Editing Judith Butler (section)

===Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism===
[[File:Manifestantes protestam contra e a favor de filósofa Judith Butler em São Paulo (38245843701).jpg|thumb|left|Sign at [[São Paulo]] with Judith Butler's name. "{{lang|pt|destruir identidade sexual dos seus filhos}}" can be loosely translated as ''destroy sexual identity of your children'']]

Butler said in 2020 that [[trans-exclusionary radical feminism]] (TERF) is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen".<ref>{{cite news |title=Judith Butler on the culture wars, JK Rowling and living in "anti-intellectual times" |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/uncategorized/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times |access-date=17 November 2021 |work=New Statesman}}</ref> In 2021, drawing from [[Umberto Eco]] who understood "fascism" as "a beehive of contradictions",{{efn|Butler notes a 'contradiction': {{blockquote|... chromosomal and endocrinological differences complicate the binarism [''[[sic]]''] of sex ... [Nevertheless,] [t]he anti-gender advocates claim that "gender ideologists" deny the material differences between men and women, but their [the anti-gender advocates'] materialism quickly devolves ... .<ref name=WhyBacklash/>}}}} they noted that the term ''fascism'' "describes" the "anti-gender ideology". They cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with [[anti-gender movement]]s in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people.<ref name=WhyBacklash>{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Judith |title=Why is the idea of 'gender' provoking backlash the world over? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2021/oct/23/judith-butler-gender-ideology-backlash |work=The Guardian|access-date=17 November 2021|quote=Anti-gender movements[''sic''] ... insist that 'gender' is an imperialist construct, that it is an 'ideology' now being imposed on local cultures of the [[global south]], spuriously drawing on the language of [[liberation theology]] and [[decolonial]] rhetoric. Or, as the rightwing Italian group Pro Vita maintains, 'gender' intensifies the social effects of capitalism ... The anti-gender movement[sic] is not a conservative position with ... clear ... principles. No, as a fascist trend, it mobilizes a range of rhetorical strategies from across the political spectrum ... its incoherence is part of its power. ... [The anti-gender movement] mixes right[-wing] and left[-wing] discourses at will.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Judith Butler says the 'anti-gender ideology movement' is a dangerous 'fascist trend' |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/10/26/judith-butler-anti-gender-ideology/ |access-date=18 November 2021 |work=Pink News}}</ref> Butler also explored the issue in a 2019 paper in which they argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the [[Necropolitics#Queer and trans necropolitics|fascist structure]] and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."<ref name=Butler2019>{{cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=Judith |title=What Threat? The Campaign Against "Gender Ideology" |journal=Glocalism |date=2019 |volume=2019 |issue=3 |doi=10.12893/gjcpi.2019.3.1 |url=https://glocalismjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Butler_gjcpi_2019_3-1.pdf}}</ref> In 2023 Butler said, "the anti-gender ideology movement should be considered a [[neo-fascist]] phenomenon."<ref>{{cite web |title=Professor Judith Butler 'Who Is Afraid of Gender?' |date=June 7, 2023 |url=https://www.gender.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-judith-butler-who-afraid-gender-lecture-recording-now-available |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]] |access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref>

====''The Guardian'' interview====
On September 7, 2021, ''[[The Guardian]]'' published an interview<ref name="Guardian interview">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/sep/07/judith-butler-interview-gender |title=Judith Butler: 'We need to rethink the category of woman' |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 7, 2021 |accessdate=September 8, 2021 |last=Gleeson|first=Jules|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> with Butler by Jules Gleeson that included Butler's view of [[Feminist views on transgender topics#Gender-critical feminism and trans-exclusionary radical feminism|trans-exclusionary feminists]] (TERFs). In response to a question about the [[Wi Spa controversy]], the ''[[Press Gazette]]'' stated that Butler, in the ''Guardian'' article, said: "The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times."<ref>{{cite news|last=Mayhew|first=Freddy|url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/guardian-pulls-judith-butler-gender-interview/|title=Guardian pulls quotes from interview in which academic compared 'anti-gender ideology' to fascism|work=[[Press Gazette]]|location=London|date=September 8, 2021|access-date=September 10, 2021}}</ref> Within a few hours of publication, three paragraphs including this statement were removed, with a note explaining: "This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place."<ref name="Guardian censored">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-the-guardian-censored-judith-butler-on-terfs/ |title=Why The Guardian Censored Judith Butler on TERFs |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=September 8, 2021 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |author=Maiberg, Emanuel}}</ref>

''The Guardian'' was then accused of censoring Butler for having compared TERFs to fascists. British writer [[Roz Kaveney]] called it "a truly shocking moment of bigoted dishonesty," while British transgender activist and writer [[Juno Dawson]], among others, observed that ''The Guardian'' had inadvertently triggered the [[Streisand effect]]—an attempt to censor yields the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of a topic.<ref name="Guardian accused of censoring">{{cite web|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/09/08/judith-butler-guardian-interview-terf-trans/ |title=The Guardian accused of 'censoring' Judith Butler interview comparing TERFs to fascists: 'Cowards' |work=[[PinkNews]] |date=September 8, 2021 |accessdate=September 8, 2021 |author=Wakefield, Lily}}</ref> The next day, ''The Guardian'' acknowledged "a failure in our editorial standards".<ref name="Guardian censored"/>