The anti-feminism of anti-trans feminism

On 4 February 2023, the Centre for Gender Studies as SOAS University of London in the United Kingdom spontaneously hosted a conference titled We are the feminisms in the lecture theatres (and in the streets). The event was put together within 10 days and speakers from London-based SOAS, University College London (UCL), London School of Economics and Cardiff University, Glasgow School of Arts as well as independent scholars promptly agreed to share their work and – as the subtitle to the conference promised – their understanding of feminisms as ‘intersectional, transnational and interconnected with fighting racism and hate against lesbians, trans + queer people’1 (CGS, 2023). The conference took place on the same day as another event, across the road from SOAS, at the UCL-based IOE. Under the title Education for women’s liberation,2 this conference hosted an arsenal of academic and activist speakers known for their essentialist views on women and sex, their discriminatory views and politics towards trans people and trans women in particular and for their various documented overlaps with conservative and far-right agendas.3 In this article,4 I want to take the SOAS event as a ground for pondering: How can we continue to imagine the political potentials of transfeminisms while also attending to a current political moment in which globally critical scholarship and activism on gender, sexuality, race and migration is under attack? These attacks come from a variety of actors, ranging from the far right including both the conservative mainstream and Christian fanatics to liberals or traditionally left-wing institutions like strands within socialist parties, trade unions and certain strands of feminism (Corrêa 2018). We are currently witnessing a supernational unification of far right, centrist and leftist agents using anti-gender, anti-feminist and transphobic mobilisations, populist affects and strategic disinformation as accelerators for hateful and anti-democratic agendas. Ultimately, this leads to a consolidation of the global shift to the right.