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At least since Joanne K. Rowling, a term has reached the public discourse: “Terf“. Because Rowling had repeatedly expressed anti-trans and trans people denied their identity. Her case exemplifies the thinking behind the acronym “Terf” (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist).
First of all: Most Terfs do not describe themselves as such, but, for example, as “gender-critical feminists” and reject the description “Terf”. In this respect, it is an attribution from outside, which makes a generally valid definition of the term difficult.
The Rowling case all started when she shared a newspaper article about “menstruating people.” Rowling ridiculed the phrase, writing, “I’m sure there used to be a word for these people. Can anyone help?” The word Rowling was obviously looking for was “women”. Which she also hinted at with her silly attempts at terminology (“Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”).
What she ignored: Not all women menstruate, for example trans women. On the other hand, not all people who menstruate are women, such as non-binary people and trans men, which can be important in the context of health issues. Rowling further asserted that without gender there would be no same-sex attraction; that women’s realities of life would be erased if gender were negated. What she missed: Having trans women live their identity doesn’t negate gender per se, nor does it erase anyone’s life story.
Trans women are excluded from the concept of women
Above all, one thing becomes clear from these statements: Rowling excludes trans women from her understanding of women. This is exactly what all Terfs have in common: They understand gender as biologically fixed, as unchangeable and not as fluid or even as an identity. Also, there are only two genders for them. They see themselves as feminists, but exclude trans people from their understanding of feminism. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that they often misgender trans people or speak of women*.
When it comes to formulations such as “menstruating people” or “people with a uterus”, the main aim is to get more people to think along with them and to make them visible in language – namely people who are marginalized and need protection. However, Terfs deny this need for protection, instead claiming that trans women are “biological men” trying to invade women’s shelters.
Above all, they see toilets or women’s shelters as threatened, without considering the violence and discrimination trans people are exposed to when they want to use public toilets or changing rooms, for example. A study by the University of California also proves that the fear that trans women would be up to mischief in women’s shelters is factually incorrect. Accordingly, the security risk is in no way increased by trans people using public facilities that conform to their gender identity.
Many Terfs also exclude sex workers
While trans women are portrayed as perpetrators, Terfs claim, conversely, that trans men (often referred to as “biological women”) are victims who attempted to escape patriarchal structures through transition. This explanation is problematic on several levels, because anyone who has dealt with the legal, medical and social hurdles before a transition should know that these (especially in Germany) are so high that nobody simply strives for a transition like this. In addition to trans people, burqa and headscarf bans often play a role in the context of Terfs. Many Terfs exclude trans people as well as sex workers from their understanding of feminism.
The topic is also regularly in focus in connection with prisons and the controversy over whether trans women should be accommodated in women’s prisons. Just last year, the state of Berlin decided to change the prison conditions so that trans, intersex and non-binary people can have a say in whether they come to the prisons for men or for women.
Basically, many of Terfs’ arguments sound plausible at first glance because there is a lot of ignorance and many twisted facts about the realities of life of trans people. These false claims can be countered with real numbers: According to the “Trans Murder Monitoring” project, at least 375 trans and gender-diverse people were killed worldwide between October 2020 and September 2021.
The number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. This makes 2021 the deadliest year for trans people. Another 2018 study found that at least 40 percent of trans people would attempt suicide.
+++ You can find the entire queer lexicon here. We’ll add it in quick succession. Queer ABC appears on the Queerspiegel, the Tagesspiegel blog about LGBTI issues. + + + The Queerspiegel newsletter of the Tagesspiegel – here you can register.+ + +
