Public terfing: "out and proud" or anon?

[XXHelenaXX]

I've raised my voice against a few injustices in my life (I'm in my 50s) and of course expected and received opposition. However, I've never before been made to feel frightened just for holding a belief.

The trans lobby have already mentioned keeping my social media "under surveillance" to "collect evidence" to "report me to the police". Also my name has been given to local activists who have dished out violence to someone who didn't agree with them on this issue. They know where I live.

I'd like to start writing about this issue: articles, maybe a blog or website, possibly even a book. But I am scared of making myself a target for the TRA.

As I am only a couple of weeks into this campaign, it's not too late for me to backtrack and invent a fake online persona and thenceforth cease to mention the issue on my genuine FB and Twitter. Then anything I publish or blog etc would not be traced back to me.

We all know the names of the few brave "terfy" women who openly post on social media, appear in the press, arrange and speak at meetings and go on the telly and radio in their own real names. They must receive threats constantly. Shouldn't I also be "out & proud" in solidarity with them, instead of letting them to take all the flak whilst I cower behind a fake ID?

Or is the main priority to keep myself safe?

If YOU are an "out terf" do you wish you had created a fake ID before you started this campaign?

I'm at a crossroads right now, and would love to hear other women's views and experiences.

Oh, and I've carefully disconnected any anonymous accounts from me so I can have somewhere stress free. Hope no one has as good memory!

I'm out on twitter (real name, real picture etc. on my account) but I don't have many IRL people following me on twitter, mostly other "terfs" and then a bunch of people connected to my brother and his case. Have had a couple of awkward conversations with friends who are pro-trans after they saw me tweeting/retweeting things and then one with my brother who then tweeted to his friends asking how to deal with a transphobic family member... to be fair we had a good discussion and I'm hoping I'll peak trans him eventually.

I'm not really out on Facebook as in I don't post/share trans-related things there but have commented on other people's posts - much harder for me to be out on Facebook as I have a TIM friend who I'm pretty sure would take it badly and I don't want to upset them.

"DH is "out" on Twitter with a lot of followers. Nobody abuses him, so I think this is mostly about intimidating women."

I think this is a really important point - as with so many sorts of men abusing women, men have the option of remaining oblivious to the frequency and severity of the attacks. Which means that for many, their whole attitude is "What's the problem?" I actually think (I know he is loathed on here and in many ways he is a silly little twerp) Owen Jones is generally well disposed towards most people and I don't think he really gets how dangerous and unpleasant this whole climate, including his thoughtless TRA-cheering, is for women. He's just a high profile case, but I really think that for many men this is all such a storm in a teacup.

doctorw you are doing a fabulous job.

Keep yourself safe OP.

Thanks for all the replies. I have now become a "follower" of JRob on Twatter.

I am still not sure what to do.

If the main thing is to stay safe then I will have to create new IDs on FB and Twat.

If I just change my FB name, those keeping watch on me will still know it's me won't they so I will have to start all over again, with no mates. Hmmm..

Thanks for the replies and keep them coming.

Collect evidence and report you to the police? For what exactly ? These people are insane.

Hi xx Helana

The only problem with twitter is we all agree with each other, you don't get many fish come swimming by! The terfblocker stops us seeing the other side, its a bit weird. Yo have to log out to read them. Its like a weird paintballl game.

I'm out in a low-key way. Don't post on my wall but will like & comment on other people's posts, and am a member of a couple of gender critical groups.
Have had no abuse but relationship with one friend has become incredibly strained and may end soon.

I'm quite upset at the moment. Thought I'd have a look at Germaine Greer's twitter, and almost the first thing I saw was a post from A WOMAN bullying her about her looks. And the creepiest thing is that she (the one bullying) then retweets a huggy tweet about 'lifting people up, be kind, share your gifts blah blah fucking blah.' This is a woman who is a "Post Doc Research Fellow interested in vulnerable populations".

Your safety is the paramount concern.

It is pretty shocking that I am afraid to be public on this. I’d be perfectly comfortable making political criticism etc but the level of very personal threat and the tactics used make me wary.

I would suggest screenshotting every single threat against you. All of them. Have a secure folder to dump them in.

I thought I'd covered my real identity, removed my real name from my twitter account and deleted past tweets. Just googled my twitter name and up came my real name! LMAO. Have now deactivated my account.

Sigh.

I'm out about it; and I don't have many friends so I don't have to worry about offending them, lol.

I'm not on FB, or any other social media, except Twitter, and I only joined Twitter because of this issue, so I don't have to worry about that.

I tend to raise it with almost everyone I meet/know, and haven't really had any bad reactions. Mostly, people are bemused by it, and incredulous that anyone would believe you can change sex.

I've actually opened several people's eyes to this madness (as it's so ridiculous that they didn't think it was real) and I've even changed someone's viewpoint and really got them thinking about why it wouldn't work.
They're very liberal and of the opinion that equality means treating everyone exactly the same and that we should do away with all segregation and labels including man, woman, etc, because we're all human!

Using a few examples, I got them to concede that equality is actually about fairness & not necessarily treating everyone exactly the same and why words are important, etc.

I've been toying with having a photo of myself as my profile pic on Twitter , as I'm not ashamed of my views, and I'm very lucky that I don't have to worry about work finding out.

I realise that outs much harder for others though, especially those working in academia, etc, where these views are seen as hateful.

I’m out on Twitter. Real name, face photo (admittedly dressed as a man).

I post anti-TRA ideology on Facebook; again real name etc.

I work in academia.

And I speak to many people in real life about the issues. Have yet to meet anyone I can’t peaktrans in ten mins.

Last Friday, took about 30 seconds with a young US Navy fella.

I tweet under a different name linked to an email account set up for the purpose.
I am out on facebook but no loads as I don't use is that much.

I’m out on Twitter. In some ways, I think it’s important to demonstrate that we are real women, not just online anonymous campaigners.

But I fully understand and respect the right of other feminists to keep themselves safe. Each of us has to fight in the way that feels comfortable.

I have had mental health problems in the past and if this begins to impact my health, I will back down. I am also somewhere remote, so I don’t feel physically under threat. My career is also fairly safe, though I have received a threat recently which may be followed through.

My post probably isn’t that helpful, but ultimately you have to do your own safety assessment and consider how ot might impact you personally, and decide based on that.

One thing I will say though. I am not ashamed to speak about this under my own name. The threat I received has made me more determined, not less. So far it is helping me to feel that I am being true to myself and that feels good.

I’m not out. I’m too scared. I’m a millennial, too many of my peer group are connected to or are TRAs. I think that may be one reason why younger feminists seem so on board with it? we’re more likely to be connected to TRAs through peer groups, social media, uni etc. Some have drunk the kool aid for sure but I think a lot are just scared.

I've just been properly outed by Lily fucking Madigan.
On my personal twitter account I'm very gender critical. However I use a pseudonym as the display name (simplified spelling of first name and shortening of my last name) but somehow on her shit list my full name appears next to my handle. It's a fairly unusual spelling of my first name so I am actually worried I could be targeted now.

I would report that FairfaxAikman Given the current furore into Facebook, I'm sure that twitter will not be happy.

How do I report it to Twitter when the list isn't on Twitter? I have emailed and complained to the Labour Party

Out and proud

They can fucking come for me

😡😡😡😡😡😡

I'm out in RL and on twitter, where I use my real name and a photo of the place I live in. I'm too old to be arsed what the TRAs say to me and I'm probably the wrong one to mess with, being from a v.v. rough area originally.

If it's relevant, I'm a mature humanities student and I've found many students to be rather more TERFy than I expect. Not all (and I haven't been afraid to politely challenge the ideology when it's come up in linked seminars), but quite a few.

Good idea to do that FairfaxAikman However it was posted on twitter so therefore your account has been compromised. Serious issue for twitter.

I've reported her account to Twitter and sent a version of what I sent Labour. Not hopeful of anything happening though given how long they took to deal with an issue when someone was impersonating my professional account