As A Rape Survivor, I Understand The Need For Safe Space Together – Free From Sexist Harassment And

As a rape survivor, I understand the need for safe space together – free from sexist harassment and potential violence. But fear of gender variance also can't be allowed to deceptively cloak itself as a women's safety issue. I can't think of a better example than my own, and my butch friends', first-hand experiences in public women's toilets. Of course women need to feel safe in a public restroom; that's a serious issue. So when a man walks in, women immediately examine the situation to see if the man looks flustered and embarrassed, or if he seems threatening; they draw on the skills they learned as young girls in this society to read body language for safety or danger.

Now, what happens when butches walk into the women's bathroom? Women nudge each other with elbows, or roll their eyes, and say mockingly, "Do you know which bathroom you're in?" Thats not how women behave when they really believe there's a man in the bathroom. This scenario is not about women's safety – its an example of gender-phobia.

And ask yourself, if you were in the women's bathroom, and there were two teenage drag queens putting on lipstick in front of the mirror, would you be in danger? If you called security or the cops, or forced those drag queens to use the men's room, would they be safe?

If the segregation of bathrooms is really about more than just genitals, then maybe the signs ought to read "Men" and "Sexually and Gender Oppressed," because we all need a safe place to go to the bathroom. Or even better, let's fight for clean individual bathrooms with signs on the doors that read "Restroom."

And defending the inclusion of transsexual sisters in women's space does not threaten the safety of any woman. The AIDS movement, for example, battled against the right-wing characterization of gay men as a "high-risk group." We won an understanding that there is no high-risk group – there are high-risk behaviors. Therefore, creating safety in women's space means we have to define unsafe behavior – like racist behavior by white women towards women of color, or dangerous insensitivity to disabilities.

Transsexual sisters are not a Trojan horse trying to infiltrate women's space. There have always been transsexual women helping to build the women's movement – they are part of virtually every large gathering of women. They want to be welcomed into women's space for the same reason every woman does – to feel safe.

Leslie Feinberg, Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Marsha P. Johnson and Beyond

help.

ca$happ

v3nmo

k0fi

we have medical bills and grocery bills and homelessness to deal with. anything helps. we managed to rescue important items and afford to eat this month largely due to donations. please, share if you can. theres 5 of us now. i dont want my partners to have to go to a shelter if the landlords kick them out since theyre not on the lease and we can only have 4 residents. im getting paid barely enough to manage my own bills and almost couldnt make my share of rent.

we're all bunt out and i dont know how we'll manage september let alone the whole winter.

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garr-von-glongulus

5 months ago

every catgirl deserves a kiss on the head and a boop on the nose

Hello my supporting friends ! 🇵🇸🍉❤

I am motaz Mohammed , 22 yrs , a Palestinian youngman, from Gaza, seeking to save my 20 _ member family from the hell of the war by moving to a safe place till the gruesome war ends.

gofundme.com

Donate to Help my family survive the war on Gaza by fleeing to safety, organized by EHAB AYYAD

Hello my supporting friends ! ❤ I am Ehab Ayyad , 22 yrs , … EHAB AYYAD needs your support for Help my family survive the war on Gaza by

Our suffering and hardship started on 14th October, 2023 when my family was forcibly displaced from the north to the south under a life-threatening situation. As a result, our houses were completely destroyed and demolished, and our business accordingly went with the wind. Nothing has been left to be a source of livelihood. No shelters to house us nor a livelihood source to live on.

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A part of our daily sufferings to get the least of what we need. Imagine how you feel when you wait for at least four hours in queue .Things are the worst one has ever

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Every day we wake up to find things move from bad to worse. No sign is there for the war to end and this add to our unhappiness and miserable life. Despair and hopelessness have become new forms of our life as we are now homeless , displaced and jobless.

Please don't spare this moment of helping a family in bad need. You add happiness and hope to people who lost every single thing in their life. You can help us by donating whatever you can or by sharing my link to other generous donors.