A response to JK Rowling

[Hjft]

J.K. Rowling, like so many others, has recently been accused of transphobia and targeted for expressing some of her opinions on sex and gender. This is a very nuanced issue which many people struggle with, including members of the trans community. Assuming bigotry and shutting down debate is not the way to address these issues. Instead we should engage in reasoned debate in order to better understand the subtitles and find a way to live together with mutual respect.

On 10 June 2020 JK Rowling wrote about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender Issues ( www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ ) . It is a welcome calm voice in what she calls a toxic environment and I commend her bravery for standing up to the bullies. The essay explains eloquently what she believes and why she holds the opinions she does. She opens up about some very personal issues, and I hope all her detractors will read it before shouting her down.

An essay, however well written, carries a bias, and a reasonable author will recognise that bias and be willing to consider that they could be wrong. And so should the reader of an essay. By writing this essay, JK Rowling has exposed some very valid points which the other side of the debate wish to brush aside. However, she has also indicated a bias which I hope to address.

She conflates sex and gender, and she conflates the law and medicine. Firstly she worries that trans activism is ‘pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender’. This legal definition is for the protection of the civil rights of trans people and has no bearing on biology. Trans people still receive healthcare appropriate to their individual biological truths. Every trans person is acutely aware of their biological sex because it is incongruous with their gender. Remember when Harry Potter uses Polyjuice potion to take on the form of Goyle in ‘Chamber of secrets”. He does not stop being Harry. Now imagine if Harry had got stuck, and had to live his life with everyone believing he was Goyle. It would be intolerable for him and would likely lead to mental illness or worse. This is what it’s like for trans people, and why the law is in place to protect their right to be their authentic selves. Being Harry is ‘not a costume’.

This conflation is further illustrated when she expresses alarm that ‘A man who intends to have no surgery and take no hormones may now secure himself a Gender Recognition Certificate and be a woman in the sight of the law’. Again, this demonstrates a conflation of law and medicine. If a trans person can find relief from their gender dysphoria by permanently expressing themselves in an authentic manner then why should we expect them to accept medical intervention in order to get legal protection. Imagine you have a migraine. If sitting in a dark room with a glass of water provides you with sufficient relief, then you shouldn’t be expected to take strong pain killers or accept brain surgery. The ‘man’ she describes is not masquerading as a woman - she is living her authentic identity as a woman. The law protects her rights to do so. She is not a predator, and it should not be assumed that she is. Without these rights, her transgender status would be revealed every time she tries to hire a car, or open a bank account, and it is her safety that is in danger. A man masquerading as a woman is not able to legally get a Gender Recognition Certificate - because they are a man.

[redacted*] I hope JK Rowling’s essay will mark a turning point in the tone of these discussions, and people can start to properly address them.

• [edited by MNHQ to remove inflammatory content - we're allowing the challenges to this section of the OP to remain]

Please don't forget about the other people already in the dark room with their glasses of water, who have nowhere else to go

A man masquerading as a woman is not able to legally get a Gender Recognition Certificate - because they are a man

Help me out here (genuine request). Someone born with a penis can get a GRC, can't they? Even if the penis is still firmly attached and its owner has no intention of relinquishing it? So they are "masquerading as a woman" because women don't have penises.

There is still some way to go before transgender people are accepted by society as freely as BAME and Gay people

I'm sick of this comparison. A black woman is a woman, just like I'm a white woman. A black woman or a gay woman is not a subset of the category "woman."

Of course we want to erase discrimination against transwomen and transmen.

But in doing so, we need to be mindful of the structural oppression of women because of their biological sex. All women.

Yes anyone can get a gender recognition certificate simply by going along with the whole charade. There are Online forums coaching people how to fool the experts.

OP - should my daughter and I have to see an adult male's penis in the women's changing rooms when we go swimming? If that individual is behaving in an alarming fashion should we be able to challenge it without being accused of bigotry?

It would have been nice if in your post you'd addressed women's concerns in any meaningful way, or condemned the abuse we get for simply asking basic questions about safeguarding.

What does it mean to live as a woman without resorting to gender stereotypes?

If a trans person can find relief from their gender dysphoria by permanently expressing themselves in an authentic manner then why should we expect them to accept medical intervention in order to get legal protection.

@Hjft

What is an 'authentic manner' to present yourself in, as a woman?

Belief does not trump women's rights. If a person with a penis says they're a woman without surgery, they can enter female spaces without question. Saying you're a woman does not make you one, you do not get to own women's space, identity, the female anatomy or their bodies, the suffering we have been through in our history just because you 'feel like a woman'.

To some women, a penis is a weapon, one that has been used against them in unimaginable horrendous ways. What right does a person with a penis have to demand space with women who need safe spaces, just because they believe they share the same existence?

Your Harry argument makes no sense, in fact it argues against your point. If Harry deliberately chooses to become Goyle but then realises there's no going back, he's changed his original self without realising the consequences. Maybe he should have considered the longterm issues before taking the polyjuice potion.

I, like many women, have been the victim of domestic violence and sexual assault. I assume that every man has the potential to be a predator.
If there was evidence that men who live their 'authentic identity as a woman' did not commit acts of violence the way other men do, I would not be so worried. Unfortunately, there are so many examples that this is not the case.

Sometimes she is a predator, though. Or rather, a predatory male presents as transgender to access women-only spaces. Or a rapist in court uses the law to force their victim to use female pronouns when giving evidence. It's uncommon but it happens. How are women to be safe of any man can intrude on single-sex spaces at will?

Both groups need their rights protecting and this is where the collision comes. Trans rights cannot erase women's rights.

I think you meant to post this on your blog. This is AIBU.

Nobody should be discriminated against for presenting themselves according to gender roles not typically associated with their sex.

That's a very long way from TWAW.

Feminism is a project to break down and abolish gender; not a project to reify it.

What I want to know is if Mermaids and Stonewall are really going into primary schools? What are kids being told in schools?

Remember when Harry Potter uses Polyjuice potion to take on the form of Goyle

Harry is the biological sex in this case and Goyle is the trans - he took the potion so that he could accomplish something he couldn't as Harry. When he turned into Goyle (trans) he didn't lose Harry (biological sex). De-transitioners are those who stop taking the polyjuice.

Trans rights cannot erase women's rights.

Exactly.

How do we tell the difference between the genuine transwomen just living their authentic life and a man masquerading as a woman to gain access to female spaces?

Transwomen need their own private areas as they have the same fear of male violence as women do.

How does providing a loophole for predatory men to also access these spaces help protect women and transwomen from abuse and violence?

Once the right to have woman defined by law is given away to include biological men - it is gone. Eradicated. So much more difficult to get back than it is to defend. That is why we can't just say its okay.

What none of us are saying is that we don't support people and want them to be well but we can't give this away as it would be more damaging for so many.

Can you explain this bit to me please?
A man masquerading as a woman is not able to legally get a Gender Recognition Certificate - because they are a man.

How do you know they’re a Harry and not a Goyle? Because I’m pretty sure Goyle would lie about really being Harry if it meant he could get access to the Gryffindor common room?

I understand that the Trans community are campaigning to be able to legally self identify rather than have to go through a process for a GRC. This is where my concern is:
When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.

If there are things in place to stop this I’d love to understand them, I’ve tried to ‘educate myself’ but all I can see is arguments that there are legal consequences in place for people who assault women - but I’m not comfortable that punishment after the fact is a good enough response, rather than trying to protect women before it happens.

How do you propose the civil rights of transpeople exist alongside the rights of women. So while the transperson seeks medical care peculiar to their body - which has never been in question - what of the natal women being treated and working in the same hospital or surgery? What are their rights?

YABVU

As long as you still have a penis and male hormones you can rape me. No other arguments are valid.

You're assuming an innate sense of self - the concept "woman" that isn't attached to the body (so a male can be a woman if his sense of self tells him that).

We usually call that a "soul" and it certainly isn't scientifically proven, it's a matter of faith.

You may truly believe that a transwoman is the soul of a woman trapped in a male body, as in your Harry/Goyle example, but it is unreasonable to expect other people to confirm your belief at the expense of their own lived experience and beliefs.

Look to your own biases mate.

What does it mean to live as a woman without resorting to gender stereotypes?

Yes, what does it mean OP?

Every trans person is acutely aware of their biological sex because it is incongruous with their gender. Remember when Harry Potter uses Polyjuice potion to take on the form of Goyle in ‘Chamber of secrets”. He does not stop being Harry. Now imagine if Harry had got stuck, and had to live his life with everyone believing he was Goyle.

For a start, I can't believe you are equating the erosion of hard-fought women's rights to an episode in a children's book involving a magic potion, and for another, as @Enb76 has pointed out, you have got it flipped.

Harry is the biological sex in this case and Goyle is the trans - he took the potion so that he could accomplish something he couldn't as Harry. When he turned into Goyle (trans) he didn't lose Harry (biological sex). De-transitioners are those who stop taking the polyjuice.

I have the utmost sympathy for anyone with gender dysphoria and absolutely believe that transpeople should have legal protection and their own spaces. I do not for a moment feel that these should be allowed to erode women's rights, safety, and the very definition of 'woman'.

Comparisons to BAME and gay rights is a complete red herring. BAME people are still women or men, ditto gay people.

And let's not just make this about toilets or changing cubicles. Also consider:

Rape and Domestic Violence refuges
Hospitals
Prisons

All places where vulnerable women and girls will be and are ripe for being abused and violated by predatory men.

Why are additional facilities for transpeople to run alongside existing provisions not wanted by TRAs?

How do we tell the difference between the genuine transwomen just living their authentic life and a man masquerading as a woman to gain access to female spaces?

We shouldn't need to. I don't welcome males in my female spaces, regardless of how 'nice' or 'genuine' they are.