I apologised for offending transgender people, but that wasn’t enough
Recently, I found myself at the centre of a row about transgender rights. I made some unguarded and ill-informed comments on Twitter that were interpreted, by some, as being…
“One aspect of the row centred on the use of the prefix “cis”, to indicate someone whose gender identity is in line with their sex at birth. I have no issue with the term, but I understand why some feminists don’t want to embrace the term for themselves, because they fear it commits them to signing up to gender identities that oppress them.
But now I have discussed the term with some trans activists, I think the key here may be to allow a ‘space’ for that discomfort, while making very sure that it can’t get ‘trans-exclusionary’ in its effects.”