Hi,
This is a really quick video for my friends, on a crappy week for trans people and a crappy day — the UK Supreme Court has just ruled that trans women are not regarded as women under the Equalities Act 2010.
It’s an 88-page document, so it’s a bit more complicated than that, but suffice to say that today we’ve experienced a backtracking in the rights of trans people — specifically trans women. And I don’t really know how it applies to me as a non-binary person, because I’m not legally recognised in the UK. I don’t exist, apparently.
This is a message especially for my cisgender women friends — though not exclusively — to say that these attacks on trans people are very deliberate, orchestrated attacks by the right.
It’s twofold. First, it’s an excellent wedge issue for the left. It’s a topic a lot of people don’t fully understand. It’s very emotive. It brings up a lot of uncomfortable feelings for people. And left-wing folks — very rightly — are concerned about women’s rights. So gender-critical ideology has played on that, by trying to separate trans women’s rights from cisgender women’s rights, when in fact they are the exact same thing.
Second, the transgender community is a very small percentage of the population. And unlike some other marginalised groups, we often don’t have a cohesive identity outside of being trans. There isn’t necessarily a common religion, culture, or shared structure to organise around. We’re incredibly diverse, and many of us are deeply isolated — born into communities and families where there are no other trans people.
Big love to you if you are in that position, because I’m having a rough enough day with trans friends around me.
This attack has been very specifically on trans women. As a non-binary person, I often feel like collateral damage in this war. They tend to forget I exist.
I’m asking my cisgender women friends — and my cis men friends too, but especially the women — to speak up. These groups are taking your silence as agreement. They are taking your silence as permission to continue eroding our rights.
And to my lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, and otherwise queer friends — if this isn’t affecting you yet, it will. They are coming for the rest of the rainbow once they’re done with us. So it would be silly — ridiculous — not to speak up now for trans people, before they come for you.
Cisgender women — if you think that trans women losing bodily autonomy, or the strict enforcement of gender norms and the gender binary, won’t have serious consequences for you too, then you are mistaken. They will come for you too.
So this is your opportunity to speak up. And I’m asking you to.
Thanks for watching, and sorry for the plinky noise just now.
I’m going to stop before this goes over four minutes. Thank you very much for watching.
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