From what to what - if you don't mind my asking?
That someone assigned male at birth believes they are a woman isn't ideological. But the question of how society should respond to that belief clearly can be.
My understanding was that a couple of trans women who posted on Urban have actually left because of the constant threads, I won't mention names because I am a little unsure now, but that can't be right?
Perhaps I also feel my opinions are not that relevant also.
From TERF sympathies to non TERF sympathies.
This is a very important point. And as well as what you point out, accusations of misogyny and grooming are routinely thrown around in response to anyone saying anything in defence of trans people. In general, there does seem to be an attitude of "Either you're with us or them, and if you don't 100% agree with us at all times you're a BAD person!!!" This is not a topic where you can think in absolutes.
Do trans people have more rights, now?
No, the last 10 years or so. Because the law is the same but things seem to be getting harder for trans people. Trans women used women's toilets and you never really heard anyone complaining about it (probably because it happened without incident). But now someone's moaning about it every day in the papers and online
What do you mean rejecting someone? Do you mean being unkind to them ? Or by “rejecting people” do you actually mean excluding people from the category called women either in thought or in certain circumstances.
Not really. I've pretty much seen it as a toxic discussion that would only pit feminist against feminist, socialist against socialist, communist against communist, anarchist against anarchist, comrade against comrade, and anyone remotely progressive against other remotely progressive types. I've seen one previously revolutionary organisation utterly destroyed and others damaged by the discourse on this. I've thought it was toxic since witnessing the whole fucking mess and the levels of patent idiocy at the last London Anarchist Bookfair (the proper one) and I still think the same now.
Thank you for your honesty Cloo. Most of the things you posted above about your own experience/lack of fear also apply to me, and like you, I've also had to remind myself that many women haven't been as fortunate. Actually, the lack of fear is what everyone should have the right to feel in an ideal world! But it's obviously not.
That brings up another interesting point. One of the transphobic dogwhistles I see bandied about on Twitter is "men in dresses" and "trans men were just called tomboys when I was a kid". Interestingly, most of the trans women I know weren't into dolls or dresses as children, they were very much into the stereotypically boy things they were given, and still have traditionally male orientated interests now. Conversely, I'm a cis woman who was considered a tomboy as a child, and as an adult have been deemed "one of the lads" socially, but I'm still very much female, biologically and gender identity wise. It's not being a woman I have a problem with, it's the little boxes society tries to stick you in regardless of whether that's you, and have rebelled against a lot of that. But gender identity goes way deeper than that.
