Advertisement
The fall of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court has taken place have sparked more heated discussions about women’s bodies, but they affect a broader spectrum of people than just cisgender women.
Bette Midler expressed her displeasure with language that includes all people who can become pregnant instead of simplifying the definition for women.
Her comments echo those of Macy Gray and JK Rowling, who have been accused of being transphobic, in suggesting that women other than cisgender do not belong to the same classification.
While Midler, Gray, and Rowling have all expressed support for the women’s rights movement, it was not intersectional.
What is a TERF?:And why is Harry Potter author JK Rowling referred to as one?
Bette Midler said transinclusive language will “wipe out” women.
“WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being deprived of our rights to our bodies, our lives and even our names! They no longer call us “women”; They call us ‘birth people’ or ‘menstruators’ and even ‘people with vaginas,'” Midler tweeted Monday.
The Hocus Pocus star added, “Don’t get wiped out! Every person on earth owes you one!”
Midler enforced the “rigid binary‘ said critics.
“Don’t fall for the fake anti-trans panic nonsense. Nobody erases women‘ replied Irish drag queen and gay rights activist Panti Bliss. “In some small healthcare cases, they may use trans-inclusive language. That’s all.”
Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay added: “Nobody is trying to erase women with inclusive language about people who need abortion treatment. No one calls you anything other than what you prefer. You should do that courtesy in return.”
They gave birth to their children and love them.:And they want to remind you that “not all pregnant women are women.”
Macy Gray told Piers Morgan gender-affirming surgery doesn’t make you a woman.
Gray and Piers Morgan discussed trans women competing in women’s sports on Monday’s show Uncensored. “I’ll say that and everyone will hate me, but as a woman, just because you change your parts doesn’t make you a woman, sorry,” the “I Try” singer said. “I know it exactly.”
She continued, “If you want me to call you her, I will because that’s what you want, but that doesn’t make you a woman.”
Gray expressed that the “unique experience” she had as a little girl shaped her femininity, a belief she feels is necessary to calling anyone a woman.
In a tweet, she said: “There is no greater admirer (of) the LGBT community” as they. “It takes real balls to be honest about who you are.”
“‘Woman’ is a title you earn and become, just like ‘man,'” Gray continued. “There are a lot of women who aren’t women yet, and every girl gets that.”
Rowling, who has also faced controversy over trans exclusionary language when discussing women’s rights, endorsed Gray on Twitter. “Today feels like a good day to make sure I’ve purchased @MacyGraysLife’s entire back catalog,” wrote the Harry Potter author.
Stars spoke out in favor of abortion rights:It has Roe v. Wade not rescued. what was the point
Why Bette Midler and Macy Gray’s comments are considered transphobic
Laws have only recently begun to include gender-neutral language, Trystan Reese, an educator and consultant who trains medical professionals on LGBTQ inclusion, told USA TODAY in May 2021.
Several bills enacted in 2019 use gender-neutral language. And the pandemic has prompted some states to critically review health care-related laws and update terminology, Reese said.
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, did not use gender-neutral language but outlawed sex discrimination, which the Obama administration interpreted broadly. In April 2021, the Biden administration announced it would reverse Trump-era policies and once again protect transgender people from sex discrimination in healthcare.
Inclusive language, especially in healthcare, enables people outside of cisgender women to get the right treatment they need — including during pregnancy and abortion.
Both Midler and Gray’s narrower definition of women and who should benefit from women’s rights is transphobic because of the real-world consequences it has on a person’s ability to survive.
More:Dave Chappelle declines naming of honor after student “The Closer” genuinely hurt me.
What is a TERF?
Rowling, Midler, and Gray have been labeled TERFs for their comments distinguishing who belongs to womanhood.
TERF is an acronym that stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. The term describes feminists who are transphobic.
While some people labeled TERF say the word is derogatory, LGBTQ advocates say those who hold such views deny transgender people their full humanity and go against what the medical community now considers scientific Fact regarding sex and gender accepted.
TERF views “deny the validity of transgender people and transgender identities,” Sarah McBride, national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, told USA TODAY.
McBride noted that these views are opposed not only by most US feminists and supporters of LGBTQ rights, but also by the mainstream medical community.
GLAAD responds:Ricky Gervais faces backlash over transgender jokes in new Netflix special
Featuring: Ryan W Miller, Hannah Yasharoff, Grace Hauck
