Trans Rights. Understanding the Current War on Gaza.
If you have any conception of human rights, you cannot ignore Trans rights. It is simply not rational for anyone to be discriminated against simply because of the gender they claim. You can have whatever subjective response you like to the existence of Trans people, but that does not change the fact of their existence, and as human beings they deserve not to be discriminated against. It is a fact that people express themselves with a multiplicity of gender traits, and how you feel about that will make no difference to that. So, if it’s your intention to do so, you have to answer the question: “by what criteria do you decide that you have the right to discriminate?”.
Also, shouldn’t we follow the general principle that we do not sow disunity; we do not do the billionaire’s dirty work? They love to see us fighting – all the way to the bank[i]. Divide and rule is an old tactic. It was used by the British throughout the colonial period where the British would either encourage rivalries between populations[ii] or by recruiting local leaders when there were none.
It is impossible not to recognise that overwhelmingly anti-Trans rhetoric is a mainstream/ right wing prerogative – a quick look at the behaviour of the right wing press should put this one to bed[iii]. Whatever your view on the degree to which our lumps and bumps equal gender, it is undeniable the prevailing policies and practices on gender are not overwhelmingly pro-Trans (e.g. look at hate crime[iv] (up 11% in 2023/24), healthcare services including waiting times[v], there is also a lack of support – and some 45% of Trans people (aged 11- 19) have attempted suicide[vi]).The truth is that Trans people experience sharper variants of what all working class people experience including medical care that is falling apart, poor mental health services, and poor treatment at the hands of exploitative landlords.
Gender is real, not because someone has biological bits and bobs, but because people believe it is real. We are not, our identity is not, our lumps, bumps and plumbing. Analogously there is no such thing as race biologically. Race is real because it is a social construct – something people believe in. Money only has value because we all believe/ agree it does. What we believe carries weight, regardless of its’ connection to reality (e.g witch trials).
Biological sex is something different. There are X chromosomes and there are Y chromosomes. These chromosomes determine the tubing and characteristic lumps and bumps. However, even our supposed sexually dimorphic nature (there are only 2 sexes) is not hard and fast. There are people who are born biologically intersex (up to 1.7% of the population[i][ii]). There are also high testosterone Cis women and all males produce oestrogen and progesterone.
There is simply no proof that behaviours are encoded in our DNA. It is precisely because they are social constructs with weight and power that people engage with them in such depth.
It is true that the Scientific approach is the attempt to explain the world out of itself (without us interfering with the truth). It is our attempt to tell the truth about the world regardless of what we think about the facts. Human beings have proven to be remarkably good at this. Mendeleev’s Periodic Table left gaps in the right places for the elements that hadn’t been discovered yet. That might be our greatest achievement. Humans have been to the moon and sampled the Sun’s atmosphere. You would expect our science to be pretty good.
But, those are the hard sciences (like Biology, Chemistry and Physics) . Gender is studied as a part of our social sciences, and they do not agree. It is a very, very rare human being that could rationally seek to argue with the achievements of Newton and Einstein. Fair enough. But our social sciences are nowhere near there. They are just not at that standard. No-one can point to a gene or a cluster of genes that code for specific masculine or feminine behaviours. And yet we have mapped the whole human genome. The best a detractor could say is we haven’t proven the link yet. That’s an act of faith – Mendeleev’s brilliance in leaving gaps for stuff he knew we hadn’t found yet was based on an understanding of physical properties the elements. He knew the patterns of the characteristics (melting point, density, physical characteristics, etc.). There is no such equivalent in a biological determinist view of gender. We just haven’t got a link between our genes and our behaviour, or any theoretical building blocks for such a process. The truth is that as humans we can pose the question of being different and make the choice to be that different thing.
We are still very much at the beginning of an understanding of the workings of the mind. We can be sure that there has been gender non-conformity across cultures. (e.g. Mexico, Thailand, and India at least. Sexuality was different again in the Ottoman empire.)
And even if all of the above is factually incorrect, any opposing position short of magical thinking would have to concede it has a finite probability of being wrong. The logic is therefore that if you disagree, you cannot be absolutely sure of your position, and therefore you should stand aside on the issue and not take the side of our enemies.
This is where the question of practical alliances shows. Those on the far-Right who are violently anti-Trans align line up with the anti-abortionists, the UK/US Christian Right, conspiracy theorists e.g. QANON, the ‘proud boys’, etc., etc.. These people are a very long way from being potential recruits.
The case is illustrated by the crowd at the pro-Drag queen rally /counter protest to the far right in Oxford (Tuesday, August 23, 2022) – On one side were the right wing (fascists, fundamentalist Christians, Q -ANNON (actually), and thugs). On the other side were various shades of radical left, liberals, students, Greens and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Which side would you want to be on?
Taking the view that an “injury to one is an injury to all”; working class people must unite to solve their problems. We cannot have division if we are to solve our problems. We must defend the rights of minorities as a part of defending all our rights, the two are indivisible.
If we look back through history we can see how ideas and movements develop. In America we have seen the Nat Turner Rebellion, leading to the Civil war and the end of Slavery and then the Civil Rights movements and Panthers culminating in BLM. These movements have and do exist because there is good reason. There is no denying the reality of the fact (last time I checked) you were 7 times more likely to be murdered by a cop if you’re black than if you’re white (in a minority community!).
Equally the struggle for women’s equality has led to much needed change and the struggle continues. These movements have been reactions to injustices and force us to reframe our ideas of how human beings should be treated. These struggles and the struggle for equality and LGBTQ+ rights has helped us redefine what it is to be human. The current anti Trans prejudice is just the cutting edge of where the prejudice is at. The Billionaire’s love to see us fight – as I said: “all the way to the bank”.
Addendum
The following is the work of Piper Dawes and can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B3QzQSeAZ
Transgender extremism doesn’t exist – it’s just a right-wing talking point used to discredit legitimate healthcare and equality efforts.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/uk-un-view-trans-rights-much-needed-common-sense
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/11/hilary-cass-trans-children-review
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/gender-critical-beliefs-under-the-microscope
Puberty blockers are often lifesaving interventions. They’re prescribed only after long assessments involving NHS gender clinics, parents, and specialists. They are fully reversible and shown to reduce the risk of suicide in young people with persistent gender dysphoria.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/treatment
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/tonic-psh-consultation-analysis-report.pdf
https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1638.short
https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/rcpch-responds-publication-final-report-cass-review
No people under 18 are getting genital surgery in the UK. NHS policy and private clinics alike restrict this to adults.
https://www.transactual.org.uk/trans-healthcare-in-the-uk-report-2021
More cisgender teens receive breast reduction surgery on the NHS than trans teens receive chest masculinisation surgery. The procedures follow similar approval processes, yet only one group is routinely scrutinised.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/10/revealed-thousands-of-trans-surgeries-carried-out-by-nhs
There are only a small number of openly trans athletes competing at a professional level in the world, and none are dominating their fields.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/61346517
https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/sport/athletics/65051900
Sex-segregated sports were historically introduced to exclude women, not because men were being beaten. The idea that it was about fairness is a myth.
There is no consistent biological advantage for trans women in elite sport. Oestrogen therapy significantly reduces muscle mass, strength and performance over time. Regulations often require minimum hormone levels and transition periods before competing.
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/15/865
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/59312313
Identity is personal. “Man”, “woman”, “boy”, and “girl” are social roles – that’s gender. Not to be confused with biological sex – male and female. No trans woman claims to be biologically female, and no trans man claims to be biologically male. That’s another right-wing straw man argument.
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/resources/lgbtq-hubs/trans-hub/the-truth-about-trans
The idea that trans women have a “separate history” to cis women echoes the same tactics once used to exclude Black women and disabled women from womanhood.
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/trans-and-disability-justice-how-are-our-struggles-linked
Tall women, Black women, trans women – these are all adjectives describing different types of women. Every woman’s experience of womanhood is unique. If you exclude trans women from being women, what condition are you using to define womanhood? There isn’t one necessary condition. So trans women cannot be excluded from womanhood on this basis.
Crossdressing is not the same as being trans. Many cis men crossdress and are not trans.
https://fiorry.co/glossary/crossdresser
The risk of coming out as trans due to internalised homophobia and sexism is a real thing but is not as common as many would have you believe. That’s why the NHS has a structured care pathway with long waiting times and assessments. No one can simply walk in and access hormones or surgery. Many people are left in limbo for years unless they are in crisis or suicidal:
No one is trying to “convince” people they’re trans. If you feel deep discomfort with the sex you were assigned at birth, you might be trans – but that’s for you to explore, not for anyone else to decide. The queer community is generally very good at spotting people who are dealing with internalised issues – no one wants anyone to transition unless it’s truly needed. This whole “kids being convinced” thing is another empty scare story.
[Main piece references now follow]
[i] https://www.ohchr.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/intersex-people#:~:text=Experts%20estimate%20that%20up%20to,as%20heterosexual%20(sexual%20orientation) .
[ii] (Bank reference) [i] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPoXOwiEfrQ
[ii] https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/10/the-partition-the-british-game-of-divide-and-rule
[iii] https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/17432/pdf/; https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/exclusive-mermaids-research-into-newspaper-coverage-on-trans-issues/
[iv] https://www.stophateuk.org/about-hate-crime/transgender-hate/; https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/05/record-rise-hate-crimes-transgender-people-reported-england-and-wales; https://www.statista.com/statistics/623785/transgender-hate-crimes-in-england-and-wales-by-region/; https://www.stonewall.org.uk/news/new-data-rise-hate-crime-against-lgbtq-people-continues-stonewall-slams-uk-gov-
[v] https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/news/business-law/ou-research-identifies-key-areas-for-improving-trans-healthcare-in-the-uk/