This statement was penned by a group of women who are angry with the recent rise of anti-trans feminism. If you want to sign it, please send an email to sisternotcister(at)protonmail.com, or contact them here.

The signatories of this letter strongly condemn the actions and doctrines of the Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs)*. This strain of feminism recently gained notoriety due to their problematic opposition of the proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (these reforms proposes to allow trans and non- binary people to self- declare their gender without, as is the case now, going through humiliating legal and medical process). This law could help to make the lives of a highly discriminated against minority easier. TERFs however claim that the aim of the proposed law change is a threat to cis women.

As feminists we reject the TERF notion of a woman. That our gender and therefore our roles in society are determined by biology is a sexist idea that we have spent our lives rejecting. We demand better than that for ourselves and for our trans siblings. Trans women are women. The proposed law change is not a conspiracy aimed at abolishing women’s rights, nor are trans women trying to hijack female identity. They have their own identity, that of a trans women, which comes with its own experiences of prejudice and discrimination.

We ridicule the idea that men need to pose as trans women in order to abuse us. We have faced abuse from men in a myriad of ways. These men have always had the backing of the patriarchal state and society. They didn’t need to subject themselves to transphobic abuse and oppression to facilitate abusing women then and we don’t see why they would need to now. There is nothing inherently, biologically or psychologically dangerous about trans women and TERFs will not make us afraid of them.

We hate the TERF habit of denying people their gender identity. Referring to trans women as men and trans men as women, denying non- binary people their identity, and trying to refuse them basic rights is a clear sign of prejudice and it has no space on the left. It traditionally belongs with the conservative right and people expressing such prejudices should not be accepted in leftist or anarchist spaces.

We are disgusted by the TERF techniques of bullying trans people and their friends and comrades. TERFs stand against a vulnerable minority by refusing their right to exist, using their dead names, doxxing them, smearing them online and in the press and waging a fear campaign, all whilst accusing trans women of being a possible legal and physical threat to cis women. These techniques are not consistent with their announced aim of getting legislation refused by parliament and belie the TERFs real agenda of intolerance.

We are sick and tired of TERF alarmism. There is no evidence that trans women are in any way a threat to cis women. To the contrary, there is a lot of evidence that TERFs feed the prejudice against trans women. The countries which introduced their own versions of GRA are not experiencing the problems the TERFs associate with allowing trans people to determine their own gender.

We despise the use of the State to police our politics, bodies, personality and identities. When the TERFs recently prosecuted an anarchist trans woman for assault, with the help of the metropolitan police and the magistrates court, they sent a message to us: they believe that their opinions are more important than the well documented physical and mental risks the police and the courts system pose to minorities. We think this is abhorrent. It was a deliberate provocation of vulnerable trans community to get the desired result of them being arrested much like the actions of the Forward Intelligence Teams used by the police.

We will never accept snitching to the police after an event, when the personal risk is over, to be a valid form of resistance. What’s more, while punching people is almost never a good thing, what needs to be pointed out here is that claims this was an example of male on female violence are unfounded and bigoted. The aim of labelling it that is to add fuel to an alarmist scare campaign against trans people. We believe that the term invented by our sex worker comrades to describe TERFs and their counterparts Sex Worker Exclusionary Radical Feminists (SWERFs): “carceral feminism” is indeed correct.

Finally we believe that contrary to the propaganda spread by them that it is the TERFs who are perpetrators of violent hatred, not trans women. It is them who make us feel unsafe. We do not believe they are victims. We believe that the TERFs are similar to the so called men’s rights movement in that they are mistaking losing their privilege for losing their rights. We will not allow our radical and feminist groups and spaces to become battle grounds for their hateful agenda.

We are committed to fighting for an awareness and intolerance of transphobic attitudes in the organisations and spaces that we are part of. We will not let transphobia go unchallenged in our spaces both online and offline and we will support our trans comrades in their struggle against patriarchy and capitalism as we know that their liberation is inextricably part of ours.

We are asking our cis male comrades to join us in these commitments. This isn’t a ‘women’s issue’. This struggle isn’t less important than the class struggle or anti-fascism, it is a part of those struggles as much as they are a part of it. Identity politics are about intersectionality not essentialism, and this benefits you as much as us and trans people. Don’t let TERFs silence your support for trans people with accusations of sexism as those accusations are based on flawed assumptions of biological determinism. This is not a political lifestylist niche, it is an human rights issue. Its an issue of individuals having freedom from oppression as much as any anti-racist or anti-sexist fight, and we see that as a basic radical struggle.

A note to our trans comrades: Some of us are late to this fight and we apologise that it has taken us so long to see the danger that this bigoted group poses to you and the work that we’re all doing as radicals and feminists and to the future that we’re trying to build together.

*Despite the Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist’s declaring the term TERF as a slur, we continue to use it. We do not believe it is a slur although admit it can get used in place of one now. However the bad reputation associated with this word come from the behaviours of those that subscribe to an anti-trans way of thinking. We are using TERF here as a descriptive term to firstly distinguish between radical feminists who are anti-trans and those who are not. We are also using it so that other people know who we are talking about as it is the most used term to describe this specific group of beliefs. We reject the innocuous sounding ‘Gender Critical’ as a poor attempt to minimise and hide the harm that comes from the belief system of those that invented it. We believe that, in time, when it is as unacceptable in our movements to hate people based on their gender identity as it is to hate someone based on their sexuality or race, that this term will be used to describe these people who opposed this overdue societal progress.

Signatories:

Zosia Brom

Laura Dinosaur

Chiara Lauvergnac

Parastou Miri

Jane Nicholl

Alexandra Becker

Helen Parsons

Frank Vulgaris

Lora Lizzy Hughes

Alice Flebotte

Hannah Lawless

Jade Slaughter

Lora Lizzie Hughes

Margarita Nikolayevna

Sophie Macaroni

Blish Law

Justine Fernandes

Nic Power

Laurel Khutulum Lee

Katie Brandwood

Mildread McHattie

Lou Rey

Mal Sainsbury

Jody Nicholl

Yasmin Basith

Laura Rose Whittall

Michelle Smith

Louisa Cooper

Sylvia Mann

Boudicca Rising

Aysen Dennis

Louse Sweeney

Emilia Webbe

Jay-Jay Thomas

Sophie Txigane

Abigail Smith

Julia Downes, Salvage Collective

Katie McCain

Shiri Shalmy

Biedra

Kirsty Cleary

Kirsty Fife

Dasa Raimanova

Dr Charlotte Cooper

Sanja Vucetic

Daila M

Helen Collins

Becky Conlon

Meagan Blackwood

Janet Cashman

Ellie Longman

Michelle Smith

Maira P.

Bridget Hart

Hiria

Efa Supertramp

Rose Ward

Marina Daniele

Joanne York

Katie Finnegan-Clarke

Lydia Kindermann

Tara Terfslayer

Amelia Os

Jaca Freer

Taylor Hodgett

Autumn Brennan

Dee Dickens

Fiona Fairless

Yosh Kosminsky

Rachel Strong

Paula Walker

Cal Desmond-Pearson

Maya Harris

Sharon Borthwick

Kim-Marie Jackson

Sally Smith

Sylvie Garcia

Elise Hendrick

Wasp Howl

Rachel Thompson

Harriet Carlton

Lauren Farrell

Rosie Lahore

Sandy Dillon

Joy Grrillah Mottram

Lilith Jones

Alice Swift

Siobhan Fahey, Producer REBEL DYKES

Mari Greenfield

Helen Sheridan

Anjie Mosher

Christine Isherwood

Juliet Kemp

Lisa Thornton

Mary Thewlis, Oxford Transgender Support Group

Wendy Turner

Angie Hughes

Badger North

Sami Gibson

Emmeline May

Natalie Smith

Layla-Roxanne Hill

Diane Steels

Maxine Warren

Helen Dale

Jem Pammenter-Fry

Jane Augsburger

Ruth Sullivan

Charlotte Li

Jane Charlesworth

Rosy Mulryan

Jennifer Dean

Midnight Shelley

Polly Conroy

Christine Clifford

Tarin Brokenshire

Sam Graves

Fay Roberts

Rosa Marvell

Rachel Cotton

Jennie Rigg

Cathryn L

Rachel Loe

Emily Jacob

Raven Nielsen

Alice Nuttall

Ziggy Woodward

Andrea Roberts

Gwenllian Parry

Hannah Charlotte Usher

Eva Gee

Sarah Morris

Tasha B

Haze Gledhill

Sarah E Woodall

Debbie Walker

Jo Weedon

Hester Hughes

Anna Marie

Aileen Elsbury

Miss Michelle Maddison

Sol Loreto-Miller

Roxo Wack

Robyn Young

Beverley Martin

Frankie Birkenhead

Trudi Halpin

Alexandra Devreux-Swift

Alina Dolgin

Annie Whitehead

Heather Quevedo

Sarah Wittams-Howarth

Sarah Lianne Bole

Kendra A Cummings

Becca Johnston

Shelley Lynn Tibbs-Moore

Rosie Swayne

Humaira Saeed

Nina Franklin

Ruth Hamilton

Jet Moon

Dr Shannon Woodcock

Hannah Berry

D-M Withers

Nikki Johnson

Jasmine-Joséphine Yuki Sakura-Rose

Alix Hyde

Janet Parfitt

Cindreia Europe

Charlotte Richardson Andrews

Kate Marston

Sherene Meir

Lorna Rynne

Imogen Butler-Cole

Claire Vaughan

Jessy Young

Jen Conway

Heather McIntosh

Lily Greenslade-Davey

Sonja Blake

Nicole F C

Erynn Schwellinger

Mary Stephanou

Emerciana Desouza

Emma Berry

Lady Shelly

Lorraine Helen Youds

Laura Slowe

Natalie Bennett

Ada Westfall

Eleanor Coleman

April Simpson

Pearl Pelfrey

Sarah Bailey Harrison

Elena Tompkins

Tara Daniel

Umbilica

Clare Bonetree

Molly Dainton

Joanne Maree Le Mura

Annette Guilding

Diana Muertos

Emily Short

Sarah Harper

Rachel Melly

Nicola Hockey

Michelle Lisbona

Keira James

Monika Dre

Miranda Shaw

Ann Stolz

Michele James-Parham

Aby Williams

Kate Jonesface

Jane Czyzselska

Charlotte Tomlin

Heidi Wyldewood

Maddie Noakes

Charlotte Tomlin

Mx Vicky Laylor

Sarahlynn Bower

Karen Laurie

Donna Fearnley

Claire Dargavel

Claudia Higgins

Deb

Ruth Sullivan

Fliss Radomska

Sandie Atkinson

Katerina Neocleous

Misty Marchant

Katie Shaw

Innogen Wood

Helene Conquérir

Elia

Stacy Bias

Claire Hamilton Russell

Catrina-May Connolly

Sally-Marie Bartlam-Hawes

Louisa Harvey

Marie Tuley

Lynsey Morgan

Esther Curran

Laura Seligman

Connie McCabe

Kate Barclay

Cody Silva

Louise Kowalska

Lillian Marie

Lucy Lepchani

Mandy Freewoman

Stephie Phoenix Flinn

Tracey Dixon

Eshe Kiama Zuri

Phoebe Tickner

Rosie Hayes

Mollie Hanley

Sally Hendergate

Mary Kerr

Noanie Sam Heffron, ScottishAthletics Equality & Diversity Advisor

Angela N Brin

Trella Javanainen

Chantelle Louise Robinson

Cathryn Hall

Mary Kerr (Equalities Officer, East Kent District NEU)

Sasha Nicole Dettmar

Groups:

Bristol ABC

London ABC

South East London Sisters Uncut

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair

Class War Women’s Death Brigade

Fourth Wave: London Feminist Activists

Good Night Out Campaign

North London Food Not Bombs

CHARMPIT band

Killdren band

Petrol Girls band

Berkshire Antifascists

Class War

Class War Scotland

Architectural Workers

Rites of Hadda band

Bristol People of Colour

The Art House Southampton CIC

Rebel Cat Events

Riot Grrrl UK

ReConnected Life

T-Bitch band

Wessex Solidarity

INTRSKTR intersectional feminist collective

Collective Mind Space

TIGER: Teaching Individuals Gender Equality and Respect

BASE social centre (formerly Kebele)

Reading Red Corner

Love Sex, Hate Sexism Collective

Glasgow Anarchist Federation

Anarchist Federation Scotland

REACH Cardiff

York Feminist Collective

Unicorn Nights

Hydra Books, Bristol

Bristol Defendant Solidarity

Bristol Antifascists

Amethyst Midwitchery & Womancraft

New Forest and Southampton Red Tent

Horizontal Prints (Community screen printers in Bristol)

Cafe Kino, Bristol

The Anarchist Federation

Mansfield Anti-Fascists

Notts Activist Wellness

Yemoja Foods

ARTFORANIMALS

North East Anarchist Group

Bristol SolFed

Food Not Bombs Bristol

Supporters:

Andy Meinke

Jack Etches

Jon Bigger

Ian Bone

Lauri Love

Matt Smith

James Cleveland

Jamun Mia Aziz

Jay Latarche

Ted Lucas

Adam Lawrence

Rob Ray

Uri Cohen

David McHarg

Alan Loutitt

Ian Whaley

Ricky O’Shea

Pat Wainwright

Johnny Mac

Conor O’Droscoll

Chris Patrick

Richard Hollis

David Alexander

Michael Dixon

Matt Richardson

Alastair Bridges

Albert Tatlock

Nic Ci

Phil Dickens

Luke Hekate

Simon Bradley

Dominic Francis

Keyon Bayandor

Mike Johnston

Steve Blum

Luke Power

Paul Beer

R.A. Briggs

Angus Quinn

Tariq Persaud Parkes

Joe McBlogges

Aardvark Gillibrand

Henry Raby

Chuck Hay

Matthew Ashworth

Kevin O’Malley

Dominik Tea Spitzer

Ian Ingram

Ian Parker

Les Rich

Michael Stephens

Jamie Hall

Oz Katerji

Shehzad Raj

Trent Grassian

Elijah Habib

Nick Nakorn

Dave Rendle

Kris

Nikolas Yanoulopoulos

Shay Thomas

Cai Brown

Leo Robinson

Kris Perry