JK Rowling

[bunique]

6 hours ago, feral chile said:

And no real reason not to have unisex toilet cubicles

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/sexual-assault-unisex-changing-rooms-sunday-times-women-risk-a8519086.html%3famp

there is some (more anecdotal) evidence that girls in schools where single sex spaces have been replaced by unisex facilities are avoiding using the toilets during the school day completely. 

Social convention is a powerful motivator of behaviour. A man entering a single sex space can be challenged because he has no legitimate reason to be there. A man entering a unisex space can’t be, or a person who presents as male but self-identifies as female if self-id becomes the norm. A common response is to say that no man is going to falsely self-identify as a woman in order to gain access to female spaces. But the lengths some men will go to in order to abuse women are well documented. The risk may be small but why else would the EA allow for single sex exemptions if not to protect women and girls from such risk? Not all men are rapists but almost all rapists are men (or at least they were until crime stats start being based on how a person identifies and suddenly there’s an increase in “female” sex offenders). 
 

I completely agree with Neil that the discussion of where trans rights and women’s rights may come into conflict has to be allowed to happen without fear from either side of being abused. I know JKR has been following this issue for a while and wouldn’t be surprised if her tweet was designed to really shine a spotlight on the way discussion about the issue is handled. It’s enormously complex, with the left wing radical feminist position finding an uncomfortable bedfellow with the Christian Right, and the newer trans rights activists alienating many older transsexuals who have no desire to push for change and see their tactics as harmful. The fact it’s only really playing out on Twitter only makes it all more toxic. 
 

and saying all that risks a person being doxxed and reported to their employer as transphobic 🤷‍♀️

[feral chile]

1 hour ago, bunique said:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/sexual-assault-unisex-changing-rooms-sunday-times-women-risk-a8519086.html%3famp

there is some (more anecdotal) evidence that girls in schools where single sex spaces have been replaced by unisex facilities are avoiding using the toilets during the school day completely. 

Social convention is a powerful motivator of behaviour. A man entering a single sex space can be challenged because he has no legitimate reason to be there. A man entering a unisex space can’t be, or a person who presents as male but self-identifies as female if self-id becomes the norm. A common response is to say that no man is going to falsely self-identify as a woman in order to gain access to female spaces. But the lengths some men will go to in order to abuse women are well documented. The risk may be small but why else would the EA allow for single sex exemptions if not to protect women and girls from such risk? Not all men are rapists but almost all rapists are men (or at least they were until crime stats start being based on how a person identifies and suddenly there’s an increase in “female” sex offenders). 
 

I completely agree with Neil that the discussion of where trans rights and women’s rights may come into conflict has to be allowed to happen without fear from either side of being abused. I know JKR has been following this issue for a while and wouldn’t be surprised if her tweet was designed to really shine a spotlight on the way discussion about the issue is handled. It’s enormously complex, with the left wing radical feminist position finding an uncomfortable bedfellow with the Christian Right, and the newer trans rights activists alienating many older transsexuals who have no desire to push for change and see their tactics as harmful. The fact it’s only really playing out on Twitter only makes it all more toxic. 
 

and saying all that risks a person being doxxed and reported to their employer as transphobic 🤷‍♀️

Aaargh! Lost a long reply to this, too tired to start again tonight.

Meanwhile, this article links to the full judgement,  for anyone interested, it's a really good background to the issues involved.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50858919

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12P9zf82TicPs2cCxlTnm0TrNFDD8Gaz5/view?usp=drivesdk

It's a pdf file, I never know how to share them. I hope I haven't just given you all access to my phone 🙈

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by feral chile

[bunique]

You can also find her submission and evidence given online which is also worth reading as the judgement isn’t an entirely accurate reporting of some of it.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

19 hours ago, eFestivals said:

Prisons and the criminal justice system don't recognise self-defined genders 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/11/karen-white-how-manipulative-and-controlling-offender-attacked-again-transgender-prison

[feral chile]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/11/karen-white-how-manipulative-and-controlling-offender-attacked-again-transgender-prison

Hi yog,

Thanks for the link, it was this case that got me excluding prisons from my initial comments. Karen White is clearly a dangerous and unpleasant individual, and will continue to be so after her surgery, I should imagine.

[feral chile]

3 hours ago, bunique said:

You can also find her submission and evidence given online which is also worth reading as the judgement isn’t an entirely accurate reporting of some of it.

Thanks bunique, I'll do a search. Do you know if she was given the exact grounds for dismissal? I gather her contract wasn't renewed, so I'm not sure if it applied, or she was given any.

[feral chile]

8 hours ago, bunique said:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/sexual-assault-unisex-changing-rooms-sunday-times-women-risk-a8519086.html%3famp

there is some (more anecdotal) evidence that girls in schools where single sex spaces have been replaced by unisex facilities are avoiding using the toilets during the school day completely. 

Social convention is a powerful motivator of behaviour. A man entering a single sex space can be challenged because he has no legitimate reason to be there. A man entering a unisex space can’t be, or a person who presents as male but self-identifies as female if self-id becomes the norm. A common response is to say that no man is going to falsely self-identify as a woman in order to gain access to female spaces. But the lengths some men will go to in order to abuse women are well documented. The risk may be small but why else would the EA allow for single sex exemptions if not to protect women and girls from such risk? Not all men are rapists but almost all rapists are men (or at least they were until crime stats start being based on how a person identifies and suddenly there’s an increase in “female” sex offenders). 
 

I completely agree with Neil that the discussion of where trans rights and women’s rights may come into conflict has to be allowed to happen without fear from either side of being abused. I know JKR has been following this issue for a while and wouldn’t be surprised if her tweet was designed to really shine a spotlight on the way discussion about the issue is handled. It’s enormously complex, with the left wing radical feminist position finding an uncomfortable bedfellow with the Christian Right, and the newer trans rights activists alienating many older transsexuals who have no desire to push for change and see their tactics as harmful. The fact it’s only really playing out on Twitter only makes it all more toxic. 
 

and saying all that risks a person being doxxed and reported to their employer as transphobic 🤷‍♀️

Hi bunique, I thought of you when this discussion resurfaced, I was hoping for your perspective.

Unisex changing rooms - 120 incidents in unisex changing rooms, 14 in single sex changing rooms, 46 in communal areas. It would be interesting to see what the complaints were and if they varied across the 3 spaces mentioned, and what gender the complainees were. I think changing room and toilets are different types of spaces, as I won't even use changing rooms, too shy. Toilets would not be communal like urinals, you would still have privacy and a locked door.

Social convention - how would you know to challenge a trans woman? We probably share toilets with trans women already, and are none the wiser. We'd be more likely to challenge a trans man in there, surely?

Social convention won't keep out a rapist, whatever gender they identify as. I don't personally see these spaces as safe spaces to start with. Rapists will pick off vulnerable women wherever they find them unprotected, I doubt they'd care about hypothetical safe spaces. I can't see how trans women would increase the risk. A rapist is a rapist. 

Last night, I reflected on whether we should provide unisex toilets as well as gender binary toilets, so everyone felt safe. Then I worried that using a unisex toilet would identify trans people and put them at risk. I dont know what they themselves would prefer.

I also agree that it's a complex issue. JK Rowling is able to discuss it freely as she doesn't have an employer to answer to. Maya did. Do you have a link to her submission? I have tried to find one, and the exact reason given for terminating her employment. I would have been dismissed too, I suspect.

It's an emotive topic, I would love a solution that kept everybody safe, both physically and mentally.  I can't think of a way for that to happen. I really hope a solution is found.

Edited December 23, 2019 by feral chile

[eFestivals]

15 hours ago, feral chile said:

I hadn't really been following it closely, I've assumed that she was sacked for breaching the Equality Act (gender)

not remotely accurate.

[eFestivals]

3 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/11/karen-white-how-manipulative-and-controlling-offender-attacked-again-transgender-prison

what I said is correct: prisons don't recognise self-defined genders. That doesn't mean they never recognise them. 

As that article makes clear, that particular individual is now back in a male prison - which is the self-defined gender not being recognised. 

From what I know of via the anecdotal, most self-defined women are held in a male prison. 

[bunique]

When talking about toilets or women’s spaces I think it’s important to note that most sensible people distinguish between trans women, and men who will abuse self-id to gain access to spaces. Self-id doesn’t require a person to “present” as the opposite sex. They just have to say they are. THAT is what most gender critical people were opposed to when the proposals to review the GRA came out. And that’s where the conflict started. (As an aside, self-Id also gets rid of the need to offer counselling, hormones or surgery so seems to me to be a disadvantage to people suffering with gender dysphoria who may have their access to treatment restricted because they can be told to just identify as the opposite sex, which isn’t always enough to alleviate GD).  

I’ve definitely had experiences on nights out where the women’s toilet has been a sanctuary and any man trying to enter gets met with the vicious tongue and if necessary claws of those inside! 

You could also google Alex Drummond for an example of how the definition of transwoman has shifted. It’s not always about “passing as a woman”.

There are many, many strands to the trans rights debate that have nothing to do with toilets and many different people have different dogs in the fight so to speak - for some it’s about the transition of children, or treating rapid onset gender dysphoria (you’ll likely have seen the debate around the Tavistock and what ex-employees have been saying about the affirmation approach). For others it’s about women’s sports. For others it’s about the impact on lesbians who say they wouldn’t wish to have sex with a “girldick”. For still others it’s about how we support people who detransition, who are often ostracised from the trans communities but live with health complications from hormones and surgery. Or the fact that current transactivism seems to harden traditional gender roles and expectations instead of shattering them. Or exploring why so many young women who transition are also autistic and why that might be. 
 

That’s not exhaustive but just to demonstrate the point, and some of those debates have more merit than others, while some probably have more obvious solutions than others. 

[eFestivals]

32 minutes ago, feral chile said:

We probably share toilets with trans women already, and are none the wiser.

You're probably right about that.

In my limited knowledge, the loudest campaigning and the issues don't tend to come from the trans women who do their best to fit the female stereotypes to blend in as a woman, but from those who want to be recognised as a woman while not really looking like one (and in at least some cases who also want to be recognised as trans).

In the same way as not all women are the same, not all trans women are the same either. It's probably a mistake to lump them all together (tho I've no idea how they might be split), yet the hard campaigning insists that they should be while tending to brush over the more-difficult issues such as the case highlighted in the article yog linked to.

[eFestivals]

47 minutes ago, feral chile said:

Social convention won't keep out a rapist, whatever gender they identify as. Rapists will pick off vulnerable women wherever they find them unprotected

I think you're falling into the trap of thinking there is only full-evil and full-good. Most crime is opportunist. 

Edited December 23, 2019 by eFestivals

[eFestivals]

50 minutes ago, feral chile said:

It's an emotive topic, I would love a solution that kept everybody safe, both physically and mentally.  I can't think of a way for that to happen. I really hope a solution is found.

the only way we might arrive at that solution is from discussion, and not from shutting discussion down.

And a part of that discussion is the fears women have about lowering the social protections that have been built up over time (which was essentially Maya's angle).

Edited December 23, 2019 by eFestivals

[eFestivals]

15 minutes ago, bunique said:

When talking about toilets or women’s spaces I think it’s important to note that most sensible people distinguish between trans women, and men who will abuse self-id to gain access to spaces. Self-id doesn’t require a person to “present” as the opposite sex. They just have to say they are. THAT is what most gender critical people were opposed to when the proposals to review the GRA came out. And that’s where the conflict started. (As an aside, self-Id also gets rid of the need to offer counselling, hormones or surgery so seems to me to be a disadvantage to people suffering with gender dysphoria who may have their access to treatment restricted because they can be told to just identify as the opposite sex, which isn’t always enough to alleviate GD).  

I’ve definitely had experiences on nights out where the women’s toilet has been a sanctuary and any man trying to enter gets met with the vicious tongue and if necessary claws of those inside! 

You could also google Alex Drummond for an example of how the definition of transwoman has shifted. It’s not always about “passing as a woman”.

There are many, many strands to the trans rights debate that have nothing to do with toilets and many different people have different dogs in the fight so to speak - for some it’s about the transition of children, or treating rapid onset gender dysphoria (you’ll likely have seen the debate around the Tavistock and what ex-employees have been saying about the affirmation approach). For others it’s about women’s sports. For others it’s about the impact on lesbians who say they wouldn’t wish to have sex with a “girldick”. For still others it’s about how we support people who detransition, who are often ostracised from the trans communities but live with health complications from hormones and surgery. Or the fact that current transactivism seems to harden traditional gender roles and expectations instead of shattering them. Or exploring why so many young women who transition are also autistic and why that might be. 
 

That’s not exhaustive but just to demonstrate the point, and some of those debates have more merit than others, while some probably have more obvious solutions than others. 

great post.  

 

[bunique]

2 hours ago, feral chile said:

Thanks bunique, I'll do a search. Do you know if she was given the exact grounds for dismissal? I gather her contract wasn't renewed, so I'm not sure if it applied, or she was given any.

https://medium.com/@MForstater/claimants-witness-statement-abe3e8073b41

 

not sure about reason for contract not being renewed - it may be in the witness statement which is lengthy!

Edited December 23, 2019 by bunique

[feral chile]

2 hours ago, bunique said:

When talking about toilets or women’s spaces I think it’s important to note that most sensible people distinguish between trans women, and men who will abuse self-id to gain access to spaces. Self-id doesn’t require a person to “present” as the opposite sex. They just have to say they are. THAT is what most gender critical people were opposed to when the proposals to review the GRA came out. And that’s where the conflict started. (As an aside, self-Id also gets rid of the need to offer counselling, hormones or surgery so seems to me to be a disadvantage to people suffering with gender dysphoria who may have their access to treatment restricted because they can be told to just identify as the opposite sex, which isn’t always enough to alleviate GD).  

I’ve definitely had experiences on nights out where the women’s toilet has been a sanctuary and any man trying to enter gets met with the vicious tongue and if necessary claws of those inside! 

You could also google Alex Drummond for an example of how the definition of transwoman has shifted. It’s not always about “passing as a woman”.

There are many, many strands to the trans rights debate that have nothing to do with toilets and many different people have different dogs in the fight so to speak - for some it’s about the transition of children, or treating rapid onset gender dysphoria (you’ll likely have seen the debate around the Tavistock and what ex-employees have been saying about the affirmation approach). For others it’s about women’s sports. For others it’s about the impact on lesbians who say they wouldn’t wish to have sex with a “girldick”. For still others it’s about how we support people who detransition, who are often ostracised from the trans communities but live with health complications from hormones and surgery. Or the fact that current transactivism seems to harden traditional gender roles and expectations instead of shattering them. Or exploring why so many young women who transition are also autistic and why that might be. 
 

That’s not exhaustive but just to demonstrate the point, and some of those debates have more merit than others, while some probably have more obvious solutions than others. 

I agree with Neil, great post.

It is a hugely complex area, and one I have limited understanding of. Got dentist, will get back to you later.

[feral chile]

4 hours ago, bunique said:

When talking about toilets or women’s spaces I think it’s important to note that most sensible people distinguish between trans women, and men who will abuse self-id to gain access to spaces. Self-id doesn’t require a person to “present” as the opposite sex. They just have to say they are. THAT is what most gender critical people were opposed to when the proposals to review the GRA came out. And that’s where the conflict started. (As an aside, self-Id also gets rid of the need to offer counselling, hormones or surgery so seems to me to be a disadvantage to people suffering with gender dysphoria who may have their access to treatment restricted because they can be told to just identify as the opposite sex, which isn’t always enough to alleviate GD).  

I’ve definitely had experiences on nights out where the women’s toilet has been a sanctuary and any man trying to enter gets met with the vicious tongue and if necessary claws of those inside! 

You could also google Alex Drummond for an example of how the definition of transwoman has shifted. It’s not always about “passing as a woman”.

There are many, many strands to the trans rights debate that have nothing to do with toilets and many different people have different dogs in the fight so to speak - for some it’s about the transition of children, or treating rapid onset gender dysphoria (you’ll likely have seen the debate around the Tavistock and what ex-employees have been saying about the affirmation approach). For others it’s about women’s sports. For others it’s about the impact on lesbians who say they wouldn’t wish to have sex with a “girldick”. For still others it’s about how we support people who detransition, who are often ostracised from the trans communities but live with health complications from hormones and surgery. Or the fact that current transactivism seems to harden traditional gender roles and expectations instead of shattering them. Or exploring why so many young women who transition are also autistic and why that might be. 
 

That’s not exhaustive but just to demonstrate the point, and some of those debates have more merit than others, while some probably have more obvious solutions than others. 

I'll just address a few points, up to Alex Drummond, as I need to learn about the issue.

Obviously, I'm sure all here agree that anyone suffering discrimination, whatever they identify as, whether related to gender and other issues, need support to challenge it.

Women have good reason for fear of male intrusion, and I don't want to trivialise that. I do feel though, that fear and actual risk might need to be separated out. They are potentially too separate issues, as what is the risk here? Trans women, or men?

I find it offensive to imply that trans women aren't women. I don't really understand how they get to feel so strongly about it, and that's why I think counselling is vital.

I suppose I wasn't brought up undergoing traditional cosy female domestics. I was given traditionally male toys, sent out to play to get me out from under feet, was actually banned from domestic duties "quicker to do it myself" style, was encouraged to study hard and build a career etc., even though my childhood household had gender specialised roles, male breadwinner, female stay at home housewife.

So, I was always more comfortable mixing with boys, I thought boys had more fun, I had more in common with them, they were the role models in adventure stories, etc. 

There have been times when I've unconsciously fitted in with males rather than females. My daughter once questioned my habit of taking a backpack to work, and I replied, "everyone does". She rather perceptively said, "even the women?" This is not about whether women carry backbacks, but more about who I was identifying with and who were invisible to me. But I did still know I happened to be a girl. Me first, with interests that boys traditionally shared, but never any feeling that I was a boy, just that we should all do what we wanted without it being boy or girl stuff.

So gender interests me. I spent most late teen years fighting to be accepted into all male gangs, because they did exciting, edgy things, and the girls I knew had started noticing boys, and were (as I'd now interpret) participating in male objectification. I was uneducated, but knew I wanted to be treated as an equal, not sidelined as a bit of skirt.

So, I always thought sex shouldn't be a barrier, gender was just a social construct, there was no such thing as traditionally male or traditionally female anything, apart from biological funcion. So, more about individual equality than gender, maybe.

Then, along came gender fluidity. It's not something I understand. I can't imagine feeling like you're actually the opposite sex, rather than just wanting to be able to do the same stuff.

To be honest, first I thought they must have been reacting to rigid gender stereotyping in childhood, but these days, very young children are self identifying, with no parental resistance.

So, I don't understand it, but I do accept that other people go through it, and I want to be inclusive. I suppose I'm still thinking, let people do their own thing, as long as it doesnt3hurt anyone else.

What I don't want is anything similar to the objections to lowering gay age of consent, because it put young boys at risk from predatory men. Oh, so it was OK for young girls to be at risk from them, was it?

Is the issue here trans women, or men, or trans generally, because of how feminism treats gender equality?

Anyway, these are the questions I'm trying to get my head around. But all I have are questions, I haven't managed to understand, never mind conclude, as yet.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by feral chile

[eFestivals]

3 minutes ago, feral chile said:

I find it offensive to imply that trans women aren't women.

just out of interest, have you met any? How many have you met?

What makes a woman a woman? And are *all* trans women able to be that woman?

[feral chile]

13 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

just out of interest, have you met any? How many have you met?

What makes a woman a woman? And are *all* trans women able to be that woman?

Yes, I have met some. I met a couple of very tall women once in a gay club, when I was quite young and very very drunk, and they both peed together standing up in a cubicle in the ladies, which fascinated me, I wanted them to teach me how to do it. They took the piss out of me, I had been enthusiastically admiring their jewellery, and they said, "bet you're wondering how we can do this" while they peed, as I realised with mortification when sober and the penny had dropped. Way to show sensitivity 🙈

Another time, my friend invited a friend along, who had identified as a trans woman, but it was difficult to relate to her as a woman tbh. I overcompensated by being super nice, and at the end of the night she hugged me with a sort of shake and a roar. My friend said after she left, "forgot to say, she's into women". That produced a lot of hostility towards her from our male friends, who said she must have mental health issues rather than gender issues, as how could she be a trans woman lesbian?

Then there was a strange case once. We were out with work, a colleague and I went to the loo, to be met by an Iggy Pop lookalike screaming at us "get out! Ladies only!". This drew our attention to this person, who was androgynous in appearance, could have been a very slightly built man or a gaunt woman. Conversation later resulted in mutual introductions to "John".

My son has a Welsh spelling of a common masculine name, that is often mistaken for a similar Welsh girl's name by Cardiffians. He has long hair, and had to attend a &e in Cardiff. The nurse attending called him erroneously by the girl's name, told him he had lovely long eyelashes, and pretty obviously either thought he might be trans or was fishing for gender clarity. Luckily, I noticed her discomfort and managed to construct a sentence with his correct name and gender pronoun. He does look masculine, but you're not allowed to assume.

[feral chile]

5 hours ago, eFestivals said:

the only way we might arrive at that solution is from discussion, and not from shutting discussion down.

And a part of that discussion is the fears women have about lowering the social protections that have been built up over time (which was essentially Maya's angle).

There are jobs where discussion is restricted. I'm in one myself, it can be a pain in the arse.

Unfortunately, the tribunal was a test case to see if she'd be covered under belief, and the judge ruled against it.

I was coincidentally discussing the stick I used to get from taxi drivers hitting on me when out with friends. Conversations would go:

I/she's married.

Where's her husband then?

Looking after the kids.

What? Is he gay?

So I'm not really comfortable with gender roles and definitions of "real" men/women.

I know this is from the basis of gender stereotyping rather than biological sex, but if only we lived in a world where it didn't matter. 

[eFestivals]

20 minutes ago, feral chile said:

but if only we lived in a world where it didn't matter

the point here is that sometimes it does matter. Men can be abusive, and men that have trans to women can also be abusive in a way a female could never be.

That simple fact can't be wished away, but society is able to reach an accommodation with the facts if society is permitted to have the discussions to get there.

Edited December 23, 2019 by eFestivals

[feral chile]

17 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

the point here is that sometimes it does matter. Men can be abusive, and men that have trans to women can also be abusive in a way a female could never be.

That simple fact can't be wished away, but society is able to reach an accommodation with the facts if society is permitted to have the discussions to get there.

I don't know if her employer was wrong. The ruling was on a particular discrimination issue, I understand why she raised it.

It doesn't really address whether she broke any rules in her employment contract, or whether the employer was unfair. Different employers have different rules, some of ours (or the way local managers interpret them) are way over the top, and I think sometimes you'd need clarification.

There's masses on the case, I haven't read through all the transcripts yet. 

At least now she's free to discuss the matter. And hopefully she's ok financially.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

the point here is that sometimes it does matter. Men can be abusive, and men that have trans to women can also be abusive in a way a female could never be.

That simple fact can't be wished away, but society is able to reach an accommodation with the facts if society is permitted to have the discussions to get there.

Trans people are far more likely to be abused than be abusers.

That's not to say that the discussion about safe spaces shouldn't take place, and there are certain circumstances where excluding trans women might be justified but it's important that trans people have access to safe spaces for their own protection.

[feral chile]

7 hours ago, bunique said:

When talking about toilets or women’s spaces I think it’s important to note that most sensible people distinguish between trans women, and men who will abuse self-id to gain access to spaces. Self-id doesn’t require a person to “present” as the opposite sex. They just have to say they are. THAT is what most gender critical people were opposed to when the proposals to review the GRA came out. And that’s where the conflict started. (As an aside, self-Id also gets rid of the need to offer counselling, hormones or surgery so seems to me to be a disadvantage to people suffering with gender dysphoria who may have their access to treatment restricted because they can be told to just identify as the opposite sex, which isn’t always enough to alleviate GD).  

I’ve definitely had experiences on nights out where the women’s toilet has been a sanctuary and any man trying to enter gets met with the vicious tongue and if necessary claws of those inside! 

You could also google Alex Drummond for an example of how the definition of transwoman has shifted. It’s not always about “passing as a woman”.

There are many, many strands to the trans rights debate that have nothing to do with toilets and many different people have different dogs in the fight so to speak - for some it’s about the transition of children, or treating rapid onset gender dysphoria (you’ll likely have seen the debate around the Tavistock and what ex-employees have been saying about the affirmation approach). For others it’s about women’s sports. For others it’s about the impact on lesbians who say they wouldn’t wish to have sex with a “girldick”. For still others it’s about how we support people who detransition, who are often ostracised from the trans communities but live with health complications from hormones and surgery. Or the fact that current transactivism seems to harden traditional gender roles and expectations instead of shattering them. Or exploring why so many young women who transition are also autistic and why that might be. 
 

That’s not exhaustive but just to demonstrate the point, and some of those debates have more merit than others, while some probably have more obvious solutions than others. 

Got as far as Alex Drummond.

http://www.grrlalex.co.uk/what-is-transgender/

She says some very interesting stuff here.

She doesn't address any of your concerns directly, but I can see why Alex might need to specify which gender pronoun she preferred, and how much self correction could be involved in complying with her wishes. It would be easy to make a mistake.

Challenging and fascinating!

 

[feral chile]

3 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Trans people are far more likely to be abused than be abusers.

That's not to say that the discussion about safe spaces shouldn't take place, and there are certain circumstances where excluding trans women might be justified but it's important that trans people have access to safe spaces for their own protection.

Hadn't seen this earlier.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, and I really hope some clever person works out how to do it without harm to anyone else.