Another trans writer on JKR

And it gets even more strange, because apparently the trans woman in question was later arrested for...assaulting a woman in a bathroom. It's just weird because this story has been held up as an example of trans women being in danger from women, and yet no one was actually convicted or sentenced.

Yes, I was going to mention that too.

Oh yes, never saw it as a widespread thing!

Those times changing for PE just stick in my head, because it demonstrated that some people only see the female-attracted part of the definition of lesbian.

I think (hope) most women grow past it, and come to realise that whether the female-attracted person is female or male is the key indicator of potential risk. But at fourteen, none of us could put that into words.

no memory of widespread warnings about predatory lesbians in the 70s and 80s. Only ever brought up in the context of females wanting female spaces by those who thought it unnecessary and thinking women were over reacting to male predatory behaviour.

Same here, dolorsit. Tyro’s example was schoolkids reacting to a specific teacher. And come to think of it, yes, it’s always brought up by TW and their supporters, about TW, but I’ve never heard that fear expressed by a woman.

This trans writer, by transactivist accounts, appears to be hugely transphobic..as they appear to think transpeople are all dysphoric and 'transitioning'. Which we have been told is a massively terfy thing to say.

Not a lesbian but no memory of widespread warnings about predatory lesbians in the 70s and 80s. Only ever brought up in the context of females wanting female spaces by those who thought it unnecessary and thinking women were over reacting to male predatory behaviour. Usually phrased along the lines of "what about lesbians eh, you don't care, sexist you just hate men"

I've come to the conclusion that it's the same shit different century!

I recall in the 90s some of the girls having a bit of a lesbian panic episode during PE. They didn't like having a lesbian PE teacher in the changing rooms. The line they took was "The male teachers aren't allowed in lest they're sexually excited by us, therefore the lesbian female teacher shouldn't be allowed in either."

It wasn't pleasant.

But the thing that always strikes me about trans panic defences is: they don't get killed because a man finds out they're trans, they get killed because he finds out they're male.

an older friend on twitter compares the whole 'OMG! Trans people are using our toilets to be predators.' to how people didn't want those 'predatory' Lesbians using women's toilets back in the 70s and 80s

May I ask older lesbian MNers if they knew about a widespread fear of lesbians using women's loos in the 70s and 80s? I never heard of that at the time.

Something else I noticed from the article - the author mentions an assault of a trans woman by two women in a Raleigh bar. The women were charged with kidnap and sexual assault. Their trial date was set..and that's the last thing I can find about this story. I can't find anything about their trial or whether they were actually convicted. The story just disappeared. And it gets even more strange, because apparently the trans woman in question was later arrested for...assaulting a woman in a bathroom. It's just weird because this story has been held up as an example of trans women being in danger from women, and yet no one was actually convicted or sentenced.

It’s a perverse and pornified interpretation of women’s experience as vulnerable to male violence. What, for women is a frightening understanding of how we live in the world, is used as an eroticised thrill. ... getting off on imagining themselves as vulnerable to those dangerous radfems... because their misogyny is so deeply ingrained, that being threatened by women, the lowest of the low, is the ultimate in submissive degradation.

This. You have put it so clearly, DanceLikeEmmaGoldman.

Also, the genuine stats are very easy to find -- men kill women (and very rarely except in Brazil, transwomen), women do not harm transwomen.

I really liked the article, particularly:
"Violence against women is terrifyingly commonplace. And it’s been normalized to the point where Donald Trump was still elected after the world listened to a recording of him encouraging people to assault women." - I think most women and girls have experienced it. I did frequently from bullies. I once had to bite my attacker in order to get away, but I was the one punished when he spun a tale of me pining him down to bite him. He was believed despite the fact he was well known to threaten and harass me.

"What this does is reinforce the message that trans women are indiscernible from men with an ulterior motive, posing as women." - Yep, nailed it in one.

"Similarly, trans people are subject to cruelty because false narratives make it seem like trans people are a threat...This is evident in the trans panic defence that allows murderers to receive more lenient sentences by claiming they were in shock after learning an intimate partner was trans: they position themselves as victims to the sinister, deceiving trans person." - Honestly, screw the men who try to defend violence and murder with this defence.

"The widespread fear of men posing as women in public spaces is a relatively new phenomenon... It’s become a topic of discussion for every parent, schoolteacher, athlete, activist, and more. But what isn’t new is trans people." -This in particular, an older friend on twitter compares the whole 'OMG! Trans people are using our toilets to be predators.' to how people didn't want those 'predatory' Lesbians using women's toilets back in the 70s and 80s.

"...because I am waiting for what feels like the inevitable moment that a cis woman thinks I’m a man who’s pretending." - My partner has had nightmares about going out dressed for passing as female; in the nightmares people are constantly trying to catch them out, make them slip up, particularly by making them speak in their deep voice.

"Spreading narratives that undermine trans women’s well-being does not make cis women more safe; it just makes all women more fearful." - Honestly, at this point the whole Trans panic is starting to resemble moral panics like the Satanic Panic of the late 70s to early 90s. The McMartin Preschool Trial is an excellent example of what can happen when both the public and professionals believe the lies that were peddled by Evangelist Christians and Televangelists back in those days. I think it will continue to evolve more and more into a witch hunt moral panic the way things are going.

I’ve started to notice more and more this narrative that trans women are scared of women. I get that they are saying this to make themselves appear vulnerable but I don’t think it’s a good strategy. If they are genuinely frightened of women then the solution is to have trans only spaces , and not access to women’s spaces. And also... if they are really women why are they scared of women? Women tend to have a camaraderie . We are scared of men, not each other. If they really have a woman’s mind how does that mesh with them being frightened of women?

God, TyroTerf! That’s awful!

Are they weaponising their trauma too? As I thought that was a bit of a no no

Haven't read it, not going to, but survivor of what?
Headline says trans survivor

Oh, I’ve been deleted! My first deletion!

Isn't space for all what we want , not space for men , space for transwomen and no space for women?,

KittyValentine I think you've just identified why my ex has 'fat women' as one of his many fetishes.

Rapist number 2, also an agp, was a fair bit smaller than me.

Useful insight, thanks!

in that story, cis and trans women alike remember that we’re stronger when there’s space for all of us to express our unique magical abilities, when we’re not stifling one another

FGS. Women have no magical abilities and like most people I stifle nobody. Presumptuous twaddle.

Ah, delicate flowers. I mean, there are many we could post but this one springs to mind.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trans-attacker-tara-wolf-is-a-thug-says-feminist-maria-maclachlan-pq0bwvthv

What the deep-fried fuck is a '12 year old queer sissy'?

My thoughts exactly!

It’s just the narrative. Poor me, protect me, don’t disagree with me, do what I say...

in that story, cis and trans women alike remember that we’re stronger when there’s space for all of us to express our unique magical abilities, when we’re not stifling one another

These magical abilities sound great. How can I express mine?