Member-only story
You Call That Radical Feminism?
TERFs and Donald Trump are teaming up to take civil rights from trans folk.
I want to say, from the get-go, we’re all on our journeys. I’ve said some problematic shit I wish I could take back, like the time, a few years ago, I wished my trans-dad BFF a “Happy Mother’s Day,” because I thought he deserved to celebrate Mother’s Day too, after birthing, chestfeeding and single-parenting his kids. I still think he deserves all the celebration in the world for what a badass parent (and friend, and human) he is, but I get now how fucked up it was to say that. Let’s all keep trying to listen to each other and to do better.
Our language matters.
So when one of my Facebook friends started posting daily about trans folk, purposely misgendering them, I got freaked out and curious.
This friend, who I’ll call Michelle, is an acquaintance I met through my local vegan families group. I don’t know her well, but I’ve been to a party at her house, and she’s got a kid around the same age as mine. I had an expectation that families in the group would be radical, in a good way, because veganism, to me, means doing good, even when it’s hard and seen by society as weird. And other families in the group have exceeded my expectations in terms of empathy and inclusivity.