Coming back to the ‘"generally GC views are seen as right wing", and this is not a post aimed at any one poster.
There is a huge disconnect in some people’s mind around left/right wing.
It is true that extreme trans activists attempt to make this into a polarised left and right wing issue. To do this they use the words ‘liberal’ and ‘progressive’.
One, reducing the rights of one group in the areas of conflict when gender is prioritised above sex, such as single sex spaces, sports etc, to elevate the rights of another group is most certainly not ‘liberal’ and not progressive’.
Two, this then also ignores that identity and declaring a gender identity is very much an individualistic notion. Not a collective one. And individualism is more associated with capitalism and consumerism. Hardly notions that align with ‘left wing’ politics.
So, again, extreme trans activists and their allies use this hyperbole and misrepresentation to emotionally manipulate others.
It is hyperbole because the words recently so often use ‘far right’ in an attempt to make the difference so polarising that surely no reasonable and kind and tolerant person would ever want to be associated with such thoughts even!!
And misrepresentation because they use the term ‘gender critical’ to associate two very different motivations so that again they can use that shame to silence discussion. The two very different motivations are that of feminists who shun stereotypes vs people who use stereotypes to define women’s roles.
Both groups don’t believe that sex can ever change. Both groups believe that children and young people should not be ever told they could be, or are, in the ‘wrong body’ and that affirming only treatment paths are very harmful. Both groups believe that female single sex spaces remain just that, single sex.
However, despite have some intersecting beliefs on the superficial level, there are usually quite different beliefs underpinning the high level concepts. And the overall movements are opposed in many other areas.
So, people who seek to dismiss the claims of feminists and other women will use the intersecting areas to portray those feminists and non-aligned women as ‘supporting’ the groups who may uphold views the feminists vehemently oppose.
In other words, extreme activists dishonestly group the two together and then declare that feminists ‘hold the same views as these often right wing groups’. Hence they then misapply the term ‘gender critical’, which many feminists don’t even use, and attach it to ‘right wing’.
When you see the manipulative nature of a movement who are prying open and destabilising the meaning of well established words such as women, girl, lesbian, even liberal, progressive and particularly ‘tolerant’, you cannot unsee it. When you start questioning why is the T joined with the LGB when so many transitioners under the ‘trans umbrella’ are actually heterosexual?
Why is that? Why has the origInal use of the term intersectional feminism been destabilised and changed to include males? Feminism is for all females! Yet after now including male people, feminism now fights for all minorities according to many intersectional feminists. Now also referred to as ‘liberal’ feminists.
Just like the LGB group Stonewall accepted a fundamental change to then include a subset of those who are heterosexual and would have been the original oppressors. So too has one of the groups of feminism.
This is a power tactic and was successfully used while society was being told to ‘be kind’.
The extreme trans activists use emotional manipulation because that is all they have. When you start picking apart the demands and understanding the history, there is no proven science, there are not even really statistics to back up claims.
That is why it is called an ideology. It is based on belief. Belief of self. An individual centred notion. Yet, hypocritically framed as a collective movement because the words tolerance for all hides the fact it is a misogynist movement that doesn’t tolerate the needs of women and girls.
TL/DR - Some people believe the emotionally manipulative tactics of extreme trans activists and wrongly associate feminists seeking to prioritise sex over gender as ‘right wing’.