04/05/2023
The majority of lesbian women continue to support transgender people's right to self determination and liberty. A small number of radical lesbian feminists have adopted a "gender critical" position, but even these are beginning to realise that anti-trans extremists are no friend to lesbian women, having links with Neo-Nazis, anti-abortion fundamentalists and Christian bigots. This week, Pink News reports that heterosexual, cisgender males - not transwomen - have been targetting a community led lesbian dating site, HER, to what they claim is "expose trans women". This bizarre topsy turvy situation was summarised by blogger Siobhan Craig as "So cisgender GC men are pretending to be lesbians to infiltrate HER app and catch trans women - So far, they're literally just exposing EACH OTHER'S ACCOUNTS lol". Summer Heart noted "Isn't it funny how all the sudden these men care about lesbians and women's sports so much that they spend their time doing things like this." Another commentator, Lore LeClef, remarked "Cis het men’s fascination with lesbians and trans people is just endless. Why does it seem that this gives them the same frisson as pornhub, but instead of guilt they can proudly wear the guise of a man on a white horse riding to the rescue?". Robyn Exton, HER’s founder and chief executive, told PinkNews said it was sad that heterosexual cisgender males believed they had a right to invade a space for lesbians. She said: “It’s really disheartening to see TERFs attempting to invade the safe space we’ve built at HER. We were designed to empower and connect those who seek refuge from the very prejudices that TERFs perpetuate. Hatred may be a powerful fuel for TERFs, but at HER, we’re building something far stronger and more enduring. We’re a platform built literally around love, acceptance, and a shared commitment to dismantling oppressive systems. Our community is ultimately our greatest strength here – they’ll continue to flag bad actors and bad behaviour, with the full support of our community moderation team based off of these guidelines.” The term "TERF" stands for "Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist" but some people believe that it is misleading as the majority of feminist groups do not wish to be a part of the anti-transgender bandwagon. The main voices of anti-trans women's groups stand far to the right of the mainstream feminist movement. Even some gender critical feminists have sought to distance themselves from the TERF lobbyists because of the latter's preparedness to join in with far right, anti-lesbian and anti-choice groups. Earlier this year, one 'TERF' activist even issued a video which broke the cardinal rule of feminism by threatening to "annihilate" all other women who disagreed with her, prompting condemnation from many mainstream feminists.
