why is everyone so partisan about this topic?
Most of us started out as wholehearted trans 'allies'. Many of us have trans friends who we've known for years. We've seen them struggle and go through an incredibly painful and difficult process to change their bodies to something they could live with. We've shared toilets with transwomen, on an 'honour' system, for decades, safe in the knowledge that we could challenge the presence of a male person if they were intimidating, behaving inappropriately or otherwise making us feel uncomfortable. Safe in the knowledge that where it really matters - hospital wards, prisons, DV shelters, women only support groups etc. - we were protected by the clause in the equality act that states it is permissible to exclude transwomen as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
Over the last 10-15 years, things have changed radically.
Trans no longer means what it did. The definition is now so wide as to comfortably encompass anybody at all who wants to make something of it. 'Transition' is no longer much of a thing (for adults at least). These days only a small minority of transwomen go through that painful, body-changing process our friends underwent. You now don't even need to bother with hormones, changing your style of dress or having a shave. You could 'transition' right here and now, computer, just by declaring 'I'm a woman' and everybody would be obliged to respect that. You don't need to identify as a woman either, you could choose any of the bajillionty sparkly new non-binary genders if you prefer.
At the same time, children and young people are identifying as trans at an ever increasing rate. The graph above shows the number of referrals by year to the Tavistock children's gender identity clinic. Around 70% of these referrals are now females - something we have never seen before except in tiny numbers. Unlike adults, children are transitioning medically and surgically. They are prescribed off-label cancer medication to halt puberty. This is presented as a harmless, completely reversible option to allow the young person breathing space. Except that the drugs have known serious side effects such that adult women (who are sometimes prescribed these for endometriosis) are only allowed to stay on them for 6 months. Also, alarmingly, almost all children who are prescribed puberty blockers go on to cross-sex hormones. This contrasts with earlier studies showing an 80% desistance rate for gender dysphoric children as they went through natural puberty and came out the other side, usually as gay men or lesbians. Once on cross sex hormones, having never been through natural puberty, these children will effectively become infertile, as well as undergoing irreversible changes to their bodies. There are a growing number of detransitioners, especially among females who transition, but nobody's allowed to talk about it.
Organisations are becoming more and more cautious about making use of the equality act exception so there are fewer and fewer women only spaces. Trans activist organisations are writing the guidelines for schools, youth organisations and workplaces and only have regard for their own interests, not those of women and girls, or of children generally. Now, to top it all off, we have the latest proposals to make gender recognition a simple matter of filling out a form.
And women are not allowed to ask questions about any of this or raise concerns about our own rights or the rights of children. We are greeted with threats of doxxing or rape or 'die in a fire'. We are no platformed and hounded out of jobs. We are told there is #nodebate.
That's why I'm 'partisan'. I'd love a reasonable, polite debate. I'd love to be able to work out some middle ground so we can all just muddle along like we used to. That takes willing from both 'sides' though.