I don’t know if anyone will ever read this. I’m a new account with very few followers. If anyone sees this and considers it worthy of an RT I’d be grateful: I so much want to be heard, if only this once.
See, I joined twitter a few months ago in a different ID, to discuss Labour politics. I like lefty twitter. I’m happy there. I’m a party member.

I knew nothing about the GRA debate at that point; but did see mentions of transphobia. Naturally, I was against that.
I saw as well mention of horrible bigoted people called "terfs," and obviously I was against them too. And when I learnt what terf stands for, I was surprised: what& #39;s happened to feminism over the last 20 years or so while I haven& #39;t been paying attention? Has it got nasty?
I thought, I& #39;ll investigate further.

Start with Stonewall; they’re a respectable authority.

They say, "trans women are women."

I am a woman. And a feminist, albeit one who& #39;s a bit out of practice. And this doesn& #39;t immediately compute, because, well, what makes me a woman?
2 things: (1) biology; (2) the intense socialisation-from-birth process that goes into the creation of a female.

Which of those does a transwoman share? Neither. So I can& #39;t at first glance see any mechanism by which they could be a woman.
"Trans women are women" doesn& #39;t make sense to me.

I& #39;m not against it, you understand. I just don& #39;t see it.

But I may be wrong not to. I may be out of date. After all, my grandma sincerely believed that having children out of wedlock was wrong.
That belief made sense to her; but it& #39;s one that hasn& #39;t stood the test of time. Maybe my lack of comprehension about this will look ridiculous to my grandchildren. Maybe it will be obvious to them that trans women are women.
I need to look into this with an open mind. WHY are trans women women? How? What is the reasoning behind that assertion?

I looked online for articles, videos etc. First lesson: there& #39;s a lot out there saying TWAW, but surprisingly little saying WHY that& #39;s so.
One article told me not to conflate biological sex with genitals, as though doing that was ridiculous. But it& #39;s no good, call me grandma if you will, but I DO conflate them. I& #39;d need a bloody good argument to persuade me to change that view. I don& #39;t find one in the article.
Another onesays it& #39;s all about hormones in utero. Lots of female hormones cause a female brain to develop, occasionally in a male body. And it& #39;s the brain that determines your sex, not the body.
And this, apparently, is now understood by science, although I confess its discovery had passed me by. 

The only problem with this (and admittedly I speak as a non-scientist) it& #39;s that it& #39;s drivel. My mind may be open. But it isn& #39;t completely empty.
(It& #39;s also those hormones, apparently, that result in the "motivation to be visually attractive" in the female of the species. Which -- oh really, fuck it, life& #39;s too short).
My open mind is wanting to creak shut at this point, but I tell it no, absolutely not, and I prop it open with cocktail sticks because I& #39;m gonna keep looking. Who knows what we& #39;ll find next?
What I found next was this:

Trans women are women AND THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE.
Ah. Bit of a brick wall there, comrades. I& #39;m genuinely trying to understand your point of view. I& #39;m considering adopting it as my own once I& #39;ve understood it (after all, I don& #39;t want to be one of these horrible "terfs"). But help me out here! How can I if you won& #39;t discuss it?
Only it turns out that merely asking the question makes me a bigot. I know this because a man in a dress on youtube tells me so, with maximum hostility.And I start to wonder: is it possible that the trans side of the debate has set the bar for bigotry just a bit too low?
So I read on. And I find this: 

https://terfisaslur.com"> https://terfisaslur.com 

And I& #39;ll be honest, at this point it becomes too much for the cocktail sticks. They buckle and snap, and my mind begins to close. Because there is only so much I can be impartial about.
And no, I don& #39;t know much about trans issues. But I know misogyny when I see it.

And yes, it bothers me. And it frightens me. Yes, I lose my objectivity at this point -- and with it, the ability to keep my mind open.
Which is just as well, because what I learn next would -- if my mind was still open -- have made my brain fall out.

-- Lesbians pressured to have sex with TW with penises? (How rapey is that?)

-- TW in women& #39;s sport? How can this possibly be okay? Who ever thought it was?
-- TW saying they& #39;re the only true representatives of womanhood (for reasons so ridiculous I can& #39;t be arsed to repeat them here)? 

And most of all, most tragically and awfully of all,
-- confused children being permanently deprived of their fertility and sexual function before they& #39;re old enough to choose their A-level subjects??
And by this point I& #39;m realising that maybe those awful terfs might just possibly not be so awful after all. Maybe they& #39;ve actually got a point. In fact, astonishingly, many of them seem hugely intelligent and insightful. And anything but bigoted.
I& #39;d like to discuss this in Labour circles. But here& #39;s the thing: I am scared.

I am ACTUALLY SCARED to put into words that I& #39;m worried, that I think there are genuine issues to be considered, that there may be competing rights here.
Now, my cowardice is my own problem, and I can& #39;t blame anyone else for it. I know this. But for what it& #39;s worth, I& #39;m a barrister: I argue, confront and piss people off for a living. I enjoy debate.
I don& #39;t think I& #39;ve ever before found myself too scared to express my point of view before, ever, about anything. So I do ask: what is going on here? Yes, I& #39;m pathetic. Yes, I ought to speak up and accept the ostracism that I know will follow. But I can& #39;t, at least not yet.
And much as that speaks volumes about me as an individual, I wonder --

does it say something too about the debate itself?

Massive respect to those of you who have spoken up and taken the consequences. 

Thank you for listening.
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