Transiness has changed and we have refocused our attention to addressing the plight of transitioned women, representing and supporting transitioned women as a collective. Often transitioned women are represented by a single person who may or may not represent the views of the majority, and whose views are entirely based on their personal experience, rather than reflecting the views of a collective of people, whose contributions are discussed, well thought out, and cohesive. We value and support every woman who has meaningfully transitioned, and support a wide range of diverging views.
As a collective our aim is simple: the protection and welfare of transitioned women. Having a great deal of experience with cisgender and transgender communities, we are aware that we will be opposed by both groups. We set limits on who we represent because we advocate for the right to define ourselves, and within that definition, we strive to create safer spaces for transitioned women.
Defining transitioned women.
As a collective, we find it necessary to define what a transitioned woman is, and we base it not only on common sense but on rational biological and empirical facts.
We recognise the biological changes that estrogen therapy and testosterone blockers make to every major organ in the body, including the brain. This makes us so clearly biologically different from cisgender men both in terms of appearance, but also to the extent that we suffer from diseases afffecting our body in different ways, and there is extensive medical literature on this.
We recognise that many transitioned women as a result are physically indistinguishable from cisgender women, and that puts us in a different class from cisgender men.
We recognise that some transitioned women look different to cisgender women and as a result can suffer from considerable harm because of it. We recognise the need to offer them community and protection from abuse because of their appearance.
We recognise that it is not common sense to group cisgender men and transitioned women in the same spaces, and we recognise the potential for servere physical, sexual and psychological harm which could result from the application of such social policy.
We reserve the right to define ourselves, and our rights and protections outside of cisgender men, cisgender women, and the wider transgender and non-binary communities.
While we recognise that the health needs of transitioned women who have had lower surgery are different to those without, we support both groups equally as the threat to their dignity, safety and welfare is identical. Those who have had lower surgery do not feel threatened in any way by those who do not, provided that they are transitioned women.
We recognise that some transitioned women identify within the transgender umbrella and some do not. We believe that our rights should not be defined by the transgender community and we defend the right to self-define and advocate for our safety.
We, therefore, define transitioned women in these terms, based on the biological fact that transitioned women are in a different class to cisgender men: Any person who identifies as a woman, who has fully socially transitioned, and who has been on HRT for at least 18 months.
We are not defining what "trans" is nor who can identify as such. Our definition is purely based on pragmatic, material and biological markers. As such we welcome all transitioned women, regardless of the labels that they use for themselves.
We believe that the proposed treatment of "trans women" by the EHRC as a whole does not recognise the physical and biological differences of transitioned women.
We realise this is contentious, however over a decade of experience talking with trans women has clearly demonstrated that transitioned women are often talked over, attacked, ignored, or sidelined within the transgender community and that organising within the wider transgender community is impossible. We recognise that our bodies and biology become radically different with HRT and testosterone suppression. We believe that it takes time for hormonal changes to take effect, and we recognise that there is currently no collective to support and advocate for transitioned women - those who are very much outside the scope of transgender support, whose remit is often only being supportive only through the transition process and not beyond.
We welcome all transitioned women to join the community, and enhance the dialogue within our community. We value everyone as an individual and their contributions to support the safety and welfare of all transitioned women. Join us on Discord to air your thoughts and views.