A left-wing writer on a website devoted to “sex, abortion, parenthood, and power,” is encouraging readers to confront Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists — or TERFS — during Thanksgiving gatherings, including physical confrontation.
The article states:
So what can you do if there’s a TERF at your Thanksgiving table? We’ve got some ideas. Throw the turkey at them. If you do not have the upper-body strength to throw the turkey, you can opt for something slightly easier to lift like a handful of mashed potatoes or some stuffing. A pie also works, and offers an added comedic effect.
“You bear no obligation to sit quietly and politely as someone spews hatred simply because it’s the holidays and you’re supposed to get along like family,” a caption in the article says, even as it spews its own hatred:
At Rewire News Group, we hope you’re able to safely enjoy the holiday away from toxic relatives, but we also know that might not be possible. Toxic relatives come in many forms: the Trump supporter, the devil’s advocate, the COVID-19 denier. There’s also the TERF: the trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
TERFs are transphobes who wrongly believe transgender women are not women, and they think feminists shouldn’t include trans women in their advocacy. But the reality is that trans women are women, and you cannot separate feminism from advocacy for trans rights. Feminism that does not include trans people is just bigotry dressed up to look like something else.
Sometimes TERFyness is loud and obnoxious in its bigotry, tweeting away about how trans women are dangerous and letting them privately pee in a stall next to a cis women is akin to letting Ted Bundy into a women’s locker room—truly unhinged stuff. You’ll often find TERFs on Twitter yelling about young people’s genitals or some other completely invasive and inappropriate thing that would have them banished from Earth if it was about young cis people.
The author offers other tactics for addressing “toxic relatives.”
“Ignoring them works; so does repeating everything they say back to them in a mocking tone. Think: What would your most annoying little cousin do?” the article says.
It should be noted that the “TERF” term is widely regarded as a slur by transgender activists who claim women who are trying to preserve women’s rights and private spaces from the men who claim to be transgender.
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