Trans-Exclusionary Feminisms and The Global New Right - Serena Bassi & Greta LaFleur

An unprecedented cultural alliance is underway between the anti-trans strand of the radical feminist movement and a new brand of militant right-wing politics that takes issue with the idea that gender is a social and cultural construction. This so-called "anti-gender" movement-which also travels under names such as "gender-critical feminism"-has found immense international power and is especially active in Latin America, continental Europe, and Russia, with different but no less pernicious strains revitalizing longtime trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) communities in England, Canada, the United States, and Australia. Contributors to this special issue consider what the global rise of trans-exclusionary politics and the envelopment of these politics into global right-wing movements might mean for changing understandings of transgender experience, science and medicine, and legal protections.

Topics include the emergence of TERF rhetoric in evangelical Christianity, the anti-gender misappropriation of postcolonial thought in Europe, rhetorical and ideological similarities between TERFism and Zionism, and media treatment of J. K. Rowling's hostility toward trans rights.