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FiLiA vs. transgender people

FiLiA is a British anti-transgender group that is part of the “gender critical feminist” movement. Their primary activity is an annual conference.

Background

Between 2008 and 2010, organizers convened the Feminism in London (FiL) conference. In 2012, Lisa-Marie Taylor and Julian Norman discussed reviving it and held a 2013 event. Following this relaunch, the organization expanded rapidly. In 2015, it was formally registered as a UK charity. In 2016, the organization merged with Resist Porn Culture.

A blog was introduced in 2016, followed by a podcast series in 2018. In 2019, it created the “Friends of FiLiA” donation network, and in 2020 it initiated the FiLiA Legacy Project, aimed at training and supporting like-minded activists.

People

  • Jo Gough – Trustee
  • Claire Heuchan – Trustee
  • Sally Jackson – Trustee
  • Ragani Lindquist – Trustee
  • Julian Norman – Co-founder
  • Raquel Rosario SĂĄnchez – spokesperson (2019–)
  • Lisa Marie Taylor – Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder, Trustee
  • Kruti Walsh – Trustee

Conferences

As FiL

  • 2008: London
  • 2009: London
  • 2010: London
  • 2013: London (Institute of Education)
  • 2014: London (Institute of Education)
  • 2015: London (Hilton Metropole), October

As FiLiA

  • 2016: [no conference]
  • 2017: London (Institute of Education/Bloomsbury), 14–15 October
  • 2018: Salford (Manchester area), 20–21 October
  • 2019: Bradford
  • 2020: [in-person event postponed by COVID]
  • 2021: Portsmouth (Guildhall), 16–17 October
  • 2022: Cardiff, Wales
  • 2023: Scotland
  • 2024: England
  • 2025: Brighton (Brighton Centre), 10–12 October
  • 2026: TBA, October
  • 2027: Blackpool, 18–19 September

Book

On May 30, 2024, FiLiA associates published a collection of essays titled The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht: Voices from the front-line of Scotland’s battle for women’s rights, edited by Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn.

Contents

  • Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Introduction
  • Anonymous (@Dis_Critic) Foreword: A hashtag is born [originator of #WomenWontWheesht]

Section 1: Setting the scene

  • Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn: Chapter 1: In the beginning there was Scotland

  • Lucy Hunter Blackburn, Lisa Mackenzie and Kath Murray: Chapter 2: Not just a piece of paper: why women pushed back
  • Professor Sarah Pedersen: Chapter 3: How social media powered a movement
  • Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Susan Dalgety: Chapter 4: Funding the resistance
  • Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Susan Dalgety: Chapter 5: Women rise up: 2018–23

Section 2: Early skirmishes: women learn the cost of speaking out

  • Susan Smith: Chapter 6: Courage calls – a case study
  • Ann Henderson: Chapter 7: No quarter given
  • Joan McAlpine: Chapter 8: Finding out women don’t count
  • Sally Wainwright: Chapter 9: Audacious women disrupted
  • Jenny Lindsay: Chapter 10: A hounding in Scottish literature
  • Claire L. Heuchan: Chapter 11: A meeting that changes everything

Section 3: The battle intensifies: women refuse to be silenced

  • Rhona Hotchkiss: Chapter 12: Standing up and speaking out
  • J.K. Rowling: Chapter 13: Wheesht for the witch burners
  • Gillian Philip: Chapter 14: Sacked for a hashtag
  • For Women Scotland: Chapter 15: The battle moves to the court room
  • Johann Lamont: Chapter 16: Six words and a lifetime of lessons learned
  • Joanna Cherry KC MP: Chapter 17: Frozen out
  • Shereen Benjamin: Chapter 18: The right to examine ideas
  • Fiona McAnena: Chapter 19: Women still don’t count

Section 4: The parliamentary battle over self-ID: Holyrood under the spotlight

  • Pam Gosal MBE MSP and Rachael Hamilton MSP: Chapter 20: Women’s voices in the Parliament
  • Anonymous and Ms M: Chapter 21: The women the committee would not see
  • Lorna Irvine: Chapter 22: Watching the Parliament
  • Ash Regan MSP: Chapter 23: A minister resigns
  • Anonymous (@Obsolescence): Chapter 24: A very seditious scarf
  • Lucy Hunter Blackburn: Chapter 25: A hard day’s night: the bill is passed
  • Elaine Miller: Chapter 26: That merkin moment

Section 5: Reflections

  • Caroline McAllister: Chapter 27: The unthinkable happens
  • Susan Dalgety: Chapter 28: The human cost
  • Mandy Rhodes (interviewed by Susan Dalgety): Chapter 29: Asking questions
  • Kathleen Stock: Chapter 30: Watching Scotland
  • Iseult White: Chapter 31: Sisters across the water
  • Magi Gibson: Chapter 32: A poet finds her voice again
  • Nina Welsch: Chapter 33: Finding my sisterhood
  • Nicole Jones: Chapter 34: Looking to the future
  • Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn: Afterword: This isn’t over
  • Picture Section
  • A timeline of key events
  • Acknowledgements, Contributors, Resources, Glossary

YouTube

Their YouTube channel contains video of some events and includes videos with Julie Bindel, Sharron Davies, Maya Forstater, Helen Joyce, Martina Navratilova, J.K. Rowling, and Vaishnavi Sundar.

References

Wilson, Amrit (October 28, 2025). Transphobia is breaking feminism apart, while fascists lurk nearby. The Canary https://www.thecanary.co/opinion/2025/10/28/fascists-zionists-palestine/

Moss, Emily (October 23, 2025). Gender-critical feminist charity in contact with regulator after antisemitism allegations. Civil Society https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/gender-critical-feminist-charity-in-contact-with-regulator-after-antisemitism-allegations.html

“Missfredawallace” (October 13, 2025). Trouble At The Mill — How The Filia Conference Harms … https://medium.com/@missfredawallace/trouble-at-the-mill-how-the-filia-conference-harms-women-2eab9903bb32

Askew, Joshua (October 10, 2025). Trans activists vandalise feminist conference. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxwv9njvlgo

Askew, Joshua (October 10, 2025). Trans activists vandalise FiLiA feminist conference in Brighton. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxwv9njvlgo

Savage, Sarah (October 9, 2025). “Our city is being invaded by transphobes this weekend.” Scene Magazine https://www.scenemag.co.uk/our-city-is-being-invaded-by-transphobes-this-weekend-trans-pride-brighton-issues-statement-ahead-of-anti-trans-filia-conference/

McLean, Anna; Stretesky, Paul B. (2025). “The Influence of Authoritarian Beliefs on Support for Transgender Rights in the UK”. Sociology Compass. 19 (7) e70088. https://doi,org/10.1111/soc4.70088

Beck, Dorothee; Habed, Adriano JosĂ©; Henninger, Annette (November 13, 2023). Blurring Boundaries – ‘Anti-Gender’ Ideology Meets Feminist and LGBTIQ+ Discourses. Verlag Barbara Budrich. p. 29. ISBN 978-3847418573

Clarke, Sarah (October 25, 2022). FiLiA conference 2022: Transphobia, harassment and arrests at conference in Cardiff. Trans Safety Network https://transsafety.network/posts/filia-2022-transphobia-harassment/

Chudy, Emily (October 17, 2023). LGBTQ+ groups protest gender critical conference hosting JK Rowling as a speaker. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/17/lgbtq-groups-protest-gender-critical-conference-hosting-jk-rowling-as-a-speaker/

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Nazanin (October 4, 2022). Police investigate threat to burn venue hosting FiLiA Women’s Rights Conference in Cardiff. ITV News https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-10-04/police-investigate-online-threat-to-burn-filia-womens-rights-conference-venue

Pape, Madeleine (February 16, 2022). “Feminism, Trans Justice, and Speech Rights: A Comparative Perspective”. Law and Contemporary Problems. 85 (1): 215–240.

Thurlow, Claire (2022). From TERF to gender critical: A telling genealogy? Sexualities. 27 (4): 962–978 https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460722110782

(December 2020). Lush UK has been donating money to anti-trans organizations. Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/lush-uk-transphobia-charity-twitter [not archived]

Anti-trans coverage

Burchill, Julie (October 18, 2025). How do so many women end up as ‘Feminists for Islam’? Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/10/18/how-do-so-many-women-end-up-as-feminists-for-islam/

Lampert, Nicole (October 13, 2025). Antisemitism row splits feminist group. UnHerd https://unherd.com/newsroom/antisemitism-row-splits-feminist-group/

SEEN in Journalism (October 13, 2025). Filia – a reflection. Substack https://seeninjournalism.substack.com/p/filia-a-reflection

Mumford, Georgina (October 13, 2025). The trans mob keeps exposing its violent misogyny. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/10/13/the-trans-mob-keeps-exposing-its-violent-misogyny/

Harris, Tom (October 12, 2025). If female MPs from allegedly ‘progressive’ parties can no longer stand in defence of women’s rights, then who can? The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/12/sian-berrys-victim-blaming-after-trans-violence-disgusting/

Manning, Sanchez (October 10 2025). Council refused feminists security after trans activists smashed venue. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/trans-activists-brighton-council-feminist-conference-299stm0tp

Tait, Albert (October 10, 2025). Feminist conference vandalised by trans group. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/10/feminist-filia-conference-brighton-vandalised-trans-group/

Ditum, Sarah (June 16, 2024). How JK Rowling and a feminist fightback turned the tide on trans activism. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/the-women-who-wouldnt-wheesht-review-susan-dalgety-lucy-hunter-blackburn-wvrd6q50c

Smith, Mark (June 8, 2024). Mark Smith: How Scotland’s institutions shut women down. The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/viewpoint/24373401.women-wouldnt-wheesht-institutions-shut-women/

Mansfield, Mark (March 23, 2024). Feminist group seeks legal advice after being barred from Plaid Cymru conference. Nation.Cymru https://nation.cymru/news/feminist-group-seeks-legal-advice-after-being-barred-from-plaid-cymru-conference/

Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn (2024). The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, Littlebrown, 2024, ISBN 978-1408720707

Mills, Lucy (November 22, 2023). Glasgow Locals Protest ‘TERF’ Organization FiLia: A War of Generations, Inclusion, and Childhood Authors. Strathclyde Telegraph https://strathclydetelegraph.com/2023/11/22/glasgow-locals-protest-terf-organization-filia-a-war-of-generations-inclusion-and-childhood-authors/

McKenna, Kevin (October 20, 2023). Lisa-Marie Taylor of FiLiA on the challenges facing women. The Herald https://web.archive.org/web/20231021100904/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23869460.lisa-marie-taylor-filia-challenges-facing-women/

Hatchet, Jean (October 18, 2023). A conference that really was for women. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/a-conference-that-really-was-for-women/

Young, Gregor (October 16, 2023). JK Rowling speaks at FiLiA feminist conference labelled ‘transphobic'”. The National https://www.thenational.scot/news/23857658.jk-rowling-speaks-filia-feminist-conference-labelled-transphobic/

Bannerman, Lucy; Watson, Jeremy (October 16, 2023). JK Rowling makes surprise appearance at feminist conference in Glasgow. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/article/jk-rowling-surprise-appearance-feminist-conference-2ws0wg0hr

Sanderson, Ginny (October 13, 2023). FiLiA Glasgow: Activists protest against ‘transphobic’ event. The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23853565.filia-glasgow-activists-protest-transphobic-event/

Learmonth, Andrew (October 12, 2023). Platform backs down after bid to cancel gender critical conference. The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23852282.platform-backs-bid-cancel-gender-critical-conference/

Morrison, Hamish (October 12, 2023). Venue forced to U-turn on cancelling ‘transphobic’ event after legal action threat. The National https://www.thenational.scot/news/23851055.venue-forced-u-turn-cancelling-transphobic-event-legal-action-threat/

SĂĄnchez, Raquel Rosario (October 22, 2023). Try to cancel us but feminists won’t be silenced. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/article/try-to-cancel-us-but-feminists-wont-be-silenced-78p2dhqgw

Ward, Sarah (October 13, 2023). Trans activists stage protest outside FiLiA conference in Glasgow. The Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/trans-activists-stage-protest-outside-filia-feminist-conference-in-glasgow-4371397

Cherry, Joanna (October 13, 2023). FiLiA activist led away by police amid rally at ‘transphobic’ event. The National https://www.thenational.scot/news/23853612.filia-activist-led-away-police-amid-rally-transphobic-event/

Murray-Smith, Daniel (October 13, 2023). “Transphobic” conference sparks outrage outside Platform Venue. Glasgow Standard https://glasgowstandard.com/2023/10/13/transphobic-conference-sparks-outrage-outside-platform-venue/

Smith, Lauren (October 24, 2022). The trans movement has a problem with women. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/10/24/the-trans-movement-has-a-problem-with-women/

Rosario SĂĄnchez, Raquel (August 7, 2022). Feminists under fire. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/feminists-under-fire/

Phillimore, Sarah (December 29, 2021). In praise of reality. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/in-praise-of-reality/

Batty, David (December 20, 2021). Women stage global fast to pressure UK over Nazanin Zagari-Ratcliffe. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/dec/20/women-stage-global-fast-to-pressure-uk-over-nazanin-zagari-ratcliffe

Bindel, Julie (October 14, 2021). The quiet cancellations: In the fearful climate of cancel culture, women and girls lose out — again. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/the-quiet-cancellations/

Raquel Rosario-Sanchez [FiLiA], Nicola Williams [Fair Play for Women], and Judith Green [Woman’s Place UK] (April 21, 2021). Reform of the Gender Recognition Act – Oral evidence”. UK Parliament Committees https://committees.parliament.uk/event/4307/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

Alam, Yusef (October 19, 2019). Bradford hosts UK’s biggest feminist conference. Bradford Telegraph and Argus https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17978554.bradford-hosts-uks-biggest-feminist-conference/

Brunskell-Evans, Heather, Vigo, Julian (2019). Trans Activism vs Feminism (and the Wider World): Heather Brunskell-Evans in Conversation with Julian Vigo”. https://www.cultureontheoffensive.com/trans-activism-vs-feminism/

Brunskell-Evans, Heather (December 5, 2018). The Ministry of Trans Truth. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/12/05/the-ministry-of-trans-truth/

Norman, Julian; Freedman, Rosa; Batty, David (October 19, 2018). ‘Shifting sands’: six legal views on the transgender debate. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/19/gender-recognition-act-reforms-six-legal-views-transgender-debate

Doherty, Sophie (October 16, 2018). FiLiA Conference 2018: the future is female for Eccles. Salford Now https://salfordnow.co.uk/2018/10/16/filia-conference-2018-the-future-is-female-for-eccles/

Speed, Barbara (October 26, 2015). Feminism in London conference: sex work, glass ceilings and ‘vulvanomics.’ The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/26/feminism-in-london-conference-sex-work-glass-ceilings-and-vulvanomics

Cosslett, Rhiannon Lucy (March 2, 2015). Can porn empower women? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/02/pornography-might-suit-some-women-but-not-all-women

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

FiLiA (filia.org.uk)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Linktree (linktr.ee)