In late March an American journalist wondered on Twitter why the “UK elite” contains more “Terfs” (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) than those of the US or Canada. “The answer is Mumsnet, I believe,” the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat responded. Not for the first time, the British parenting forum went viral on social media.
On Mumsnet’s “Feminism: Sex and Gender” discussion board, where much of the conversation on trans identity takes place, users were unimpressed by a group of American “beardy bros” exchanging theories about British feminism. “Do they ever even for a second think we have different opinions to them for a good reason, rather than being brainless, hate-filled crones?” asked one user. “So many men sad that women have a place (and space) to talk,” suggested another. A few wrote, however, that it was indeed thanks to Mumsnet that they had started to take an interest in trans issues: it was on here that they’d first encountered the argument that gender self-identification provisions threaten women-only spaces, such as bathrooms, refuges and prisons.
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