I believe that women are adult human females, and that womanhood is rooted in biological sex and the shared experiences that come with being female. These include growing up as a girl, living in a female body, and navigating the social and physical realities that women uniquely face. These experiences create a form of understanding and relatability among women that cannot be fully shared by people who were not born female. I respect transgender women as people and acknowledge that they can empathize with women’s struggles. However, empathy is not the same as lived experience. Trans women did not grow up as female, and therefore cannot fully relate to womanhood in the same way women relate to each other.
I do not see being a transgender woman as something negative or shameful. “Trans woman” is a real and valid identity, with its own experiences and community. Recognizing this difference does not mean exclusion or disrespect, it simply acknowledges reality. Different identities can coexist without one erasing the other.
My discomfort comes not from hatred, but from the feeling that women’s sex-based identity and experiences are being redefined or overridden. I believe it is possible to support the dignity and safety of transgender people while still maintaining clear, sex-based definitions of womanhood.
Respect does not require denying biological reality, and inclusion should not require women to give up the language that describes their own lived experiences.
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