I've been a bit late to the Lily Cade discussions.
Looking around Twitter, the TRA's are seemingly absolutely aghast that Cade was interviewed, and have determined that the entire BBC article is obviously tainted and the lesbians were lying/it's all a conspiracy/how could they platform her?
Yet looking at the article, it is obvious that Cade was interviewed with regard to how the term 'cotton ceiling' came about. The origin of the term is supposed to have been by a trans porn actress going by the name of Drew DeVeaux in 2012. The journalist couldn't get in contact with DeVeaux, so following normal journalistic actions, found someone who had worked with them. And that was Lily Cade.
The term is first thought to have been used in 2012 by a trans porn actress going by the name of Drew DeVeaux. She no longer works in the industry and I have not been able to contact her. However, I spoke to a former porn performer and director who believes she inspired DeVeaux to use it.
Lily Cade, who worked in the industry for 10 years, went by the label "Porn Valley's Gold Star Lesbian" because she only ever had sex with other women.
Lily was asked to do a scene with DeVeaux in Toronto and initially agreed after looking at photos of her. But she backed out in advance after discovering online that she was a trans woman.
"My sex drive was oriented towards women," said Lily. "I couldn't see past the fact that what I was interacting with was male genitalia altered by surgery and not the reproductive organ of a female ape, and I just couldn't get past that."
Feeling guilty, Lily sent DeVeaux an email in which she apologised for being "the worst girl in the whole history of the world".
"I felt really bad about the way that I felt about this, but I did feel that way. I made the choice to say something about it and to back out," she said.
Lily said she was criticised on Twitter at the time, but only among "very fringe queer porno people". However, the concept of the cotton ceiling came to wider attention when it was used in the title of a workshop by Planned Parenthood Toronto.
The title of the workshop was: "Overcoming the Cotton Ceiling: Breaking Down Sexual Barriers for Queer Trans Women", and the description explained how participants would "work together to identify barriers, strategize ways to overcome them, and build community".
It was led by a trans writer and artist who later went to work for Stonewall (the organisation has asked the BBC not to name her because of safeguarding concerns).
"I thought it was kind of gross," said Lily. "The language is gross because you are evoking the metaphor of the glass ceiling, which is about women being oppressed. So saying that if someone doesn't want to have sex with you that person is oppressing you."
So the section of the article concerns the term 'cotton ceiling'. The journalist finds someone who might have been responsible in part, in its first use. Having done so, the journalist writes about the first course believed to have featured it; Planned Parenthood Toronto's Overcoming the Cotton Ceiling: Breaking Down Sexual Barriers for Queer Trans Women, presented by an individual who went on to work for Stonewall.
Although Cade has apparently called for a genocide (definition: the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group so perhaps the word 'genocide' isn't being quite understood) it isn't clear why TRA's reckon her inclusion in the context it was provided invalidates the entire piece. Other than perhaps it is clutching? A desperate attempt to try to invalidate an article which has drawn attention to issues they prefer not discussed? Certainly the origin of the 'cotton ceiling' term was required in the article, as homophobic transgender people use it, and the 'boxer ceiling' term to describe how they are affronted by same-sex attracted people (i.e. homosexuals) not being willing to have sex with them.
For some reason though, the TRA's don't appear to be too worried (i.e. not at all worried) about the somewhat hefty number of death threats against women made over the years, likely now running into hundred-of-thousands.