So on the website I found this gem:
A feminist future is only achievable if it includes everyone.
Surely this means they will welcome GC radfems with open arms!
Nope, no way, no how. I've had it with so many things, but right now the whole "defund the police" rhetoric can go fuck itself.
Sorry, without saying too much, some recent things have occurred where reducing law enforcement in a certain area was a BAD IDEA and the official communication for handling discussions is to not talk about law enforcement reduction, not talk about gang activity, and to also shut down anyone else from talking about these things as it is, and I quote, a "microagression".
Men are violent. Let other men with shiny badges keep that shit away from the rest of us.
Right up until they beat their wives and pistol-whip teenage girls. And traumatize and abuse rape victims, prostituted women and girls, etc. The cops are NOT here to protect us. They are organized crime with the full backing of the government. I'm not a defund the police advocate- I think there are good aspects of the police that could be expanded upon under massive reforms- but I think it's a great threat and I'm certainly not avoiding a Woman's March because they threw in a side-show issue on the cops. The cops are in no immediate danger of being defunded but we are in immediate danger of losing our reproductive rights.
Unfortunately my community has experienced immediate danger as a result of police force being reduced, so I do not share your sentiment.
Iām sorry to hear that! I know some cops do really good stuff- I have a friends who works as a Statie ina rural area and he basically rescues people whoās cars broke before they freeze. But when I lived in the city, the local cops were basically hired thugs. The area was gentrifying and the new rich people just paid the cops off to get rid of the locals. A bunch of teens of my era from local families got beaten, arrested on trumped up charges, jailed, had probation deals monkeyed with, had probation drug tests falsified (not their word in it- the woman falsifying wass caught a charged years later). After that experience I find it very hard to trust cops. I can protect myself fairly well from criminals. Itās the criminals with badges who scare me
As long as the language stays pro-woman and their stated goals for this march don't deviate into gender woo, I plan on attending. I don't expect to be on board with every member in any coalition.
Yup, I'm planning to attend with a 'TERF'y sign and shirt and they can kiss my fucking ass if they want to kick me out. I don't expect every single protestor to agree with what the "official" platform is and I think it's more important to show the numbers. I also plan to use the march as a 'safe' spot to meet up for the first time with a few women I've made contact with online.
Sadly, no. However, it is for the same reason I wonāt attend any March or protest. I have PTSD (chronic) and wonāt attend these kinds of events as any kind of violence towards me could result in permanent setbacks. Iām not sure if I support the March as a whole because of the defund the police idea. Plus, isnāt this the same group that said pussy hats are transphobic and racist?
Probably not. I'm not much of an activist type. If I did go, I'd want to voice my support for sex-based rights in some way.
I didn't know this was going on, and I don't know any other local feminist yet so I wouldn't feel comfortable. I do plan on going to protests in the future, but only those carefully organised by other women I really trust. I used to be one that said I'd never protest because I don't find it effective the way it's been done recently, but with everything going on I see the value in it if done well.
At least the staff don't have pronouns at the top of their bios (board members do, but all the ones I looked at were she's), and "trans women" are listed last among the 13 types of included women on the Mission and Princples page, so the organization doesn't seem completely repugnant. I did not attend the previous women's marches, because the goals were unclear, but this one seems clearly aimed at reproductive rights. So there's a good chance that I will go.
Iām not going into too much detail here bc itās a public post, but there are some great women organizing to make a visible TERF presence at a few locations. I wonāt be able to join them this time, but there are a few groups going in a couple major cities.
Iāll know by the end of the week if my local group has any plans to attend in the city near us. If it sounds like we are, Iāll join in.
I wish I knew any visibly terf groups around me. The loudest feminist group coalescing for this march where I am is very much into using "birthing person" and "oppose terf" language.
If youāre in the US, youāre welcome to start organizing with us. Perhaps you could join some of our actions. Look up @terfcollective on Twitter. We have zoom meetings a couple times a week (itās pretty safe, weāve gotten to know each other and have done a lot of non public organizing this way). We travel to other cities too, so depending where youāre located, you could likely join in with us. Many traveled the the PNW for an event a few weeks ago and now weāre seeing where else many of us can go. We have some fb groups, but as usual Iām on a 30 day ban so I couldnāt help you join them now. The woman who handles the Twitter account could, though. :)