Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"The ongoing moral panic about trans folk & bathrooms is emboldening men to attack women in bathrooms. The *debate itself* is making public toilets less safe for *all* women.

"Women (cis&trans) should have the right to pee in safety without
what is becoming dangerous scrutiny.

"In case you missed it, the woman attacked is a lesbian cis woman. This is important. Cis lesbians are literally being put at risk of violence from cis men, because of anti-trans rhetoric that claims to be on the side of cis women in general & cis lesbians in particular

"it bears repeating: it is anti-trans rhetoric that is putting cis women at risk; particularly those who don't present particularly feminine.

"It is anti-trans rhetoric making lesbians LESS safe.

"It is anti-trans rhetoric enforcing old fashioned notions of femininity"

-- Emmeline May (@EmmelineMayRDPP), 2019-01-10, citing another Twitter thread about a cis lesbian ("sporty, not butch" presentation) being followed into a public restroom by a man who beat on the stall door, yelling and accusing her of being trans. In the last tweet of that thread there is this: "She said that she's in the process of growing her hair out for the first time since she was a teen, and I quote verbatim here, that it 'feels like I'm being forced back in the closet.'"

The next time the debate comes up again about whether the T really belongs in LBGTQ (because it always comes back eventually), consider this: not only was Stonewall led by trans women, but it's nigh impossible to separate society's homophobia from its transphobia, and anti-trans rhetoric, policies, and violence inevitably spill over onto cis queer people, and vice versa. It's all wrapped up together, so we need to stick together to oppose the hate.