The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological sex.

This means that the term ‘woman’ as used in the Equality Act means biological woman and the term ‘sex’ means biological sex.

It also means that those born male, but who identify as a woman, do not have the right to use women-only services or spaces.

As a feminist, I’m horrified by this ruling. Trans women should be able to live and access services as women. Equally, Trans men (who seem mysteriously invisible in all the debate) should be able to live and access services as men.

I have to be honest and say this is not what I’ve always believed.

When I was growing up, when I was a young feminist, representations of Trans people (and again, this was always about Trans women) were not positive. The notion of femininity and womanhood that Trans women were represented as seeking was often highly sexualised, patriarchal and misogynistic. It did not represent my lived experiences of being a woman, nor any of the women I knew. There was no nuanced representation of Trans women. At best, it was shown as ‘men dressing up’; at worst, doing so for ‘deviant sexual gratification.’  

It was only when I took the time to educate myself over the last 10 years, challenged by my kids, that I got a greater understanding of Trans issues.

I am not an expert. Nor do I seek, or am equipped, to speak for Trans people or gender critical feminists. But there are a few things I know.

I know that I am a woman.

If I close my eyes and look deep into my soul, I know that I’m a woman. This has nothing to do with having a womb or a vagina. It has nothing to do with breasts or childbearing.

I am a woman, not because of my biology (and there is a whole other argument about women being defined and reduced to their biology).  I know I am a woman because I am a woman.

How lucky am I that I was born into a body that matches my absolute self-identity? How lucky are you?

Being a woman in a patriarchal society is not easy. Male violence, medical misogyny, sexist work environments, pay gaps, gendered workloads… (I could go on, and you know I love a list.) None of these things make living in the world as a woman, as an autistic woman, easy. But none of them change how I feel inside.

I am a woman.

I cannot imagine living in a body that does not match what I know to be true.

I cannot imagine the emotional distress, the fear and confusion, the fear of rejection and violence from those you love and wider society.

What I can imagine is that if anyone came to me and said that their identity did not match their body, I would want to do everything in my power to make them feel whole and safe. I would want society to do the same.

Like choosing between going into the woods with a bear or a man, I would want anyone to access a bathroom or a space that made them safe.

I can’t imagine myself using male spaces, I would not feel safe. Why should we expect trans women to?

I understand why some people might find this scary. I have heard the stories of men dressing as women to perpetrate sexual assaults and crimes. That is not a Trans issue. That is a male violence issue. The issue here is men, not trans women.

Despite the media whipping up a storm, Trans men and women account for just 0.1% of the population.  Most of these people are just trying to get on with their lives, do their shopping, walk their dog, and wonder what to have for tea.

I’m sure today the world feels a little scarier, and a lot more unsafe. I’m sure there is anxiety and a lot of distress.

I am so sorry.

I’m nobody, with very little power or influence in the world, but know that you would be safe and welcome with me.

And know that I am absolute fucking furious for all of us.

In sisterhood. xx