Women (cisgender or not) and transgender people are natural allies – stop pitting us against each other

We rarely hear about the shared experiences of cisgender women and transgender men – why is that? Trans men are men, but they often suffer under patriarchy just as cisgender women do.

In fact, a survey led by Galop, an LGBTQ+ anti-abuse charity, found that cisgender lesbians and trans men are both targets of sexual violence for “doing womanhood wrong.”

Patriarchy defines womanhood in traditional, regressive terms, punishing those who fall short of its standards. Trans people and cis women exist in defiance of that standard, and many have fought against it.

It may be true that your autonomy is under threat of erasure — but not at the hands of transgender people.

Last week, a UK mother of three was sentenced to 28 months in prison for illegally terminating her pregnancy. She pleaded guilty to laws drawn up before women had the right to refuse sex from their husbands in 1861.

The sentence strips away any pretence that the UK holds women’s health as a priority and underlines a devastating truth about medicine: it’s largely out of our control.

We see such inequalities time and again in transgender healthcare. Trans people have long criticised the services offered to us on the NHS, with waiting lists breaching four years for treatments associated with a reduction in suicidal ideation.

Only last week, NHS England revealed it would stop prescribing puberty blockers for trans-under-18s unless they consent to participate in medical research.

Black women are four times more likely to die after childbirth than white women in the UK. Transgender people have an elevated risk of death compared to cis people, particularly from disorders affecting the production of hormones and suicide.

We see health inequalities among both cis women and trans people – and that’s not a coincidence: the pattern occurs the world over.

At least 417 anti-LGBTQ+ bills — many targeting healthcare — have been introduced in state legislatures across the United States in 2023. Last year also saw Roe v. Wade overturned in the US, with most abortions now banned in 14 states.