The F-Word bloggers’ position on transphobia and cissexism.

As a collective, The F-Word blogging team have decided to put together a statement clarifying this blog’s position on transphobia and related discrimination against trans people. Trans women in particular have historically been, and continue to be, marginalised and discriminated against within feminism, both as a result of widespread ignorance and discriminatory attitudes towards trans people in society as a whole, and due to the specific dismissal of trans rights and identities by some* feminist theorists and movement leaders. We believe this is unacceptable: transphobia has no place in feminism.

While our comments policy makes it clear that transphobic comments will not be published, we recognise that this has been insufficient to ensuring trans people feel as welcome to participate in The F Word as cis people. We have therefore drawn up a few guidelines and explanations to help all the members of this community – including ourselves – ensure that The F Word does not alienate or exclude trans people. We do not view this document as a one-stop solution to transphobia and exclusion on this site, rather as a starting point; we envisage that by having this framework in place, we will be able to better deal with and challenge transphobic attitudes and so make The F Word a safer place for trans people who wish to read, comment on and contribute to the site.

We would appreciate it if readers could take the time to look through the statement, and have included links for further reading if you are interested. All feedback is, as ever, very much welcome.

Please note that we will be moderating all comments in line with the statement.

*We are not endorsing the intro here, but the link includes some examples of Germaine Greer’s statements about trans people in The Whole Woman.