10. Not all women crudely brand trans women 'men' and many support them

 

Not all women crudely brand trans women 'men' and many support them as women. In an online petition over a hundred thousand women ('Not in our Name') have signed in support of trans women as legitimately female (which they are, GRA 2004), and in opposition to the disproportionate restrictions they believe are being advocated by the EHRC. It is perfectly possible for cisgender women to affirm and value trans women as women. There does not have to be an attritional zero sum game. There can be acceptance, support, and a willingness to get alongside. It is a respectful thing to do for decent but marginalised people.

For years, countless women have been inclusive of trans women, with a live and let live and supportive attitude of kindness, instead of what can seem like a mean-spirited 'witch hunt' by certain trans-hostile campaigners. Women have sisters, and daughters, and aunts, and colleagues, and neighbours, and friends who transition. And the more they know and understand trans women, the more they can get insight and compassion. Trans women have been using women's toilets almost completely without drama for 30 years and more. It is very human to need, it happens in a cubicle, and there is no need for a vendetta. But have the EHRC created a problem, where for decades people just got on with their business (aka having a pee) and then carrird on with their day?

 

11. Trans people need protection not exclusion

 

Critics believe that the EHRC is weaponising Equality Act in a disproportionate way at odds with its actual intentions. Trans people are a tiny minority who face abuse, mockery, threat and violence on the street. The 'monstering' of trans people by news media and politicians has provided thugs with a sense of mandate to call trans people freaks and perverts. It has amplified the hatred of the ignorant.

Trans people need inclusion, not scapegoating, more than ever today. The glib suggestion by one EHRC lead that trans women could use the men's toilets was outrageous in its lack of humanity and compassion. Trans women, for example, need safe space to pee, at least as much as other women, and for decades that safety was offered, along with general inclusion in many other walks of life, activities, clubs, and women's groups. Trans people need to be integrated into society as women. Trans men need to be integrated into society as men.