60,000 cisgender women write powerful open letter in support of trans community: ‘We have had enough’

“Not in our Name” is the title of a collective of cisgender women who have written an open letter calling out the media and politicians for disseminating anti-trans rhetoric. 

In collaboration with the Good Law Project, the letter has so far been signed by more than 61,500 cisgender women, including high-profile figures such as Beverley Knight, Kate Nash and Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP.

To celebrate Transgender Awareness Week (13 to 19 November), one member of the collective, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke to PinkNews on behalf of the group about the letter’s purpose. 

‘It is a voice that is missing from the conversation’

She explains that its aim is to show that the majority of women stand with the trans community, while also serving as “a tangible way” to push against anti-trans rhetoric. It is signed exclusively by cisgender women – referring to those who are not trans – as the collective felt, “it is a voice that is missing from the conversation”. 

“We’re everyday people who fundamentally believe all humans should have access to certain spaces and be treated with dignity and respect.” 

She highlights that gender critics, or TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists), as their opponents often call them, wrongfully claim to speak on behalf of all cisgender women. 

“The women with the strongest views, who tend to be gender critical, have risen to the surface and become emblematic of what women think. But that is not us. 

“It’s not acceptable, and we do not believe that to be representative of the majority of women, despite certain media pushing the argument that supporting trans women means being against cisgender women.” 

‘Gender critical isn’t the norm’

She describes the trans community as having become a “totem” for “all the ills of the world”, adding that as a collective they believe “you can still be pro-woman by signing a letter that supports the trans community”.

As for prominent figures in the gender-critical movement, such as Harry Potter author JK Rowling, she questions why “anyone would use their platform to harm people”. 

“Being gender critical isn’t the norm and being inclusive of trans people – and trans women in particular – isn’t anti-woman. This is a narrative that is being pushed in order to create division and it’s one that we reject.”

Although she believes that gender critical women are perfectly within their rights to have their views, she also thinks that gender critics have an “inability to understand that, as humans, we come in all shapes and sizes,” and explained that her group are using their letter as a tool to demonstrate that this is not how the majority of women feel.

In response to Keira Knightly’s claim that she was unaware of Rowling’s gender critical stance – a comment that sparked widespread criticism – she says “it was clumsy” and “unkind”, but simply “ a gut reaction”. However, she adds, “unfortunately we’ve come to a place in society where you can’t stay out of the conversation”. 

‘Stop scapegoating minorities’

The letter, she says, conveys “that you don’t have to be all or nothing. You just need to believe in the right of humans to exist with dignity and be treated with respect”.

As well as challenging anti-trans rhetoric, the letter also emphasises the collective’s desire to refocus attention on the issues that truly affect women. 

“Stop scapegoating minorities and put the focus back on the things that are really harming women,” she states. 

Last year, the Crime Survey for England and Wales revealed that more than 1.6 million women experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024, while Cambridge Rape Crisis highlights Home Office statistics from 2018 showing 89 per cent of adults prosecuted for sexual offences are men. 

“Yes, women face massive challenges, but statistically, it’s not the trans community that are causing the problems.

“We have had enough,” she adds. 

Despite the present challenges, she expresses hope for a more inclusive future, one that is already being realised, she says, by New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and the UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

She describes them as “two openly vocal allies who are not afraid to call out misinformation and stand up against the bullies”. 

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