Yep, I completely see this. In fact, this was part of the point I was making in my recent article that you commented on (though, on reflection, I probably didn't make it clearly enough).

If we stop arguing about whether we should redefine the word "woman" to include males, and simply acknowledge that trans women are trans women, we can focus on legislation that protects trans women without getting bogged down by semantics. The meaning of the term "trans woman" is not in dispute by anybody.

Making trans women legally identical to women is aways going to be a hard "no" for some people. But it's not about removing trans people from society, at least in most cases, it's about the obfuscation of meaningful differences. That's why, for example, Lia Thomas finds herself at the centre of this culture war.

Lia herself hasn't done anything wrong. I truly feel for the attacks she's faced. But the majority of people will look at what's happened in her case and say "wait a minute, this clearly isn't fair." And as a former athlete who supports trans people, I agree. Again, this has nothing to do with the removal of trans people from society. It's the desire to be inclusive butting up against certain biological realities.

The question is, does it make sense to be arguing about Lia Thomas' right to compete against female athletes when, as you say, their are issues of material safety for trans people to be discussed? I feel like this push to claim that women (as we've defined them for millennia) and trans women are identical, will only lead to pushback against the trans community.