Thread by @carla_denyer

Do non-binary people belong in women’s organisations? I think yes -- if they want to be. This is a thread about why… 🧵

#TransAwarenessWeek

1/ Many non-binary people were assigned female at birth (afab) and in many cases lived as a woman for 20, 30 or more years before realising they were non-binary. They have usually experienced all of the same challenges as women. Some have had children...

2/ So non-binary people who were assigned female at birth will often already have spent much of their life in, and feel deeply at home in the women-led battle against patriarchy.

What about non-binary people who were not assigned female at birth?

3/ Well, non-binary isn't a single category, it is an umbrella that includes people who reject binary genders entirely, and others who identify with some aspects of binary identities.
e.g. a demiwoman may identify as non-binary with aspects of femininity:
cosmopolitan.com/sexopedia/a353…

4/ So whether or not they were assigned female at birth, many non-binary people may want to be part of a women's movement as it reflects part of their identity, they share experiences, face the same types of oppression, and want to work together to tackle them.

5/ What about non-binary people who reject binary identities, do not identify as a woman or express femininity in any respect?

Well, many probably would not want to join a women's group, but some might and I think that's fine, because...

6/ The function of women's groups is - I believe - primarily as a source of solidarity and cooperation for those who are sidelined by the patriarchy. That certainly includes trans and non-binary people, as well as cisgender women.

7/ Feminism is about liberation, and liberation is about inclusion, not cutting people out.

8/ Many women's and girls' groups already include non-binary people,

from @UN_Women (unwomen.org/en/news/storie…)

to @Sport_England's @ThisGirlCanUK campaign ()

to @Girlguiding (girlguiding.org.uk/making-guiding…)

@UN_Women @Sport_England @ThisGirlCanUK @Girlguiding 9/ And, while not the topic of this thread, of course it is essential that our #feminism is intersectional in every other way too...

@UN_Women @Sport_England @ThisGirlCanUK @Girlguiding 10/ #IntersectionalFeminism centres voices of those experiencing overlapping, concurrent forms of oppression including race, class, disability, sexuality, immigrant status, gender non-conformity, etc.

I'll leave the last word to @UN_Women & @sandylocks:

unwomen.org/en/news/storie…