By AJ Reed
There is a movement that is before us that should give you pause—a movement that claims to be among the feminist movement, yet in disguise among the flock. One organization within the movement that claims to have "unapologetically radical feminists," is an organization called the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF). Some individuals are at the forefront alongside with WoLF. Of those is Megan Murphy, an international speaker on sex-based rights. What separates them from the rest of the feminist movement is their stance on transgender and non-binary rights. To which claim that of "transgender ideology" as well as related acts of oppression.
At a speaking event in Toronto, Canada, Murphy expressed her viewpoint when she addressed an issue that was going on in Toronto. Where a women's shelter excluded trans women into the shelter, Murphy remarked that having a trans woman in such a housing option would be harmful to those in the shelter. By all accounts, Murphy would be labeled as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF). Those, like Murphy, would push back to say they are "gender critical." In other words, they want people to see through their unique sunglasses, like a John Carpenter film. Where it is nothing more of distorted reality, another example was in 2016. WoLF filed a lawsuit against President Obama about the directive on Title IX. That directive permitted trans students to use restrooms that matched their gender identity. WoLF claims that it is not the intention of Title IX, and it would allow men into women's spaces. Thus, trans women and men would be barred from using the restroom that matches their gender. WoLF, and Murphy, is also no stranger of having different bedfellows. From the Heritage Foundation to appearing on FOX News are outlets that WoLF and Murphy use to advance their agenda. So what has been the primer for WoLF and their activists?
The Declaration of Women's Sex-based Rights launched in March 2019, is the cornerstone of the declaration is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 1979. That Convention defines sex as a biological characteristic. The point of contention lies in a long time debate of gender versus sex. For many years, gender was determined from a gonadal viewpoint. From there, it has defined gender roles and how we perform as "males" and "females" in society.
The activists for women's sex-based rights have pathologized trans and non-binary folx by invalidating their reality. It was the same kind invalidation when homosexuality was deemed as a mental illness by the American Psychological Association, who then reversed their position in 1974. Since then, many studies have shown the differences between gender and sex. In neuroimaging studies, diffusion tensor imagining (DTI), shown white matter differences in the brain between sexes. One study found that the white matter tracts in the brain from female to male trans individuals were more similar to the brain of natural-born males than it is to natural-born females. Studies that looked at male to female trans individuals showed that their brain development was not fully masculinized. To that end, it has led to the understanding that during fetal development that both brain and gonadal development occurs separately and independently of one another. Which meant the degree of masculinisation of the gonads does not reflect the degree of masculinisation of the brain.
There is also a connection between residual racism and class reduction that reinforces their "radical feminist" ideology. One of the racist examples links to early colonizers that inserted their white, European patriarchy. We can see this when indigenous communities were having two-spirit tribal members forced to employ gender binary, bodily-sex-equals-gender view. The legacy of this has flowed through centuries to the present. To the point that people like Murphy would dismiss those seeking political asylum from nations in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, where they would confront death or imprisonment for being transgender. To this end, Murphy would suggest that there is a growing number of men coming into the United States. Thus would be a step backward in the name of women's rights.
An example of class reduction is by reviewing the thirty respondents to a 2015 US Transgender Survey reported being mistreated in the workplace, denied a promotion, or fired because of their gender expression or identity. Before the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, Title VII did not cover LGBTQ+ workers. The results showed that the national transgender population experienced higher unemployment, poverty, and homelessness even more for trans communities of color over white, cisgender individuals. One example of how class reduction reinforces We can also examine how a trans person living in a suburban setting has more available resources versus a trans person in a rural setting, who might have to travel an hour, or more, to the available support. This stark difference leads to issues like suicide rates and health care concerns.
Already this movement has a global outreach. What does this mean for the spirit of queer liberation? It would mean an erasure of the accomplishments that have been made since the first brick being thrown at the Stonewall Inn. It would mean that people like Megan Murphy and organizations like WoLF will advocate alongside with conservative think tanks as well as policymakers. To draft and pass legislation to stop the Ugandan trans refugee from coming into the United States. They will influence those to tell the young trans youth at the edge of the cornfields in the Midwest. That they cannot access the help they need as they develop into their transition. It will mean that kin to Murphy will continue to go to meetings to express their rhetoric on how trans people are "parasitic" and "blood-sucking" to the queer movement. While this may look bleak. Our queer liberation spirit can move us to remove these people and organizations from our organizing spaces as well as our political sphere. Murphy and WoLF have not figured out they are among many sisters to fight against the patriarchy.
