In 2004, few were aware about men’s attempts to infiltrate women’s spaces via “trans identity.” While a debate had begun among feminists wanting to protect women-only spaces and trans-identified men and their allies, who insisted on accessing these spaces, the conversation was a long ways away from breaking into the mainstream.
In 1995, a man named Kimberly Nixon attempted to access a training group for women counseling victims of rape and domestic abuse at Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter (VRR), Canada’s longest standing women’s shelter. When refused, on account of a woman-only policy, Nixon filed a human rights complaint. While he won at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, VRR took the case to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and in December 2003, the Court decided that there was an error in judgement in the previous tribunal and determined that VRR was not guilty of discrimination based on the group’s right of freedom of association, and that they had the right to define their own membership, meaning, in this case, women only.
In 2004,
wrote about the case for The Guardian (with a good dose of humour), saying among many other things:I don't have a problem with men disposing of their genitals, but it does not make them women, in the same way that shoving a bit of vacuum hose down your 501s does not make you a man.
This straightforward cheek was the norm for feminists pushing back, back then, before we came to a place of having to explain basic biology as though the reproductive system is a huge mystery.
Germaine Greer had written an article in 1989 for The Independent that was equally as unapologetic, predicting exactly what was to come:
Knee-jerk etiquette demanded that I humour this gross parody of my sex by accepting him as female, even to the point of allowing him to come to the lavatory with me. Bureaucratic moves were afoot to give him and his kind the right to female identity, a female passport even…
The general populace, despite the evidence of their eyes and ears, will go along with this bluff.
It took many decades for the general population to catch on to what feminists had been warning of, and by then it was practically too late.
Transanity is upon us, and we have all been forced to twist ourselves into knots, fighting to say basic things, such as, “men aren’t women.”
Julie never once left the fight, despite being mostly alone in her push back in the media and journalistic world for many years, relentlessly attacked, harassed, and no-platformed.
Many newcomers to the issue demand to know where all the feminists are, asking how we let this happen, and even blaming feminism for the problem of transgenderism in the first place, telling women like myself and Julie we only have ourselves to blame.
To those people I say: we really could have used you all these years, when women were fighting alone to protect spaces like shelters and change rooms from men insisting their feelings and fashion choices granted them the right.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, learning from, and working with Julie for many years now. Her courage, journalistic integrity, and wit is ever-inspiring. I spoke with her this week about her history in the fight for women’s rights, the term “gender critical,” the debate raging about platforming autogynephiles, and the state of the fight against gender identity ideology today.
Julie Bindel: the OG journalist who fought trans insanity nearly alone for years