Celebrated Japanese feminist Ueno Chizuko and her organization Women’s Action Network (WAN) came under fire earlier this month when they published an article on their website defending TERFs – trans-exclusionary radical feminists, or feminists who argue that transgender women are not “really” women and do not deserve the same rights and protections.
In Defense of J.K. Rowling
On August 12, WAN published an article titled, “We’re Not Trying to Exclude Transgender People” (トランスジェンダーを排除しているわけではない), penned by WAN contributor Ishigami Uno (石上卯乃). Ishigami states their dislike of the negative connotations of the term TERF, and calls the public disparaging of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling unjust, all while professing to want to coexist peacefully with transgender people — barring their presence in certain public spaces, such as bathrooms and changing rooms. Ishigami also portrayed criticism of trans exclusionary discourse as an attack on TERFs.
Numerous writers and activists sent public letters to WAN demanding answers. Writer and activist Hatakeno Tomato (畑野とまと) posed important questions in her own letter to WAN: how and why did WAN allow someone to publish the article using a manga character’s name? Does WAN recognize trans women as women? A few strongly written critiques of the original article appeared on the WAN website. Okano Yayo (岡野八代) pointed out the dangers in how Ishigami’s convoluted arguments served to cast trans rights in a negative light.
The Feminist Seminar and Trans Rights Study Group penned an open letter to WAN detailing their impressions of the article. The Study Group stated it wasn’t the contents of the article itself that shocked them, but the fact that it was published by WAN, a well-respected feminist organization.
もし同じロジックを用い、女性の人権を保障することで男性が脅かされると書かれたエッセイがあったなら、WANの方々も差別的だと判断されるのではないでしょうか。
If there was an essay that used the same logic as Ishigami and stated that men would be threatened by guaranteeing women’s human rights, wouldn’t WAN also find it discriminatory?
“An Open Letter to Women’s Action Network”
Ishigami’s article also made the rounds on Twitter Japan, and some users started the hashtag #石上卯乃は私です supporting the author’s TERF stance.
WAN’s Lackluster Response
WAN issued an official response on August 19 saying they aim to provide an open forum of discussion over diverse issues. Their hope in publishing the article was to deepen the conversation over what constitutes discrimination. They also stressed that submissions and publications are handled by the editorial board, not the board of directors, and not all members are of one mind when it comes to certain issues.
Not many people were satisfied with this response. Queer studies scholar Iwakawa Arisa (岩川ありさ) pointed out that this isn’t the first time WAN has published an article attacking trans women. Twitter user @sankaku_queer questions whether those members who see no problem in publishing trans exclusionary articles are even qualified to serve on the board.
Feminism already gets a bad rap in Japan, and it’s certainly not immune to polarization on certain issues. Trans women in Japan already struggle for respect and recognition, and incidents like being publicly outed on national television only further the harmful perception that trans women are less than human. It’s disconcerting that a well-respected organization purporting to champion human rights would publish something so contrary to their mission.
WAN may want to review their own statement on transgender discrimination and reevaluate their decision to publish such harmful rhetoric, no matter how poorly written. It’s long past time for feminism to embrace trans women, not exclude them.
