Editing Transphobia (section)

==In feminism==
{{See also|Feminist views on transgender topics|Trans-exclusionary radical feminism}}

Some positions within feminism have been considered transphobic. This may include criticism of [[Transitioning (transgender)|transitioning]] or [[sex reassignment surgery]] (SRS) as a personal choice or medical invention, or the position that trans women are not women in a literal sense and should not be allowed access to women-only spaces.<ref name="Goldberg"/> Some [[second-wave feminist]]s perceive trans men and women respectively as "traitors" and "infiltrators" to womanhood.<ref name="Erickson-Schroth 2014">{{cite book |last1=Erickson-Schroth |first1=Laura |title=Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community |date=12 May 2014 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0199325351 |pages=568–569 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ef1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA568|quote="Some feminists have perceived transmasculine people as traitors—that is, as women who identify politically with men. When inclusive of trans men, these feminists have often gendered them as women. Conversely, these feminists have tended to perceive transfeminine people as infiltrators of womanhood and of women's space. Many commentators refer to feminists who think in these ways as 'trans-exclusionary radical feminists' (TERFs).&nbsp;...'The fetishistic (often infantalizing) embrace of trans men by lesbian communities is ungendering, othering, and transphobic.'"}}</ref>

[[Second-wave feminist]] and activist [[Gloria Steinem]] expressed concerns in 1977 about transsexuality and SRS, writing that in many cases, transsexuals "surgically mutilate their own bodies."<ref name="Steinem-OutrageousActs"/>{{rp|227}} She concluded that "feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism."<ref name="Steinem-OutrageousActs"/>{{rp|228}} For some years, this led to Steinem being characterized as transphobic.<ref name="bm-trans-exclusion-steinem"/> In 2013, she repudiated the interpretation of her text as an altogether condemnation of SRS, stating that her position was informed by accounts of [[gay men]] choosing to transition as a way of coping with societal [[homophobia]]. She added that she sees transgender people as living "authentic lives" that should be "celebrated".<ref name="advocate-steinem-oped"/>

[[Radical feminist]] [[Janice Raymond]]'s 1979 book, ''[[The Transsexual Empire]]'', was and is still controversial due to its unequivocal condemnation of transsexual surgeries.<ref name="Goldberg"/> In the book Raymond says, "All transsexuals rape women's bodies by reducing the real female form to an artifact, appropriating this body for themselves .... Transsexuals merely cut off the most obvious means of invading women, so that they seem non-invasive" and that trans people should be "morally mandated out of existence".<ref name="Raymond 1994"/>

Another site of conflict between feminists and [[trans women]] has been the [[Michigan Womyn's Music Festival]]. In the early 1990s, the festival ejected a transsexual woman, Nancy Burkholder.<ref name="vangelder"/> In 2014, the festival "passionately rejected" accusations that it believed transgender women are "less than" other women.<ref name="michfest-vogel"/> The activist group [[Camp Trans]] had protested the "womyn-born-womyn" intention and advocated for greater acceptance of trans women within the feminist community. The festival had considered allowing only post-operative trans women to attend, but this was criticized as [[classist]], as many trans women cannot afford sex reassignment surgery.<ref name="sreedhar-transforming-feminism"/>

Trans women such as [[Sandy Stone (artist)|Sandy Stone]] challenged the feminist conception of "biological woman". Stone worked as a sound engineer for [[Olivia Records]] from about 1974 to 1978, resigning as the controversy over a trans woman working for a lesbian-identified enterprise increased.<ref name="Goldberg-Stone"/> The debate continued in Raymond's book,<ref name="Raymond 1994"/> which devoted a chapter to criticism of "the transsexually constructed lesbian-feminist." Groups like [[Lesbian Organization of Toronto]] then voted to exclude trans lesbians.<ref name="ross1995"/> [[Sheila Jeffreys]] described "[[wikt:transgenderism|transgenderism]]" as "deeply problematic from a feminist perspective and [stated] that transsexualism should be seen as a violation of human rights."<ref name="jeffreys1997"/>

The work of [[poststructuralist]] feminist and lesbian [[Judith Butler]], particularly their books ''[[Gender Trouble]]'' (1990)<ref name="butler-1990" /> and ''Bodies That Matter'' (1993),<ref name="butler-1993" /> argues that the "violent inscription" of gender as a social construct on human bodies leads to violence against those who do not conform to such binaristic gender dichotomies.

Feminists who oppose the inclusion of trans women in women's spaces have been labeled "[[TERF]]s", short for "trans-exclusionary radical feminists".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/transgender-for-beginners-trans-terf-cis-and-safe-spaces-1.3769653 |date=26 January 2019 |title=Transgender for beginners: Trans, terf, cis and safe spaces|last=O'Connell|first=Jennifer|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref> Those at whom the term is directed, in turn, have perceived their labeling as "TERF" to be a [[pejorative|slur]].<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Michelle Goldberg|date=4 August 2014|title=What Is a Woman?|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2|magazine=The New Yorker|quote=TERF stands for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist." The term can be useful for making a distinction with radical feminists who do not share the same position, but those at whom it is directed consider it a slur. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201021115/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |archive-date= 1 December 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Vasquez, Tina|date=17 February 2014|title=It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women|work=[[Bitch Media]]|url=http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism|access-date=18 April 2014|quote=Drawing from that history, Brennan, fellow attorney Elizabeth Hungerford, and other modern-day feminists continue to actively question the inclusion of trans people in women's spaces. These feminists refer to themselves as "radical feminists" or "gender critical feminists." In 2008, trans women and trans advocates started referring to this group as "trans-exclusionary radical feminists" or TERFs, a term Brennan considers a slur. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522210335/http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-long-history-of-transgender-exclusion-from-feminism |archive-date= 22 May 2014}}</ref>