Personally, I'm inclined toward agreeing with this take on the matter because I'm the resident "terf" here. I don't get the phenom of gender identity, which is because I don't buy into the notion that "gender" is a real thing. In other words, I don't know what it even means to "feel female". That whole notion to me seems like a load of bullshit and the more I read about it, the more convinced I become that it is bullshit.
I freely admit to not knowing any trans-identified people offline personally and that that could very well be a factor in my persuasion. I'll also concede to being influenced by a woman I know who de-transitioned because she found gender identity to be bullshit too. And furthermore, I won't kid anyone here: personally, I find it kind of insulting that society takes such issue with cultural appropriation when it comes to everything from as serious as blackface down to matters as unserious as hairstyles and twerking, but somehow manages to find the idea of men going around claiming to actually be women and making an entire lifestyle of that totally unobjectionable and in fact offensive to criticize. Maybe I just lack the right kind of sensitivity and the fullest information that's available, but just being straightforward here about the impact of this stuff viscerally on me.
But look, all this said, I've got nothing against trans people as people. I don't dislike such persons and in fact have trans-identified friends online. (And yes, they're aware of my opinions.) I'm inclined to live and let live. But there is a movement of people out here who clearly don't feel the same way and that's where we really start running into problems.
J.K. Rowling is trying to craft out a nuanced position here that recognizes gender identity, but in a way that also acknowledges the socio-political significance of biological sex. I'm not sure that's a tenable position. I don't think the transgender movement will permit her any nuance on this subject. You either have to go along with their entire program of sex-neutralizing everything, all spaces, institutions, language, everything, or you're a bigot in their eyes. Women cannot have privacy rights or be in any way sheltered from "male-bodied persons", be it in contact sports, shelters for battered women, or even in prisons as far as the transgender movement is concerned. Women's privacy and safety has to be completely sacrificed on all levels on the alter of politeness. Neither, for that matter, can anyone de-transition, or necessarily even just be lesbian (as in not sexually attracted to penises) for that matter to be in the clear with this movement. THAT belligerent attitude is why us "terfs" exist.
Were there any room, any socially acceptable space, for the J.K. Rowlings of the world to have their nuanced views, their concerns for the sex-based rights of women in addition to the safety and well-being of trans people...if women were allowed to embrace complex views like those of J.K. Rowling without being labeled "terfs" or transphobes or what have you...I don't think many feminists would continue to care about people's pronoun preferences. But that's not the world we live in, is it?
