturns-abortion-ban|title='Compassion was a key message'|date=16 July 2019 |access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608182106/https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/6/feature-story-of-change-ireland-overturns-abortion-ban|url-status=live}}

In November 2020, on Trans Day of Remembrance, the National Women's Council of Ireland and Amnesty International Ireland co-signed a statement along with a number of LGBT+ and human rights groups condemning trans-exclusionary feminism. The letter called upon the media and politicians "to no longer provide legitimate representation for those that share bigoted beliefs, that are aligned with far right ideologies and seek nothing but harm and division" and stated that "these fringe internet accounts stand against affirmative medical care of transgender people, and they stand against the right to self-identification of transgender people in this country. In summation they stand against trans, women's and gay rights by aligning themselves with far right tropes and stances."{{cite web |title=Irish LGBTQ+ community stand in #IrishSolidariT against transphobia on Trans Day of Remembrance |date=20 November 2020 |url=https://gcn.ie/irish-lgbtq-community-stand-irishsolidarit-transphobia-trans-day-remembrance/ |publisher=GCN |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124035104/https://gcn.ie/irish-lgbtq-community-stand-irishsolidarit-transphobia-trans-day-remembrance/ |url-status=live }}

In March 2021, the Abortion Rights Campaign issued a statement condemning the Bell v Tavistock ruling the UK, stating that trans people had played a role in the Yes vote of the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum and that the ruling was "ultimately an attack on our collective right to bodily integrity."{{Cite web|url = https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2021/03/06/lets-talk-about-bodily-autonomy-trans-healthcare-and-the-fight-for-reproductive-justice/|title = Let's Talk About: Bodily Autonomy, Trans Healthcare and the fight for Reproductive Justice|date = 6 March 2021|access-date = 8 June 2021|archive-date = 8 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210608182105/https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2021/03/06/lets-talk-about-bodily-autonomy-trans-healthcare-and-the-fight-for-reproductive-justice/|url-status = live}}

A 2019 study from the European University Institute that examined the feminist Non Una Di Meno (Italian chapter of Ni una menos association) in Italy argued that difference feminism had traditionally been prevalent in the country, but was being supplanted by intersectional feminism. The shift was driven especially by younger feminist activists, often accompanied with rejections of binary gender as well as increased prominence of anti-racist and anti-capitalist organising, who considered that "intersectional feminism grasps the core of the feminist and LGBT struggles, which is the "union of all the oppressed against the oppressors."{{cite journal |last1=Chironi |first1=Daniela |title=Generations in the Feminist and LGBT Movements in Italy: The Case of Non Una Di Meno |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |date=September 2019 |volume=63 |issue=10 |pages=1469–1496 |doi=10.1177/0002764219831745 |s2cid=150926700 }}

In Norway, the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (NKF) is trans-inclusive and supports legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.{{cite web |author=Karin M. Bruzelius|title=Høring – utredning om det strafferettslige diskrimineringsvernet|date=12 November 2018|url=https://kvinnesak.no/2018/11/horing-utredning-om-det-strafferettslig-diskrimineringsvernet/ |publisher= Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811014134/http://kvinnesak.no/2018/11/horing-utredning-om-det-strafferettslig-diskrimineringsvernet/ |archive-date=11 August 2020}} In 2015/2016 NKF supported the Gender Recognition Act, which the NKF President described as a milestone for LGBT+ rights that the women's rights movement welcomes.{{cite web |title=Norsk Kvinnesaksforening |url=http://www.kvinnelobby.no/medlemsorganisasjoner/norsk-kvinnesaksforening/ |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911194238/http://www.kvinnelobby.no/medlemsorganisasjoner/norsk-kvinnesaksforening/|archive-date=2022-09-11}} In 2018 NKF also supported legal protections against discrimination and hate speech on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the Penal Code. The Norwegian Women's Lobby, an umbrella organization of ten member organizations, describes itself as inclusive and working "to represent the interests of all those who identify as girls and women", and states that it understands discrimination against girls and women in an intersectional perspective and opposes transphobia.{{cite web |title=The Norwegian Women's Lobby – Norway's feminist policy and advocacy organization |url=http://www.kvinnelobby.no/en/about/ |publisher=NWL |access-date=2022-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911023538/http://www.kvinnelobby.no/en/about/|archive-date=2022-09-11}}

{{Further|LGBT rights in Spain#Intersex rights in Spain}}

During the Spanish transition to democracy in the late-1970s, trans people in Spain organised under the gay liberation movement seeking to repeal the Francoist regime's ban on homosexuality, as the Francoist regime would arrest trans people using those same laws. In 1978, the Colectivo de Travestis y Transexuales was founded as part of the Catalan gay liberation movement, the first trans-specific organisation in Spain.{{cite journal |last1=Coll-Planas |first1=Gerard |last2=Missé |first2=Miquel |title=The (trans)formation of identity: The evolution of categories related to gender diversity in the case of trans-activism in Barcelona (1978–2010) |journal=International Journal of Iberian Studies |date=1 March 2021 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=23–45 |doi=10.1386/ijis_00022_1 |s2cid=226447218 }} In 1987, the first national transgender association was formed, Transexualia, to fight against police violence. As several of the Transexualia founders were sex workers, they soon began working with feminist groups fighting against gendered violence, such as the Colectivo de Feministas Lesbianas de Madrid and the Comisión Antiagresiones. Part of the 1993 National Feminist Conference was dedicated to discussing trans issues in Spain. Through the 1990s, the scope of co-operation between the trans liberation movement and the feminist movement grew, and at the 2000 National Feminist Conference featured several talks by trans people, including Kim Pérez and Laura Bugalho. The 2009 Granada Feminist Conference then saw an influx of younger feminists, and a dedication to formulating a distinct Spanish transfeminism. According to Lucas Platero of King Juan Carlos University, the 2009 conference resulted in a shift towards a feminism that placed greater emphasis on criticising the gender binary and that was "more queer, more decolonial, and intersectional."{{cite journal |last1=Lucas Platero |first1=R. |last2=Ortega-Arjonilla |first2=Esther |title=Building coalitions: The interconnections between feminism and trans* activism in Spain |journal=Journal of Lesbian Studies |date=2 January 2016 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=46–64 |doi=10.1080/10894160.2015.1076235 |pmid=26701769 |s2cid=38545074 }}{{cite journal |last1=Araneta |first1=Aitzole |last2=Fernández Garrido |first2=Sandra |title=Transfeminist genealogies in Spain |journal=Transgender Studies Quarterly |date=2016 |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=35–39|doi=10.1215/23289252-3334163 }}

In 2021, a split in the Spanish left-wing coalition government occurred over the Legislative Proposal for the Real and Effective Equality of Trans People, with United Podemos Minister for Equality Irene Montero advancing the bill that would have included the introduction of legal gender recognition via statutory declaration (therefore responding to long-lasting demands for full depathologization) as well as legal recognition of non-binary identities. However, Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo argued that the bill "could put at risk the identity criteria for 47 million Spaniards." The bill ultimately failed to pass after the Socialist Workers' Party abstained on the vote.{{Cite web|url = https://apnews.com/article/health-spain-gender-identity-1d53f28df5988032e538c37f80928633|title = Gender identity bill divides Spain's feminists, left-wing|website = Associated Press|date = 20 April 2021|access-date = 10 June 2021|archive-date = 2 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213943/https://apnews.com/article/health-spain-gender-identity-1d53f28df5988032e538c37f80928633|url-status = live}} In parallel to this, some feminist intellectuals with different degrees of affinity to the PSOE, most notably authors Amelia Valcárcel, Alicia Miyares and Lidia Falcón, had been making public remarks opposing the legislative proposal, as well as comments that other feminist figures reported as transphobic.{{cite journal |last1=Vives Bauçà |first1=Bel |title=Sobre "agendes queer", "lobbies trans" i "sectes mutants": feminisme trans-excloent a l'Estat espanyol |journal=Clivatge |date=2021 |issue=9 |doi=10.1344/CLIVATGE2021.9.13|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last1=Solís |first1=Raúl |title=La batalla trans |date=2022 |publisher=Bellaterra |location=Barcelona |isbn=978-84-18684-34-0}}{{cite news |last1=Miguel Trula |first1=Esther |title="Digo tíos porque son tíos": quiénes son las TERF y por qué están dividiendo al movimiento feminista |url=https://magnet.xataka.com/en-diez-minutos/digo-tios-porque-tios-quienes-terf-que-estan-dividiendo-al-movimiento-feminista |access-date=17 June 2022 |work=Magnet |date=1 October 2021 |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702142628/https://magnet.xataka.com/en-diez-minutos/digo-tios-porque-tios-quienes-terf-que-estan-dividiendo-al-movimiento-feminista |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Sen |first1=Cristina |last2=Guindal |first2=Carlota |title=Lidia Falcón reafirma ante la Fiscalía que el movimiento trans empuja la pedofilia |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20201214/6120696/lidia-falcon-fiscalia-trans-pedofilia.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |work=La Vanguardia |date=14 December 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617211822/https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20201214/6120696/lidia-falcon-fiscalia-trans-pedofilia.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=López Trujillo |first1=Noemi |title=Qué está pasando con los derechos de las personas trans en España: de la Q de Queer a la T de Terf |url=https://www.newtral.es/derechos-trans-queer-terf/20200624/ |access-date=17 June 2022 |work=Newtral |date=24 June 2020}} Ultimately, a new, similar legislative proposal was passed, recognizing the right of trans people to self-determine without the need of any medical process, although demands concerning non-binary people eventually fell off.{{cite news |last1=Borraz |first1=Marta |title=El Gobierno aprueba la 'ley trans', que contempla la autodeterminación de género |url=https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/gobierno-aprueba-ley-trans-contempla-autodeterminacion-genero-partir-16-anos_1_8085516.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |work=elDiario.es |date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617211821/https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/gobierno-aprueba-ley-trans-contempla-autodeterminacion-genero-partir-16-anos_1_8085516.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|title=Así queda la 'ley trans' en España: un "paso de gigante" para el colectivo LGTBI, según el Gobierno|url=https://elpais.com/sociedad/2021-06-29/asi-queda-la-ley-trans-en-espana-mas-alla-de-la-autodeterminacion-de-genero.html|last=Álvarez|first=Pilar|work=El País|date=29 June 2021|access-date=17 June 2022|archive-date=17 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617213324/https://elpais.com/sociedad/2021-06-29/asi-queda-la-ley-trans-en-espana-mas-alla-de-la-autodeterminacion-de-genero.html|url-status=live}}

{{Further|Transgender rights in the United Kingdom}}

File:Feminism is intersectional No Terfs No Swerfs (49643458203).jpg

The UK government's 2018 consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 became a locus of conflict between trans-exclusionary radical feminists and advocates for trans acceptance. The GRA requires that one be medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria and live for two years in one's felt identity before legally changing gender.{{cite news|author-last1=Baggs |author-first1=Michael |date=17 October 2018 |title=Gender Recognition Act: 'Why we want transgender rules changed' |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-45838021 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411162249/https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-45838021 |archive-date=11 April 2019}} Proposed reforms would allow one to self-declare one's legal gender without a diagnosis or waiting period.{{cite news|date=13 October 2017 |title=Gender Recognition Act |language=en |work=Stonewall |url=https://www.stonewall.org.uk/gender-recognition-act |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518150927/https://www.stonewall.org.uk/gender-recognition-act |archive-date=18 May 2019}} While the UK's Equality Act 2010 permitted providers of single-sex or sex-segregated services such as women's shelters to deny access to transgender people on a case-by-case basis, a 2016 report of the House of Commons's Women and Equalities Committee{{cite report|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmwomeq/390/39007.htm#_idTextAnchor252 |title=Transgender Equality |author1=Women and Equalities Committee |date=8 January 2016 |publisher=House of Commons |quote=We recommend that the Equality Act be amended so that the occupational requirements provision and / or the single-sex / separate services provision shall not apply in relation to discrimination against a person whose acquired gender has been recognised under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123212155/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmwomeq/390/39007.htm#_idTextAnchor252|archive-date=23 November 2018|url-status=live}} recommended that providers no longer be permitted to exclude persons who had obtained legal recognition of their "acquired gender" under the GRA.{{cite news|date=31 July 2017 |title=Do trans rights affect women's rights? |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40713645 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524183314/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40713645 |archive-date=24 May 2019}}

Groups including Fair Play For Women and Woman's Place UK were founded in opposition to the proposed reforms.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44288431 |title=Twitter 'bans women against trans ideology', say feminists |work=BBC News |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607194711/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44288431 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=UCL Women's Liberation Convenors respond to defamation of WPUK |url=https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/feminism/2020/02/20/ucl-womens-liberation-convenors-respond-to-defamation-of-wpuk/ |access-date=7 June 2021 |website=blogs.ucl.ac.uk |publisher=UCL Women's Liberation |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607162301/https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/feminism/2020/02/20/ucl-womens-liberation-convenors-respond-to-defamation-of-wpuk/ |url-status=live }} The groups have been condemned by feminists who support the reforms. London Feminist Library organiser Lola Olufemi described Woman's Place UK as "a clearly transphobic organisation" after withdrawing from an event at the University of Oxford that featured WPUK supporter and Oxford professor Selina Todd.{{cite web |date=3 March 2020 |title=Trans allies pull out of University of Oxford feminist conference over ties with 'clearly transphobic' Woman's Place UK |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/03/womans-place-uk-selina-todd-oxford-university-feminism-transphobia-lola-olufemi/ |website=PinkNews |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607182700/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/03/womans-place-uk-selina-todd-oxford-university-feminism-transphobia-lola-olufemi/ |url-status=live }}

British trans-exclusive feminist groups objected to the proposed GRA self-ID reform as eroding protections for women-only safe spaces and liable to abuse by cisgender men{{cite news|author-last1=Hinsliff |author-first1=Gaby |date=10 May 2018 |title=The Gender Recognition Act is controversial – can a path to common ground be found? |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/10/the-gender-recognition-act-is-controversial-can-a-path-to-common-ground-be-found |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618072704/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/10/the-gender-recognition-act-is-controversial-can-a-path-to-common-ground-be-found |archive-date=18 June 2019}}{{cite web|author-last1=Freedman |author-first1=Rosa |author-last2=Auchmuty |author-first2=Rosemary |date=17 August 2018 |title=Women's Rights and the Proposed Changes to the Gender Recognition Act |url=http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/womens-rights-and-the-proposed-changes-to-the-gender-recognition-act/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524180636/http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/womens-rights-and-the-proposed-changes-to-the-gender-recognition-act/ |archive-date=24 May 2019 |access-date=23 May 2019 |website=Oxford Human Rights Hub |language=en}}—issues disputed by advocates of reform and unsupported by current evidence.{{cite web|author-last1=Dunne |author-first1=Peter |author-last2=Hewitt |author-first2=Tara |date=16 January 2018 |title=Gender Recognition, Self-Determination and Segregated Space |url=http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/gender-recognition-self-determination-and-segregated-space/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524180645/http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/gender-recognition-self-determination-and-segregated-space/ |archive-date=24 May 2019 |access-date=23 May 2019 |website=Oxford Human Rights Hub |language=en}}{{cite journal |author-last1=Hasenbush |author-first1=Amira |author-last2=Flores |author-first2=Andrew R. |author-last3=Herman |author-first3=Jody L. |title=Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Laws in Public Accommodations: a Review of Evidence Regarding Safety and Privacy in Public Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Changing Rooms |journal=Sexuality Research and Social Policy |date=23 July 2018 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=70–83 |doi=10.1007/s13178-018-0335-z |s2cid=149893864 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4rs4n6h0 |access-date=31 August 2020 |archive-date=30 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830064732/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4rs4n6h0 |url-status=live }} A 2020 paper in SAGE Open said that "the case against trans inclusion in the United Kingdom has been presented primarily through social media and blog-type or journalistic online platforms lacking the traditional prepublication checks of academic peer review".{{cite journal |author-last1=Zanghellini |author-first1=Aleardo |title=Philosophical Problems With the Gender-Critical Feminist Argument Against Trans Inclusion |journal=SAGE Open |date=1 April 2020 |volume=10 |issue=2 |doi=10.1177/2158244020927029 |s2cid=219733494 |url=https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/90937/4/2158244020927029.pdf |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=3 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103214816/http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/90937/4/2158244020927029.pdf |url-status=live }} Pro-trans feminist academics such as Akwugo Emejulu and Alison Phipps view self-declaration as a right for transgender people.{{cite news|author-first=Patrick |author-last=Strudwick |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/meet-the-feminist-academics-championing-trans-rights |title=Meet The Feminist Academics Championing Trans Rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223121258/https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/meet-the-feminist-academics-championing-trans-rights |archive-date=23 December 2018 |work=Buzzfeed News |date=22 December 2018}}

In October 2018 the UK edition of The Guardian published an editorial on GRA reform supporting a lessening of the barriers to legal gender change but also stating that "Women's oppression by men has a physical basis, and to deny the relevance of biology when considering sexual inequality is a mistake", and that, "Women's concerns about sharing dormitories or changing rooms with 'male-bodied' people must be taken seriously."{{cite news|date=17 October 2018 |title=The Guardian view on the Gender Recognition Act: where rights collide |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/17/the-guardian-view-on-the-gender-recognition-act-where-rights-collide |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523043605/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/17/the-guardian-view-on-the-gender-recognition-act-where-rights-collide |archive-date=23 May 2019}} Journalists from The Guardian's US edition wrote an editorial repudiating their UK counterpart's stance, stating that it "promoted transphobic viewpoints" and that its "unsubstantiated argument only serves to dehumanize and stigmatize trans people".{{cite news |author-last1=Levin |author-first1=Sam |author-last2=Chalabi |author-first2=Mona |author-last3=Siddiqui |author-first3=Sabrina |date=2 November 2018 |title=Why we take issue with the Guardian's stance on trans rights in the UK |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/guardian-editorial-response-transgender-rights-uk |access-date=14 May 2019 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523043608/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/guardian-editorial-response-transgender-rights-uk |url-status=live }} In March 2019 more than 160 women, including Emma Thompson and members of the UK parliament, cosigned an open letter expressing solidarity with trans women and support for GRA reform, organised by LGBT charity Time for Inclusive Education.{{cite news|author-first=Stephen |author-last=Paton |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/17472564.they-do-not-speak-for-us-feminists-hit-back-at-trans-exclusionary-activists-in-open-letter/ |title=They do not speak for us: Feminists hit back at trans-exclusionary activists in open letter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303174900/https://www.thenational.scot/news/17472564.they-do-not-speak-for-us-feminists-hit-back-at-trans-exclusionary-activists-in-open-letter/ |archive-date=3 March 2019 |date=3 March 2019 |work=The National}}{{cite news|author-first=Hannah |author-last=Rodger |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17472457.women-hit-back-at-archaic-and-damaging-views-on-transgender-rights-in-scathing-open-letter/ |title=Women hit back at 'archaic and damaging' views on transgender rights in scathing open letter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303080403/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17472457.women-hit-back-at-archaic-and-damaging-views-on-transgender-rights-in-scathing-open-letter/ |archive-date=3 March 2019 |date=3 March 2019 |work=The Herald}}

Seven Scottish women's groups – Close the Gap, Engender, Equate Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid, Women 50:50, and Zero Tolerance – released a joint statement during the GRA consultations endorsing the proposed reforms and stating that "we do not regard trans equality and women's equality to be in competition or contradiction with each other."{{Cite news|last=Brooks|first=Libby|date=9 November 2017|title=Legal recognition for non-binary people planned in Scotland|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/09/legal-recognition-for-non-binary-people-planned-in-scotland|access-date=3 January 2022|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103151655/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/09/legal-recognition-for-non-binary-people-planned-in-scotland|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=9 November 2017|title=Changing gender to be made easier under Scottish Government plans|work=The Scotsman|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/changing-gender-be-made-easier-under-scottish-government-plans-1436994|access-date=3 January 2022|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103151656/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/changing-gender-be-made-easier-under-scottish-government-plans-1436994|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Parsons|first=Vic|date=6 September 2021|title=Scottish trans rights consultation flooded with opposition from 'women's groups' and religious orgs|work=PinkNews|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/09/06/gender-recognition-act-scotland-consultation/|access-date=3 January 2022|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103151657/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/09/06/gender-recognition-act-scotland-consultation/|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://equalrecognition.scot/supporters/joint-statement-support/ |title=Joint statement by national feminist orgs in support of the Equal Recognition Campaign and reform of the Gender Recognition Act – equal recognition |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608182107/https://equalrecognition.scot/supporters/joint-statement-support/ |url-status=live }} The Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre has indicated that it accepts trans people as volunteers and the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has maintained individual gender-neutral bathrooms.{{Cite news|last=Parsons|first=Vic|date=27 July 2020|title=Rape charity that suffered transphobic backlash for recruiting trans women to help survivors refuses to back down|work=PinkNews|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/27/cambridge-rape-crisis-centre-transgender-volunteers-transphobic-attacks/|access-date=2 January 2022|archive-date=15 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015223432/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/27/cambridge-rape-crisis-centre-transgender-volunteers-transphobic-attacks/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Clark|first=Alasdair|date=4 March 2020|title=Edinburgh rape crisis centre forced to defend gender neutral toilets after criticism|work=Edinburgh Live|url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-rape-crisis-centre-forced-17855231|access-date=3 January 2022|archive-date=1 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201120350/https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-rape-crisis-centre-forced-17855231|url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=17 November 2021 |title=Trans inclusivity in sexual violence services is perfectly achievable – these organisations are leading by example |url=https://gal-dem.com/trans-inclusive-sexual-violence-services/ |author-last=Ravindran |author-first=Jeevan |access-date=25 November 2021 |work=Gal Dem |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125062833/https://gal-dem.com/trans-inclusive-sexual-violence-services/ |url-status=live }} Feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut has stated that "trans people and gender-nonconforming people experience disproportionate levels of violence{{nbsp}}... if we don't centre those who exist on the margins, what kind of movement is that?"{{cite web |date=15 March 2021 |title=Don't just read up on male violence and police brutality. Go out and protest, while you still can |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/15/sisters-uncut-male-violence-sarah-everard-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-protest/ |author-last=Vic |author-first=Parsons |access-date=25 November 2021 |work=Pink News |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125214950/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/15/sisters-uncut-male-violence-sarah-everard-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-protest/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=17 May 2018 |title=Sisters Uncut: frontline assembly |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/40064/1/sisters-uncut-domestic-violence-interview |author-last=Cafolla |author-first=Anna |access-date=25 November 2021 |work=Dazed |archive-date=25 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125214951/https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/40064/1/sisters-uncut-domestic-violence-interview |url-status=live }}

In 2021, an Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Maya Forstater v Centre for Global Development (CGD) found that gender-critical beliefs pass the legal test of a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010 because they "did not seek to destroy the rights of trans persons". While Forstater was "delighted to have been vindicated", the CGD described the decision as a "step backwards for inclusivity and equality for all".{{cite news|last=Faulkner|first=Doug|date=10 June 2021|title=Maya Forstater: Woman wins tribunal appeal over transgender tweets|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57426579|access-date=10 June 2021|quote=Ms Forstater{{nbsp}}... claimed she was discriminated against because of her beliefs, which include "that sex is immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity".{{nbsp}}... But the Honourable Mr Justice Choudhury said her "gender-critical beliefs" did fall under the Equalities Act as they "did not seek to destroy the rights of trans persons".|archive-date=2 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102190402/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57426579|url-status=live}}

{{Anchor|MiddleTempleEvent}}In November 2021, the Middle Temple LGBTQ+ Forum hosted a debate on the topic of conversion therapy, following the launch of a public consultation on how to ban the practice.{{cite news |author-last=Chudy |author-first=Emily |date=16 November 2021 |title=LGBT+ barristers 'profoundly disappointed' after 'anti-trans' lawyer invited to conversion ban talk |work=PinkNews |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/16/middle-temple-naomi-cunningham-lgbt/ |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120084408/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/16/middle-temple-naomi-cunningham-lgbt/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news|author-last=Baksi |author-first=Catherine |date=16 November 2021 |title=Barristers rebel against 'anti-trans' speaker at LGBTQ event |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/barristers-rebel-against-anti-trans-speaker-at-lgbtq-event-nd8t8tfff |access-date=16 November 2021}}{{cite news |author-last=Hamilton |author-first=Jamie |date=19 November 2021 |title=Middle Temple holds LGBT event with feminist despite complaints from over 100 barristers |work=Rollonfriday |url=https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/middle-temple-holds-lgbt-event-feminist-despite-complaints-over-100-barristers |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119150343/https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/middle-temple-holds-lgbt-event-feminist-despite-complaints-over-100-barristers |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last=Kelleher |author-first=Patrick |date=18 November 2021 |title='Anti-trans' lawyer rebuked after calling transitioning 'most savage conversion therapy ever' |work=PinkNews |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/18/naomi-cunningham-transgender-middle-temple/ |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120084405/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/18/naomi-cunningham-transgender-middle-temple/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author-last=Forstater |author-first=Maya |date=20 November 2021 |title=Stonewall finally accept debate |work=The Critic |url=https://thecritic.co.uk/no-debate-on-gender-is-over/ |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120150632/https://thecritic.co.uk/no-debate-on-gender-is-over/ |url-status=live }} The panel consisted of Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley, campaigner Jayne Ozanne, and gender-critical feminist and barrister Naomi Cunningham. A letter said to be signed by more than a hundred legal professionals objected to Cunningham's inclusion on the panel, describing her as "anti-trans". Kelley called for a complete ban on conversion therapy. Cunningham presented a "gender-critical" view that there are multiple explanations for why a young person may call themselves transgender, such as unease at being gay, so a ban on therapists exploring these alternative explanations amounts to "the most savage conversion therapy ever invented".{{cite web |date=17 November 2021 |title=Conversion therapy: the path to good law |url=https://legalfeminist.org.uk/2021/11/17/conversion-therapy-the-path-to-good-law/ |access-date=20 November 2021 |website=Legal Feminist |quote=The proposed law contains a safeguard for therapists treating people questioning their gender identity. But it won't help you: this child isn't questioning, she's telling you she's sure. So the government's proposals threaten to lock you up for doing what your conscience and your professional duty both tell you you must do. Gender non-conforming children often grow up to be gay adults. The bitter irony of this proposal is that it entrenches the idea that people can escape being gay by changing sex. This is a lie. Everyone in this room knows that it's impossible for a human being literally to change sex. But the attempt will exact a terrible price in painful surgeries, loss of sexual function, sterility, and other complications. This is the most savage conversion therapy ever invented. |archive-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117133110/https://legalfeminist.org.uk/2021/11/17/conversion-therapy-the-path-to-good-law/ |url-status=live }} Ozanne spoke about her personal experience of conversion therapy, but also described Cunningham's speech as "very insensitive" and "transphobic", which Cunningham denied.

Drawing on theory of radicalization, the sociologist Craig McLean argues that discourse on transgender-related issues in the UK has been radicalized in response to the activities of new lobby groups that push "a radical agenda to deny the basic rights of trans people{{nbsp}}... under the cover of "free speech{{' "}}.{{cite journal |author-last1=McLean |author-first1=Craig |title=The Growth of the Anti-Transgender Movement in the United Kingdom. The Silent Radicalization of the British Electorate |journal=International Journal of Sociology |date=2021 |volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=473–482 |doi=10.1080/00207659.2021.1939946 |s2cid=237874806 |url=http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/46370/9/The%20Growth%20of%20the%20Anti%20Transgender%20Movement%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%20The%20Silent%20Radicalization%20of%20the%20British%20Electorate.pdf |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=14 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214191327/https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/46370/9/The%20Growth%20of%20the%20Anti%20Transgender%20Movement%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%20The%20Silent%20Radicalization%20of%20the%20British%20Electorate.pdf |url-status=live }} Finn Mackay argued that "during the pandemic, the ceaseless attacks on and lies told about trans people in our media have only increased{{nbsp}}... the fact that our media is awash with conspiracy theories about trans lives{{nbsp}}... should be a national shame."{{cite book |author-last1=Mackay |author-first1=Finn |title=Female Masculinities and the Gender Wars: The Politics of Sex |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9780755606665}}

The Māori Women's Welfare League and the National Council of Women of New Zealand are trans-inclusive and have supported a shift to legal gender self-determination.{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300422022/explainer-the-decadeslong-battle-for-gender-selfidentification |title=Explainer: The decades-long battle for gender self-identification |date=September 2020 |access-date=6 November 2021 |author-first=Charlie |author-last=Mitchell |website=Stuff.co.nz |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106164917/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300422022/explainer-the-decadeslong-battle-for-gender-selfidentification |url-status=live }}

{{divcol|colwidth=30em}}

• Feminist movements and ideologies
• Feminist sex wars
• Feminist views on BDSM
• Feminist views on pornography
• Feminist views on prostitution
• Feminist views on sexuality
• Radical feminism#Views on transgender topics
• Gender essentialism
• Lesbian erasure
• Misogyny
• Social construction of gender
• Transmisogyny

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

{{cite news | url=https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism | title=It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women | work=Bitch Media | date=17 February 2014 | access-date=18 April 2014 | last=Vasquez | first=Tina | quote=Steinem was long considered transphobic because of the stance she took in writing about professional tennis player Renée Richards, who transitioned in the 1970's. Steinem's 1983 book Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellion cited Janice Raymond's work and discussed how transsexual people "mutilate their own bodies." | archive-date=9 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909075902/https://bitchmedia.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism | url-status=live }}

{{cite web

|url=http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time

|title=On Working Together Over Time

|last=Steinem

|first=Gloria

|date=2 October 2013

|publisher=The Advocate

|quote=Years passed the Internet arrived, and words circulated out of time and context. Last year one young transgender student on campus assumed that old essay's use of the word "mutilate" for surgeries performed because of societal pressure meant I was against sexual reassignment surgery altogether. He didn't consider that it had been written two generations before he was born, and also in the context of global protests against routine surgical assaults, called female genital mutilation by some survivors.{{pb}}{{pb}}So now I want to be unequivocal in my words: I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned. Their health care decisions should be theirs and theirs alone to make. And what I wrote decades ago does not reflect what we know today as we move away from only the binary boxes of "masculine" or "feminine" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.

|access-date=7 August 2014

|archive-date=16 January 2014

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116081606/http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time

|url-status=live

}}

{{pb}}

{{cite news |url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/linda-bellos-politician-cambridge-barred-13716790 |title=Cambridge University has uninvited this feminist speaker after these comments |last=Savva |first=Anna |newspaper=Cambridge News |date=5 October 2017 |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114005705/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/linda-bellos-politician-cambridge-barred-13716790 |url-status=live }}

{{pb}}

{{cite web |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/13638 |title=Exclusive: Linda Bellos 'disappointed' by Beard Society ban |last1=Loughran |first1=Rachel |last2=Menin |first2=Anna |publisher=Varsity |date=5 October 2017 |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115071700/https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/13638 |url-status=live }}

}}

• {{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Sara|title=Living a Feminist Life|date=2017|edition=1st|publisher=Duke University Press Books|location=North Carolina, U.S.|isbn=978-0822363194}}
• Barrett, Ruth. Female Erasure. Lebec, California. Tidal Time Publishing, 2016.
• Bettcher, Talia Mae, Stryker Susan (eds.). Trans/Feminisms. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 3(1-2). {{ISSN|2328-9252}}
• Califia, Patrick. Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism, San Francisco, California: Cleis Press, 1997. {{ISBN|1-573-44072-8}}
• Jeffreys, Sheila. Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism. London: Routledge, 2013. {{ISBN|0-415-53940-4}}
• Stryker, Susan, Whittle, Stephen (eds.). The Transgender Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. {{ISBN|9780415947091}}

• [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-trans/ Feminist Perspectives on Trans Issues]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222539/http://www.gendercentre.org.au/resources/polare-archive/archived-articles/helps-and-hindrances.htm Help Hindrances and the Indifference of Feminism]

{{Feminism}}

{{Transgender}}

Category:Gender studies

Category:Gender and society

Category:Debates about social issues