SOMETHING FOR TERFs TO CONSIDER REGARDING TRANSWOMEN.

I remember an advertisement where a woman was arguing with her onscreen husband and he sneeringly asked her if she had PMT. She snapped back at him, “No, I’m angry! If I had PMT, I’d take sunflower oil!” This is dismissive of the experiences of ciswomen and transmen, and many a man has given a dismissive look and joked about his female partner being touchy around that time of month.

For transwomen who have had female partners prior to transitioning, some have been so loving and caring and would give their female partners chamomile tea, analgesic pain relief, a hot water bottle and a belly rub. I remember with my long-ago ex-girlfriend, I rubbed her belly when she reached that time of month and was never dismissive of her pain. She, however, regarded me as a sook because I was so caring.

Many a cisgender man may feel embarrassed or uncomfortable if his female partner asks him to go to the shops to buy her a packet of tampons, but there are transwomen, prior to transition, who see it as no different to buying a bottle of milk.

I have seen a lot said about autistic females and being transgender, and many an autistic male is also not cisgender, and many of us, contrary to stereotypes, have caring natures and can empathise with women. And there are also plenty of autistic AMABs who transition, and we are the happiest we’ve ever been. What can create euphoria for some of us is that when we lived and presented as males, we were fish out of water, whereas when we live as females, we are authentic.

What some of them also need to remember is, some of us may be asexual, and some of us also may have a sexual orientation but be happier single, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And let’s not forget something else, when I was a kid, a gay couple lived next door to my maternal grandparents, and they wanted to show my mother and maternal grandmother their home decoration and the younger man called out to my father and grandfather, “Don’t worry, they’ll be safe as houses.” Some women have gay male friends, and they can confide in them, and they treat them like their girlfriends. So why not treat transwomen like women and let us live as our authentic selves. While it’s true that before you can love anybody else, you have to love yourself, for many transwomen, being able to love themselves as women is important, too.