So I deleted a bunch of tweets and spent some time off twitter. Because I am very aware that my opinions could cost me my job. Which is wrong, in my view. But to hell with it, here they are.

1. Transwomen are not women. They're transwomen, and that's as close as it gets. Its OK to be that, but our physical truth and history matters in some contexts, and its foolish to deny it.

2. Some of those contexts include single sex spaces - womens change rooms, loos etc. Women's privacy is a significant issue. There may be a need for a third space. Campaign for that instead of giving women's spaces away.

3. Womens representatives should be women. If trans people need representation its a separate category. Representation shouldn't be defined as "men" and "people who are not men". That isn't what woman is, and our needs will not be met in such a system. Transwomen do not have the

3b. Same needs, particularly around employment and maternity leave, childcare etc. These are our key issues, not lipstick and skirts.

4. Transwomen do not belong in womens prisons. That is a dangerous idea. It's no surprise that transwomen are over represented in the prison population. What straight man wouldnt prefer to be locked up with women? He'd probably be willing to grow his hair.

5. Transwomen should not have access to womens sports. Sometimes our physical truths and our life choices move us away from competitive sports. Competitve sports are not a human right. I don't play any competitive sports because of my body type and life choices.

5b. This is the same for anyone through life. Find non competitive options to stay healthy and active. There are plenty.

6. It is entirely inappropriate to have "female identifying" staff in womens crisis accommodation, and not appropriate to house transwomen in these spaces. That is not to say there is no need for crisis accommodation for transwomen. It needs to be separate. Campaign for that.

7. Self ID is a dangerous idea. Gender and sex is not the same thing. Birth certificates should never be changed for the sake of gender. If privacy is a concern for those who live differently to birth sex, make it possible to have a birth certificate without sex listed.

8. Women should have the right to choose female health care providers in intimate situations. This is for the comfort of the patient, not the validation of staff. It is highly unprofessional and offensive, even abusive, for transwomen to act as female in this situation.

9. Kids shouldn't be transitioning. We know enough to know this is a bad idea. Puberty blockers are not reversible, and the implications of getting this wrong are very significant. Continuing to transition children will likely damage public confidence in medicine.

9b. Affirmation only (and the newly reframed take on what counts as "conversion therapy") approaches are locking in an outcome when they should be exploring options instead.

9c. In any case, absolutely anyone should be old enough to vote and get a tattoo before they are considered old enough to electively amputate body parts, or alter their hormonal make up (altering their growth).

9d. The idea that its a binary choice between transitioning and suicide reduces the capacity for all persons to explore their options and find their best course of action. We have free will, and even in the most challenging of situations, our outcomes are not predetermined.

10. Misgendering is not violence. It might be accidental. It might be rude. But it's not violence. Heck, its happened to me. Our language places so much importance on sex that we refer to it nearly every time we speak of another person. Most of it isn't even conscious.

10b. If it matters that much how someone else sees you, its going to be a tough ride. Because you can't control what others think. But truthfully they don't think about you all that much, they just fall back on the patterns of language they have used for their whole lives. Chill.

So that's it. That's all the tweets. On this subject at least. I have other political opinions too, and anyone who finds themselves hating on me here, may well share them. We are not all divided on all things. There is always room for discussion and debate.

Update.

Twitter has limited my account features for 3 days.