Welcome to Crossdresser Heaven, a safe and welcoming place for everyone in the crossdresser community.
Join Crossdresser Heaven today to participate in the forums.
Have any of you run across, or had any encounters with TERFs?
"TERF ) is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008,[1] the term originally applied to the minority of feminists espousing sentiments that other feminists considered transphobic, such as the rejection of the assertion that trans women are women, the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, and opposition to transgender rights legislation."
Sure. My ex-wife. I lived with her intolerance the last 3 years we were together. It was awful. Never again.
There has been a lot in the U.K. press. This is a new 'thing' that started with genuine womens issues and the trans community was hijacked into the melee due to some unfortunate incidents.
Self identification, in that a male can identify as a female without any medical or psychological testing. This led to scaremongering that such a person could enter any womens space and the fears of voyeurism and worse were exploited.
Self identifying prisoners being given special privileges and two cases of known, violence against women, offenders being sent to womens prisons and assaulting inmates.
Stonewall U.K. were engaged in trying to make the regulations easier for trans persons but, in my opinion, began to start making demands that went too far and, with all else, turned these womens groups and, more importantly, the press and public opinion against our community.
As a consequence government had quietly drawn up legislation that, in simplistic terms, reversed some of the legislation that had made lives better.
A toxic mix.
Luckily the legislation was shelved - who knows if it would come back?
I was listening to the radio the other week and this subject was being discussed due to a local female crime commissioner having made some sensationalist views on the matter and the TERFS were on the programme. It was a reasonably fair programme and there was representation from the two sides but no one from the middle. I decided to ring up and have my say to a researcher. I had to agree that it was mad to send a woman beater TS person into a female space and gave my opinions on the subjects being discussed. I was thanked and that was that.Until the phone rang again and I was asked if I would go on the show. In for a penny and I was on.
I gave my personal opinions on the subject. I disagree with the 'cancelling' of anyone expressing an opinion. In all the general public accept us as we are and life is better now than in the past. Laws have been passed that help and there seems to be a happy status quo. I stated that C.D. and trans have been mixing with society and using spaces for years and there have been very few incidents and no one was probably any the wiser as you just wouldn't have known.
My main point is that all sides in this, TERFS and Stonewall should consider that their intransigent stances and demands could turn public opinion against us and make lives uncomfortable. It could turn the clock back as most of us just want to get on with our lives.
It was positively received by the interviewer and was food for thought.
From what I see, there are those out there, be they TERFs, the highly religious, very old school maybe, to whom some groups are in, and some out, frowned upon.
I tend to take a libertarian type view.
So long as someone hurts no-one, respects the rights of others, then let them be.
Regardless of race, gender, socio-economic grouping, or whatever.