Thread by @monaeltahawy

I am glad to see @PatrickStrud’s article quoting 5 British feminist academics who quite rightly remind us that feminism must include rights of trans women. It reminds me of an argument that happened after 1 of my talks in #London when 2 white lesbians bombarded me w/ transphobia

I mention that the 2 transphobic lesbians were white because they followed me to dinner after my talk where a gay #Saudi man, a bisexual Saudi woman and I defended trans rights against those two. In no other country have transphobes followed me to dinner after my talk to argue.

I wanted to eat & to talk w/my friends and the transphobes wanted to lecture. I told them that as far as I was concerned trans women are women and the fight against patriarchy had to include trans rights.And then I said i had just spent 90mins on a lecture & Q&A & I wanted to eat

Last yr in #Dublin at dinner w/ feminist friends,my #Irish sisters said they were stunned & enraged at transphobia from some in British feminist circles. Irish feminists who’d been active in #repealedThe8th said they’d rejected support from transphobes from across the channel

I have learned a lot over the last few years and I am still learning about issues that most concern the trans community. Part of that is recognizing that I will part ways with some feminists who continue to hold transphobic views.

I long ago parted ways with Germaine Greer on her views about #FGM. At #Mumbai Litfest in 2015 I also disagreed with her public statements on trans women.

I say 👆🏽recognizing that some will part ways with me. I am a feminist whose goal is destruction of patriarchy. That goal entails fighting misogyny as well as other oppressions utilized by patriarchy. Zero tolerance for sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, all bigotry

I also do not “argue” about why feminism is important, nor do I “argue” over bigotry of any kind because I refuse to argue for the recognition of my or anyone else’s humanity with anyone who doesn’t recognize that humanity. Love and solidarity ❤️✊🏽💜

To be clear, my talk (1st tweet) was not about trans issues and everyone at the dinner was cis-gender. The reason the 2 women were bombarding me with transphobia was because I say my feminism is inclusive of trans women.

And I mention that the 2 transphobes were lesbian because I’m still naive enough to think that if you are LGBQ you fight the T that we usually include #LGBTQ.

This thread is about an incident in London in 2015. I share it by way of showing that anti-trans incidents like this predate discussions of the Gender Recognition Act in the UK: