The word TERF, is not a slur, despite what TERF’s would have you believe. It is a statment of fact or a description of a person or persons who exclude Trans people. It is an accronym of Trans Exclusionary Raducal Feminists. When they and some others refer to trans people as trannies, transies or the like, that is an intended slur meant to hurt, harm, upset. Yes, there are some within the trans community who use the T word, but that’s their right, the same way some people in the black community use the N word. It would be totally unnacptable in most instances for me to use the N word, especially when referring to someone. Just saying the word isn’t racist, but how it’s used determines whether it is racist or not, that said, when I’m in the car listening to music (Kanye West springs to mind), I have no issue singing the N word fully, but as I’ve done throughout this blog post, I’ve steered clear of saying the actual word, and just saying “the N word”. I have to be on my guard where the T word is concerned though, as I am involved in the radio control model car scene, and we often refer to our controllers as “trannys”, which is short for transmitter, I tend to avoid saying it so as not to bring attention to it and say “radio gear” instead.
So, to all the radical feminists who exclude trans people, I am not trying to upset or offend you when I refer to you as a TERF, stop trying to upset or offend me by calling me a tranny, or dude, or a man or any of the other plethera of insulting words you can think of. If you know that you’re going to cause upset or offence in the words you use, don’t be an arsehole / asshole, show a modicum of respect for your fellow human beings.
