Why I #standwithjkr :
8 years ago a (male) ex called me 'cruel' for stating that gender was social straight-jacket; suddenly I felt too ashamed to question. I didn't want to be nasty & forgot what I had known. Then in 2015 the reality of so-called 'gender identity' began to dawn.

A couple of years on (& after I'd left him) I was chair of the feminist group @Chelt_Fems , I organised a fundraising event. I've never really been in touch with celeb culture but to attract ppl along I made this poster in which I called Bruce Jenner 'a woman.'

Two friends at the event challenged me about referring to Jenner as a 'woman'. I was devastated - how could these women I respected be so cruel to what I just knew a persecuted minority? I cried a lot. Then I arranged to meet with them to discuss it and things began to change.

They simply told the truth & it was the first time since my ex boyfriend had silenced me that I began to remember that gender is just a set of stereotypes. I began to think about whether it was possible to be 'born in the wrong sexed body' and what the phrase really meant.

Suddenly it became clear, those who identify as transgender are invested in sexism -the basis for their belief that they are 'born in the wrong body' is because they reduce women & men to sexist caricatures. How can anyone know what it feels like to be something they're not?

Then I began researching - I asked myself 'what's the difference between a trans man and a woman?' and then 'what's the difference between a man who cross-dresses for a fetish, and a man who calls himself a woman?' Then I started reading in earnest (h/t Prof Sheila Jefferys).

I realised that the entire 'gender identity' nonsense was essentially an industry advocating for the sexual rights of men. I just couldn't keep quiet. I told anyone who would stay still long enough to listen. Like I had of my friends before, many thought me monstrous.

In the years since I realised what the implications of transgender ideology are for women I've written extensively and have given talks at every opportunity. I have lost a lot of friends, though along the way have made many new ones.

I suspect some of those who once thought me 'cruel' and cut me off are today starting to see what the problem with transgender ideology is. I live in hope of apology or five. We should never be made to feel ashamed for standing-up for our rights as women #IStandWithJKR