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Magdalen Berns (6 May 1983 – 13 September 2019)[1] was a British software developer and YouTuber. Berns, a lesbian and radical feminist, came to prominence as a result of a series of YouTube vlogs focusing on lesbian politics, free speech, women's sex-based rights and the gender identity debate.[2]
Biography
Education
Berns attended the University of Edinburgh, where she was a recipient of a Doris Gray Scholarship Award.[3]
Work and career
In 2013–2014, she participated in the Google Summer of Code programme,[4] working on implementing the FFTW3 library for Ruby.[5] She went on to join the GNOME Foundation as a software developer.[6] She developed the Java ATK Wrapper, a module to translate Swing events for the Accessibility Toolkit.[7]
Radical feminism
Berns' statement that "there's no such thing as a lesbian with a penis" made her well-known, as well as her opposition to the "cotton ceiling”, a term coined by Canadian transwoman and activist Drew DeVeaux, which refers to the perceived injustice of lesbians not wanting to have sex with transwomen.[8][9]
Berns was criticised by supporters of the transgender rights community as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, and has stated that it was this accusation that first led her to research radical feminism. She was also known for her arguments against the concepts of gender self-identification and gender itself. Speaking on the subject of gender and sexuality, Berns stated: "You don’t get ‘assigned’ reproductive organs.....males are defined by their biological sex organs. Likewise, homosexuals are people who are attracted to the same biological sex.”[10] In June 2019, British author J.K. Rowling followed Magdalen Berns on Twitter, bringing her more visibility and prompting criticism towards Rowling from transgender activists.[11][12] Berns was labelled as a transphobe and a self-professed transphobe.[13][14] In August 2019, Dr. Rachel McKinnon of the College of Charleston attracted criticism after describing the celebration of Berns' impending death as "ethically justified" in light of Berns' positions on gender.[15]
Health and death
Berns was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in 2018.[16] Notably, Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan voiced vocal support for Berns on Twitter and other platforms,[17] and visited her in palliative care. She was also visited by fellow radical feminist activists Julie Bindel[18] and Rachel Moran.[19] She died on 13 September 2019, aged 36 in Edinburgh.[20]
References
External links
- ↑ What's Current: Lesbian feminist shero Magdalen Berns passes away at 36. Feministcurrent.com.
- ↑ Magdalen Berns. YouTube.
- ↑ Current recipients of the Doris Gray Scholarships. Women's Engineering Society.
- ↑ Google Summer of Code 2018 Application. Github. January 2018.
- ↑ Introducing the FFTW SciRuby GSoC Project. SciRuby.com. 2014-06-04.
- ↑ GNOME Outreach Program Yearbook 2013. GNOME Foundation. August 2013.
- ↑ Magdalen Berns present her work with improving the Java-ATK-Wrapper. GNOME Foundation. August 2015.
- ↑ Celebrating Magdalen Berns, a Lesbian Feminist Warrior. Afterellen.com. 2018-05-29.
- ↑ The Cotton Ceiling and the Cultural War on Lesbians and Women. medium.com.
- ↑ Scotland’s Magdalen Berns & Feminism — A ‘Shero’ Among Women. feministlegal.org. 2019-09-07.
- ↑ JK Rowling criticised for following 'transphobe' Magdalen Berns on Twitter. indy100. 2019-06-25.
- ↑ J.K. Rowling Faces Backlash For Allegedly Displaying Transphobic Behaviour. altpress.com. 2019-06-28.
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Jenna Schiferl (2019-08-29). The tweet heard 'round the world: Charleston professor sparks global Twitter debate. Evening Post Industries.
- ↑ My ladybrain update #2.
- ↑ Linehan, Graham (13 September 2019). Magdalen Berns 1983–2019. Glinner.
- ↑ Template:Cite tweet
- ↑ Template:Cite tweet
- ↑ What's Current: Lesbian feminist shero Magdalen Berns passes away at 36. Feministcurrent.com.