An open letter to the organisers of the "We need to talk" tour from a group of feminists in Ireland

[BattleCuntGalactica]

An Open Letter to the Organisers of The "We Need To Talk" tour from a group of feminists in Ireland..

Pasted for the link-phobic:

We write as cisgender feminists in Ireland to the organisers of the ‘We Need To Talk’ speaking tour who plan to hold an event in Ireland in February.

The main purpose of the ‘We Need To Talk’ tour is to promote opposition to the proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act in the UK. The reformed act would allow people to self-declare their gender (currently in the UK people are forced to go through the indignity of medical diagnosis in order to have their gender recognised). This proposed legal reform is a necessary and urgent step toward undoing the stigma, discrimination and violence that trans people in the UK currently endure. The organisers of ‘We Need to Talk’ are making a stop here in Ireland, under the guise of talking about abortion. However, their motives remain clear to us, and we write this letter to show that their exclusionary, discriminatory attitudes to trans people – in particular trans women – are not welcome here in Ireland. We will not sit in silence while the organisers of this meeting peddle ideas and opinions that are actively harmful to the well-being and safety of our comrades.

Trans women and men in Ireland have the legal right to self-declare their gender. Trans people and particularly trans women are an inextricable part of our feminist community. The needs of trans people are part of our campaigns. There is no difference between ‘feminists’ spreading transphobic and transmisogynist ideas or spreading racism or homophobia. We want no part of it, and we don’t want it here. So yes, we do need to talk.

We can see from your social media posts about your tour and its contents, that your opposition to the GRA is based on the idea that feminist organising and women’s rights will somehow be harmed through trans inclusivity and organising with our trans sisters. We know this is not true. We, the signatories of this letter, organise hand in hand with our trans sisters. Together, cis and trans, we are Irish feminism. Trans women are our sisters; their struggles are ours, our struggles theirs. They were our sisters before any state-issued certification said so and will always be no matter what any legislation says, either now or in the future.

In the south of Ireland*, trans women have been able to declare themselves women and have the state change their documentation to reflect that declaration since 2015. The sky has not fallen. Cis women have not lost anything whatsoever from this. If anything, all of Irish feminism has gained: our struggle for bodily autonomy gains in strength and momentum through this victory for our trans sisters. There are few things as feminists in Ireland we can say we have been pleased to see passed by the state. This, although flawed in its lack of recognition of trans children and non-binary people, is one.

So tell us: what is it that you know of Irish feminism that you feel entitled and authorised to come here and lecture us on? Dublin has not been part of the UK since 1921, yet you originally described ‘We Need To Talk’ as a UK tour while still including Dublin on your list of venues. This gives us some idea of how little you know about Irish realities, north or south.

We do not need you here. We have not had your support in our fight for #repealthe8th, our fight against the historical and ongoing impact of the Magdalene Laundries, our fight for taking back control of our hospitals from religious orders, our fight for justice for women and babies tortured and entombed in Mother and Baby homes.

Do you know, for example, that in the north of Ireland, legally part of the UK, women still cannot access safe and legal abortion? Have you campaigned on this in any way? If you have, why don’t we know about it? Did you strike in solidarity with us on March 8th last year? Did you even know we were striking and for what? Do you have any kind of concept of what a feminism in a country shaped by struggle against Empire looks like? Did you take even a second to consider that, in assuming you have the right to come here in any kind of position of feminist authority, you’re behaving with the arrogance of just that imperialism? We have had enough of colonialism in Ireland without needing more of it from you

We neither want nor need your lecture tour. You’re not welcome here.

Is sinnse,

Sinéad Redmond
Clare Kelly
Tracey Ryan
Linda Kavanagh
Lisa Keogh Finnegan
Antoinette Barrett Murphy
Helen Guinane
Aoife FitzGibbon O’Riordan
Rose Mullen
Maeve Fogarty
Caitríona McGrath
Janet O’Sullivan
Wendy Lyon
Eve Dove
Anne Mulhall
Sarah Clancy
Joanna Schaffalitzky
Jane D’Altuin
Fionnuala Murphy
Aislinn Wallace
Mary McAuliffe
Lora O’Brien
Nicola-Marie O’Riordan
Aisling Dolan
Sharon Nolan
Ciara Miller
Eileen Flynn
Maeve Foggy
Sinéad Dolan
Aoife Dermody
Marie McCormack
Suzy Cantrell
Annie Hoey
Stephie Lord
Linnea Dunne
Samantha Kenny
Sinéad Halpin
Siobhán Cawley
Fionnghuala Nic Roibeaird
Caoimhe Doyle
Roisin Blade
Rita Wild
Rebekka K. Steg
Niamh P. Keoghan
Pamela Rochford
Yvonne Murphy
Eileen Flynn
Jean Smith
Caoimhe Ní Néill
Paula Dennan
Jenni Owen-Thomas
Emma Allen
Erika Csibi
Sarah Ferrigan
Joanne Dennehy
Eve Campbell
Jantien Schoenmakers
Sinéad Lowry
Maria Power
Kyna Delaney
Shauna Kelly
CD Prince
Lorna O’Hara
Cat Byrne
Aislinn O’Keeffe
Jane Robb
Karen Walsh
Ania Richardson
Aoife O’Connor
Alissa Dunsky
Rose Pelham
Donnla Brighid Nic Gearailt
Sinéad Williams
Hilary Phelan
Julie Ní Mháille
Joanne Donnelly
Jen Fagan
Saorlaith Ní Shuibhne
Sarah Mc guill
Rebecca Heslin
MaryAnne Daly
Kate Antosik-Parsons
Syd Delz
Terri Lawlor
Rebecca Heslin
Rebecca Jeffers
Clara Wolfe
Michelle Byrne
Louisa Moss
Aisling Cronin
Ciara Doyle
Niamh Beirne
Shirley Somers
Ilaina Khairulzaman
Alexandra Day
Priscilla Sheehan
Claire Loughran
Betsy Cornwell Lyons
Jodie Condon
Charlot Kristensen
S. Buckley
Katherine Cochrane
Felicity Rawson
Eavan Brennan
Gyunghee Park
Jane Magnet
Karyn Shaw
Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin
Amy Ní Chaoimh
Mairead Enright
Corinne O’Neill
Catriona Finn
Francisca Ribeiro
Niamh Cullen
Niamh Doherty
Sarah Fox
Angela Coraccio
Ciara burke
Michelle McCarthy
Rosa Bronks
Joanna Doran
Roisin Pierce
Sarah Ní Riain
Bella FitzPatrick
Hayley Brabazon
Catriona O’Brien
Zoe Hughes
Clara Purcell
Aisling Hayes
Siobhán Nevin
Emma Conway
Liath James
Mo Ludwig
Alice Henehan
Elaine Crory
Alison McDonnell
Jennifer Gore
Carly Bailey
Irma Bochorishvili
Joanna Langier
Debbie O Rourke
Ellie Byrne
Emer Smith
Eimear Dunne
Kate Mehegan
Eimear O Shea
Frisha Ishak
Sinéad Ruane
Leanne Davoren
Caroline West
Marie-Jeanne Jacob
Emma Day
Jessica Lawrence
Jennifer Browne
Ruth Maxwell
Aine O’Donnell
Evelyn Fitzpatrick
Megan Gallagher
Niamh O’Brien
Siobhán NíCheallaigh
Katie Dickson
Sarah Bevan
Aisling Bolton
Jessica Conor
Nessa Fitzgerald
Melanie McArdle
Lizzy MacKenzie
Rebecca Gorman
Sarah Lyons
Ellen Gough
Grace Healy
Bridget Fitzsimons
Maggie Bent
Ayfa Twomey
Kate O’Brien
Lizzy MacKenzie
Lisa Russell
Lizzy MacKenzie
Katie Donoghue
Aoife O’Donoghue
Clare Ní Cheallaigh
Sile Ni Dhubhghaill
Aisling Crowther
Meg Beare
Jenna Clarke-Molloy
Orla Delaney
Sian Conway
Claudia Conroy
Heather Leahy
Niamh McDonald
Emma Mattingley
Elizabeth Marshall l
Kelly Earley
Aine O Flaherty
Emer McHugh
Ciara Lynch
Rhona Lonerga
Clodagh Corry
Megan Nolan
Fiona Smith
Jessica Nic Eoin
Lorien Ennis
Sarah Slattery
Catherine Byrne
Lauren O’Keeffe
Elaine Murphy
Rebek’ah McKinney-Perry
Aileen Ferris
Maria Beirne
Niamh Beirne
Orlagh McIlveen
Aine O’Connell
Yvonne Lydon
Aisling Keane
Meabh Gallagher
Amy Ní Cholgáin
Eli Olafsen
Maria Nugent
Laura Mallon
Jen Aicken
Cindy Hill
Laura Fitzpatrick
Sarah McCarthy
Elaine Edmonds
Tiegan Johnston
Niamh Byrne
Kathryn Adams
Barbara Lee
Fiona Murphy
Aisling Reina
Catherine Allen
Maria O’Neill
Aileen O’Carroll
Ericka Duffy
Sandra Duffy
Gillian Fagan
Ellen Grehan
Rosa Thompson
Emma Burns
Lisa Kennedy
Ruth Fitzpatrick
Aideen Blackwood
Sorcha Walsh
Muireann McGlynn
Kristi O’Connor
Kate Bedford
Amy Joyce
Saffron Doporto
Antje (Catherine) Karl
Fi Rooney
Jana Aleksić
Aoife Riach Kelly
Lou Walker
Rachel Ryan
Laura Brown
Nicole Wevers

(Signatories are at time of posting).

Well bloody said.

If transwomen are women, BattleCuntGalactica and it's all fine and dandy since self ID was introduced, how come transwomen aren't allowed in women's prisons?

And under what basis has any assessment been done of whether things have been fine and dandy anyway, since any data will be nonsensical?

Oh, and BattleCuntGalactica I bet you a dollar that I was marching for abortion rights everywhere long before you knew how to spell the word "cis", so don't bother pulling that kind of nonsense on me.

Fuck off.

Signed, an Irish feminist who has had enough.

Honestly I'm a bit confused? What is the debate about. I know Ireland are still stuck 100 years behind most countries,but what exactly are you disputing?

Ah sure Bexter don't be confusing us with your difficult questions :)

@75kp0r I've confused myself :) (not difficult) like is it something to do with signing a petition,to allow transgender men to be accepted as women in Ireland? I'm grand with signing if that's the case

I know Ireland are still stuck 100 years behind most countries,but what exactly are you disputing?

Sorry what?

@ThatEscalatedQuickly what are you questioning?

I think it's pretty clear

Nope it's not,hence why I asked. Any case you don't want to say,that's fine :)

Bexter I think it's clear she's questioning the bigotry innate in thinking ireland is 100 years behind most countries. You're definitely easily confused.

Ah,I can't take that away from you,I genuinely am easily confused :/,but I say it from being female,born and raised my whole life there... But she doesn't have to agree with me,that's just my view

SMH.

Irish feminist here. You don't speak for me.

I'm not going to be told what to think. Critical thinking is what's needed. Self-ID is a nonsense.

There are implications to this rush to prioritise the trans agenda over everyone else's rights.

I'm not drinking the kool aid.

Do you know, for example, that in the north of Ireland, legally part of the UK, women still cannot access safe and legal abortion? Have you campaigned on this in any way?

I give a pound per day to the Abortion Support Network so that any female from the island of Ireland, no matter how they gender identify, can get funding to help with coming to the UK for a safe legal abortion. And I will keep doing that until abortion is safe, legal, and free of charge throughout the whole of the island of Ireland. My money helps more Irish women than me joining a march would.

When trans women are telling us not to centre our reproductive biology at Women's Marches[1], they are not our allies. When trans women are promoting or even carrying out physical violence against gender critical feminists[2], they are not behaving in a feminist way. Our concerns for our organising spaces, rights, and safety are justified.

[1] twitter.com/MunroeBergdorf/status/954775970824810498
[2] terfisaslur.com/

indignity of medical diagnosis

PS: thanks for contributing to the shame and stigma faced by mentally-ill people. Seeing medical practitioners and getting a diagnosis is an essential first step to treatment for many illnesses and should not ever be portrayed as an indignity. For people with disabilities, a diagnosis is critical to getting legal protection as we can't prove "substantial and long-term impairment" without one. Why should trans people get an easier path to legal protection than people who are disabled?

For a list of women who are claiming that gender critical people are "bigots", you sure are ablist as all hell.

Wasn't this written by an American man who has identified as an Irish woman for about a year?

@BattleCuntGalactica well said :) - great letter.

I think it does the TERF echo chamber good to hear many, many feminists do not share their bigoted agenda. Alas they're pretty vocal on this site!

What good girls you are
Same old oppressor but now wearing a dress

We neither want nor need your lecture tour. You’re not welcome here.

Bit arrogant to think they speak for all Irish women isn't it?

I'm pretty sure that 99% of those names are actually biological males...

Ireland does have a long history of supporting women and promoting their rights...🤔

@Bibijayne and @BattleCuntGalactica
Agreed: great letter.

I also think it does the echo chamber good to hear that other feminists disagree with the trans excluders here

What the hell is a "cis woman"? Does she stay between the kitchen and the bedroom, cooking, cleaning and opening her pretty legs for her husband? Is she a pretty servant making and rearing strapping soldier boys and seen but not heard girls? To me, a "cis woman" is the Chumbly-Warner Fast Show style 1930s ideal. Not sure how many 21st century women identify with that.

Honestly I read that letter as Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. Honestly, add a prefix of "NOW HEAR THIS" and you'll see what I mean.

Ps - I always drink coffee when I read TRA demands. Everybody knows that!

Maybe just maybe the Brit’s do just actually want to talk as women to other women. It’s got nowt to do with where you are from it’s to do with preserving safe spaces for women and girls. The tone isn’t great. You will loose most people at “Cis”