Feminists

‘RadFem 2012: a uniting force against transphobia’ by Orlando
May 25, 2012

In mid-May, a London-based ‘radical feminist’ conference called RadFem2012 was announced, and parts of the internet began to rumble. A few days later, that rumble on Twitter became a roar on the blogosphere. Why all the attention? The website stated that entry was restricted to ‘biological women living as women’ – later edited to ‘women born women living as women’ – and renowned transphobe Sheila Jeffreys was billed as a speaker. A week later, and I’m – actually, kind of elated.


“But Orlando,” you may say, “surely there’s nothing to be elated about, when outdated transphobia seems to be rearing its hideous head in our feminist communities?” On the contrary! I am so, so fucking proud of feminists and allies right now – this transphobic door-policy has sparked off a string of declarations of support for trans inclusion and, hopefully, shown the organisers of RadFem2012 that they are just a vocal minority within a feminism that is, for the most part, far more diverse and accepting. As someone who is still a (postgraduate) student, I’m particularly pleased by the number of student groups that have released statements on RadFem2012: so far including Royal Holloway FemSoc, Oxford University WomCam, the NUS LGBT Campaign (published statement still pending but I’ve seen a draft) and the NUS Women’s Campaign (http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/womens/NUS-Womens-Campaign-Statement-on-RadFem-2012/) – that last one, which designates its annual conference as a women-only space, has several years of trans-positive policy, building up to its current stance (http://transactivist.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/nus-womens-campaign-recognises-gender-complexity/) that includes not only trans women, but other trans people whose identity includes (but is not entirely encompassed by) ‘woman’, such as AFAB* gender-fluid folk like myself.

And it’s not just support in the form of words, either. Within a few days, activists – from the trans community, the feminist community, the queer community, and the community of ‘awesome people who give a shit’ – got mobilised. Letters were sent (http://www.complicity.co.uk/blog/2012/05/conway-hall-respond-on-transphobia/) to the venue, Conway Hall (http://www.conwayhall.org.uk/), questioning how the exclusionary door-policy and incluson of Jeffreys’ hate-speech at this event was compatible with the venue’s existing policies on discrimination (http://www.complicity.co.uk/blog/2012/05/conway-hall-transphobia/), and indeed, with the 2010 Equality Act. Just today, prominent trans writer and activist Roz Kaveney revealed in the Guardian that Conway Hall has expressed these very concerns to the conference organisers: it seems the final decision has yet to be announced, but I’ve got high hopes. Furthermore, there are plans in the works to run events in direct response to RadFem2012 – call them teach-ins, fringes, or alternative conferences, they are being planned from London to Manchester.

...

This has the potential to be much bigger. This is not only the trans community, this is the feminist community as well. And we’re talking, we’re making alliances, and we’re making plans. We are showing the trans-exclusionary ‘radical feminists’ (TERFs!) behind RadFem2012 that they do not speak for all feminists, or even for all radical feminism. Indeed, Lashings is committed to being both radical and intersectional in its feminism, an identification that might be seen as contradictory, but which (to me) makes perfect sense:

We are Radical because we believe that we need a revolutionary change in how we think about gender, sexuality, and other issues of human diversity.

We are Feminist because we recognise that society has different expectations of men and women, and that these expectations damage people of all genders.

We are Intersectionalist because we see feminism as one of many areas in which we need to be radical, and we don’t think these issues can be disentangled from one another.

(source: :http://lashingsofgb.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-lashings-of-ginger-beer.html - Lashings’s ‘About’ page)

http://resistradfem2012.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/radfem-2012-a-uniting-force-against-transphobia-by-orlando/



"Resist RadFem2012 has been set up to organise, encourage and document responses and resistance to RadFem2012. Anyone who wants to run an alternative conference in their local area, offer skills and time to one that is already being planned, or otherwise contribute, is wholeheartedly encouraged to contact resistradfem12 at gmail dot com. (Incidentally, to see an example of the kind of non-exclusionary conference RadFem2012 COULD have been, check out INTERSECT – it was a few days ago, but videos and transcripts are being made available – and to get a whiff of what attending RadFem2012 might feel like, perhaps have a gander at Alicia Izharuddin’s brief account of a session at Fem11.)"