What's a TERF, anyway? Behind the Speak Up For Women debacle

Monday, 18 November 2019

A Canadian blogger banned from Twitter for hate speech will speak at an Auckland Council venue on Monday evening.

Speak Up for Women's Feminism 2020 event series has caused controversy in Auckland and Wellington over the past two months.

After Massey University pulled the plug on the Wellington event citing health and wellbeing concerns, the event was shifted to Parliament, where it went ahead on Friday.

The Auckland event was also forced to shift venues because of safety concerns, from Studio One Toi Tū on Ponsonby Rd to Western Springs Garden Community Hall. On Monday, a council spokeswoman said she wasn't aware of any planned protests.

* Massey University cancels Feminism 2020 event due to safety concerns

The Speak Up for Women event organisers say trans rights encroach on women's rights.

* Why I invited Meghan Murphy to speak in New Zealand**

WHAT IS SPEAK UP FOR WOMEN?

Speak Up For Women formed in 2018 in opposition to the government's proposal to allow people to self-identify their sex in the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill.

Stand Up For Women New Zealand's Ani O'Brien.

The bill, which has since been deferred, was set to amend the process of changing gender on birth certificates from a Family Court process to a self-declaration model, bringing birth certificates into line with drivers' licences and passports.

It also would have have introduced the option of an 'X' gender marker as well as 'M' and 'F' on a child's birth certificate.

The group has also campaigned against the inclusion of transgender women in women's sport.

They reject the term 'TERF', calling it a slur 'often used in violent contexts and directed at women'.

BUT WHAT IS A TERF?

Meghan Murphy, a Canadian feminist blogger who believes transgender rights endanger women, will speak in Auckland on Monday.

TERF stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist', but has expanded since it was coined in 2008 to include anyone with anti-trans views – whether or not they are radical feminists.

Whether or not it is a slur depends on who you speak to, but it's not just those with anti-trans views who reject the term.

The Economist banned the phrase from its articles and comments, saying that while it may have started as a descriptive term, it was 'now used to try to silence a vast swathe of opinions on trans issues, and sometimes to incite violence against women'.

Speak Up for Women's members maintain that they are not 'anti-trans', instead saying they exist to 'protect and advance the rights and interests of women and girls in New Zealand'.

The sticking point is that their definition of women does not include trans women.

WHO ARE THE SPEAKERS?

Meghan Murphy is a Canadian feminist blogger who believes transgender rights endanger women's rights.

She was permanently banned from Twitter for violating its hateful conduct terms with tweets misgendering trans people – for example, referring to a trans woman as a man.

She was a vocal opponent of Canada's self-ID sex bill and has also spoken out against the decriminalisation of prostitution.

Ani O'Brien is a spokeswoman for Speak Up for Women. She describes herself as a 'gender-critical radical feminist' and has written about discrimination against lesbians and argued against the inclusion of transgender women in women's sports.

Writing for Stuff on why she invited Murphy to speak in New Zealand, O'Brien said it was 'ridiculous to expect that we suddenly have more than two sexes and can in fact swap in and out of our sex just by self-identification'.