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I am a lesbian who came out in the 80s and having spoken to many young lesbians and trans people over a 30-year period, I can confidently state that I am not worried that the “trans movement” is designed to “wipe out” either women or lesbians.
I am, however, worried that trans kids have to go through the same sh** lesbians (and gay men and bisexuals) went through at least up until the 90s. I don’t wish that on anyone because it is more damaging than straight men and women can possibly imagine.
So if people, who have no actual lived experience of being a lesbian, could please refrain from using me as an excuse to put yet another generation of kids through that level of hostility and discrimination and sheer abject fear for their own safety, I would be very grateful.
And to any lesbian, who is currently getting on the moral panic bandwagon, I would like to say, “What happened to make you forget how bad it was? And what makes you think you have the right to decide another person’s identity and to do to others what was once done to you?
This community does not pull up the ladder. This community expands. Because, if we learned one thing in the 80s and 90s, it’s that if we don’t, people die. I do not want people to die to protect my status as a lesbian because of a made-up threat for which there is no actual proof
This is not a “both sides” issue. This is a question of human rights and equality.
And, personally, I would rather fight for a world, where sex and gender don’t matter than cling on to a categorisation that is ultimately used to justify the continued exercise of power by those that already have it. And, spoiler alert, lesbians: It ain’t you!
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
