Thing is, life is bloody trying and scary for many of us - whether we be average 2.4 families, single mothers, working class men long-term unemployed, LGBT, black, have disabilities or care for those that do, whatever. At this time more than any, I get most fucked off by the fact that working class and 'left' people particularly, are battling away at each other more than ever whilst we're in a fucking horrendous state of affairs of austerity - the erosion of the welfare state, kids killing each other around my old ends for fun, privatisation of every little bit of last social provision we have around us, etc. So much time spent now othering and attacking for difference. We need to get back to celebrating real life community and what unites us more than ever. We definitely need to stop hopeless politics based on 'identity'.
I'm not going to dismiss any woman's concerns about the potential misuse of self-id, and I've called out pricks who also consider themselves trans for some pretty dubious comments before on this stuff (although unsurprisingly, on occasion its turned out to be not someone trans at all, but a loudmouth lad who thinks he's doing trans people some sort of favour). I think what frustrates me so much is how any way of trying to properly discuss this has already become so ingrained in toxic, hateful ways, magnified by social media because its not a 'tool' for this. In some ways, it would have been better for womens and trans support/healthcare/political groups, government, etc observing that clearly what mostly originated through a social media/internet war of words, and then occasionally spilling out into the offline world, to have got together themselves a bit more organised early on and they could have set the tone for any discussion, ensuring better that it was held in meetings, surveys in a respectful and honest way, using facts and figures that sets out to find compromise and not smear and create fear either way. For that reason, I get a little frustrated that comrades I admire like Serwotka have become so easily aligned with this stuff - I'd expect people like her to sit back a bit and not get pulled into especially social media 'upping the ante', doesn't mean she can't still take an ideological line on some of it, but realising that so much of this is social media generated bullshit and that ultimately, the real world turns. But then, that seems to be how all political discourse happens now. Like Bellos after years and years of knowing Kaveney and seemingly respecting her transition, then suddenly and deliberately starts to misgender. I mean, it's just pathetic and posturing as this politics has become.
I get frustrated because when I was involved in a lot of trans/feminism stuff some years ago, we really started to build up proper alliances of sometimes quite opposing thought all realising that they are united by more things than split.
The GRA stuff baffles me a bit. If anything, the GRA needed the spousal veto resolving, not really this. Besides, the GRA is a piece of paper that is taken up by very few trans people usually after they've done all their psychiatry assessments, their hormones, their 2 years 'in real life experience', and often surgery too. I'm not a big fan of the State particularly having the say on who's now a 'reassigned female/male' and charging people for the benefit, but the GRA is what it is. Ironically, the GRC (Gender Recognition Certificate) isn't even supposed to be something that is readily talked about or 'showed'. It's supposed to be something that gets locked away in a box with a new birth certificate for the benefit of legal reasons, pensions, originally so trans people could marry opposite sex in the pre-same sex marriage days, and in case they get discriminated against.
In everyday life, most trans people just get on with their transition, tend to use the toilets of their acquired gender (sex), and are usually very reluctant to even using changing rooms, etc. until they have some level of comfortability in themselves in doing so but also that they're not going to get abuse/have found some level of 'passing' (horrible term, but yes, it exists in terms of self-protection in a gendered society). That's always happened, and always will. Most trans people I know, always felt some sort of, well 'privilege' isn't quite the right word, but appreciation and sensitivity of the space (especially women's) they are in - whether that be toilet, etc. because they've never been 'explicitly invited' (nor have trans men). But on the whole they are accepted. And for the overwhelming majority, they just want to go to toilet, etc. without any hassle.
); I’m interested in the philosophical question but at the same time don’t have a dog in the race and it isn’t going to affect me either way. 
