Why does MN feminism focus on trans?
Because it is the most overt signifier that the male backlash against women to undermine the advances of women's liberation not only happened but if we dont resist will suceed.
The basis of women's liberation is our shared experience of discrimination, violence and restrictions that women face just because of our sex, whether by individual men or patriarchal society.
The issue of gender dysphoria has been hijacked by MRAs who are using it as a sledgehammer to undermine the limited victories women have achieved, eg sex discrimination laws, financial independence rights, etc., etc., etc..
If you accept the trans narrative that sex is immaterial or is no different to having an "identity" then you effectively remove the material reality of women's discrimination, ie biological sex.
It also removes from women the right to self determine and be autonomous as it is an attempt to occupy women's territory, a form of colonialism.
And what many women have found, are now finding, is that while we were busy at the grass roots level sharing and supporting other women, MRAs through the priviledge of male networks have been working to undermine women's rights by influencing government, educators and the media to erase women's sex class analysis of the basis of our oppression by implying that basis (sex) does not exist.
The male backlash started with queer politics infiltrating universities back in the 80s. Women's studies became gender studies and so on. Products of that education who moved into the media happily colluded by changing language so that most media outlets now exclusively use (inappropriately) gender when they are talking / reporting about sex. (In the same way that the NUJ gave in and started using the phrase sex worker instead of prostitute.)
Perhaps the biggest realisation / shock is realising how willing all parts of society were happy to go along with this. The what had seemed like an achievement of getting society to recognise that women were discriminated against, was so easily pushed out from the agenda.
It has reached a peak now because what had seemed like harmless tokenism of the original GRA was in fact the trojan horse that misogynists were / are going to use to erase women's rights (eg Stonewall admiting it wanted to have Sex removed as a protected characteristic in the EA). Women became aware of the gulf it was creating between themselves and younger people (including our own children) who are effectively a 2nd or 3rd genderation bought up hearing and being taught that sex is no different to gender.
It impacts on the provision of women's services, eg Rape Crisis and Women's Aid, as well as the impact on women's working lives of pregnancy and children. If women are not a biological class but an identity how can you provide appropriate services or support.
In many ways it is almost as though we are trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. So many aspects of our society have been permeated with this false narrative.
And part of the anger / despair is realising how little we have been valued as women asserting our rights that nobody until we started to push back.
It is no different than if a forum for BAME people started to focus on transracialism if they found out that behind their backs white people had been maneuvering to eradicate the reality of racism by denying race.