Anti-trans group seeking a foothold in S.F.
San Francisco is hosting a “radical feminist” group aligned with antitransgender efforts in the U.S. and abroad for a convention this weekend that is drawing fury from local trans and other LGBTQ individuals and allies.
Women’s Declaration International USA — the U.S. chapter of a group that began in the United Kingdom — is expecting about 100 people at the three-day conference, to be followed by a protest in front of City Hall on Monday.
The organization, built on the premise of protecting “women’s sex-based rights,” has stated that “gender identity” — and the concept that gender may be separate from biological sex for some people — threatens the civil rights of cisgender women. Members do not consider transgender women to be women.
That the group would come to San Francisco shocked many people in the city’s transgender community, who have flooded the hotel hosting the convention — Hilton San Francisco Financial District — with demands to cancel the event, and have asked civic leaders to denounce it.
“Trans individuals are outraged that they are holding this meeting in San Francisco,” said Tatyana Moaton, senior strategy adviser with San Francisco Community Health, who works with transgender people and is trans herself. “San Francisco is a place that has been a beacon of hope. People come to San Francisco specifically because it’s considered a sanctuary site for them. This (convention) sends a wrong message, because it’s not who we are.”
In a statement, Hilton San Francisco Financial District, which is independently owned and operated, said the hotel “does not adopt or endorse the views of any individuals or groups we serve” and would not comment further on the convention or the decision to host the event.
The convention, which was to start late Friday afternoon is the second national event held by Women’s Declaration International USA. Organizers said they chose San Francisco because last year’s conference was in Washington, D.C., and they wanted to reach the West Coast this year.
Women’s Declaration International USA has been denounced as bigots masquerading as feminists by the National Organization for Women. Last year, the group participated in a protest against trans athletes, alongside multiple organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Women’s Declaration International USA has made Bay Area appearances before and last November staged a small rally in Oakland to protest the transfer to a women’s prison of Dana Rivers, a trans woman who killed a lesbian couple and their child.
Organizers said they were not concerned about backlash to the conference or the possibility of protests outside the hotel. “Men have always had trouble with women fighting for our sex-based rights,” said Lauren Levey, who is on the board of directors for Women’s Declaration International USA, based in Washington, D.C.
Levey also pushed back on criticism that Women’s Declaration International incites hate or violence toward trans people by promoting transphobic rhetoric and policy. The group has provided models for antitrans policies to several U.S. state legislative bodies, including measures that would deny access to gender-affirming care for minors.
“We don’t hate anybody. There’s no hate involved,” Levey said. “But we don’t accept their ideology. In other words, we don’t accept that a man can be a woman.”
The group, Levey said, focuses on a broad spectrum of women’s rights issues, including abortion access, domestic violence and housing and employment discrimination. Several items on the convention agenda appear to address transgender topics.
Lea McGeever, who is married to a transgender woman and identifies as bigender (both cisgender woman and trans man), said when her wife told her about the convention and the group organizing it, her first thought was, “Oh no, it’s happening here.”
“Seeing this conference for me was confirmation that San Francisco is open to these people, and they can make a profit off spreading hatred,” McGeever said. “We have a reputation of being this very open, liberal, queer, gay-friendly city. So it’s a perfect target for people who are against that.”
McGeever, who lives near the convention site, said she and her wife planned to leave town for the weekend specifically to avoid the event and its participants. “I just think it’s a good idea for our safety,” McGeever said.
At recent Board of Supervisors meetings, McGeever asked city leaders to condemn the convention and the group organizing it, but most, if not all, have kept quiet. Board President Aaron Peskin said in an interview that he wasn’t familiar with Women’s Declaration International, and he was hesitant to speak up and draw more attention to them.
“A lot of folks choose San Francisco for rightwing hate precisely because they want city leaders to amplify it and have it go on Fox News,” Peskin said. “And I’m generally not inclined to take that bait.”
Women’s Declaration International leaders largely describe themselves as liberal, though they have aligned with right-wing groups at times.
Moaton said she was disappointed that San Francisco city leaders haven’t spoken up against the convention, though she understood that preventing it from taking place would raise free speech issues.
But with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ measures, mostly aimed at transgender people, introduced in the United States so far this year, it’s critical to take a stand, Moaton said. Even in California, where no such legislation has gained traction, school districts have begun setting policies that LGBTQ advocates say could harm transgender children.
“And this group has the potential to affect policy,” Moaton said. “If we don’t speak out and remain complacent, things have a funny way of coming back to bite us in the butt. So as much as we would like not to give credence to the stances and these groups, we have to.”