#trans womxn

[beyond-mogai-pride-flags]

MTF Trans Woman Pride Flag

MTF/M2F: male to female.

Trans: a modality for anyone experiencing a gender/sex identity that differs from the one in their birth assignment.

[labrysfemme]

a few days ago our tra teacher used the word woman in a sentence and proceeded to tell the whole lecture hall that ‘you should spell womxn with an x by the way. because trans women and nonbinary identities are included’.

i know i’m certainly not the first one who’s heard something similar said in an academic setting. now my question is, have you ever heard anyone say we should spell men as mxn? or men*? or is it just women who are expected to include anyone and everyone in our social class, from males in feminine clothes to regular males who just use they/them pronouns? i am so tired.

[archie-the-menace]

PSA to straight and/or cis people:

ADDING A RANDOM “X” TO SHIT DOESN’T MAKE IT GENDER NEUTRAL. STOP.

[itsalmostavengers]

Okay I’m thinking about starting an argument at work but I want to know if I’m standing in the right corner. What does everyone think of using the word ‘womxn’

[sirenium]

I'm a trans woman but in a 'I am so trans that every gender I experience is through a trans lens. Saying I'm just a woman wouldn't be accurate at all; without the trans prefix my womanhood is cancelled out and overshadowed even more by the other parts of my gender' kind of way, ya know?

Edit: this wasn't meant to other trans women and I apologize if it came off that way dkjdbd.

[softbutchvodkasoup]

If imm not a womxn why do none of the men I work with listen to me when I call in problems to dispatch?? Checkmate radfems.

[gynoidgearhead]

More reasons this is shitty:

As a survivor of domestic abuse by a cis woman ex-metamour with anger issues and terrifying driving habits, which culminated in an attempted kidnapping in a motor vehicle, I must cosign the statement that women are not inherently safer than men.

If the idea is that you will always be paired with a safe driver, the answer to that is to start a goddamn traditional taxi service with vetted and certified drivers - you know, the precise thing Uber and Lyft were created to destroy, making everything worse.

The entire idea of "women plus" as a political category literally lays the groundwork for viewing trans women's womanhood as less than cis women's womanhood.

You literally cannot create the category of "women plus" without necessarily implying the existence of "men plus".

Or maybe "men minus"? The imagery of the phrase "women plus" has some deeply weird connotations, and seems to imply a scarcity or endangerment of masculinity as the hordes of "women plus" "encroach" on "men's territory". Like, "men minus" sounds like a category designed to "fortify" masculinity by purging "insufficient men". I think it's pretty obvious why that's patriarchal.

Hey uhh Lyft what the fuck

[nothorses]

I am once again begging people to stop replacing the word "women" with "fems" like it makes your shit "inclusive". it's just "womxn" 2.0. you do not know what you're talking about. talk to more trans people immediately.

[costaldeanzuelos]

🌈 @thereskateboards & @unityskateboarding 💕 // Dos compañías relativamente nuevas que han forjado un espacio en la cultura del skateboard que está motivado por la inclusión y el discurso progresivo relacionado con los problemas de marginación dentro del skateboard. Provenientes de Oakland, California, han reunido un equipo que ejemplifica este mensaje, compuesto predominantemente por skaters trans, womxn y queer. A pesar del énfasis en los skaters LGBTQIA+ dentro del equipo, no es exclusivo y es un faro para todxs, tal y como debería ser el skateboarding ❤️‍🔥 La cultura del Skateboarding está en casa! #111161 #skateboarding #trans #womxn #queer #skatecolombia #thereskateboards #inclusion #unityskateboarding #amor #costaldeanzuelos #skatecolombiano #skatebogota #skatedellin #skatecali #skateisfun (en Bogotá, Colombia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmriHEFOAAB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[erotetica]

Fuck Trump, here’s all the civil rights orgs I know:

(Most have education pages and/or socials to follow and boost if u can’t donate right now)

LGBTQ+

Trevor Project—queer crisis hotline/counseling (NOTE THAT THEY CALL POLICE IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS)

List of Crisis Hotlines/etc compiled by Inclusive Therapists .com which DON’T CALL POLICE

Point of Pride—helps trans folks having trouble accessing gender affirming healthcare

Trans Lifeline—community support/resources/financial aid for trans folks

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

National Network of Abortion Funds—financial assistance/transport/childcare for people in ban states seeking abortions.

Brigid Alliance—same

Sister Song—reproductive justice for WOC

Indigenous Women Rising—helps Indigenous families access abortions/menstrual hygiene/midwifery/etc

Afiya Center—reproductive justice/HIV care for Black womxn in Texas

Abortion access orgs for Americans in the

Midwest

South

Appalachia (they also offer free emergency contraception/support services/etc)

RACIAL JUSTICE

NYU Law Center on Race Inequality—self-education resources on racism & antiblackness/how to contact elected officials/how to protest safely.

List of orgs protecting Black Americans, compiled by NYU (incl NAACP, Audre Lorde Project, BLM, Black Voters Matter, etc)

National Immigration Law Center—fighting for asylum seeking/DACA; helping immigrants access healthcare/worker’s rights/etc

American Civil Liberties Union—working on many intersectional initiatives

Southern Poverty Law Center—same

GLOBAL AID (While we Americans wait for shoes to start dropping, let’s not forget others in need, and that Trump’s atrocious foreign policies will affect everyone!)

World Central Kitchen—hunger relief

Action Against Hunger—same

War Child—supports and educates children in conflict zones, like Yemen and DRC

Medecins Sans Frontieres— medical aid

Islamic Relief USA—emergency aid

PALESTINIAN AID

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund— medical aid for kids

Anera— emergency relief & long-term development resources for Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan

United Nations Relief and Works Agency—aid for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon/Syria/West Bank/Gaza/Jordan

Palestine Red Crescent Society—medical aid

SUDANESE AID

List of humanitarian orgs working in Sudan, compiled by 500 Words Magazine

CONGOLESE AID

Panzi Foundation—supports assault survivors & their families

Eastern Congo Initiative—supports ands funds local/community-based Congolese efforts

Please reblog, & add any legitimate humanitarian organizations you know of! I love all of you!!

[this-is-exorsexism]

this is exorsexism.

how is "women+" any different from "women*" or "womxn" or the many other variations of this? why come up with yet another term to forcibly include us in IWD and womanhood as a whole? if it's truly inclusive of nonbinary people, why still only call women by name? if it's about "anyone who doesn't identify as a man", why not just say that instead of centring women? and if it's supposed to include nonbinary people but not people who identify as men, what about nonbinary men?

also, if i see "women+" in the wild, how am i supposed to know who it's meant to include? like women* or womxn, it's very vague and unclear whether it's meant to include women and nonbinary people, women and all trans people, anyone oppressed by the patriarchy, or, like i've seen womxn or women* used before, anyone with a uterus. whichever option it is, it's forcing a lot of trans people back into womanhood and misgendering us.

"women+" doesn't make sense the way LGBTQ+ does. "women" is a single group of people, and it doesn't follow a pattern so we can determine who is included in the +. LGBTQ+ follows a pattern of listing genders and orientations that are rejected by cisheteronormativity, it's obvious to most people who is included in the +. then there's also terms like bi+, which includes bi people and people with similar orientations, i.e. anyone else attracted to multiple genders. if we applied that logic to women+, it would include anyone else with similar genders, basically still calling all nonbinary people women-lite.

apparently saying "nonbinary people aren't women lite" is no longer enough, we also need to start saying "we're not women plus" too.

[demilypyro]

The original intent of womxn is the same as latinx (rather than Latino or Latina)

It’s just a way to be more inclusive of women and trans women. Shorthand. Just everyone who identifies as a woman.

It’s kind of just a way to signal you aren’t a TERF.

Obviously it’s the internet so you’ll get some people who use it in a different way but that’s the broad common understanding of it.

See half these responses are saying it means you're not a terf and the other are saying it's a terf dogwhistle so like. What is the truth

[seraphic-sapphic-safehaven]

Dear Cis People,

Stop saying "folx." Stop saying "womxn" and "mxn." Stop saying "Latinx." Stop trying to be gender inclusive like this and attempting to make words gender neutral in the worst way possible.

Stop adding an "X" to words that are already inclusive of everyone, such as "folks"!

Stop adding "X" to words that don't need it because, newsflash, nonbinary people ARE NOT binary trans people! We are not binary men and women. We have terms like AFAB and AMAB to use instead of forcibly being lumped together with binary men and women! You wanna talk about women and AFAB enbies? SAY THAT! You wanna talk about men and AMAB enbies? SAY THAT! But please stop including us all together all the time!

Stop anglicizing languages like Spanish to make them gender neutral when there are better options, like saying "LatinE" or "Latin." And options like using an "E" instead of an "X" to neutralize gendered terms! Stop using an X when it literally doesn't make sense and is hard to pronounce anyway!

I get it; some of you wanna be inclusive of everyone. But this ain't it. It really is not. This isn't helping anyone and is so unnecessary. It is performative and, honestly, racist and transphobic/enbyphobic, whether it's intended or not. Please stop!! And PLEASE talk to actual nonbinary people on how to be gender inclusive towards us instead!!

[drdemonprince]

How can I better explain to people why it’s not helpful to say the phrase, “women and femmes”? In 99% of context I just correct and say- just say people who experience misogyny if that’s what you mean bc that’s not helpful. I feel like I struggle with a concise way to explain it and as a non-binary femme I feel weird being lumped in with women for everything. Thank you!!!

"Women and femmes" implies nonbinary and trans people must be 'feminine' in order to be in need of community inclusion

It centers women as the primary class being catered to and included, which usually in practice means cis women are defaulted to and everyone else is overlooked

It implies that the reason gender minorities are oppressed has something to do with their femininity, when in reality butch people and GNC nonbinary folks face their own struggles and are subject to violence just as much

It completely excludes trans masc people, who are also gender minorities and may be in need of inclusion but are being completely misgendered by this kind of language

Many trans femme people recognize this term as a dogwhistle that signals they will not be welcome and haven't been thought of; the people who use the term "women and femmes" are almost invariably cis women, and if nonbinary people and trans mascs are being that heavily excluded by the language, then the problems are gonna be even worse for them

A lot of people who are femme actually aren't included in events branded this way, because the organizers (again, largely cis women) perceive them based on their bodies as "men", no matter how they present

This essay of mine is about the term "womxn" (which...I'm seeing a lot less of lately? win..?) but really all of the same applies:

[dear-indies]

Hi & thank you for your help! I’m looking for a female faceclaim between the ages of 24-34 that has more of an edgy, badass, almost vampiric vibe to her rather than something cutesy.

FKA twigs (1988) African-Jamaican / White, possibly Egyptian - showed up for Mustafa's Artists for Aid Concert in London (Sudan and Gaza).

JuJu Chan (1989) Hongkonger - in Wu Assassins and Fistful of Vengeance.

Úrsula Corberó (1989) - in Money Heist and Snake Eyes.

Rina Sawayama (1990) Japanese - is bisexual and pansexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Damaris Lewis (1990) Afro-Kittian - in Titans.

Sarah Kameela Impey (1991) Indo-Guyanese / White - in We are Lady Parts - has spoken up for Palestine!

Ruby Soho (1991)

Melisa Aslı Pamuk (1991) Turkish - has spoken up for Palestine!

Shotzi Blackheart (1992) Filipino and White.

Hari Nef (1992) Ashkenazi Jewish - is a trans woman - has spoken up for Palestine!

Abadon (1992)

Jessica Henwick (1992) Chinese Singaporean / White - in The Matrix.

Sky Ferreira (1992) Ojibwe, Cree, Chippewa Cree, Cheyenne, Brazilian of Portuguese and possibly other descent, Galician Jewish, Bukovina Jewish, White - singer and actress - has Chronic Lyme Disease.

Deb Never (1993) Korean - is gay.

Pınar Deniz (1993) Turkish [Lebanese] - has spoken up for Palestine!

Mina El Hammani (1993) Moroccan - has spoken up for Palestine!

Taylor Momsen (1993)

Jordan Alexander (1993) African-American and White - has spoken up for Palestine!

Mia Khalifa (1993) Lebanese - is bisexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Zheani (1993)

Devery Jacobs (1993) Mohawk - is queer - has spoken up for Palestine!

Slick Woods (1993) African-American - is bisexual.

Dani Miller (1994)

Natasha Liu Bordizzo (1994) Chinese / White - in Ahsoka.

Lyrica Okano (1994) Japanese - in The Runaways.

Emma Dumont (1994) - in The Gifted.

Lily Sullivan (1994) - in Romper Stomper and Evil Dead Rise.

Coty Camacho (1995) Mixtec and Zapotec - is pansexual.

Kehlani (1995) Filipino, African-American, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Choctaw, Mexican, White - is a non-binary womxn and a lesbian (she/they) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Sasha Calle (1995) Colombian.

Adeline Rudolph (1995) Korean / German - in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Resident Evil.

Heather Baron-Gracie (1995)

Tati Gabrielle (1996) African-American, ¼ Korean.

Jasmine Sokko (1996) Chinese Singaporean.

Ruth Codd (1996) - is an amputee.

Emma Mackey (1996) - in Sex Education.

Rhea Ripley (1996)

Lauren Jauregui (1996) Cuban [Spanish, possibly other], likely some Basque - is bisexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Mei Pang (1996) Malaysian-Chinese.

Kiana Ledé (1997) African-American, Swedish, Mexican, Cherokee - has spoken up for Palestine!

070 Shake (1997) Dominican - doesn’t like to put labels on her sexuality - has spoken up for Palestine!

Blair Lamora (1997) Ojibwe and Argentinian.

Sierra McCormick (1997)

Juliette Motamed (1997) Iranian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Ethel Cain (1998) - is a bisexual and trans woman - has spoken up for Palestine!

Andy Blossom (1998) Chinese.

Doechii (1998) African-American - is bisexual.

Brianne Tju (1998) Chinese / Indonesian.

Lauren Tsai (1998) Taiwanese / White.

Kenna Sharp (1999) - is a lesbian - ha spoken up for Palestine!

Baby Storme (2000) African-American.

Hope this helps!

[coochiequeens]

In their promotional materials, HER even began using the term “womxn” to be more inclusive of those who felt “woman” was an offensive term.“

Boasting 1.5 million users in 55 countries, HER is undeniably the largest and most recognizable lesbian dating app on the market. While debatable now, it appears to have been created with the best of intentions. The app’s founder, Robyn Exton, said she first set out to design an app that wasn’t just a female version of Grindr. 

However, over the last few years, HER has become less of a platform for lesbians to mingle and more of a case study in the contagion of gender identity ideology and how it uniquely harms the lesbian community. 

Launched in 2015 under the premise of being a female-run lesbian space, HER went through a subtle rebrand in 2018 in an effort to profit from the burgeoning trends of “queerness” and “inclusivity” — terms which had gained popularity from the social justice bloggers of Tumblr and into mainstream discourse. HER, which had ostensibly been designed exclusively for female users, began to add more “categories” and “identities” so it could attract a base that included trans-identified individuals, particularly men. In their promotional materials, HER even began using the term “womxn” to be more inclusive of those who felt “woman” was an offensive term.

Exton gave an interview at the time calling the queer community “amazing” and celebrating the fact that queerness was causing people to “question, challenge, and think about their identity.” But, what started with a spark of “inclusion” turned into a wildfire of compulsion.

On Exton’s app, there was a flood of men who identified as lesbian who felt welcomed to use HER as their new mating grounds. All the while, lesbians and bisexual women who were only interested in dating females were not provided any option to filter out these men from their searches.

Over the short years following, HER began mutating into an entity that was openly hostile to its lesbian users in an effort to signal its dedication to inclusivity. 

Without the ability to filter out men, who could pick any identity they liked on the app, some female users took it upon themselves to signify that they were only interested in other women by adding it to their bio or including a photo with logos that signified exclusive same-sex attraction.

These women found themselves quite literally forced off the app.

Jen, a lesbian user known on Twitter as @cbucksrules, told Reduxx was suspended after adding “no trans women” to her bio on HER because she was exclusively same-sex attracted.

Jen had joined HER in late 2021 looking for a female partner and assuming a lesbian dating app would be the place to go for such an endeavor. Finding a veritable smorgasbord of 5 o’clock shadows and head tilts, Jen attempted to ensure she would only be contacted by other female users.

“I [wrote] in my bio what I would not consider the opposite sex as a partner nor a woman who was not a proud woman as we would not be compatible.” 

Shortly after, Jen was suspended. She wrote to HER’s customer service and asked why, and received a snarky response from an agent named “Devin” berating her for using “hateful language” in her bio, and asserting “trans women are women.”

Jen was incredulous. 

“HER banned me, a lesbian for being a lesbian and not wanting sexual and romantic relationships with the opposite sex,” she told Reduxx.

But Jen’s experience is far from isolated.

Another woman, a vocal woman’s rights advocate known by her moniker DJ Lippy, told Reduxx that she had been suspended from using HER after she uploaded a photograph to her profile featuring a sign that displayed the dictionary definition of woman as an “adult human female.” Many trans-identified males reject the definition of woman as it excludes them as they are not female.

“You can pick any gender identity and sexuality you wish and exclude any you choose… just as long as it isn’t male,” DJ Lippy remarked to Reduxx. “It’s like opening an all you can eat vegan buffet but sneaking salami into all the dishes. When you complain, they kick you out and call you a pork exclusionary radical vegan.”

Another lesbian women’s rights campaigner, Aja, told Reduxx that she was suspended after adding that she was “only interested in biological women” to her profile as she says she had been receiving regular messages from male users who identified as lesbian.

“I was messaged by lots of blokes who I ignored … so I added ‘I’m only interested in biological women’ to my profile and added a picture where I was wearing my ‘adult human female’ t-shirt. Not sure how long it took them to ban me but they did,” Aja says.

Academic and feminist author Holly Lawford-Smith also had a similar experience using the app. In her bio, she wrote that she was only interested in matching with other lesbians and was suspended as a result.

When she reached out to customer service, they advised her that she had been reported for “transphobic” behavior.

The customer service representative, Samantha, went on to inform Holly that it is against their community guidelines to list who you were not interested in matching with, and also compared a lesbian not wanting to mingle with men to a lesbian excluding masculine women.

Speaking with Reduxx, Holly said: “Everything about the app is designed to force gender identity ideology onto the people using the app. You can’t choose a sex, only a gender identity. You’re pushed towards entering pronouns. You can’t filter out males. You constantly have to swipe past men.”

She added: “It’s incredibly sad that an app designed to bring same-sex attracted women together has now been completely infiltrated by, and has completely sold out to, men.” 

Other lesbians on social media have expressed similar experienced about being banned from the app for stating that they were exclusively attracted to females.

Even as lesbian users continue to express disappointment in the fact that a lesbian dating app appears to be forcing female users to match with males, HER has continuously doubled down.

Last year, the app announced that it was taking a hard-line stance on so-called “transphobic language and behavior” by adding “improved TERF controls” which made it easier for male users to report female users for being same-sex attracted.

They also surveyed their trans-identified users and asked them what their biggest “hurdles” to dating on the app was. The number one reason given was “trans-exclusionary dating preferences.” Many women expressed outrage that their sexual boundaries were being framed as a “hurdle” that needed to be overcome. But this is hardly the first time homosexual females have been branded as “discriminatory” for not including delusional men in their dating pools.

The HER saga reached a fever pitch, however, over the past few days as it decided to celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week by explicitly attacking and cyberbullying lesbian women who refuse to date trans-identified males on their official Twitter.

In what can only be described as an unhinged tirade, HER’s social media manager used the company’s Twitter to engage in targeted harassment against women. During their episode, they defended a child molester, sexually harassed women, encouraged doxxing, and made a strange comment about feeding gender-critical crabs to trans-identified males. The social media rampage resulted in the company being temporarily suspended from Twitter.

The incident began when HER quote retweeted DJ Lippy, a user who had previously been banned from their app, who had been remarking on how a trans-identified convicted pedophile had taken the name of a feminist activist after he transitioned. Despite the fact HER had not been mentioned in the original comment from DJ Lippy, the app’s official social media page appeared to have sought out her remarks about the pedophile, and responded with an incoherent, sexualized comment mocking the original user.

“Can the TERFs not afford knitting supplies? Somebody start a GoFundMe, left their gaping assholes catch a cold,” HER wrote.

Immediately, they garnered backlash, with people outraged that they appeared to be starting an argument because a user had criticized the actions of a notorious pedophile.

As they started to get criticism, they continued to post bizarre remarks, including that they “must stay young for pedos.”

As more lesbian users came to DJ Lippy’s defense, the user at the helm of the HER Twitter account began sexually harassing lesbians who criticized them.

The overtly homophobic and sexualized nature of the replies led to many on Twitter to speculate that a man was behind the account, with others still so perplexed by the lack of professionalism that they theorized the account had been hacked.

But, after being suspended from Twitter for repeated instances of harassment, HER took to TikTok to inform people that they didn’t care about the suspension and that no one was going to be disciplined for the abusive tweets. Their account has since been reinstated on Twitter.

On April 26, recognized as Lesbian Visibility Day, HER’s founder published a blog post saying that it was her goal to reclaim the word ‘lesbian’ from those who say that “only those assigned female at birth can be lesbians.” After a barrage of insults aimed at lesbians where she calls them transphobic, bigoted, hateful, and even fascist, Exton ends the screed by stating, “There’s no such thing as a real lesbian.”

Oh, how the mighty fall. Robyn Exton, a woman who designed the app in 2015 with the seemingly heartfelt mission of creating a space for female homosexuals, denying the existence of the very base she once tried to serve.

As nonsensical as that might seem at first glance, we must remember that Exton is a businesswoman, and her strategy of booting clientele who are exclusive allows her to expand her potential customer base significantly. 

She has no vested interest in stating that lesbians are a specific, definable group of people who actually exist. Doing so would only limit her app’s potential market. It wouldn’t be a far stretch to assume she has has no interest in excluding males from the app, either, as men are much more likely to spend money on a dating app.

HER has chosen their marketing strategy: to make the app as appealing to men as possible, then bully, harass and ban any woman who does not accept their new clientele’s presence. They released two notifications this week alone asserting “transphobes” are not welcome on the app. 

These notifications were celebrated online by trans-identified males who call themselves lesbians. 

“As a trans lesbian it feels good knowing HER has my back,” one man wrote on the Reddit board r/actuallesbian, a community that is known to have a 47%user overlap with the male-to-female board.

But while HER has been boasting about their trans-inclusivity to the seal-clapping of trans-identified males, even some liberal women have been grappling with how to approach using the app if they are genuinely same-sex attracted. On Instagram, one woman left a comment stating that some women only want to have a sexual relationship with someone of the same sex. 

She clarified that she wasn’t trying to be a “TERF,” lest she be labelled “transphobic.”

HER responded by telling her to “just swipe left” and went on to explain that she needed to reflect on why her sexuality isn’t “inclusive.” Perhaps most disturbingly, they told her she was welcome to use the app only so long as she kept the specifics of her sexual attraction “to herself.”

HER is effectively telling lesbians to stay in the closet about their homosexuality in order to avoid alienating male users. The company continuously promotes the importance of consent whilst viewing women’s sexual boundaries as an obstacle that needs to be either overcome or hidden. 

The rebranding of the app from a lesbian dating app to a queer dating app sends a clear message: sexual coercion is in, and sexual boundaries are out. Consent is important, but the reason you’re saying ‘no’ is wrong. You can be a lesbian, but keep it to yourself or you may scare off porn-addled male customers. 

The confusing, undulating messaging that borders on gaslighting is the point. It is reflective of how gender ideology operates in general, where blind compliance and devotion is prioritized above common sense. And, of course, all of the compliance and devotion is intended to herd people into a machine of sociopathic profit seeking that benefits a select few.

I have no use for HER, and my lesbian friends have long since figured out to steer clear of it. My concern is for those young lesbian women desperate to avoid accusations of “bigotry” who are now being unwittingly forced into a digital conversion therapy camp — all so Robyn Exton can make a few extra dollars from men in skirts. 

Maybe I will launch my own lesbian dating app. I’ll call it HIM to keep the men away.

By Shay Woulahan

Shay is a writer and social media content creator for Reduxx. She is a proud lesbian activist and feminist who lives in Northern Ireland with her partner and their four-legged, fluffy friends