This terrible gender war boils down to one thing now. Do you believe women have the need & right to describe their biological existence? That’s it! That’s why Suzanne Moore was hounded from The Guardian. Not bigotry. But refusing to put quasi-religious concepts before reality.

That’s why JK Rowling is persecuted & people are trying to get Rosie Duffield kicked out of the Labour Party. It isn’t about “kindness”. You can be as kind as you like. But unless you agree that science can be erased by magical thinking they will build you a pyre.

I ask myself again & again who gains from this. From threats to our safeguarding, to rapists in women’s prisons, to women being denied their language & legal protections. Not trans people. Many I’ve spoken to are aghast: they know their own reality, they just want respect & peace

Male people gain. The worst kind of men can enjoy watching women struggle to save rights they won decades ago. They have useful insults to brand us with & get us sacked. Young women want to be liked & there is kudos in “being kind”. But this is not progress. It is a backlash.

Why do I often write about this? Because I can. Because most other feminists can’t. Because the legal consequences if no one does are enormous. But, goddamn it, I wish I never had to write about it ever again.