The “gender critical” anti-transgender movement

The “gender critical” movement is a politically diverse alliance of people critical of gender identity and expression as it pertains to the transgender community.

Note: this is under development.

  • trans-exclusionary feminism (TERF)
  • trans-exclusionary sexual minorities (the GLB movement)
  • conservative and exclusionary transitioners (transmedicalists/transsexuals)
  • ethical objections (against some or all trans healthcare)
  • moral or spiritual objections (opposing “gender ideology”)
  • medical objections (“drugging,” “mutilating,” “sterilizing”)
  • political and legal objections (opposing trans rights through laws)
  • objections based on academic training
    • sexology
    • philosophy/ethics
    • psychology
  • sex segregationists
    • sports
    • incarceration
    • public accommodations
  • reproductive rights (opposing bodily autonomy)
  • age of consent (claiming minors or people under age 26 can’t give informed consent)
    • the “parental rights” movement
  • aesthetic objections
  • objections around attraction to transgender people
    • the “super straight” movement
    • exclusionary queer people (“cotton ceiling” etc.)
  • theoretical objections
  • appropriation objections
  • racial and ethnic objections
  • linguistic objections (especially gendered language like pronoun use)
  • free speech objections
  • criminological objections
  • regret objections (the “ex-trans” movement)
  • cisgender supremacists

Gender critical resources

Books

  • The Transsexual Empire by Janice Raymond
  • Gender Hurts by Sheila Jeffreys
  • Unpacking Queer Politics: A Lesbian Feminist Perspective by Sheila Jeffreys
  • Galileo’s Middle Finger by Alice Dreger
  • The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society by Debra Soh
  • Transgender Body Politics by Heather Brunskell-Evans
  • Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body by Heather Brunskell-Evans
  • Inventing Transgender Children and Young People by Heather Brunskell-Evans
  • The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey
  • Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female by Ashley McGuire
  • Female Erasure: What You Need To Know About Gender Politics’ War on Women, the Female Sex and Human Rights by Ruth Barrett
  • Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism by Mary Daly
  • What Is a Woman? by Matt Walsh
  • Blood and Visions: Womyn Reconciling with Being Female by Autotomous Womyn’s Press
  • Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier 
  • When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment by Ryan T. Anderson
  • The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men by Robert Jensen
  • Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism by Kathleen Stock
  • Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by Helen Joyce
  • The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray
  • Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose
  • My Sister, Daisy by Adria Karlsson
  • Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism by Anne A. Lawrence
  • The Corrosive Impact of Transgender Ideology by Joanna Williams
  • Re-Sisters: Stories of Desistance from Transgender Identification by Hailey Mangelsdorf
  • Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult by Maria Keffler

Websites

Quillette (quillette.com)

  • One of the most consistently gender critical outlets.

Sex and Gender: A Beginner’s Guide (sexandgenderintro.com)

  • Rebecca Reilly-Cooper

Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (segm.org)

LGB Alliance (lgballiance.org.uk)

4thWaveNow (4thwavenow.com)

Genspect (genspect.org)

Partners for Ethical Care (partnersforethicalcare.com)

  • Alix Aharon
  • Maria Keffler
  • Martha Shoultz
  • Jennifer Krohn
  • Erin Brewer
  • Jeannette Cooper
  • Sheri Throckmorton

Whose Body Is It (whosebodyisit.com)

Gender Identity Watch (genderidentitywatch.com)

  • Cathy Brennan
  • active 2012–2018 [archive]

GenderTrender (gendertrender.wordpress.com)

  • Gallus Mag / Linda V. Shanko
  • Created in December 2010; suspended for policy violations in November 2018 [archive]
  • Restarted as gendertrending.com (active 2019–2020) [archive]

Transgender Trend (transgendertrend.com)

 Women’s Human Rights Campaign (womensdeclaration.com)

  • Women’s Declaration on Human Rights

Other gender critical groups (many of which are nonexistent/astroturfing)

  • Independent Women’s Forum
  • Woman’s Place UK
  • Fair Play for Women
  • Feminist Salon
  • Gender Park
  • Survivors With Biros
  • It’s About Eve
  • Women’s Guild NSW
  • Looking at the big picture
  • Church of All Worlds
  • Coalition for a Feminist Agenda
  • PBB Media
  • Rethinking Eve LLC
  • Fight Slavery Now!
  • Make More Noise!
  • Margaret Birdseye
  • Australian Radical Feminists
  • Birmingham ReSisters
  • Critical Sisters
  • Get the L Out
  • End the War on Women Collective
  • Leeds Spinners
  • Lesbian Rights Alliance
  • Mayday4Women
  • South London & Kent ReSisters
  • WOLF (Women’s Liberation Front)
  • International Women’s Day, Brisbane Meanjin
  • #OccupiedAustralia
  • Standing for Women
  • Erinyes Autonomous Activist Lesbians
  • PDF Quebec
  • Haringey ReSisters
  • RadFem Collective
  • DC574
  • Center for Civil Courage
  • Fair Go for Queensland Women
  • Women’s Rights Action Group Edinburgh
  • Forwomen.scot
  • Canadian Women’s Declaration
  • Alberta Radfems
  • Edmonton Women and Allies Against the Sex Industry
  • The last shall be the first
  • REAL for Women
  • Georgia Green Party
  • Labour Women’s Declaration
  • Conservative Women’s Pledge
  • Liberal Democrats’ Grassroots Challenge to Policy on Women’s Sex Based Rights
  • Women Uniting
  • Anti Fascist Feminists
  • Deep Green Resistance
  • Women’s Action Group
  • Women Speak Tasmania
  • Feminists in Struggle
  • Safe Schools Alliance UK
  • WEP Women’s Sex-Based Rights Caucus
  • Leeds ReSisters
  • Hull and East Yorkshire ReSisters
  • Campaign Against Sex Robots
  • Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights – caWsbar
  • Royal Berkshire ReSisters
  • Transgender Trend
  • Maternity Consumer Network
  • Australian Feminist Lesbians for Equity
  • Women’s Space Vancouver
  • Radicailin
  • The Countess Didn’t Fight for This
  • Keep Prisons Single Sex
  • Campaign4Truth
  • LGB Alliance Ireland
  • Merched Cymru
  • Women’s Liberation Aotearoa
  • Partners for Ethical Care
  • Making Herstory
  • CIAMS-ICASM International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood
  • Kerry Women’s Resource Centre
  • Temple of Diana, Inc
  • The Foundation for Families
  • Breaking Free
  • Victorian Women’s Guild
  • Greater Manchester Doulas CIC
  • Inga Thompson Foundation
  • The Vulva Temple of Witchcraft
  • Australian Lesbian Health Coalition
  • women@thewell
  • Stigamót
  • Zonta Club of Glens Falls
  • FOVAS (Female Only Violence and Abuse Survivors)
  • Freedom Programme
  • Shakti Moon Foundation
  • Women’s Liberation Radio News
  • Women’s Voices Matter
  • Crones Counsel
  • Edmonton Small Press Association
  • Radical Womyn Film Festival
  • An American Conversation Podcast
  • WREE – Women for Racial and Economic Equality
  • ACPicks Press
  • We Need To Talk
  • Ananke
  • Feminist Heretic
  • Radical Matriarchy
  • XX-Power Nation
  • Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre Ltd.
  • Audacious Women Festival
  • In Mothering
  • LesbianMeToo
  • Lesbian Echoes

Responses to the movement

What Is “TAnon”?

Contrapoints (March 30, 2019) Gender Critical

References

Parsons, Vic (June 7, 2021). So-called ‘gender-critical’ feminists are ‘peddling the far-right agenda’, warns Institute of Race Relations. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/06/07/gender-critical-feminism-far-right-agenda-institute-race-relations-trans-transphobia/

Zanghellini, Aleardo (May 26, 2020). Philosophical problems with the gender-critical feminist argument against trans inclusion. SAGE Open https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020927029

(June 5, 2021). A backlash against gender ideology is starting in universities. The Economist https://www.economist.com/international/2021/06/04/a-backlash-against-gender-ideology-is-starting-in-universities