This is a transphobic attempt to imply that being trans is a choice.

This is a racist attempt to erase the generational impact of racism.

This is a misogynist attempt to pervert feminism to attack trans people.

THREAD: https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1301888379248836608

Trans identities are real. There are literally decades-upon-decades of research proving it. This is a psychological, biological fact.

The same is not true of white people who are actually black. That's not a thing. It's a white person lying about their heritage.

A black person inherits the impacts of racism - their parents/ancestors' oppression means they're more likely to be born poor; to be denied opportunities from infancy; to be denied *parents* to racist policing, medicine, or social "care".

In contrast, I suffer no ill effects because my mother was oppressed and denied opportunities by society's misogyny.

It would be misogynistic, in fact, to claim otherwise. And racist too. Yet this is what the OP tacitly implies.

The further implication is that trans people are actively engaged in a deception. They're not.

The only deception here is the false equivalence - relying on people's ignorance (about both transphobia & racism) to trick them into swallowing such nonsense.

The true equivalence is that no one chooses the colour of their skin - and should not be judged on that superficial fact.

Just as no one chooses their gender identity - and should not be judged on that superficial fact.

Subjecting any other mindset to scrutiny will require the defender to state any number of bigoted and/or racist things - because their false equivalence is entirely manufactured and any specific example will reveal the underlying hate.

Eg. It's impossible to support the associated "womanface" narrative without:
a) reducing blackface to "makeup=bad" & ignoring that it was (& still is) a vehicle for excluding, oppressing, & propagandising vs black people
b) reducing womanhood to some appearance of "femininity"

These narratives rely on the (depressing) fact that far too many people have never thought deeply about these issues.

They learn the "rules":

Blackface is bad.
Use the right pronouns.
Don't say the N-word.

They don't care *why* these "rules" exist - because they don't actually care about not being racist/bigoted.

They care about *not getting caught*.

And, far too easily, they start seeing these "rules" as a form of oppression against them. ("It's political correctness gone mad!")

This is why there's so much trans support among BLM (and vice versa). Minority groups include far fewer "allies" whose support is purely performative.

They've actually thought through these issues. Their allyship is a philosophy, not a front.

Tactics like those in the OP are designed to set minority groups against each other - to the detriment of both.

Look below the superficial false-equivalence. Ask yourself *why* things are racist, bigoted, or misogynist.

Don't buy this hateful nonsense that harms *everyone*.

A predictable response: https://twitter.com/Carter_AndrewJ/status/1301916675323965442?s=20

Just as there are trans women who support transphobes. There will always be members of any minority who support the very people who marginalise them. And these people will be given prominence as they provide convenient cover for all manner of prejudices.

The problem is, when these conflicts arise - far too many allies stay silent because they don't know the "rules" for opposing racism from a victim of racism.

That's why it's vitally important for allies to understand the reasoning behind these things. To understand *why* something is racist. Otherwise, we just leave the people we supposedly support to stand alone when it matters the most.

Since a lot of Maajid’s flunkies keep thinking “where’s you evidence” is a big gotcha (where’s Maajid’s?) and since there are probably some people reading this thread in good faith...

Here’s a good overview of the wider topic of transgender science. It’s an academic blog that sources many scientific papers for those wanting to read more: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/gender-lines-science-transgender-identity/

A depressing number of anti-trans arguments have just followed the Rowling template (especially the garbage science that is ROGD) - which I’ve already debunked once, so wont bother writing out again. Here: https://twitter.com/carter_andrewj/status/1270787941275762689?s=21

And for all the people shouting about “biological reality” here’s another extensively referenced academic article deconstructing your pseudoscientific nonsense: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/stop-using-phony-science-to-justify-transphobia/

By my count, there are almost 100 papers cited in those 3 links.

Can any of Maajid’s apologists produce *even one* legitimate paper (peer reviewed, mainstream publication, not a letter) supporting his false equivalence between trans and racial identities?