Thread by @IanSMcNee

THREAD
Around 5 years ago I first encountered the vitriolic attacks on #women asserting their right to politically self-organise from so-called trans-rights activists in a socialist group I associated with at the time. Having been active in radical left... /1
#WomensLib2020

...politics for nearly 30 years I had never encountered such appallingly sectarian, dishonest & personal attacks on the left. My first reaction was to defend #women's self-organisation on the basis that we must also support #LGBT self-organisation so ensuring... /2
#WomensLib2020

...that different oppressed groups each had space & representation to better challenge that oppression. For this I was denounced as #transphobic just as the #women had been for asserting their right to self-organise had been & I first encountered the mantra... /3
#WomensLib2020

...#TransWomenAreWomen. Of course being declared a hateful bigot is an uncomfortable position for someone who considers themself a conscious socialist but as a man (not unusually) ignorant of all but the rudiments of #feminist politics I was ill-equipped to... /4
#WomensLib2020

...challenge these accusations, even to myself. Fortunately my comrade @AnnaDjinn had written a useful feminist primer on her blog & also an insightful piece on #neoliberalism & #queertheory: thefeministahood.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/neo… - at last I began to understand what was... /5
#WomensLib2020

...happening & why. This was part of the ideological offensive of #neoliberalism that sought to replace radical #liberation politics with #IdentityPolitics in part to enable the penetration of the capitalist market into the most intimate human social relations. /6
#WomensLib2020

Since that point I have been on a steep learning curve, not only my own necessary education but also about the astonishing grip that neoliberal gender ideology had on labour movement organisations & other apparently progressive institutions in wider society. /7
#WomensLib2020

As a socialist & Marxist I understand that we can only liberate ourselves from capitalist exploitation by championing all of the oppressed so the marginalisation of ~51% of humanity by gender ideology made this a critical political question for the left. /8
#WomensLib2020

The launch of @Womans_Place_UK around 2 years ago as a broad campaign to defend & extend women's limited & hard-won sex-based rights, led by socialist & radical #feminists was a hugely welcome development from my perspective. And what a 2 years they have been! /9
#WomensLib2020

In spite of organised campaigns from those claiming to be on the left and in parts of the "progressive" media as well as institutional misogyny from parts of the state, particularly the police & the criminal justice system, @Womans_Place_UK along with other... 10
#WomensLib2020

...feminist & women's organisations have gone from strength to strength, gathering women in their hundreds & thousands across the country in defence of all aspects of women's sex-based rights. Particularly heartening for me is to see the silence being broken... /11
#WomensLib2020

...in the #LabourParty with @TottenhamLabour CLP overwhelmingly passing a motion this week in support of women's sex-based rights, trans rights, freedom of speech & @Womans_Place_UK. And today we see the rebirth of a radical & growing women's liberation... /12
#WomensLib2020

...movement with the #WomensLib2020 conference in London today that will be attended by nearly 1000 women (and a few blokes like myself seeking to further our education & show necessary solidarity with our sisters in struggle). Today is a great day in British radical politics! ✊