Feminism not a label to keep others out but worn with pride to welcome in

Susan Dalgety’s recent column in The Scotsman’s Perspective section on 11 July, “Why I stand with Rowling and co in trans rights row”, appalled me. To argue that prominent trans activists such as Munroe Bergdorf pose as great a threat to women’s rights as thousands of years of misogynist male history is hateful and absurd.

Including trans women in the fight for women’s rights does not mean the rights of cis women have any less value. Nor does it diminish the important work accomplished so far by the feminist movement.

To borrow a Martin Luther King Jr quote used by today’s Black Lives Matter movement, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The modern feminist movement must be intersectional because injustice against any woman, be they cis, trans, or gender non-conforming, is a threat to justice for all women.

Trans exclusionary radical feminists such as Dalgety believe gender identity is explicitly defined by biological sex. They refuse to accept trans women as women and, as a result, they exclude them from the feminist movement and actively campaign against theirdemandsforequalrights.

These damaging and outdated beliefs held by trans exclusionary radical feminists, however, are not shared by most modern feminists. “If your brand of feminism does not fight for the rights of all women, then it is not feminism.” This is the mantra of modern intersectional feminism.

The feminist movement is not perfect, no civil rights campaign ever has been, but it is a movement that is constantly learning and growing.

Susan Dalgety’s column saddened me, because feminism is not a label to be brandished to keep others out. It is a label to be worn with pride to welcome others in.

Trans women are not the enemy of feminism. Trans activists calling out exclusionary and hateful rhetoric are not the enemy of feminism. We are the next generation of feminism.

SARAH WAGNER Clarendon Street, Glasgow