Bitter, ferocious debate: Who gets to be a woman?
Both sides at the heart of the ferocious debate say they are polarised, utterly distressed and offended by their opponents.
Thursday 19 July 2018 11:29, UK
In the wake of the equal pay scandal, and the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns, the fight over what makes a woman seems particularly pertinent.
No one predicted the ferocious debate that would be sparked when the government announced a consultation to consider changes to the Gender Recognition Act of 2004.
The most serious point of contention is the right to self-identify as a woman - rather than go through the lengthy assessment and medical diagnosis currently required to obtain a recognition certificate and legally change your gender.
Elijah Harris, a transgender man, makes a compelling case for why the process should be simplified.
Although he had surgery to fully transition, Elijah hasn't bothered getting a gender recognition certificate because the process is so arduous.
"If you think about what someone has to go through after everything they've already been through, it seems old fashioned and quite sad," he said.
When we started researching this story, we had no idea of the depth of distress and anger we would encounter.
Initially, no one on either side was prepared to speak to us - scared of repercussions and reticent about being misrepresented in such a polarised debate.
Many transgender people refused to go on record alongside the feminist campaigners who they say deny their very existence.
Jess Bradley, the transgender officer for the National Union of Students, identifies as a non-binary woman and was one of the few trans women prepared to speak on camera.
She said her community feels under siege and is subject to abuse, which she says has risen sharply since the debate started.
"It's a hostile time, trans people are very scared... I know simply by doing this piece of media, I will be hounded on social media, it will have a real material impact on my life," she said.
"One of the things about the gender recognition debate is it's given licence to anti-trans activists using this is an excuse to debate our existence… in a way that has felt very violent.
"It feels extremely painful to have a group of people campaigning against your participation in everyday life."
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She is talking about the so called gender critical feminists. This is a group of women who are worried that the right to self-identify - essentially ticking a box to become a woman as they see it - is open to abuse, compromising female-only spaces and eroding women's rights.
We were shocked at the vitriol expressed online from both sides of this conflict.
The extremity of feeling and hatred appears to be making any kind of reasonable discussion around the subject seem impossible.
My first real experience of the feminists at the heart of this feud was at a meeting in Basingstoke run by a group called A Woman's Place, set up by women from across the country to discuss their concerns.
The majority of the women we met were ordinary, sensible and sympathetic individuals who were genuinely concerned about protecting the rights of women and girls.
They voiced concerns about men abusing self-identification to gain access to women's spaces such as refuges and prisons, and the need for women to feel safe and enjoy the rights they have fought so hard, and so long for.
They too were scared of repercussions and worried about the abuse they would face for flagging their concerns.
We travelled to another feminist meeting with Dr Heather Brunskell Evans, a writer and academic who was speaking at the event.
She said she was not against the proposed changes to the GRA in principle, but felt angry that free speech is being curtailed and women are being silenced with accusations of transphobia.
Dr Nicola Williams is another staunch feminist embroiled in the debate. She warns that a system which allows anyone to self-certify as women would be open to abuse, and that it would amount to an attack on women's rights.
But all the trans men and women we spoke to were at pains to stress that for them, there is nothing theoretical about this issue.
Far from theory, this is their reality. The misunderstanding and misinformation surrounding the GRA and self-identification makes everyday life even harder for a group of people already subject to prejudice and abuse.
They point out that the Equalities Act is the law that allows trans people to use the facilities appropriate to their preferred gender.
So for many years trans people have been using changing rooms, toilets and women's services such as rape centres - and there is no evidence to suggest that there has been any problem with this at all.
The British Social Attitudes Survey, an annual study of public beliefs carried out by NatCen, gave this year's findings on attitudes to transgender people exclusively to Sky News.
In general, the public seem to be liberal with 84% claiming not to be prejudiced at all against trans people.
They also found 72% of women said they are comfortable with a trans woman using a female public toilet, and 65% of men comfortable.
Those at the heart of this battle are polarised, utterly distressed and offended by the opposite side.
But this affects us all when it thrusts questions over gender, rights, and who gets to be a woman into the spotlight.