After the champagne celebrations, the hangover: the people who’ve spent the best part of a decade trying to remove trans people’s human rights and dignity have succeeded, and now they’re sad about it.
Katelyn Burns, in the pithily titled You have no friends because you’re a transphobic asshole:
The loudest TERFs are still not satisfied, and are still being shunned by their friends…
In The Times of London, American writer turned British TERF Hadley Freeman lamented that none of her friends have come back to her to fete her and tell her how right she was all along about trans people. On socials, columnist Julie Bindel said she still feels lonely and unfulfilled in the wake of what should have been her best week ever.
Famously unfunny prick Graham Linehan took to Twitter demanding apologies from all the family and friends that abandoned him as he lost his mind and became singularly obsessed with stalking trans women on women’s dating apps.
All of these people are expecting vindication for their years long hate campaign against trans people, they want their old life back but also expect to wear their bigotry just a proudly on their sleeves. But there is no redemption arc here. You’ve made your deal with the devil and your soul is now his. Forever.
These people haven’t lost friends and family members because of their beliefs. They’ve lost them because of their behaviour.
Burns:
I’ve watched from afar as TERFs bend every conversation back to their pet hatred, every online discussion thread has to tap into that dopamine reserve these people have in the backs of their minds where their hatred of trans people lives. Every online space that welcomes one TERF nearly always ends up as a completely TERF space because TERFs are incapable of having normal conversations with anyone.
She’s right. If you look at non-obsessed people’s social media it’s a range of topics. With the anti-trans mob it’s anti-trans all the way down.
Casey Explosion on Bluesky:
Sorry you dedicated your lives to a fascist hate movement and cut everyone out of your lives that tried to get you to step back from that abyss and it’s making you miserable, but you did this to yourselves. Luckily for GCs, you can stop any time you want, a luxury you don’t afford your victims.
Trans people though? We don’t get to opt out of this, we don’t get to walk away, but “Gender critical” hatemongers? You get to call it a day any time you want and move on with your lives. May I suggest getting a hobby that doesn’t involve advocating the extermination of other human beings?
Burns:
Whatever emptiness drove these people to TERFism will still be there even if trans people simply stop existing. The friends they drove away will not suddenly come back because they already saw the depths they were willing to plumb in order to kick out at one of the tiniest and most marginalized demographics in the world.
Talia Bhatt, on Bluesky:
The thing about the GCs is that they want to be hailed as great feminist heroes. They want to be petty and cruel and direct all their vicious bigotry and disgust at a tiny maligned demographic, with the backing of all the highest powers in the land, and be adored for it.