Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists and F.A.R.T. Mass Shooting Hale's Manifesto Info.

TERF IS A SLUR and or T.E.R.F. IS A F.A.R.T. ? Documenting the abuse, harassment and misogyny of transgender identity politics. Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism ” ( or TERF ) it is a minority and radical subgroup of feminism ( let's reiterate it: it is only a part of radical feminism ) characterized by transphobia, especially trans-myisogyny. These people believe that the only “ real ” women are those born with vagina and XX chromosomes, supporting gender essentialism.

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TERF and FART stand for “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist” and “Feminism Appropriating Ridiculous Transphobe” respectively. “Gender Critical” is what these people call themselves now that they don’t like TERF anymore (a term that they were using for themselves within the last decade).

TERFs are transphobes loosely organized into a trans hate group. They ally with the conservative religious right to put forth legislation that bars trans people from public and private life. Their current obsession is trans people in sports. While they hate all trans people, they attack trans women especially aggressively as trans women challenge TERFs’ view of biological essentialism around the identity and experience of womanhood. They also have an unhealthy fascination with trans kids and work especially hard to make the lives of trans kids miserable, usually under the guise of protecting cisgender kids.

Welcome to the Guided Tour for Introductory Terms! This list of terms should help give you the basics for understanding much of the Primer and the most common terms you’re likely to run into in the trans+ community. Please also check out our list of further reading to gain expanded context at the bottom of the page! https://translanguageprimer.com/guided-tours-index/introductory-terms/ - Talking to People Who Are Transgender or Nonbinary - https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-be-human-language-around-transgender - Welcome to “How to Be Human,” a series on empathy and how to put people first. Differences shouldn’t be crutches, no matter what box society has drawn for us. Come learn about the power of words and celebrate people’s experiences, no matter their age, ethnicity, gender, or state of being. Let’s elevate our fellow humans through respect.

How Many Mass Shootings Have Been Carried Out by Transgender People?
The Colorado Springs shooter identified as non binary.
The Denver shooter identified as trans.
The Aberdeen shooter identified as trans.
The Nashville shooter identified as trans.
Is the modern trans movement or cis population or other groups are or is radicalizing activists into real terrorists ?.

In 2015, Elinor Burkett, an American journalist, producer and former professor of the University of Maryland, attacked Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender woman, a former Olympic decathlon champion, who had released an interview for Vanity Fair after his coming out, with an article entitled “ Do women and men have the same brain? ”.

Subsequently, Dame Jenni Murray, British BBC journalist, published an article for Sunday Times Magazine, entitled: “ Be trans, be proud, but don't call yourself a woman ‘ real ’ ”.

It was then the turn of Germaine Greer, an Australian writer, who was heavily contested on International Women's Day in Brighton for having animated a trans-exclusive rhetoric

These are just three of the self-styled feminist thinkers who are promoting a derogatory and discriminatory message addressed to transgender women all over the world, a message that has also arrived in Italy.

In August 2017, National Archlesbian shared an article entitled: “ I Am a Woman. You Are a Trans Woman. And That Distinction Matters. ”, sparking the outrage of much of the Italian LGBT Rights Movement.

A new political and cultural battle will have to be waged in Italy, and with decision, as is already happening in the United States, where the issue of the bathrooms that transgender people should use has long been on the political agenda, with the Trump administration already committed to promoting a new apartheid for some time.

Law 164/82 sanctioned the legal right of transsexual and transgender people to have the kind of election legally recognized without any distinction with cisgender people: today a transgender woman, following the transition process, she has the right to registry sex rectification and is considered a woman in all respects by law.

These rights could one day be questioned, endangering our freedom and the conquests made to date. Let's not forget that contemporary history teaches us that extremisms and ideologies of even adverse parts – and I think of the positions on transsexuality expressed by a certain extremist Catholic activism that goes from Foot Sentinels and Pro Vita movement – often end up being coincident.

Lohana Berkins, a trans-Argentine activist, said: “We are traitors to patriarchy, and this often costs us life... Patriarchy punishes us because we deny the privileges of domination that the genitals with which we are born confer on us. This violence is the consequence of another, the social one, and is inflicted on us because we dare to challenge the task that has been assigned to us that tells us what we must be and do. Unlike gays and lesbians, trans people * have no choice in terms of visibility.”

On the self-styled “ feminism ” TERF ( Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism )
Documenting the Abuse, Harassment and Misogyny of Transgender Identity Politics. 28-year-old Audrey Hale Manifesto Info. https://terfisaslur.com/ - 1. THREATS OF VIOLENCE AND VIOLENT IMAGERY - 2. ABUSE, HARASSMENT AND DEHUMANIZING LANGUAGE - 3. ERASING FEMALE BIOLOGY - 4. CENTERING TRANS WOMEN IN FEMINISM AND WOMEN’S SPACES - 5. COTTON CEILING AND AUTOGYNEPHILIA - 6. J. K. ROWLING - 7. WTF ? - 8. SUBMIT EXAMPLES - All posts on this site are genuine. The only occasional edits that have been made have been to obscure the identity of the person who submitted it, where that was visible. Otherwise, these are all unedited screenshots, from Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and other publicly accessible sites. We only publish things that are already in the public domain, such as published articles or blogposts, public tweets or publicly shared Facebook posts.

Nashville suspect planned for 'months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School,' fired 152 rounds Three children and three adults were killed in the March 27 shooting. The suspect who allegedly shot and killed six people at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, last week had been planning for "months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School," police said, citing the suspect's journals.

The suspect -- identified by police as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former Covenant School student -- fired 152 rounds during the March 27 mass shooting, Nashville police said in a statement Monday.

Hale was armed with two assault-style rifles, a handgun and "significant ammunition" at the time of the attack, according to police. Authorities said Hale owned seven legally purchased guns from five different local stores.

The seven guns that were confiscated by the authorities were purchased between October 30, 2020 and June 6, 2022, a law enforcement official told ABC News. The last weapon purchased was an AR-15 style weapon, according to the official.

Hale was shot and killed by police inside the school. The two officers who shot at Hale discharged four rounds each, according to police.

A motive remains unknown, but authorities determined that "Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers," police said. Hale had a detailed map of the school as well as "writings and a book we consider to be like a manifesto," Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told ABC News last week.

Hale's writings, left behind in a car at the scene and a bedroom, are under review by Nashville police and the FBI, authorities said Monday. A police spokesperson said Hale was assigned female at birth but pointed to a social media account linked to Hale that included the use of the pronouns he/him.

Funerals are underway for the three children and three adults killed. The victims were identified as 9-year-old Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9-year-old Hallie Scruggs, 9-year-old Will Kinney, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, school custodian Mike Hill, and the head of the school, Katherine Koonce.

Cher Calls Out Trans-Exclusionary Group Of So-Called 'Feminists' One of our favorite Twitter users, Cher, utilized her platform Sunday to call out one of the most odious groups of people who try to lay claim to the word “feminist,” TERFs.

TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminism,” a group of individuals who identify as feminists but are both critical and exclusionary of transgender people.

The legendary singer tweeted the following to take aim at the group: There are numerous problematic belief systems that fall under the category TERF, according to TransAdvocate. However, at the end of the day, TERFs don’t believe that trans women are “real women” or trans men are “real men.”

And while we’re not in the business of policing who can identify as feminist, it’s important to remember that feminism is intersectional and inclusive of all kinds of identity groups ― including transgender people.

Cher has long been an outspoken supporter of the transgender community, and is the mother to Chaz Bono, a transgender man. Thank you for bringing visibility to this important issue, Cher!

That shattered me." What it's like to be a 15-year-old feminist, transitioning into a male. At Mamamia, every day is International Women’s Day. But this year, we’re celebrating March 8 by sharing stories from some of Australia’s most influential women, as well as columns from voices spanning 5 generations. Here, 15-year-old Oscar shares his experience as a feminist, trans teenager. You can find all our International Women’s Day stories on our hub page.

My name is Oscar Martel. I’m a fifteen year old queer, transgender, kid who uses he/him pronouns. Even before I realised I was transgender, the adult women around me made sure I had a feminist upbringing. I filled my Instagram feed with feminist pages using words I didn’t know – intersectional, third-wave, misogyny. I took to the comment section (never a good idea), and battled against republican, and edgy meme pages.

Meeting my best friend – a nonbinary, punk, thirteen year old – was revolutionary to me. It took me two weeks to realise I was queer, and about six months to begin questioning my gender identity. Then, I saw in a thread about abortion: “If you’re not a woman, you don’t get a say in this.”

That shattered me, because I agreed with it. It was disgusting that men thought they could tell people what to do with their own bodies.

But feminism was so important to me. I felt like if I accepted my gender identity, I would lose my part in this movement that had become so important to me. If I came out as transgender, even to myself, I would be betraying the feminist movement I had come to love. I felt like I had to choose between my trans identity, and my feminist identity. Sure, men can be feminists - and male feminists are important - but if I came out I would be a man who tried to talk over women. Or, worse, I’d never be a ‘real’ man because I still engaged in feminism. Even worse, I’d be betraying the ideals that my feminist role models stood for. I know, and knew, full well that feminism is trans inclusionary but that didn’t make it better.

Gender politics are complicated, especially for a feminist trans kid. The intersection between my gender identity and my feminist worldview wasn’t something that was easy to navigate. It wasn’t some big revelation that led me to accept myself, it was gradual and painful. It involved coming out again, and again, and again, and again, and sometimes being outed. It took time to realise that I could be trans and present in the feminist debate, and still be valid as a man.

Feminism is intersectional. As it becomes more visible, it becomes far more inclusionary. The Riot Grrl punk that had become so important to me was exclusionary of black women. The campaigns for women's rights to vote again didn’t include non-white women for decades. Even many of the groundbreaking civil rights campaigns neglected the LGBT community.

It is up to us, feminists of today, to tell young people what our feminism is. We need to reject trans exclusionary radical feminists and their ideology. We need to stand up for black trans women who are being massacred in America. If you’re not living in America please support the work that the Black Trans Travel Fund is doing. We, as feminists, need to teach trans children that they can be valid as transgender and as feminists, because feminism fights for LGBT people as well.

It's a few years on and I'm out to everyone, and I've socially transitioned - I'm living as male. I'm still a feminist, but I find healthier outlets than the dreaded comments section. I go to protests and spread awareness of court cases and transphobic bills - such as HB500. I'm a feminist, but there are more ways to be feminist than I knew.

Coming out as transgender didn't betray my feminism, or my womanhood. If anything, coming out was a powerful feminist act. Feminism has paved the way for trans people to be able to come out and ensures them a community of support. There are still those who want to estrange me from feminism - such as TERFs who call me a 'lost lesbian'. Their logic is flawed and regressive, and it doesn't even make sense - even if I was a woman I wouldn't be a lesbian.

Now, more than ever, feminists from all around the world need to band together to protect trans kids. Trans homelessness statistics are horrific, trans suicide statistics and transphobic murders are climbing. We need to tell trans children that they are valid and that they are real, and protect them from transphobia. It is up to us to help transgender people like myself, and to include them in our feminism.

If any transgender young person is reading this, I want to tell you that your feminism and your gender are not at odds. You can be trans and feminist, and those two important identities do not contradict one another. You have a space in feminist discussions. You are valid. You are loved. And feminists reading this - share that message with the trans people around you. It is up to you. We can do this. Oscar Martel is a 15-year-old writer who uses he/him pronouns. He enjoy herpetology, entomology, and reading.

How Many Mass Shootings Have Been Carried Out by Transgender People? Atweet listing four mass shootings in the past five years that were perpetrated by transgender people has gone viral, attracting 5.4 million views as of 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday and the attention of Twitter's owner, Elon Musk.

Benny Johnson, a political columnist and Turning Point U.S.A. official, wrote in his viral tweet: "One thing is VERY clear: the modern trans movement is radicalizing activists into terrorists."

Musk—who has expressed varying views on transgender issues and is reported to have a transgender child—replied to the tweet with an exclamation mark, itself seen 2.2 million times.
The Colorado Springs shooter identified as non binary.
The Denver shooter identified as trans.
The Aberdeen shooter identified as trans.
The Nashville shooter identified as trans.
One thing is VERY clear: the modern trans movement is radicalizing activists into terrorists. 3:16 PM · Mar 27, 2023

The tweet follows a school shooting in Nashville on Monday, in which Audrey Hale—identified by police as transgender—is suspected to have shot and killed six people, including three members of staff and three nine-year-old children.

"The trans movement is pushing more and more extremism each day," said Oli London, a media personality who has become critical of the transgender movement since deciding to detransition. "They recruit people, indoctrinate them and pump them full of propaganda until they become filled with hate and rage."

While some used the apparent prevalence of shootings by transgender individuals to highlight mental health concerns, others pointed out that there had already been more than 100 mass shooters in 2023 alone. Therefore, the number of mass shootings perpetrated by transgender individuals mounted to a fraction of the total number in the U.S. over the past five years.

According to figures from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 131 mass shootings this year, and there were 647 in 2022. In total, there have been 2,861 mass shootings in the U.S. since 2018. Some have had more than one perpetrator.

Newsweek reached out to the Gun Violence Archive for further details via email on Tuesday.

On its website, Everytown Research & Policy cites 306 mass shootings in the U.S. since 2009.

"4 shooters out of over 300 mass shooters since 2009 are transgender or non binary. That's just 1.3 percent of all shooters," Anthony Zenkus, a lecturer in social work at Columbia University, wrote on Twitter. "You just proved our point: 99 percent of mass shooters in the United States are cis gendered."

According to the Williams Institute research center, around 0.6 percent of Americans over the age of 13 identify as transgender.

Three of these shooters identified as transgender, with one later identifying as non-binary. An exact number of shooters involved in such incidents, and whether there may have been more transgender shooters than those listed, remains unclear.

Nashville, Tennessee—March 27, 2023
In a statement on Monday, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said officers had been called to the Covenant School, a private Christian institution, to the southwest of the city, at around 10:13 a.m. local time (11:13 a.m. ET) following reports of shots being fired in the building.

Children Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs were killed along with school head Katherine Koonce, 60, Mike Hill, 61, and Cynthia Peak, 61. Police identified Hill as a janitor and Peak as a substitute teacher, according to the Associated Press.

Officers encountered the suspect, later identified as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, on the second floor of the school, where they fatally shot the assailant. Hale, who had previously attended the school, had arrived that day with three guns, including two assault weapons.

Chief of Police John Drake told reporters that Hale identified as transgender and said officers were investigating whether Hale's gender identity was related to the crime, but could not comment yet on an exact motive.

Colorado Springs, Colorado—November 19-20, 2022
A mass shooting that began just before midnight at an LGBTQ nightclub left five people dead and 25 injured. Lee Aldrich, 22, was identified as the shooter, and has since been charged with more than 300 criminal indictments. He remains in custody while awaiting trial.

Aldrich's lawyers have written in court documents that their client identified as non-binary, however experts and neighbors of the accused have argued that this could be disingenuous. Jared Holt, senior research manager at online extremism watchdog Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told NBC he was "immediately skeptical" of the assertion.

Neighbors have alleged that Aldrich made hateful remarks about the LGBTQ community, and the Colorado Sun, reporting on police testimony given to a court in February, said officers had found rainbow-colored shooting targets and documents planning the assault at Aldrich's home.

Denver, Colorado—May 7, 2019
One student was killed and a further eight were injured during a shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch, south of Denver.

Devon Erickson, who was 18 at the time, and then-16-year-old Alec McKinney entered the school with several concealed weapons before carrying out the attack.

They were later detained by law enforcement and, in July 2020, McKinney was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty. Erickson pleaded not guilty but was convicted in June 2021, later receiving a life sentence without the chance of parole.

McKinney was born female, but asked to be referred to as male as they were transitioning at the time of the shooting.

Aberdeen, Maryland—September 20, 2018
Four people were shot and killed at a pharmaceuticals distribution center in the city, located 26 miles north east of Baltimore. The suspect had opened fire after entering the facility shortly after 9 a.m. ET, before shooting themselves in the head. They later died of their wounds.

Police said the shooter was Snochia Moseley, a 26 year old who they identified as female. A friend told the Washington Post that Moseley had suffered from bipolar disorder and depression, which they linked to feelings of rejection when Moseley had first come out as gay and later transgender.

The friend said Moseley had begun receiving hormone therapy a year prior to the incident, and planned to undergo gender-reassignment surgery, but had been struggling with the transition.

The lie in this article is just using "mass shootings" as if they are all the same. The vast majority of mass shootings in the US are drug / gang related OR domestic violence. Those are VASTLY different than "spree killings" where an attacker kills as many innocent strangers as possible at a school, a movie theater, a church, a shopping mall, etc. When you zoom into those types of attacks (which thankfully are the least common of mass shootings), four in recent years by "trans" is a lot, disproportionately very high considering the tiny number of "trans" people in the USA.

As a percentage, trans shooters are small. Compared to the general population, however, they are overrepresented. From John Nolte: "In less than five years, that’s four mass shootings committed by people who make up about one-half of one percent of the population. So that works out to around 2.75 mass shootings per million transsexuals over four years.

Suppose the roughly 325 million American heterosexuals committed mass shootings at that rate. In that case, you’d be talking about somewhere around 900 mass shootings over four years."

Many mass shooters have mental health issues and are in pain. Many have easy access to guns when they shouldn't. Getting rid of guns isn't the issue, as people could walk down the street with guns back in the 70s and it wasn't considered a big deal. We have problems as a society that go unaddressed, and mental health and social isolation are among the biggest in America. We have to begin talking to and treating each other as human beings and get balance back in our world to prevent these tragedies.

One statistical take away is the article states that about 0.6% of people identify a trans or non-binary, however 1.3% of mass shooters are trans or non-binary. That's a rate that is double compared to the cis population. (And, that is using their definition of mass shootings that includes a much broader definition as you have stated.)

Why does it have to pe political to say the killer could have been taking testosterone??? That’s a valid question. Don’t police have a profile? All of us need to do our part in weeding out these murderers of our youth. The more this is sensationalized the faster someone will repeat it. We need an armed officer at every school. They could be outside in their car so as not to alarm the children. In todays climate e don’t know when they could strike next. Every single school needs to do implement this now. Banning guns isn’t the answer, (there are so many out there already) but making sure background checks are done thoroughly is so important. We all know of somebody who has mental problems. We are the best eyes and ears as to what’s going on. If something doesn’t seem right or someone is talking about doing violence, REPORT IT immediately.

Some of these comments are ridiculous. It doesn't matter the political party. There are already profiles that exist on identifying mass shooters. They overwhelmingly have childhood trauma, experience sexual assault, parental suicide or systematic bullying. They experience rejection from peers. They ingest propaganda online. They want attention. They become depressed, self-loathing, angry, and develop extreme mental health issues.

How to Be Human: Talking to People Who Are Transgender or Nonbinary Their gender isn’t your call to make
Does language need to be collectively agreed upon before it’s actually offensive? What about subtler phrasings that unconsciously undermine people, specifically transgender and nonbinary people?

Ignoring what others identify themselves as can actually be alienating and sometimes traumatizing. The misuse of pronouns might seem innocent, but it also puts the speaker’s discomfort and values before the other person’s. In other words, it’s a form of discrimination and harmful to presume someone’s pronouns by looking at them.

Referring to people with terms or phrases that they don’t agree with — like “it’s just a phase” — is a destructive force that implies a sense of doubt, fantasy, or role-play.

Describing someone as a “former man” or “biological man” is demeaning. When you insist on using a former name an individual no longer uses, it symbolizes a preference for your own comfort and can be outright rude, if done intentionally.

In an article for Conscious Style Guide, Steve Bien-Aimé proclaims, “Common language usages should not trample over others who are different.” So why not use the words that have power to validate, acknowledge, and include?

Here at Healthline, we couldn’t agree more. Our most powerful tools on the editorial team are our words. We weigh the words of our content carefully, scanning for issues that could hurt, exclude, or invalidate other human experiences. It’s why we use “they” instead of “he or she” and why we distinguish between gender and sex.

What is gender, anyway?
Gender and sex are separate matters. Sex is a word that refers to a person’s biology, including chromosomes, hormones, and organs (and when you take a closer look, it becomes clear that sex isn’t binary, either).

Gender (or gender identity) is the state of being a man, woman, both, neither, or other gender altogether. Gender also includes the roles and expectations society assigns to each person based on their “maleness” or “femaleness.” These expectations can become so ingrained that we may not even recognize when or how we reinforce them.

Gender evolves over time and culture. There was (not too long ago) a time when it was socially unacceptable for women to wear pants. Many of us look back on that now and wonder how it was that way for so long.

Just as we created the space for changes in clothing (which is gender expression) for women, we are learning more space needs to be created in language to affirm and account for the experiences and feelings of transgender people.

Mind your pronouns and avoid misgendering
Despite being such small words, pronouns hold a lot of significance when it comes to identity. She, he, they — it’s not a matter of grammar. (The Associated Press updated their style guidelines for 2017, allowing for the singular use of “they.”) We use “they” all the time in reference to singular people — just in the introduction above, we used it four times.

If you meet someone new and they haven’t made it clear which pronouns they use, ask. The more we do this as a society, the more natural it’ll become, like asking “How are you?” And honestly, it’ll save you more awkwardness down the line. A simple, “Hey Jay, how do you like to be referred to? What pronouns do you use?” will suffice.

So, whether it’s he, she, they, or something else: When someone lets you know their pronouns, accept them. Using the wrong pronouns (or misgendering) is a sign that you don’t believe someone knows who they are better than you do. It can also be a form of harassment when done intentionally.

Don’t say this: “She’s a former woman who now goes by Michael.”

Say this instead: “That’s Michael. He tells amazing stories! You should meet him sometime.”

Respect their identity and refrain from deadnaming
It’s unfortunately not uncommon for trans people to still be referred to by their given (as opposed to affirmed) names. This is called deadnaming, and it’s an act of disrespect that can be easily avoided by simply asking, “How do you like to be referred to?”

Many trans people put a lot of time, emotion, and energy into the name they use and it should be respected. The use of any other name can be harmful and should be avoided whenever possible.

A full summary of a transgender person’s gender history and anatomy are usually completely irrelevant. So, when you talk about or with a person, be careful to not prioritize your curiosities. Stick to topics that are relevant to why the person came to see you.

Don’t say this: “Dr. Cyril Brown, named Jessica Brown at birth, made a pivotal discovery in the journey toward curing cancer.”

Say this instead: “Thanks to Dr. Cyril Brown, an amazing scientist, we may now be one step closer to curing cancer.”

Be appropriate and rein in your curiosity
Curiosity is a valid feeling, but acting on it isn’t your job. It’s also disrespectful to many trans people. While you may be curious about the details of a person’s gender, body, and anatomy, understand that you don’t have a right to that information. Just like you don’t owe an explanation about your past life, they don’t owe you one, either.

When you meet most other people, you probably don’t inquire about the state of their genitals or their medication regimen. That personal health information is personal, and being trans doesn’t take away that right to privacy.

If you want to understand their experience better, do some research of your own into the different options available to people who identify as transgender, nonbinary or gender nonconforming. But don’t ask an individual about their specific journey unless they’ve given you permission.

Don’t say this: “So, are you ever going to have, you know, the surgery?”

Say this instead: “Hey, what are you up to this weekend?”

Be mindful of gender inclusivity
To be gender inclusive is to be open to all gender identities and gender expressions in a discussion.

For example, an article may come across our desk that reads “women” when it really means “people who can become pregnant.” For transgender men, menstruation and pregnancy may still be very real issues they experience. Describing the entire group of ovulating people as “women” excludes the experience of some trans men (and women who deal with infertility, but that’s another article).

Words like “real,” “regular,” and “normal” can also be excluding. Comparing trans women against so-called “real” women separates them from their identity and continues the incorrect idea that gender is biological.

Using precise, descriptive language rather than gender buckets isn’t only more inclusive, it’s just clearer.

Don’t say this: “Women and transgender women showed up in huge numbers at the rally.”

Say this instead: “Lots of women showed up at the rally in record numbers.”

Think twice about your words
Remember, you’re speaking about another person. Another human being. Before you open your mouth, think about what details may be unnecessary, diminish their humanity, or result from your own discomfort.

For example, it’s important to acknowledge that this person is — you guessed it — a person. Referring to members of the trans community as “transgenders” denies their humanity. It’s just like how you wouldn’t say “he’s a black.”

They’re people, and being transgender is just a part of that. Terms like “transgender people” and “the transgender community” are more appropriate. Likewise, many trans people dislike the term “transgendered,” as if trans-ness was something that happened to them.

Rather than coming up with new or shorthand ways to describe trans people, just call them trans people. This way, you avoid accidentally stumbling onto an offensive slur.

Note that even if one person identifies with a term or slur, it doesn’t mean everyone does. It doesn’t make it OK for you to use that term for all the other trans people you meet.

And in most instances, being trans isn’t relevant when interacting with people. Other details that probably aren’t necessary to question are whether the person is “pre-op” or “post-op” and how long ago they started transitioning.

You don’t talk about cis people’s bodies when you introduce them, so extend the same courtesy to trans people.

Don’t say this: “We met a transgender at the bar last night.”

Say this instead: “We met this awesome dancer at the bar last night.”

Mistakes are part of being human, but change is the best part of being human, too
Navigating new territory can be difficult, we get it. And while these guidelines may be helpful, they’re also just guidelines. People are diverse, and one size will never fit all — especially when it comes to self-reference.

As humans, we’re bound to mess up at some point. Even good intentions may not land appropriately.

How one person feels respected may be different from how another person feels respected. If you flub up, politely correct your mistake and move forward. The important part is to remember to focus on the other’s feelings — not your own.

Don’ts
Don’t make an assumption about how someone would like to be referred to.
Don’t ask about what genitals a person has or will have, especially as a factor for deciding how you’ll refer to the person.
Don’t explain away a person’s preference based on how it affects you.
Don’t explain a person by a previous identity. This is called deadnaming, and it’s a form of disrespect against trans people. If you’re unsure how to refer to a person in the past, ask them.
Don’t out a person. If you happen to learn about a person’s previous name or gender assignment, keep it to yourself.
Don’t use offensive shorthand slurs.

Don’t say this: “I’m sorry, but it’s just so hard for me to call you Jimmy after I’ve known you as Justine for so long! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it.”
Say this instead: “Hey Just— sorry, Jimmy, do you want to come with us to dinner Friday?”

Do’s
Ask respectfully for a person’s pronouns and commit to using them.
Refer to a person only by their current identity.
Correct yourself if you use the wrong name or pronouns.
Avoid the words “real,” “regular,” and “normal.” Your transgender friend isn’t “as pretty as a ‘real’ woman.” They’re a beautiful woman, end of sentence.
Understand you’ll make mistakes. Be open and receptive to feedback from trans people about how your language makes them feel.
Remember that all people are greater than their gender identity and expression. Don’t focus too much on it either way.

If you think someone is trans, don’t ask. It doesn’t matter. They’ll tell you if it ever becomes relevant and if they feel comfortable sharing that information with you.

If someone is trans or nonbinary, or if you’re just not sure, it doesn’t hurt to ask how you should address them. Asking shows respect and that you want to validate their identity.

Philosophers object to a journal's publication of a term referring to radical feminists who don't necessarily count trans women among their ranks. Is it a slur? For some, using the word “TERF” means calling out transphobia where they see it. For others, the word is a slur that has no place in academic discourse. And those points of view are currently clashing in philosophy, a journal of which recently permitted use of the term.

Still, to others, “TERF” sounds like a foreign word. So, first, a primer: TERF is an acronym meaning “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” While the term has become controversial over time, especially with its often hateful deployment on social media, it originally described a subgroup of feminists who believe that the interests of cisgender women (those who are born with vaginas) don’t necessarily intersect with those of transgender women (primarily those born with penises).

To some feminists, that notion is obvious: the experience of having lived as male for any period of time matters. But some trans scholars and allies say that notion is in and of itself transphobic, since it means that trans women are somehow different from women, or that they’re not women at all.

This debate has been simmering for some time in public life in Britain, which is considering updating its Gender Recognition Act to allow for gender self-identification. (New Zealand also is moving toward self-declaration). But it has not reached such a pitch in academe, especially in the U.S. -- at least not until now. As Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, in Britain, wrote on Medium in May, “Beyond the academy, there’s a huge and impassioned discussion going on, around the apparent conflict between women-who-are-not-transwomen’s rights and interests, and transwomen’s rights and interests. And yet nearly all academic philosophers  -- including, surprisingly, feminist philosophers  --  are ignoring it.”

This month, though, a group of scholars registered a public complaint with Philosophy and Phenomenological Research’s editorial team. In a guest post for the Daily Nous philosophy blog, the scholars said that in a recent issue of the journal, the term “TERF” was lobbed in “ad hominem attacks” rather than in mere discussions.

In question is a symposium on the noted 2015 book How Propaganda Works, by Jason Stanley, Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. In an article called “The Epistemology of Propaganda,” Rachel McKinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy at the College of Charleston, uses Stanley’s work to analyze what she calls “a modern form of propaganda where so-called trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) are engaged in a political project to deny that trans women are women -- and thereby to exclude trans women from women-only spaces, services and protections.”

Noting that the phrase “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” was coined by two cisgender radical feminists in 2008, McKinnon argues that “this point is important, since many contemporary feminists accuse trans women of coining the phrase/term -- and, ludicrously, claim that ‘TERF’ is a misogynistic slur.”

The scholars who complained -- seven feminist philosophers from Britain and Australia -- wrote in Daily Nous that TERF “is at worst a slur and at best derogatory. We are extremely concerned about the normalization of this term in academic philosophy, and its effect in reinforcing a hostile climate for debate on an issue of key importance to women.”

TERF “is widely used across online platforms as a way to denigrate and dismiss the women (and some men) who disagree with the dominant narrative on trans issues,” the scholars wrote. Targeted groups include “lesbians who merely maintain that same-sex attraction is not equivalent to transphobia,” and “women who believe that women’s oppression is sex-based, and are concerned about erasing the political importance of female bodies,” they said, citing websites such as TerfIsaSlur.com as evidence.

A quick search for #TERF on Twitter also turns up references to the “clitterati,” “ignorant, hateful cunt[s],” comparisons to Nazis, and invitations to “go fuck themselves on cactuses.” Trans women of course face brutal discrimination online and in life, but such examples support the idea that "TERF" is not a neutral term.

The scholars -- who also took issue with McKinnon’s assertion that concerns about trans access to certain sex-segregated spaces are “unfounded" and “based only a flawed ideology” -- said that their complaint was squarely with Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. That is, the word "TERF," in their view, should have been screened out in the editorial process. But McKinnon, much more than Stanley, who also used the term in his symposium reply, has nevertheless been implicated in the debate.

McKinnon forwarded her online talk about why "TERF" is not a slur but declined an interview request. She's responded on Twitter to what she called a targeted attack against her, however. She's also said that the writers of the complaint asked the journal’s editor to retract the article.

The scholars denied ever requesting a retraction, and said it was troublesome that it was being asserted that they had. The journal’s editor in chief, Ernest Sosa, professor emeritus of philosophy at Brown University, said via email that there was no formal request for retraction, just a request for an apology and a correcting. There was some “back and forth” in terms of an informal request for a retraction, Sosa said, adding that he did not have a good record of it.

Sosa also wrote a public response to the scholars' complaint, published in Daily Nous.

The “slur” issue “did not escape the attention of the editor responsible for the publication of this article, who consulted with several senior distinguished scholars in the relevant field, whose consensus view was that though the term in question might evolve to become a slur, the denigrating uses that you have exhibited are on a par with denigrating uses of ‘Jew’ and many other terms, and quite compatible with its having a descriptive meaning,” Sosa wrote. “Since in any case the question of whether it is a slur is a controversial one that is a matter of academic disagreement between you and the author of this article, it is not the role of the editors to decide this issue.”

Asked if she was satisfied with that response, Mary Leng, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of York, in Britain, and one of the philosophers who complained to the journal, said no, “especially given that they were made aware in advance of the contested nature of the term.” Leng underscored that neither she nor her colleagues were calling for a retraction, but instead to make academics, both authors and journal editors, more aware of the matter going forward.

Sophie Allen, a lecturer in philosophy at Keele University, in Britain, also signed the public complaint to the journal and said that no one had asked for a retraction. Her colleagues who were in touch with the journal prior to the Daily Nous piece asked that an alternative term be used, such as “‘gender critical feminist,’ which is not a slur nor derogatory,” she said.

As for Sosa’s response, Allen said it was “inadequate.” TERF is “frequently accompanied by threats of violence, rape and death,” she said, and it has already evolved to into a slur and so lost its place in a scholarly publication. Allen objected on numerous grounds to Sosa’s analogy to the term “Jew.” And most “most radical feminists who are apparently described” by the term TERF are inclusive of trans men, and so are not “trans-exclusionary” anyway, she said.

Numerous supporters of McKinnon also reached out to Inside Higher Ed, asking that it not publish an article about the topic. Several academics declined interview requests, with one citing not having tenure as the reason.

“Please stop your harassment of Dr. Rachel McKinnon,” reads one of many similar emails received by this reporter after requesting comment from McKinnon. “‘TERF’ is not a slur. [McKinnon] needs your support, not your contributing to further hate and violence threats from TERFs.” - https://youtu.be/jcMnyCB1vfI - i have love for all people and of course everyone should have their fundamental rights but if one group of peoples supposed "rights" infringe on another groups rights thats a problem.

The rise of anti-trans “radical” feminists, explained Known as TERFs, trans-exclusionary radical feminist groups are working with conservatives to push their anti-trans agenda. Aimee Stephens had been working in funeral services for 20 years, nearly six of which were at Harris Funeral Homes, when she came out to her boss as transgender.

She had known since she was 5 years old that she was a girl and had been living as a woman outside of work for some time. Though she loved her job at Harris, where she had worked her way up from apprentice to funeral director, she felt she had to hide who she was there. Until she couldn’t any longer.

In 2013, she gave the funeral home’s owner, Thomas Rost, a note that she also shared with friends and colleagues. “I realize that some of you may have trouble understanding this. In truth, I have had to live with it every day of my life and even I do not fully understand it myself,” she wrote. “As distressing as this is sure to be to my friends and some of my family, I need to do this for myself and for my own peace of mind, and to end the agony in my soul.”

After he read the note, Rost simply said, “Okay.” Stephens was fired two weeks later. Rost told her that it was “not going to work out.”

Stephens sued, claiming her dismissal was discrimination on the basis of her sex, setting off a flurry of legal activity. According to court documents, Rost testified that he fired Stephens because “[she] was no longer going to represent [herself] as a man. [She] wanted to dress as a woman.”

Last March, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in her favor. “It is analytically impossible to fire an employee based on that employee’s status as a transgender person without being motivated, at least in part, by the employee’s sex,” the court said in its decision. “An employer cannot discriminate on the basis of transgender status without imposing its stereotypical notions of how sexual organs and gender identity ought to align.”

Harris Funeral Homes appealed to the Supreme Court, which took up the case and will hear oral arguments on October 8.

How anti-trans “radical feminist” groups could affect the outcome of a civil rights discrimination case
In recent weeks, a flurry of amicus briefs have been filed in the case R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC and Aimee Stephens. Major medical organizations, advocacy groups, and legal experts have weighed in mostly in favor of allowing trans people to be free of discrimination at work. Meanwhile, a slew of conservative and religious groups have claimed the right to fire anyone for being trans. Even President Trump’s Department of Justice filed a brief in August arguing in part that Stephens was fired by Harris Funeral Homes not for her gender identity but because she refused to follow her employer’s dress code, which requires men — and by “men,” the DOJ means men of “biological sex” — to wear a suit with pants and women to wear a dress or a skirt. The ACLU attorneys representing Stephens, in turn, argued that their client was fired because Stephens failed to perform the sex role her employer expected of her, violating the legal precedent established in 1989 in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins.

In that case, Ann Hopkins was denied promotions and a partnership because she didn’t look, dress, or behave in a stereotypically feminine enough manner. Her bosses instructed her to wear more makeup and skirts to work in order to get the promotion. The court sided with Hopkins, establishing a legal standard for sex stereotyping that has fundamentally transformed the workplace for women for the past 30 years.

Now that precedent is being put to the test. And joining the Trump administration and conservatives in the fight over sex-based discrimination and stereotypes are several somewhat unexpected allies: so-called “radical feminist” groups with long records of opposing the rights of transgender people.

In their amicus brief to the Supreme Court, the Women’s Liberation Front, or WoLF, writes, “Simply, Aimee Stephens is a man. He wanted to wear a skirt while at work, and his ‘gender identity’ argument is an ideology that dictates that people who wear skirts must be women, precisely the type of sex stereotyping forbidden by Price Waterhouse.”

Groups like WoLF are commonly referred to as “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” or TERFs. They alternate among several theories that all claim that trans women are really men, who are the ultimate oppressors of women. Most of their ideas — like that trans women are a threat to cisgender women’s safety — are based on cherry-picked cases of horrific behavior by a small number of trans people. Above all else, their ideology doesn’t allow for trans people to have self-definition or any autonomy over their gender expression.

“Sex is grounded in materiality, whereas ‘gender identity’ is simply an ideology that has no grounding in science,” WoLF told Vox in a statement. “The redefinition of the word ‘sex’ to mean ‘gender identity’ would have myriad harmful effects on women and girls, and women and girls as a distinct category deserve civil rights protections.”

The key to understanding why a self-proclaimed radical feminist group would side with conservatives arguing for the right to force cisgender women into skirts at work is to understand who TERFs are and what they’ve been up to for the past 50 years. Because now, under the Trump administration and a conservative-majority Supreme Court, their alliance with these far-right groups could have lasting, widespread consequences for trans civil rights — and for the rights of women in general.

TERFs, explained
Online roots of the term TERF originated in the late 2000s but grew out of 1970s radical feminist circles after it became apparent that there needed to be a term to separate radical feminists who support trans women and those who don’t. Many anti-trans feminists today claim it’s a slur, despite what many see as an accurate description of their beliefs. They now prefer to call themselves “gender critical,” a euphemism akin to white supremacists calling themselves “race realists.”

In the early ’70s, groups of what would now be called “gender critical” feminists threatened violence against many trans women who dared exist in women’s and lesbian spaces. For example, trans woman Beth Elliott, who was at the 1973 West Coast Lesbian Feminist Conference to perform with her lesbian band, was ridiculed onstage and had her existence protested. In 1979, radical feminist Janice Raymond, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, wrote the defining work of the TERF movement, “Transsexual Empire: The Making of the Shemale,” in which she argued that “transsexualism” should be “morally mandating it out of existence” mainly by restricting access to transition care (a political position shared by the Trump administration). Soon after she wrote another paper — this one published for the government-funded, Health and Human Services-linked National Center for Healthcare Technology — the Reagan administration cut off Medicare and private health insurance coverage for transition-related care.

After those early flashpoints, the dispute between trans people and gender-critical folks simmered for the next 20 years. One exception is the high-profile conflicts at the Michigan Womyn’s Folk Festival, or MichFest, which caught plenty of attention. In the 1990s and early aughts, pro-trans festival attendees organized “Camp Trans,” a space specifically welcoming to trans women who were otherwise banned from attending the event. The two groups clashed for a number of years, until more artists and organizations boycotted MichFest and organizers chose to end the event in 2015.

However, in the past several years, TERFism has found new life and fostered fertile recruiting ground in many online spaces. Though trans people experienced a dramatic increase in visibility with the rise of trans actress Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner’s headline-grabbing transition, that visibility has resulted in a growing cultural backlash. While the majority of that backlash is simply a continuation of the conservative-driven culture war, some extremist “feminists” have decided that trans rights go too far. TERF ideology has become the de facto face of feminism in the UK, helped along by media leadership from Rupert Murdoch and the Times of London. Any vague opposition to gender-critical thought in the UK brings along accusations of “silencing women” and a splashy feature or op-ed in a British national newspaper. Australian radical feminist Sheila Jeffreys went before the UK Parliament in March 2018 and declared that trans women are “parasites,” language that sounds an awful lot like Trump speaking about immigrants.

According to Heron Greenesmith, who studies the modern gender-critical movement as a senior research associate with the social justice think tank Political Research Associates, gender-critical feminism in the UK grew out of a toxic mix of historical imperialism and the influence of the broader UK skeptical movement in the early aughts — which was hyper-focused on debunking “junk science” and any idea that considered sociological and historical influence and not just biology. Those who rose to prominence in the movement did so through a lot of “non-tolerant calling-out and attacking people,” Greenesmith said, much like gender-critical feminism. “Anti-trans feminists think they have science on their side. It is bananas how ascientific their rhetoric is, and yet literally they say, ‘Biology isn’t bigotry.’ In fact, biology has been used as bigotry as long as biology has been a thing.” (See scientific racism, eugenics, and the justification for slavery that black people were intellectually inferior to white people.)

Though TERFism got its start in the US in the ’70s, the ideology has largely fallen out of favor as the country’s mainstream feminist movement has continuously battled against the religious right for abortion access and LGBTQ rights. In a country where political coalitions on the feminist left are crucial to the survival of basic women’s rights, it doesn’t make much sense to spend time oppressing a tiny population who are otherwise valuable allies in the culture war.

Anti-trans rhetoric, though, has power, and anti-trans harassment certainly exists. While the hardcore in-person gender-critical organizing is largely run by a small handful of people, it has become sport for these self-proclaimed feminists to harass and mock trans people and their allies on Twitter and other social media platforms. Check out some of the 80-plus replies to a tweet last month by prominent feminist writer Sady Doyle promoting a piece she wrote denouncing TERFs (some accused Doyle of being a handmaid of the patriarchy, a common insult lobbed at cis women who ally with trans people), or check the inevitable replies to my tweet sharing this piece when it goes online.

But probably where “gender critical” feminism has the potential to wield the most influence is in government. US-based “gender critical” feminist groups like WoLF and Hands Across the Aisle, which sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in favor of barring trans women from women’s homeless shelters, are happy to work alongside conservatives to limit the rights of trans people — even if those same conservatives want to pass legislation limiting their reproductive rights.

TERFs treat trans women as predators and trans men as victims of the patriarchy
Gender-critical feminism, at its core, opposes the self-definition of trans people, arguing that anyone born with a vagina is in its own oppressed sex class, while anyone born with a penis is automatically an oppressor. In a TERF world, gender is a system that exists solely to oppress women, which it does through the imposition of femininity on those assigned female at birth.

“Legally redefining ‘female’ as anyone who claims to be female results in the erasure of female people as a class,” WoLF wrote in its SCOTUS brief. “If, as a matter of law, anyone can be a woman, then no one is a woman, and sex-based protections in the law have no meaning whatsoever.”

This conception of gender as a system would be relatively sound if not for the existence of LGBTQ people. Gender- and sex-based oppression can be imposed on a range of people who were assigned male at birth, like gay men and, of course, trans women. In practice, however, the movement more closely resembles an organized hate campaign against a marginalized community — whether that’s through online harassment or filing briefs in landmark civil rights cases.

Adherents to TERF ideology treat trans women, trans men, and nonbinary people much differently. Gender-critical feminists blame the patriarchy for deluding trans men into thinking they can identify out of female oppression, or blame structural homophobia for convincing trans men they can become straight men rather than lesbians.

“The women in our coalition chose to set aside their differences and work together after we saw firsthand the deeply negative and downright dangerous consequences of ignoring bodily sex,” Hands Across the Aisle, an organization that connects radical feminists with anti-LGBTQ groups to campaign against trans rights, said in a statement to Vox. “We watched as doctors enabled irreversible damage to our daughters’ bodies, we sat stunned as boys took away our sisters’ sports opportunities, and we wept as our lesbian friends poisoned their bodies with testosterone in an attempt to appear male.”

For anti-trans activists, establishing a narrative that trans men are really just lesbians attempting to identify out of womanhood is absolutely essential. By doing this, transitioning can be positioned as a form of “conversion therapy,” whereby a lesbian is forced into a male identity and de facto heterosexuality. It opens a pathway for anti-trans activists to ban trans-affirming health care through “conversion therapy” bans.

However, trans men themselves have pointed out that the argument fails to take into account the bodily autonomy of transmasculine people and it is therefore not a feminist position. Trans author Jay Hulme recently described in a recent blog post why and how gender-critical feminists work to get trans men to “return to womanhood” and ultimately detransition.

“As a trans man, I am, and always will be, belittled, disrespected, spoken down to, and patronised, by transphobes,” wrote Hulme. “After all, they think I have been brainwashed and fooled into ‘thinking I’m a man,’ what could I possibly know? What value could my words or experience possibly have? ... This is, again, anti-feminist — the idea that trans men are just foolish women whose words cannot have any value is deeply troubling, and mirrors partiarchal behaviours towards ‘silly girls,’ no matter how old or how accomplished the women in question actually are.”

Nonbinary people, meanwhile, are often dismissed in discussions by gender critical feminists. “Nonbinary people muddle the scientism that anti-trans feminists rely on to justify their gender essentialism, so they choose not to acknowledge [nonbinary] existence or agency,” said Greenesmith. When not erasing them entirely, TERFs will often parrot right-wing rhetoric by mocking nonbinary people, suggesting they are attention seekers who don’t understand their birth sex.

How fear is weaponized against trans women
Gender-critical propaganda is almost entirely focused on the supposed depravity of trans women, citing rare cases to paint trans women as threats to women and children.

TERFs often point to the case of Karen White. White was in prison for sexual assault when she came out as a trans woman and applied for a transfer to a women’s prison. Once there, she allegedly raped several fellow prisoners before she was eventually caught. Prison officials later admitted that they did not follow existing safeguarding procedures in granting the transfer.

As a rape survivor myself, I find White detestable and am outraged that prison officials were so lax with their procedures and allowed White access to a vulnerable population of women. Where I differ from gender-critical feminists is I don’t agree that White is representative of all trans women; gender-critical feminists essentially believe the existence of trans women’s penises in a women’s space represents an automatic risk of rape.

“These are how stereotypes are weaponized against marginalized groups,” Gillian Branstetter, media relations manager at the National Center for Transgender Equality, told Vox. “Given transgender people’s relatively recent rise to public life, and the fact that many people still don’t know a transgender person, we’re very vulnerable to being mischaracterized, to being maligned, and to being drowned out by dog whistles.” Many gender-critical feminists refuse to contend with the fact that 47 percent of trans women have been victims of sexual assault in their lives, instead questioning the survey methods used to reach the conclusion. However, many trans people don’t see how such questioning is any different from cis men who claim women are falsely accusing men of rape in ever-larger numbers.

This supposed concern for cis women and children has become the primary method for radicalizing gender-critical feminists, similar to how Islamophobes play up threats of gang rape of white women by Muslim men, or white supremacists have historically painted black men as sexual threats to justify segregation. Defending the purity of white womanhood has always been a significant axis of common bigotries, and gender-critical feminism operates in the same fashion. With “stranger danger” drilled into the heads of women and girls from a young age, anti-trans feminists can easily paint “the other” as a constant sexual threat — despite the fact that studies have repeatedly shown that women are most likely to be sexually assaulted by someone they already know.

If trans people are given anti-discrimination protections, WoLF writes in its brief, “it will mark a truly fundamental shift in American law and policy that strips women of their right to privacy, threatens their physical safety, undercuts the means by which women can achieve professional and educational equality, and ultimately works to erase women and girls under the law.”

With its hyperfocus on the supposed threat of trans women in women’s spaces, gender-critical feminism ultimately lets misogynistic men slide under the radar. If everyone is watching for deviant trans women or men claiming to be trans women, who is watching for the respected public figure perpetuating horrific sexual abuse against women and girls?

Online TERFism has infiltrated academia and often manifests into more harassment
While gender-critical feminism has long had roots in academia — extending back to Raymond and her cohorts in the 1970s — renewed public interest in trans discourse has created opportunities for academics to make a name for themselves. Recently, a small handful of gender-critical philosophers have managed to leverage media coverage to gain a mainstream platform from which to express their transphobic views.

“Historically speaking, issues around sexuality and gender have been of relatively marginal importance for philosophy departments, and relatively significant importance for humanities departments and the literary or cultural studies,” Grace Lavery, a trans woman and professor of 19th-century British literature at Berkeley, told Vox. But “that distinction, or that institutional boundary, has begun to fray.”

Gender-critical philosophy has become a sort of cottage industry where previously unheralded academics can achieve an online following by reciting the theory du jour in online radical feminist spaces. British philosopher Kathleen Stock, a self-identifying gender-critical feminist and one of the group’s more authoritative figures, has written perhaps half a dozen different manifestos over the past few years on trans exclusion and the definition of womanhood.

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