Life long learning - keeping up with the politics

I love being a life long learner. Yesterday I got a great lesson on TERF's.

 ( Wait the explanation is coming if you too were unfamiliar with the term. )

This came about as I got asked "would I let radical feminists remain in the party if they disagreed with TRANS rights ? "

It was in a forum situation with a limited time to respond. I am not transphobic. I am familiar with and empathetic to those  compelled to undertake gender re-orientation. This takes courage and determination. I celebrate the diversity of humanity, and I believe that my party is a party of inclusion. But expelling people from the party for their views on trans politics: now that threw me a very unexpected curved ball.

 I had blundered into unfamiliar territory. I'm grateful for the first aid that was administered as members of The Greens quickly leapt in to give me a rapid introduction about the TERF Wars!! Thanks to Evan, Jordanna, and Erin my eyes were firmly opened by the end of the day. 

TERF (/ˈtɜːrf/) is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008,^[1] the term originally applied to the minority^[2] of feminists espousing sentiments that other feminists considered transphobic, such as the rejection of the assertion that trans women are women, the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, and opposition to transgender rights legislation. The meaning has since expanded to refer more broadly to people with trans-exclusionary views who may have no involvement with radical feminism. Wikipedia

Whilst dealing with extreme natural disasters in my community for the past three years I had missed that our trans people were suffering at the hands of an organised movement wanting to exclude them. 

Now that I have been educated into what a TERF really is - my answer would be unequivocally NO.  I wouldn't support racists, or homophobes, or disability discriminators to take away humans rights from minority groups. I would not support the suppression of trans rights in the Greens by anyone.

When we uphold human rights and support people, we will end up with a much better party.