35% in the UK

 

There is a fascinating new poll out--it's from the UK. 35% of adults polled do not know that a "transwoman" was born male. They believe the term indicates someone born a woman who wishes to be a man. An additional 5% stated they did not know what the term meant. So that means about 40% of adults in the UK do not understand what is meant by the term "transwoman."

It seems to me that this has immense ramifications, especially for public policy. If there is a debate over whether transwomen should be able to access women's restrooms, hospital wards, shelters, and prison units, then the fact that 40% believe transwomen are biologically female means the debate is incomprehensible to almost half the audience.

Ironically, it was the 25-34 age group that had the worst level of understanding--45% did not correctly understand the term. One commentator asked if the confusion was intended.

This confusion also, apparently, extends to self-description:

"A census bungle could have 'significantly' increased estimates for the number of transgender people, experts have warned. Figures released from the huge survey earlier this year suggested that 262,000 residents of England and Wales were trans. However, the statistics regulator is looking at the figures again after academics pointed out that the highest figures were in areas of London such as Newham - where English is often a second language.

"Michael Biggs, associate professor in sociology at the University of Oxford, told The Times it did not seem 'plausible' that one in 67 Muslims was trans. He pointed out that instead of posing a question such as 'Are you transgender?', the ONS asked: 'Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?' Prof Biggs said the wording was chosen after consultation with LGBT lobby groups, but might have bewildered people who had a shaky grasp of English.

'I'm 99 per cent sure that the misinterpretation has had a significant impact in inflating the numbers,' he added. He said statisticians 'never thought about how a Bangladeshi grandmother or a Hungarian plumber will think about this question'."

Well, yes. Turns out there is terrible confusion about what these terms means, so much so that many people for whom English is a second language are indicating on a census that they are trans!

Perhaps, then, one of the most important things we can do is emphasize the true meaning of these terms. We need to indicate that a transwoman was born male, and a transman was born female. Only when everyone understands what these terms mean can we have a true understanding of how people feel about efforts to allow transwomen access to sports, restrooms, prisons, shelters, etc.

Even the UK's Labour Party has undertaken a profound U-turn in respect to the issue. It now says that a woman is an "adult female," and that it will protect single-sex spaces. It took years for them to make this transition, and the Party's leading figures have still not apologized for ostracizing Labour MPs, predominantly feminists, who did not agree with self-id.

I think the tide is slowly turning, but many institutions have been captured behind the scenes. We are still seeing outbreaks of insanity, such as this and this. Those would not be possible without embedded pockets of recalcitrance.

But more and more, people are catching on, I think. I came across this saying on the internet today, and thought it was an important sign of the times:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amen to that!