Confronting complex alliances: Situating Britain’s gender critical politics within the wider transnational anti-gender movement

Abstract

Britain has recently gained notoriety as a global hotspot for anti-trans politics and ‘gender critical’ feminism. But what is the relationship between British ‘gender critical’ politics and the transnational ‘anti-gender’ movement? Does Britain’s gender critical feminism directly align with the global trends of anti-gender mobilisations, including the latter’s authoritarian and neofascist tendencies? This commentary argues for a context-specific analysis of the British gender-critical movement which is attentive to its divergent political orientations. While some strands of gender-critical politics are openly allied with far-right politics and are explicitly anti-feminist, others include prominent figures from left-wing positions, including left feminists and lesbians. Challenging gender-critical politics in Britain requires a reckoning with its cross-political nature and an analysis of the factors that unite these different strands across left and right.

Keywords:

• Gender critical feminism
• feminist
• anti-gender ideology
• authoritarian
• activism
• Britain

Introduction

In their recent book, Who’s Afraid of Gender? Judith Butler argues that the contemporary transnational ‘anti-gender’ movement is a neo-fascist phenomenon. Analysing its global spread through the weaponization of fear and the phantasm of ‘gender ideology,’ Butler exposes the movement’s authoritarian underpinnings. Butler includes a chapter on the anti-trans politics of the UK, and argues that a segment of British feminism, namely ‘gender critical’¹ feminism, aligns with these neo-fascist trends (Butler, 2024). This assertion prompts deeper questions about the relationship between British gender-critical politics, the global anti-gender movement, and the far-right. Do these complicities mean the gender-critical movement in Britain is itself neo-fascist? If so, what are the wider political implications? Does positioning gender-critical feminists as part of the far-right help or hinder efforts to challenge this movement?

The following commentary cautions against a simple conflation of gender critical feminism with right-wing politics and neo-fascism. It does so on both empirical and strategic grounds. While some gender-critical groups align openly with the far-right, other prominent advocates hold left-wing or liberal positions, including left feminists and lesbians. Effectively challenging gender-critical politics requires a reckoning with the cross-political nature of the movement and an analysis of the factors that unite different strands across the political spectrum.

British ‘gender critical’ politics and the transnational ‘anti-gender’ movement

Britain has recently become known as a ‘global hotspot’ for anti-trans politics; it is ‘home to one of the most coordinated and well-known anti-gender mobilizations in the world’ (GATE, 2022). This movement has contributed to the blocking of progressive gender reform,² shifting public opinion,³ escalating a trans-hostile environment,⁴ and rolling back trans people’s rights.⁵ These trends have raised international alarm, particularly in relation to broader anti-gender movements in Europe, the Americas, and parts of Africa (Council of Europe, 2022; ILGA-Europe, 2023; United Nations, 2023). At the same time, the British gender-critical movement differs in significant ways from the global anti-gender movement.

In most global contexts, anti-trans politics align with right-wing populism and are part of wider campaigns against lesbian, gay and bisexual rights, feminism, reproductive justice, and migrant rights. This international anti-gender movement is often driven by conservative, Christian, and ultra-nationalist groups who oppose gender equality, abortion, sex education in schools, and all things ‘woke’. In the United States, for example, support for trans rights differs sharply among Democrats and Republicans, broadly falling along a left-right divide (Parker et al., 2022).⁶ Likewise in Europe, conservative, religious and nationalist groups dominate the anti-gender movement, as seen in examples such as Viktor Orbán’s banning of gender studies in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni’s tirades against ‘gender ideology’ in Italy, and the Catholic fundamentalism driving anti-LGBT politics in Spain (Butler, 2024; Rédai, 2023). Latin America’s anti-gender movements are also characterised by conservative, Christian, traditional family values, exemplified in Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to eradicate ‘gender ideology’ in Brazil, and the Christian evangelical anti-gender campaigning in Colombia (Butler, 2024; Graff & Korolczuk, 2022; Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017; Lage Carbone, 2023). Though focused on gender and sexuality, anti-gender campaigning is frequently tied to nationalism and white supremacy, via concerns about supposed imposition of ‘foreign’ values, and resistance to changing social norms deemed to destructive to family and society (Chen, 2023; Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017a).

Anti-gender politics first emerged in the 1990s from the Catholic Church. Concerns about ‘gender ideology’ were voiced by the Vatican, who objected to international efforts to embed gender issues, including equality initiatives, reproductive justice and LGBT rights, into international policy at the United Nations level (Corrêa, 2018; Corredor, 2019; Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017b, p. 10) Further anti-gender mobilizations emerged from the mid-2000s in Spain, Italy, Croatia and Slovenia, with other countries across Europe, Russia and Latin America pursuing campaigns from the mid-2010s (Corrêa et al., 2023, p. 284; Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017a, p. 256). Since then, anti-gender mobilisations have also spread in North America (Canada, the US, and Mexico), in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia), the Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey) and in Asia and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan) (Corrêa et al., 2023). The international anti-gender movement now encompasses a range of actors, including wider religious groups, secular organisations, child advocacy and women’s groups, academics, journalists and social media influencers (Corrêa et al., 2023).

While the British gender critical movement shares some characteristics with the international anti-gender movement, it also differs significantly. First, gender critical campaigners focus narrowly on trans issues, rather than the wider range of equality issues targeted by anti-gender advocates elsewhere. While some groups do address a spectrum of issues, overall the British gender critical movement is (at present) a mostly single-issue project.

Second, the articulation of anti-trans sentiments through the specific language of gender critical politics is a recent development. It emerged in direct response to proposals by the UK Government to reform the Gender Recognition Act to remove barriers to acquiring a legal change of gender (Pearce et al., 2020).⁷ This is not to suggest that anti-trans politics are new in Britain or that gender critical feminism is not built on longstanding foundations; transphobia in Britain has a long and deeply entrenched history. Rather, it is to recognise that the specific formulation of gender critical organising emerged as a direct backlash to trans rights proposals. This differs from the anti-gender movement, which several scholars have argued is not a backlash, but rather a long-term anti-democratic and patriarchal restoration project (Butler, 2024; Corrêa et al., 2023; Paternotte, 2020).

Third, unlike the global anti-gender movement, which is deeply invested in patriarchal norms, the British gender-critical movement initially emerged as a feminist project, and in many ways a white feminist one (Michelis, 2022; Pearce et al., 2020; Tudor, 2020). So while the gender critical movement is supported by a wider range of players, including right-wing, Christian⁸ and neofascist groups, its early advocates came from feminist and lesbian quarters. This is partly why Britain has been dubbed “TERF Island” – in reference to the ‘trans exclusionary radical feminists’ who advocate such politics.⁹ These origins have shaped the tenor of gender critical messaging and strategy, with its advocates presenting themselves as protectors of women’s rights. Comparatively, while there are growing pockets of feminist and left-wing campaigners in anti-gender movements globally, usually they are not key players.¹⁰

Anti-gender conservatives and gender-critical feminists both oppose what they describe as ‘gender ideology’, but from very different positions. Conservatives uphold ‘traditional’ gender norms, advocating for sex ‘complementarity’ (i.e., distinct roles and identities for men and women) and blame changing gender roles for a range of social ills. Whereas gender critical feminists view ‘gender identity’ as reinforcing stereotypes of what men and women should be (i.e., women as ‘feminine’ and men as ‘masculine’). They worry that ‘gender ideology’ encourages ‘masculine’ women and girls, particularly lesbians, to become men, and ‘feminine’ men and boys to become women instead of accepting a range of expressions and sexualities. Gender critical feminists also argue that shifts to replace ‘sex’ categories with ‘gender’ will hamper efforts to collect ‘accurate’ data on equality measures, such as unequal pay, crime rates and health—despite the fact that both ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ categories can be fraught with challenges in data collection (Collier & Cowan, 2022). Fundamentally, gender critical feminists see trans rights as a threat to women’s equality and gay rights, whereas conservatives generally oppose gender and sexual equality altogether. While there can be overlaps (see for example discussions of feminist fascisms in Lewis & Seresin, 2022; and reports by the Trans Safety Nework, such as Clarke & Moore, 2021), conservative and feminist motivations tend to diverge.

A fourth key difference is anti-trans politics in Britain defy conventional left-right divisions. Gender critical perspectives in Britain cross multiple constituencies as well as political and partisan lines (GATE, 2022). For example, there are gender critical sub-groups within every major political party across Britain (i.e., Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green, and Scottish Nationalist Party)—with the exception of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru—and those on the left are amongst the most prominent organisers.¹¹

These distinctions between the British gender critical and the global anti-gender movements are not insignificant. Such differences pose challenges for developing effective counter strategies—not least of all because gender critical feminists appeal to left-wing and liberal audiences as much as right-wing ones. Strategies designed to push back against right-wing politics can backfire when applied to left-wing campaigners. “No platforming” tactics, for example, first used against fascist speakers, have not been especially successful when applied to gender critical feminists. In some cases, these tactics have brought gender critical voices far greater platforms, media attention and public sympathy than they would have had otherwise.¹²

Mapping the cross-political character of gender critical politics

In addition to acknowledging differences between anti-gender and gender critical politics, it is important to recognise divergences within the British gender-critical movement. Despite a tendency among commentators to treat gender-critical advocates as broadly similar (oscillating between branding them all ‘TERFS’ on the one hand, or right-wing, neo-fascists on the other), these campaigners occupy a range of political positions. For example, while there are right-wing women organising under the banner of gender-critical politics, for the most part they are not feminists (and therefore not ‘TERFS’). Perhaps most well-known is Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, (aka Posie Parker) who set up the organisation Standing for Women, famous for posting billboards that state: “woman = adult human female”). Keen-Minshull routinely uses the language of women’s rights in her campaigning but has repeatedly stated that she is not a feminist, and publicly argues that feminism is bad for women; she has well documented links with the far-right and neo-Nazi groups.¹³

There are vocal anti-trans Conservative members of the UK parliament (like former Prime Minister Liz Truss and former Home Secretary Priti Patel) who will describe themselves as feminists at a push,¹⁴ but only so far as to endorse a form of ‘girlboss’ feminism that aims to put women in positions of power in government and business. Other vocal gender-critical Conservative MPs, like Women & Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch or former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, appear to eschew the label of feminist.

Conversely, many of the leading gender-critical women’s groups in Britain—including those who are undertaking significant lobbying and policy work—come from left feminist positions. A Woman’s Place UK, for example, a key gender-critical group established in 2017, was set up by trade unionists and other left feminists. It explicitly describes itself as left-wing and has supporters from a range of left-groups, including the longstanding anti-violence organisation, Southall Black Sisters (Southall Black Sisters, 2020). These feminists generally position themselves as ‘pro-women’ rather than ‘anti-trans’ (Thurlow, 2022).

There are also a range of ‘non-partisan’ gender-critical women’s groups, such as Fair Play for Women, For Women Scotland, and Sex Matters, comprised of members across the political spectrum.¹⁵ Gender-critical campaigners also include groups of lesbians, gays and bisexuals who seek separate organising from trans communities (e.g., LGB Alliance)¹⁶ including those who publicly eschew both left and right politics (e.g., Get the L Out).¹⁷ There are also a few trans people who advocate gender critical politics and are regularly given media platforms to argue against trans rights.¹⁸

Notably, gender-critical feminists and lesbians appear to be a minority perspective in Britain. Opinion polls show that cisgender¹⁹ lesbians and bisexual women are amongst the most trans inclusive in Britain (Smith, 2023). Likewise, many newly formed gender-critical groups were established to counter the more pervasive trans-inclusive politics of longstanding feminist and women’s organisation in the UK.²⁰ Yet despite being a minority view, gender-critical feminists are highly influential in media and on law and policy (Michaeli & Fischler, 2021, p. 110).

Gender-critical campaigning is more firmly rooted in England than in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As women’s sector organisations in Scotland have noted: “England is palpably an outlier within the UK, in terms of the prevalence of gender-critical feminism, and the UK is an outlier in global terms” (Engender et al., 2019). Notably, Irish feminists across the island have actively rejected attempts by English campaigners to bring gender-critical politics across the border, critiquing it as a form imperialism (The Abortion Rights Campaign, Anti-Racism Network Ireland, Bi + Ireland, 2018).

These differences matter, not only for accurately mapping gender-critical politics, but for developing effective counter-strategies. For example, gender-critical feminists appear to be divided on whether to collaborate with right-wing groups, with some actively distancing themselves from the right and others calling for strategic alliances.²¹ These divisions open up potential pressure points. These distinctions also suggest that ‘one-size-fits-all’ counter approaches may be less effective than tactics and strategies that address the specific concerns and motivations of different strands.

Safety concerns linking left and right

While gender-critical campaigning in Britain comprises divergent groups, interests and positions, there are common threads linking left and right. Key among these are safety claims. Gender-critical campaigners across the political spectrum, including conservative and feminist, routinely argue that trans rights and ‘gender ideology’ endanger non-trans women and children. These safety arguments, amplified by news and social media, have fuelled the rise of the gender-critical movement (Horbury & Yao, 2020; Lamble, 2023; Pearce et al., 2020; Turnbull-Dugarte & McMillan, 2023). Such safety claims are manifest in efforts to exclude trans women from women’s refuges, prisons, and sports; restrict gender-based data collection; and limit young people’s access to gender affirming health care, education, and support services.

However, these safety claims are articulated differently between left and right, and resonate distinctively depending on whether they come from conservatives or feminists. Gender-critical feminists, including high profile figures like author J.K. Rowling, often leverage their experiences as survivors of gender and sexual violence to legitimise their anti-trans positions (Gwenffrewi, 2022; Serisier, 2020; Phipps, 2020). Such assertions are commonly employed in gender-critical campaign materials, social media commentaries and fundraising efforts. Channelling concerns about gender-based violence into anti-trans politics has proven highly effective, especially in drawing in new gender critical supporters who might otherwise be sympathetic to trans rights (Lamble, forthcoming). Many gender-critical supporters, for example, describe being initially supportive of trans rights, but then changing their stance in response to safety concerns. Many also connect their personal experiences of trauma and abuse with their gender-critical politics (see for example, Phillimore & Peters, 2022).²²

It is not surprising that support for gender-critical politics is mobilised in this way. British news and social media have repeatedly portrayed trans women as a potential risk to other women—escalated by rampant misinformation (Lamble, 2023, forthcoming). The mobilisation of fear is made worse by gender-critical campaigners referring to trans women as men, denying the very possibility of changing sex, and claiming that trans inclusive policies are allowing men to enter women’s spaces. Concerns about gender-based violence must also be situated within a wider social context where survivors’ experiences and needs are still routinely dismissed and downplayed, and where services for survivors are consistently under-resourced. In conditions of fearmongering and resource scarcity, trans people provide a convenient target to blame for wider problems.

Nevertheless, dismissing these safety concerns as little more than right-wing bigotry is unlikely to be politically effective, and may in fact generate further backlash. While such safety concerns are clearly misdirected—there is no credible empirical evidence that trans rights pose a threat to women²³—such sentiments frequently stem from wider concerns about gender-based violence that do warrant attention. Addressing these fears requires responses that are attentive to the positionalities and politics of those expressing them.

Conclusion

In offering this brief sketch of the gender-critical movement in Britain, this commentary has cautioned against making overly simplistic or unvariegated accounts of the groups and players that are driving anti-trans politics. Echoing analyses of trans exclusionary feminisms elsewhere, it suggests that developing effective counter strategies requires attention to the differences within and across that movement (Cabral Grinspan et al., 2023; Platero, 2023). There are relevant distinctions between groups that actively hold right-wing, neo-fascist worldviews, those who overlap on specific issues, and those that opportunistically appropriate each other’s rhetoric (Córdoba Vivas, 2023). While some feminists actively collaborate with right-wing factions, others refuse, even as their own actions contribute to conservative agendas, intentionally or not (Siddiqui, 2021). Some gender-critical campaigners accept funding from conservative sources, while others do not. All these tendencies can bolster right wing anti-gender politics, but they do so in varied ways, with different target audiences and different consequences, necessitating tailored counter strategies.

In Who’s afraid of gender?, Butler argues that appealing to facts and rational rebuttals alone are unlikely to successfully counter anti-gender politics. Butler calls instead for an alternative vision that can challenge the frame of gender as dangerous ideology. Butler invites us to consider: “How do we develop a counter-imaginary strong enough to expose [the anti-gender] ruse, scatter its force, and stop the efforts at censorship, distortion, and reactionary politics that it empowers? It is up to us to produce a compelling counter-vision, one that would affirm the rights and freedoms of embodied life that we can, and should, protect”(Butler, 2024, p. 9). Butler’s assertion is promising. Crafting such a vision, however, demands clarity on the divergent groups, perspectives, and motivations behind different strands of gender-critical and anti-gender politics. It requires a political reckoning that at times may be fraught, particularly for feminists, lesbians, queers, and leftists confronting anti-trans and racist tendencies that emerge from within our ranks rather than from outside. Confronting these tendances and the divergent motivations driving them remains an urgent and necessary task.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (RF-2023-640\8).

Notes on contributors

Sarah Lamble

Sarah Lamble is Professor of Criminology & Queer Theory at Birkbeck, University of London. Lamble’s research addresses issues of gender, sexuality, and punishment, as well as alternative forms of justice. Lamble is currently researching the safety politics of the ‘gender wars’ in Britain. Other research and publications are available at: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/profile/8008210/sarah-lamble

Notes

1 Advocates of gender critical beliefs assert that sex is binary and immutable and should not be conflated with gender. Many view gender as a harmful concept. Gender critical feminists reject trans-inclusive feminism and argue that in most law and policy matters, trans people should be treated according to their sex as recorded at birth, rather than their gender identity, even if their sex has been legally and/or medically changed. For a genealogy of the term ‘gender critical’, see Thurlow (2022).

2 In addition to blocking reforms to the Gender Recognition Act in England, Wales and Scotland, gender critical campaigners have gained ground in shifting equality law guidance, restricting young people’s access to health care and limiting trans women’s access to women spaces and services.

3 For example, the British Social Attitudes survey has shown a 23-point decline in support for trans rights between 2019 and 2023. See Clery (2023) A liberalisation in attitudes?, September 2023. National Centre for Social Research. Available at: https://natcen.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/BSA%2040%20Moral%20issues.pdf (accessed 27 October 2023).

4 See the 2023 report of the UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, available from: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/sexualorientation/statements/eom-statement-UK-IE-SOGI-2023-05-10.pdf.

5 For a summary, see ILGA-Europe (2024) Annual Review of the Human rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia. Brussels: ILGA-Europe. Available at: https://www.ilga-europe.org/files/uploads/2024/02/2024_full_annual_review.pdf.

6 One notable exception in the US is the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), a feminist group which opposes ‘gender ideology’. Wolf describes itself as ‘non-partisan’ and explicitly states that it “shares goals with both conservatives and liberals…[and is] willing to work with individuals and organizations representing almost all political belief systems to achieve common interests” WoLF (2024) Our commitment to non-partisan work – Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF). Available at: https://womensliberationfront.org/nonpartisan-commitment (accessed 2 May 2024).

7 The proposed reforms aimed to update the 2004 Gender Recognition Act in line with best practice internationally. The reforms would have removed medical and bureaucratic barriers – widely recognised as unnecessary and pathologizing – when acquiring a legal change of gender. However the reforms were abandoned in England and Wales in 2020. In Scotland, reforms were passed but then constitutionally blocked by the UK government in 2023.

8 For a discussion of ideological overlap between Christian and feminist anti-trans politics see: Morgan (2023) Evangelicals, Feminists, and the ‘Unlikely’ Discursive Alliance at the Heart of British Transphobia. DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies 10(2): 49–64.

9 Many gender critical campaigners regard the term “TERF” to be slur, though others have reclaimed it. The term was originally coined to distinguish between radical feminists who were trans inclusive and those who were trans exclusionary. See Smythe (2018) I’m credited with having coined the word ‘Terf’. Here’s how it happened. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened.; see also Thurlow (2022). From TERF to gender critical: A telling genealogy? Sexualities 0(0): 13634607221107827.

10 For discussions of gender critical feminist organising across a range of contexts, see the 2023 special issue of DiGeST: Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies on the topic of “Varieties of TERFness” https://www.digest.ugent.be/issue/25700/info/. See also Gusmeroli (2023) Is gender-critical feminism feeding the neo-conservative anti-gender rhetoric? Snapshots from the Italian public debate. Journal of Lesbian Studies. DOI: 10.1080/10894160.2023.2184908. 1-18.

11 See for example the Labour Party Women’s Declaration Group (https://archive.ph/wip/TbIZ4); Liberal Voice for Women (Liberal Democrats) (https://archive.ph/WhWy3); Green Women’s Declaration (https://archive.ph/WKUT8); Scottish National Party Women’s Pledge (https://archive.ph/Ox6Cd); and Conservatives for Women (https://archive.ph/mPsbt). In Wales there are gender critical groups but no specific subgroup of Plaid Cymru.

12 Perhaps most famously, Philosophy Professor Kathleen Stock was largely unknown outside of academic circles until there were organised campaigns against her. She admits that the media responses to these campaigns have given her a far greater platform than she would have otherwise. See for example, https://unherd.com/2021/11/kathleen-stock-i-wont-be-silenced/.

13 See for example, Posie Parker: ‘To Protect Women’s Rights, We Must Abandon Feminism’ Maiden Mother Matriarch, YouTube, 9 May 2023, Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxBXNQZOR80; see also Elliards X (2023) Who is Posie Parker? The anti-trans founder of Standing for Women. The National (online). Available at: https://www.thenational.scot/news/23299549.posie-parker-anti-trans-founder-standing-women/(accessed 27 Oct 2023).

14 On Patel, for example, see: Joseph D (2020) ‘I do consider myself a feminist’, Priti Patel tells GLAMOUR, as she announces FGM campaigner Nimco Ali as an independent government advisor for tackling violence against women and girls. Glamour Magazine, 9 October. Available at: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/priti-patel-i-do-consider-myself-a-feminist-interview-2020 (accessed 18 May 224). on Truss, see: https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1179372175960281089

15 Fair Play for Women (https://archive.ph/xTqbu); For Women Scotland (https://archive.ph/wip/Hvou3), Transgender Trend (https://archive.ph/wip/F90p0) and Sex Matters (https://sex-matters.org/about-us/) all explicitly describe themselves as non-partisan and/or having no political, ideological or religious affiliation.

16 See Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance: https://archive.ph/iqXvT

17 Get the L Out UK, a group of ‘lesbian radical feminists’ formed to oppose trans activism, states on its website that it is opposed to ‘any kind of misogynistic politics and systems that prioritise men’s interests’ including ‘right-wing politics and left-wing politics.’ See: https://archive.ph/jjWHn

18 See for example, Debbie Hayton, who argues against recognising trans women as women, lobbies against gender affirming health care, and endorses discredited theories like autogynephila: https://debbiehayton.com/(for a counter, see: Serano (2020) Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative ‘embodiment fantasies’ model. The Sociological Review 68(4): 763-778.

19 ‘Cisgender’ refers to people whose gender identity broadly aligns with their sex assigned at birth, namely non-trans people. The term is contested, particularly by gender critical feminists but also by others. Nevertheless it can be a useful shorthand.

20 For example, gender critical organisations For Women Scotland, and Women & Girls Scotland, were established because existing women’s groups in Scotland are trans inclusive. See Pedersen (2022) ‘They’ve got an absolute army of women behind them’: The Formation of a Women’s Cooperative Constellation in Contemporary Scotland. Scottish Affairs 31(1): 1-20.

21 See for example, the debate between Julie Bindel and Helen Joyce, hosted by UnHerd (8 December 202): https://youtu.be/Ctcm4cS6NvA?si=P-AsJXph0lzmCvFO . See Women’s Place UK’s statement on Kellie Jay-Keen: https://womansplaceuk.org/2022/06/22/womans-place-and-posie-parker/.

22 This self-published collection features more than 100 first person ‘origin stories’ of how individuals became committed to gender critical politics. It includes a range of accounts, but many connect their personal experiences of trauma and abuse with their gender critical politics, Phillimore and Peters (2022) Transpositions: Personal journeys into gender criticism. P&P Publishing.

23 Gender critical campaigners often draw on anecdotal cases to support their claims but jurisdictions that have passed trans inclusive laws and policies have not generated such problems. See Anarte (2022) Do trans self-ID laws harm women? Argentina could have answers. Openly News. Available at: https://www.openlynews.com/i/?id=21757767-4909-4844-922f-41903ff042f8 (accessed 26 August 2023), Serano (2021) Transgender People, Bathrooms, and Sexual Predators: What the data say. Available at: https://juliaserano.medium.com/transgender-people-bathrooms-and-sexual-predators-what-the-data-say-2f31ae2a7c06 (accessed 26 August 2023), Hasenbush A, Flores AR and Herman JL (2019) Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Laws in Public Accommodations: a Review of Evidence Regarding Safety and Privacy in Public Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Changing Rooms. Sexuality Research and Social Policy 16(1): 70–83, Schilt and Westbrook (2015) Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics. Contexts 14(3): 26–31.