God, I hear this over and over again on so many issues. It's absolutely horrifying how many people feel unable to speak for fear of losing their job or being ostracised. This fact alone should terrify people.

And, of course, it's for precisely this reason that the highly educated women I referenced in the article claim they can't define a word that not only defines them, but that they use all the time.

The question of how trans people know is tricky. I'm not trans, so I can't even give my personal perspective, but I treat this question as one that basically doesn't matter. How does somebody know they're in love? Is it the same feeling as everybody else who's ever been in love? I doubt it. I firmly believe that trans people should be able to live their lives in whatever way feels authentic to them. The only exception is when the way they want to live impacts the rights and safety of another vulnerable group.

In these situations, an open, honest conversation is necessary where people aren't scared to lose their job if they say what they think. Then a compromise can be found. What I find so troubling, at least about much online trans activism, is that there is zero interest in compromise or in the boundaries and safety of women. The only thing that seems satisfactory to these activists is that any man who says he’s a woman is unquestioningly granted access to female only spaces. I think this completely unacceptable.

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