By Nyeiri Gharib
Mainstream or “liberal feminism” aims to provide gender equality through political and legal reform. Alex Sinclair, who recently came out as non-binary (NB) states “there is a fundamental need within this fight for 'equality of the sexes' to include individuals of all gender identities, feminine and masculine alike”. Transgender exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) are cis-gendered[1] women, who advocate an agenda to exclude transgender and non-binary people in their efforts to tackle gender and sex inequality. This is predominantly on differences in biological sex instead of gender identity, which inherently prohibits transgender women and some non-binary people to join them in their battle for gender and sex equality.
Markedly, there is more visibility for transgender and non-binary people in the media nowadays, but there has been a notable increase in hate crimes. In 2020, 44 transgender or gender non-conforming people were shot or violently killed in the US, this is up from 27 people in 2019. The alienation by some mainstream feminists only adds to the notion of marginalisation of transgender women and non-binary people. This violence is ultimately ignored by TERFs.
The importance of spaces for Transgender women and Non-Binary individuals in mainstream feminist spheres:
Alex also adds “The primary argument for the holistic inclusion of individuals within the feminist movement lies within the fundamental principle of feminism: equality of the sexes. Whilst this has historically been focused on counteracting centuries of female-oriented oppression, our understanding of sex and gender has now moved beyond this”.
Notable gender scholar, Judith Butler, discusses in her research the influence of gender non-conforming and transgender individuals. She asserts that their experiences help us better understand certain oppressive acts within our dominant patriarchal[2] society. She argues we should be more critical of supposed natural gendered stereotypes and traits. Transgendered and non-binary people can help bridge the gap here, between themselves and cis-gender women.
Lancaster University’s Women’s + forum is an on-campus society and has made Lancaster one of the very few Universities in the UK to be explicitly open to transgender women and non-binary individuals. The forum changed its by-laws last year, highlighting itself “as a space for self-defining women and non-binary people to campaign and discuss women's liberation”. In addition, the organisation has included more inclusive language on their social media posts and increased the number of transgender and non-binary officers. Co-chair of the forum Erin Mcnally tells me “Misogyny doesn’t just affect cis and straight women, it affects everyone. If you present yourself as female and you’re non-binary, you’re also going to experience misogyny. It is important for people who aren’t necessarily part of the binary but still experience misogyny to have a space”. This space can be used to process the detrimental effects of misogyny, without the presence of men.
The separation of Transgender women by cis-gendered women:
“Some cis-gendered women may avoid including transgender women into their feminist spheres”, explains Mamikon Hovsepyan, an LGBT activist and human rights defender. He has even witnessed the ostensible exclusion of transgender women by a group of feminists not affiliated with any organisations in his hometown. “There can be events for women that these ‘feminists’ want to keep to individuals socialised as women, thus excluding transgender women, who, they believe, ‘didn’t share the same feelings as biological women when they were younger’. This bothers me because they essentially decide who is a feminist and who isn’t. I once had a big fight with these women and told them they couldn’t provide a license for who is and who isn’t feminist. If a transgender woman identifies as a woman and a feminist, then who are they to say they can’t be. Feminism has a broad meaning. Even TERFS call themselves feminists !"
“The proposal of separate spaces for specifically transgender and non-binary people is a form of segregation and separatism within itself”, judges Alex. “Transgender and non-binary individuals are able to bring to light new aspects of exorsexism[3] in a way cisgender females cannot. As highlighted, trans and NB people experience different forms of both day-to-day and systematic exor/sexism to that of cisgender females. This means they can aid the feminist movement in tackling oppression more holistically and rigorously”.
Activists like Mamikon assert the need for women’s spaces and events, as men can sometimes take up too much space and women need somewhere to feel safe, especially transgender women. But in relation to the question of whether the feminist movement needing to galvanise with LGBT groups and namely trans people, he says “there are commonalities. When we put our efforts together, we can achieve more, when we are separated, we are smaller, we don’t have that much power. But when we put our efforts together and we find a common agenda, then it will strengthen our fight.