Back in the comments here, one of this blogs semi-regular, anonymous TERF-y commenters claims that transgender women are "often violent" based on a single news story.
The backstory here is apparently one Riley Gaines was scheduled to speak at San Francisco State University (SFSU), and was allegedly assaulted / held hostage or something by a group of transgender activists. Our commenter seems to think that this is evidence that transgender women are generally violent and angry people.
But just who is Riley Gaines? Well, it turns out that Riley Gaines was one of the people who had a major grade temper tantrum after Lia Thomas tied with her for 5th place in a competition. Since then, she has made quite a career for herself advocating against the inclusion of trans women in sport. Arguably, she has become quite a darling of the political far right. A quick peek at her posts on X (formerly Twitter) shows a predictable amount of anti-trans rhetoric that ranges from amplifying every possible story about trans athletes to the common, if annoying, accusations that transgender women are pedophiles (no, I'm not going to link to that trash).
So, let's take that in for a moment. Someone who makes a career running around the country attacking transgender women encountered a protest by ... transgender people who are upset with her. You're completely shocked, I'm sure.
Now, I wasn't there, so I can't say whether or not Ms. Gaines version of the story (which seems to be the only one I can find) is objectively accurate. That's not really my issue here. That's a protest by a group of people being directly affected by Ms. Gaines' advocacy. It's in her interests to amplify and exaggerate what happened to her while ignoring the very direct role her advocacy plays in setting that stage.
Having been on the receiving end of the kind violent threats that come out of the anti-transgender activism that people like Ms. Gaines has been engaging in, I don't exactly see her as blameless. The transgender community as a whole sees what is going on, and is reacting to it.
Does that make violent an accurate descriptor for the transgender community as a whole? No. It clearly does not.
The claim that trans women are "often violent" is part of the TERF/Gender Critical narrative that transgender women are actually men. It exists in the same sense that the notion that transgender people as a whole are "pedophiles". Objectively, such claims are false, and they really exist as part of a campaign of dehumanization. In the world of people like Riley Gaines and her supporters, it's valuable to argue that transgender women (in particular) are somehow intrinsically dangerous to women.
Dehumanizing language like "you're not really a woman", or worse, is ultimately eliminationist rhetoric - it is the language used by those who want to eliminate others from public life. It is always wrong, and it is always based on deliberately sown misinformation.
3 comments:
Why the nerve of the bounder. A single point perspective on a population that is literally "in total" insignificant .
The percentage of TGs around here runs at 0.0037% of the population. Yep 0.0037% 370 in a million. Violence is not the red flag you should look for.
The unfailingly polite Billboard Chris Elston would be surprised to hear that assaults by trans activists are rare.
Vancouver
Portland
London
Kelly-Jay Keen (Posie Parker) mobbed and attacked by angry trans activists at a "Let Women Speak" rally in New Zealand last March, would also be surprised. So would the 79-year-old woman at that rally who suffered an orbital bone fracture after being punched multiple times.
And so would a group of women in Oakland last December, who were protesting the potential placement into a women’s prison of a self-identified trans woman who had murdered a lesbian couple and their son. The women were assaulted with a bicycle, an umbrella, eggs, and pies.
Lots more here
For people claiming to be women, they sure do exhibit characteristically male violence. Your turn now. Let's see the TERFy women attacking trans folx.
Your examples are all people who have made quite a living for themselves running about spreading lies about trans people and misrepresenting things like SOGI.
Nice try. Come back when you have something where people haven’t created the environment that incites the very blowback you’re whining about.
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