Oppose conservative definitions of "Woman"

By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia

This is the text of a letter I sent to my local Labor Member of Parliament: 

The Tickle VS Giggle court ruling has prompted the Coalition to support legislation that would introduce a British/MAGA style definition of women. Pauline Hanson is also threatening to re-introduce the Sex Discrimination (Acknowledging Biological Reality) Bill.

Any such legislation would be disastrous for equality and acceptance of all kinds of women, including women with hormonal differences, other medical conditions and many gender non-conforming women. Women in Britain and the US are now being abused for using the "wrong" toilets if they don't look "feminine". Ironically, while some lesbian separatists support the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, lesbians are more likely to experience discrimination if these conservative laws are passed.

I urge Labor to continue standing firm on trans rights and not to give in to populist pressures. If God created a man and a woman, who created the 1.7% of the population who are born intersex, with ambiguous genetalia and/or chromosomal differences? This is the biological reality that Drew Hutton, Pauline Hanson and the Christian fanatics can't acknowledge. Drew Hutton tells me, in our arguments over social media, that he accepts intersex people, but no TERF or right winger can explain how they intend to protect intersex people from their proposed binary sex definitions.

Trans people also deserve legal protections. Trans identity is thought to be caused by hormonal influences before birth and often involves differences in brain anatomy. Just because we can't see these differences, it doesn't mean they are not real. Trans identity is more common amongst Autistic people and any attempt to discriminate against trans people will hurt the Autistic community.

The right wingers are full of static stereotypes about who is a real Australian, who is a real woman, who is a real Aboriginal. This appeals to simple minds but threatens social cohesion. It is sad that some feminists have fallen for this anti-trans agenda.

Women With Disabilities Australia continues to welcome trans women, despite the fact that disabled women are much more likely, than non-disabled women, to have been sexually assaulted by men. Neurokindred welcomes non-binary people in all its gender-specific peer support groups, despite many Autistic people having anxieties and heightened sensitivities. 

I don't oppose some legal exception for small groups of TERFs to continue meeting in some biologically, anatomically perfect XX-chromosomal hideaways and cyberspaces, if this really matters to them, (where they can continue to be unsuspecting of women like Ghislaine Maxwell while feeling safe from women like Roxanne Tickle). However, women's organisations and women's facilities must remain open to all women, including intersex and trans women.