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In February 2017, the newly opened Vancouver Women's Library was met with a small group of vandals, including a very obviously male person who claimed to be a female sex worker. They ripped off a poster, poured wine on a book, and harassed those trying to partake in the opening celebration. Their stated reason was that the library included books which they deemed to support so-called "TERF" and "SWERF" ideology. | In February 2017, the newly opened Vancouver Women's Library was met with a small group of vandals, including a very obviously male person who claimed to be a female sex worker. They ripped off a poster, poured wine on a book, and harassed those trying to partake in the opening celebration. Their stated reason was that the library included books which they deemed to support so-called "TERF" and "SWERF" ideology.<ref name=vwl/> | ||
In September 2017, a group of feminists wanted to hold a meeting to discuss proposed changes to the [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/09/14/never-mind-reforming-gender-recognition-act-theres-no-need-gender-recognition-certificates/ Gender Recognition Act] (GRA) in the [https://newxlearning.org/ New Cross Learning] community Library in London. The library had to cancel the event after harassment by transgender activists. The organizers of the meeting decided to meet at Speaker's Corner, before going to the newly chosen meeting place, which was not announced to protect it from harassment. In Speaker's Corner, they were met with a group of transgender activists shouting slogans, notably "when TERFs attack, we fight back." Maria MacLachlan, who was filming the protesters with her digital camera, was attacked by someone running out of the trans activist group, who then tried to grab her camera. As the unsuccessful attacker ran back behind his friends, MacLachlan tried to get closer to the group to get his face on camera. Several of the activists started assaulting her in that moment. One of the attackers, later revealed to be Tara Wolf, was ultimately charged with assault by beating. The event could be considered a cornerstone in the escalating hatred transgender activists show against feminists, as no such clearly documented assault in relation to the slur "TERF" existed before, and the event gained widespread attention in the news, being covered by The Guardian,<ref name=guardian/> The New Statesman,<ref name=statesman1/><ref name=statesman2/> The Telegraph,<ref name=telegraph/> The Times,<ref name=times1/><ref name=times2/> The Evening Standard,<ref name=standard/> and The Daily Mail.<ref name=dailymail/> Of course, it was also covered by Feminist Current.<ref name=fc1/><ref name=fc2/> In the aftermath of the event, many transgender activists online defended or even celebrated the assault, leading Meghan Murphy to publish the piece [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/09/21/terf-isnt-slur-hate-speech/ '' 'TERF' isn't just a slur, it's hate speech'']. Some publications in support of transgender activists have tried to claim that the assailant was really acting in self-defense, and tried to prove this claim by uploading carefully edited cuts of the recording showing the assault,<ref name=planettrans/> or by framing the assault as "standing up to bullies" who "provoke" transgender activists (by having opinions they don't like, we have to presume).<ref name=queerness/> | In September 2017, a group of feminists wanted to hold a meeting to discuss proposed changes to the [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/09/14/never-mind-reforming-gender-recognition-act-theres-no-need-gender-recognition-certificates/ Gender Recognition Act] (GRA) in the [https://newxlearning.org/ New Cross Learning] community Library in London. The library had to cancel the event after harassment by transgender activists. The organizers of the meeting decided to meet at Speaker's Corner, before going to the newly chosen meeting place, which was not announced to protect it from harassment. In Speaker's Corner, they were met with a group of transgender activists shouting slogans, notably "when TERFs attack, we fight back." Maria MacLachlan, who was filming the protesters with her digital camera, was attacked by someone running out of the trans activist group, who then tried to grab her camera. As the unsuccessful attacker ran back behind his friends, MacLachlan tried to get closer to the group to get his face on camera. Several of the activists started assaulting her in that moment. One of the attackers, later revealed to be Tara Wolf, was ultimately charged with assault by beating. The event could be considered a cornerstone in the escalating hatred transgender activists show against feminists, as no such clearly documented assault in relation to the slur "TERF" existed before, and the event gained widespread attention in the news, being covered by The Guardian,<ref name=guardian/> The New Statesman,<ref name=statesman1/><ref name=statesman2/> The Telegraph,<ref name=telegraph/> The Times,<ref name=times1/><ref name=times2/> The Evening Standard,<ref name=standard/> and The Daily Mail.<ref name=dailymail/> Of course, it was also covered by Feminist Current.<ref name=fc1/><ref name=fc2/> In the aftermath of the event, many transgender activists online defended or even celebrated the assault, leading Meghan Murphy to publish the piece [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/09/21/terf-isnt-slur-hate-speech/ '' 'TERF' isn't just a slur, it's hate speech'']. Some publications in support of transgender activists have tried to claim that the assailant was really acting in self-defense, and tried to prove this claim by uploading carefully edited cuts of the recording showing the assault,<ref name=planettrans/> or by framing the assault as "standing up to bullies" who "provoke" transgender activists (by having opinions they don't like, we have to presume).<ref name=queerness/> | ||
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Regarding supposed evidence of "real-life violence motivated by TERF ideology," the website lists six examples, of which three don't actually present any violence. Those which do, relate to incidences from several decades ago, in which women tried to evict transwomen from female-only groups or spaces, using physical force or face-to-face threats. Since women are expected to be always nice and passive towards males, even when trying to form radical feminist groups and keep males out of them, this is of course seen as unacceptable. Two examples are about verbal threats, which is a run-of-the-mill experience for feminists opposing transgender activists, and the last one is about the deaths of trans people that are ''assumed'' to be related to lack of access to health care, which to be very blunt has fuck-all to do with feminist ideologies. | Regarding supposed evidence of "real-life violence motivated by TERF ideology," the website lists six examples, of which three don't actually present any violence. Those which do, relate to incidences from several decades ago, in which women tried to evict transwomen from female-only groups or spaces, using physical force or face-to-face threats. Since women are expected to be always nice and passive towards males, even when trying to form radical feminist groups and keep males out of them, this is of course seen as unacceptable. Two examples are about verbal threats, which is a run-of-the-mill experience for feminists opposing transgender activists, and the last one is about the deaths of trans people that are ''assumed'' to be related to lack of access to health care, which to be very blunt has fuck-all to do with feminist ideologies. | ||
To summarize: there is not a single documented instance of a feminist group going up to a transgender group to assault or threaten them. Any claims of "violence by TERFs" refer either to women trying to evict transwomen from female-only spaces, extremely rare verbal threats, and lots and lots of fabrication. In comparison, transgender activists have gone to women's libraries to vandalize them, went to feminist meetings to assault women, appeared with face masks at feminist conferences to intimidate women, and the ubiquitous verbal abuse they send in the direction of women fills [https://terfisaslur.com/ a whole website] set up solely to archive them. | To summarize: there is not a single documented instance of a feminist group going up to a transgender group to assault or threaten them. Any claims of "violence by TERFs" refer either to women trying to evict transwomen from female-only spaces, extremely rare verbal threats, and lots and lots of fabrication. In comparison, transgender activists have gone to women's libraries to vandalize them,<ref name=vwl/> went to feminist meetings to assault women,<ref name=fc1/><ref name=fc2/> appeared with face masks at feminist conferences to intimidate women, and the ubiquitous verbal abuse they send in the direction of women fills [https://terfisaslur.com/ a whole website] set up solely to archive them. | ||
=== The term 'SWERF' === | === The term 'SWERF' === | ||
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<references> | <references> | ||
<ref name=degenderettes>https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/05/01/trans-activism-become-centered-justifying-violence-women-time-allies-speak/</ref> | <ref name=degenderettes>https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/05/01/trans-activism-become-centered-justifying-violence-women-time-allies-speak/</ref> | ||
<ref name=vwl>https://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/02/07/vancouver-womens-library-opens-amid-anti-feminist-backlash/</ref> | |||
<ref name=guardian>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/26/woman-punched-in-brawl-between-transgender-activists-and-radical-feminists</ref> | <ref name=guardian>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/26/woman-punched-in-brawl-between-transgender-activists-and-radical-feminists</ref> | ||
<ref name=statesman1>https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/04/madness-our-gender-debate-where-feminists-defend-slapping-60-year-old</ref> | <ref name=statesman1>https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/04/madness-our-gender-debate-where-feminists-defend-slapping-60-year-old</ref> | ||