When Is A Person A TERF?

The short answer is "when they are using TERF arguments to argue against transgender rights and/or treatment issues.  

The longer answer is more interesting.  I got tagged into a Twitter discussion with a former UCP candidate in Calgary whose candidacy ended when some very racist statements she made (and claims were taken out of context) came to light.  

While I am fairly certain that Ms. Ford would argue that she is absolutely not a TERF, her choice of arguments and sources are decidedly classic for TERFs.  Allow me to explain.

Note right off the top that she starts with trying to defend a statement which clearly misrepresents the treatment and management of gender non-conformity in children with a "no, you're misinterpreting me", while at the same time repeating the same allegation with different words. Ms. Ford is nothing if not very good at being evasive about what she really believes, but over the course of the conversation it comes out.  

Right here is where the veil drops.  Three of the graphs she refers to are from the UK and are purported to show a massive increase in girls being referred to the NHS gender clinics.  (The stacked bar graph references Canada, but I'm not familiar with the source).  The claim made by TERFs is that this is massively disproportionate, and affects girls in particular.  

"Why is this?" they ask. Sure enough, a few tweets later, we get the Littman paper (which I analyze in depth here) brought up:

Now, instead of addressing the points I raise about the validity of the paper and the conclusions it draws, what do I get in response?  A completely off-base shifting of responsibility: 

Again, this is a fairly classic technique used to sidestep taking ownership of the problems in her position.  Instead, she shifts to demanding that I provide an alternate explanation for whatever she thinks is the problem that the Littman paper addresses.  (The Littman paper is a classic case of designing a study to find the conclusions that you already have in mind).  

However, that isn't all of it by any means.  In fact, the remainder of the discussion (and there were quite a few people involved).  Participants were subjected to a litany of "what ifs", and "look how bad this is" articles from the UK.

Every time, the general response was the same.  When someone would point out the errors and misconceptions in what she was arguing, she would shut up and throw another random counterpoint on the table.  

She also had a propensity for referring to news articles in pop culture sources to back up her positions.  Articles written by Jesse Singal were a particular favourite.  For those unfamiliar with Singal, he has been writing very long screeds attacking transgender people and treatment for some years. He has become something of a favourite among the TERF crowd, largely because his articles are often so lengthy that refuting them is a significant effort on its own. 

Whether Ms Ford sees herself as a TERF, or even as a member of the so-called "Gender Critical" community (there's little between them, in my experience), is irrelevant. Her actions in general suggest that she is strongly influenced by these same people and their arguments.