@RobinMoiraWhite, you know, reading the comments here, it's really clear that there is no true communication. And one of the problems, from this side of the divide, is that you do not have the lived experience of growing up female. On the contrary, you have the lived experience of growing up male. And that seems to mean that you genuinely don't understand quite how much you genuinely don't understand.
If women don't want a male in a rape crisis centre, it is not because their voice is too deep.
Some transwomen understand the unease male bodies can cause in female spaces, but I have encountered very few. You - the general you, meaning all male born people - have simply not been socialised to understand that. You have no concept at all of the energy women have to expend to try to keep safe from male predation, from earliest girlhood on. It becomes part of who we are. Instinctive at a muscle memory level. And if women deviate from that, and the worst happens, we are blamed accordingly for failing to be the perfect victim. You can't then expect us to just accept that a sub-group of biologically male people are harmless, solely because they say they are women, when the statistical evidence matches the evidence of our own instincts in saying that that they are as harmful as any other males, and we have lifelong training in protecting ourselves from harm. It's an irrational and unreasonable expectation. We can't forget what we know, and even if we could, we'd be stupid to.
You may know you pose no risk. A woman who doesn't know you can't possibly know that. I want single sex provision because men commit almost all violent crime. And statistically, transwomen commit crime at male rates. Of course most transwomen are no risk whatsoever. Most males are no risk, either. But they are exponentially more risky as a class, and we safeguard against them accordingly. This isn't about unfounded fear, let alone dislike. I have a son, husband and daughter I happen to like and trust more than anyone, but only one of the three belongs in women's spaces.
Nobody should suffer from abuse and discrimination for being who they feel that they are, and I would always support both Equality Act principles, and in fact would advocate that hate crime should cover all protected groups. I think the inadequacy of medical provision for trans people is an utter disgrace that shames the country. That doesn't change the fact that, like most women, I have an extremely well-evidenced, well-founded wariness of males. Wanting separate spaces is not negatively discriminatory. And I am not interested in how someone identifies when my own bodily autonomy is at issue. I am interested in sex, not gender, because eliminating males from spaces eliminates almost all risk to women. Division by gender identity can't.
I respect that trans people are human beings, simply seeking to live their lives with dignity, like anyone else. But so are women. That's why single sex spaces were created to begin with. To ensure our full participation in the world. And now that right is being removed from us, and you seem quite bemused by our objections.