How many terfs are out there?

[Runor]

I spent years in the wilderness, not talking about my terfiness irl, because friends had been politely distancing themselves from my views. Things are changing. I now know about a dozen people who have previously quietly asked me to ‘be kind to men who think they are women’ (I paraphrase), who are now strongly espousing TWANW.

What can we do? Recommend books and podcasts. Ask what people think about men in women’s sport, men in women’s changing rooms and hospital wards. Ask them if the like JKR 😉 Anything else?

We need to find each other irl. We all need to see that we are a huge majority that has been silenced for too long. Not everybody can, not everywhere is safe, but maybe now is the time to test the water?

👋🏼

Waving, not drowning!

I find if they are at the point they would look at the books and podcasts then talking about those things isn't challenging.

Personally I direct people to this board. So many amazing women here collecting all the evidence and having enlightened discussion. Regular TRA types coming in with their arguments that highlight the tactics and show the opposite of what they are trying to pull. From here you can get all the books and podcast recommendations too.

One thing I think more of us should do is were to shirts with slogans on. I have quite a few and don't even think about it day to day but it's amazing how many random women will tell me they like my too or ask where I got it. We don't discuss the topic but just asking that question is a clear communication between us we know the truth.

Good question. I would like to think quite a few in the girls' school where I teach, but it's not openly discussed and I fear there are fewer than I'd hope. #BeKind is strong in teaching, for obvious reasons, and terfs are likely to be very reluctant to raise their heads above the parapet.

I'm here, along with my mum, aunties and daughters.

I learned a lot from Mumsnet when I first became aware around 2018 but I'm now also a member of Women's Rights Network who carry out co-ordinated campaigns. They have local groups all over the UK so there will likely be one near to you

And, of course, Posie Parker and Let Women Speak.

WRN meet up in both small and large groups quite regularly and it's opened up a whole world of new like-minded friends of all ages.

There are also groups related to specific professions which all have SEEN in their name (on Twitter at least) so are quite easy to find.

Join your local or work industry SEEN network.

Everyone's a terf. Everyone knows this is all nonsense and everyone's got a line where they demonstrate that they know who the women are. Nobody actually believes it.

I've just seen this so we hopefully will find out how many there really are in years to come

x.com/getcountedgc/status/1863160643227918659?s=46&t=A2fpFNgDRyXF2d6ye97wEA

🙋‍♀️

Me! Though I think many of my friends are TWAW proponents. This is ok maybe but I do know they also have zero tolerance so I will lose them if they find out.

I'm one!

100% this! I don't believe for a second that anyone truly buys into this rubbish. It's just like the emperors new clothes

I talk to all my friends, family and colleagues about it! I have not yet met anyone who has disagreed with me, defriended me or ghosted me. I'm in a professional network too. I've never met a TRA IRL - well, once, professionally - but even he didn't think TWAW. He just thought they should be treated as though they were and we should all fall over ourselves with pronouns and soothing affirmation.

I am some decades out of university but went to a reunion recently; it got round that I was a bit vocal on this stuff, and I had a whole string of people (men and women) wanting to talk 'quietly' with me, saying they didn't feel safe being open in their own professional arenas (from medicine, law, and the arts to journalism). We all need to pull up our big girls pants, build on the AMAZING example of the brave vocal women who have led the way, and invite these conversations day-to-day. It's time!

I'm a TERF and I work in equality, diversity and inclusion so it can be difficult in case TRAs join my organisation and take it over.

I remember having a coded conversation with my SIL because we were both trying to suss out each other's terfiness. She was worried I would be a handmaiden because of my job. Once we realised we were both TERFs it made for a better relationship.

Edited to correct high TERFs to both, though I quite like the idea of high TERFs. Almost like ultra TERFs in a non-believing Anglican tradition. 🤔

Me.

And I've found out that most of my friends and family are too. Just quietly.

I don't know anyone in real life who isn't effectively a terf. No-one really believes in the gender stuff.

🖐

I’m openly terfy and not a single woman (or man come to think of it) has ever disagreed with me. It just seems to be the default sane position. I would happily debate it respectfully with anyone and have been doing this for many years before it actually became a ‘thing’.

I remember sitting beside a stranger at a dinner in 1999 and us getting in to it (in a good natured way) - I was saying at the time that the doctors who perform ‘sex change’ operations were at fault because the arrogance to think that a bit of cosmetic tinkering can create the miracle of a female body was insulting to me (pregnant at the time).

I’m happily terfing, husband strongly in agreement, best friend a bit louder in her terfery and occasionally causes issues in groups!

Other friends work in fields that limit what they can say, but have had some conversations that sound like they don’t know enough about the online discourse and think everyone is still operating out of common sense.

Female colleagues that I really like are fully behind TWAW and it would blow up working relationships to discuss. Several male colleagues all find this funny and just don’t rock the boat but think it’s nonsense.

Yep! Hi 👋

I’m torn with declaring this anymore. Where I am the rampant mess of the TWAW movement has died out. The high profile clinic near me has closed and far fewer people are proudly saying that men are women. I don’t want to give it the oxygen of publicity anymore as it’s a bit like a herd of 1000 horses being irritated by one fly that bothers them all, it will be trampled down eventually. I try to focus on bigging up creating a non gender stereotype society, getting rid of pink/blue gender reveal bullshit which feeds into the whole narrative. In 100 years the movement will be ridiculed and taught in school as a cautionary tale of internalused homophobia and not understanding what autism really is. This fact is illustrated in the #detrans movement telling their bloody heartbreaking stories.

I know a lot of left-wing, feminist women who are reluctant to raise the subject in company, but one-to-one will often gradually suss each other out before feeling free to talk.

I am in a private online discussion group, all left of centre, where some people (both sexes) are on the TWAW side, but it is a safe space for those of us who are not to put across our views, and I think it has been a revelation to some people who were in academic bubbles and assumed that only right-wingers and evangelical Christians would disagree with them.

One US-based friend was so happy to find that I agreed with her that she hugged me - her social circle in the US is very East Coast Democrat, and over there the subject is even more politically polarised than here. If you so much as question puberty blockers for children or males in women's sports it is seen as pretty much declaring yourself a Trump supporter.

🙋

It might be true that pretty much everyone, if they were honest with themselves, would admit that it's impossible to change sex. But there are certainly plenty of people who seem to believe that the whole of society (including the law) should act as though we do believe people have changed sex, in order to be kind. Unfortunately, the pretence mostly has the same effects as a true belief would.