Safe spaces for women isn’t about excluding trans-women. It’s about consent. For generations women have fought for consent, fought to be heard, fought to be respected.
A space that is designated as women only comes with an unwritten social agreement that only women will be in that space. By entering into a women’s only space a woman can expect to see only women. Women have consented to sharing a space with other women. A man entering into a women’s space breaks this social contract. They ignore the consent.
Entering into a unisex space has different terms and conditions. It’s understood that both men and women will be in the space. By entering a unisex space people have consented to this social contract.
That’s what it’s about. Unfortunately “passing privilege” is a thing. It’s how we work as humans. A lot of our socialising and threat assessment is based on sight, on what we see. A trans-woman who appears as a woman gets to enjoy women’s spaces because they appear not to break the social contract. I would argue that some spaces must be based on biological sex, but there are a lot of places that are based on appearance.
It’s about consent. Women entering a women only space have consented to such, women entering a unisex space have consented to such.
Consent has been fought for. Our predecessors fought for our right to feel safe, to have women only spaces, to have women’s voices heard.
A man, who is very clearly a man, who enters a women’s only space is completely ignoring the unwritten consent of the women in that space. It’s arrogant and misogynistic to brush aside women’s rights so that a man can peek into the female world.
A man who feels more comfortable in “feminine” clothing is still a man. Clothing does not make a woman. There is nothing wrong with dressing differently to gender stereotypes. Wishing to dress differently doesn’t mean someone is in the “wrong body”. This dangerous cult is eliminating tomboys and femboys, gays and lesbians. It sets society back generations by reinforcing gender stereotypes that are toxic.
We got to a point in society where people could dress however they wanted, could love whoever they wanted, be whoever they wanted and it was wonderful. It didn’t last long. A small group of people saw an opportunity. To enter into spaces previously off limits to them.