Mandy Nolan might be surprised to discover how many women of all political persuasions, feminists or not, are alarmed at what we see as the erosion of very hard-won women’s rights.
Even our language is being changed to accommodate a small minority of men who declare they are women. It appears there are now categories of women: trans women, biological, persons with uteruses, menstruators, chest feeders, etc. These same language absurdities are not applied to men. For instance, we don’t call men ‘sperm producers’ or ‘persons with penises’. Unsurprisingly, women who identify as men, trans men, make no such strident demands.
Mandy questions why we feel threatened when it is quite obvious to many of us that many of these men (trans women) are trying to erase our identity as women. It is a new form of misogyny. Why should a man with gender dysphoria be allowed to compete against women in sport and have access to women-only spaces? Why should our language be altered to objectify women’s bodies and reduce us to our sexual functions? It feels very Handmaid’s Tale to me.
If someone is in possession of a perfectly healthy biological male or female body but believe they are otherwise, then clearly there exists a mental health issue. Of course such persons should be treated with compassion and kindness but their rights should not override women’s rights.
I have been a feminist for over 50 years. I have worked in a women’s refuge and seen the damage done. I have worked as a nurse and only ever encountered one ‘category’ of woman.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
