TERF? What’s That?
A group of supporters stand together in support of Black trans lives matter. Via Unsplash.
I’m learning so much on my queer journey, and one of the things that I’ve been looking into is the term TERF. I remember someone mentioning this in a Bluesky post, and I had no idea what that word meant. I know, I am very behind, but I’m willing to learn.
TERF, for those of you who don’t know, stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. Although the freelance writer Viv Smythe is said to have coined the term, she says that she did not invent it. She was only writing about transphobia in a 2008 blog post and used the term. She stated that TERF is “shorthand to describe one cohort of feminists who self-identify as radical and are unwilling to recognize trans women as sisters, unlike those of us who do.”
What I’m learning about this group of people is that they use lots of ideology and language that’s harmful to the trans community to ban them from spaces and sports, deny them gender-affirming care, and incite violence against them. Trans women are four times as likely to suffer from violent victimization than their cis peers, with Black trans women being even more at risk. They’re all about supporting and uplifting “natural born women” and “adult human females,” opposing those who are “not.”
I found more information than what I’ve provided above, but I think you get the drift. I will stop here so I can transition into my thought. As always, I’ll provide sources at the bottom of this blog post so you can reference the information I’ve used.
Now, I think it’s just ridiculous that there’s a whole group of so-called feminists who are so offended by another group of women that they go out of their way to hurt them. They feel so threatened that they must spread all this harmful misinformation in hopes that others will join them in their non-feminist ways. It always baffles me how often people will go out of their way to harm others.
Recently, I was scrolling through one of my socials and came across a post from a Black trans woman who wanted to know why Black women hated her. She described all of the discrimination and hate that she received and is receiving. She even mentioned how she lost her job because these women were so threatened by her presence, and how the manager did not stand up for her. She can’t even walk down the street with her boyfriend without getting nasty looks from other women.
Sometime before I came across that post, I saw another post about a cisgender woman who was harassed by police because they thought that she was trans. I believe she was reported to the police by another woman, but I’m not entirely sure. She couldn’t even wash her hands because two men were in her face, interrogating her and creating an unsafe, uncomfortable restroom space for every woman in the restroom.
It’s sad to say, but I have witnessed my fair share of transphobia, and it frustrates me. How can people be so rude and selfish? It’s almost as if people don’t care about humanity anymore and want to see the world fall into conformity. Everyone must look, think, and behave the same way. But that’s not how life works. There are over 169 million women who live in the USA alone, and over 4 billion in the world. There’s no way we’re fitting into some box TERFs think we should squeeze ourselves into, and when I say we, I’m talking about all women. Cis women, trans women, Black trans women, and every other woman out there, because these people don’t realize that an attack against trans women is an attack against all women. This affects all of us, and unfortunately, Black trans women face the most harm when it comes to this offensive rhetoric and beliefs.
I’m one of those people who don’t think all people can get along. We’re just way too different and stuck in our ways. However, what all of us are capable of doing is respecting each other and accepting whoever’s standing right in front of us as who they are, not what we’d like for them to be, because that’s not up to us. That may seem hard to do when a person only knows one way of doing things, but it’s possible. All you have to do is open your eyes and your mind.
Each individual has—or at least should have—autonomy over themselves and can live how they see fit. Like I tell my Discord group, you know yourself a lot better than anyone else knows you. So, do what’s best for you. If that means transitioning from one gender to one that you identify with internally, do it! If that means dressing differently or receiving gender-affirming care, do it! You only have one life. Be kind to yourself and live in your truth. I promise, it’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made in your life.
Sources:
USA Today, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/09/what-terf-definition-trans-activists-includes-j-k-rowling/5326071002/
The Guardian, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/09/what-terf-definition-trans-activists-includes-j-k-rowling/5326071002/
National Women’s Law Center, https://nwlc.org/happy-pride-dont-be-a-terf/
