Kira Herdman

Welcome to the State of the World, November edition. Here are the stories that caught my attention this month.

Cambridge oldest women only collage supports trans women

Cambridge’s oldest women-only college has stated it’ll keep admitting trans women, even after the Supreme Court ruled a woman means a biological female.

Newnham College, which has feminist Germaine Greer, actress Emma Thompson and presenter Clare Balding among its alumni, has created a gender policy stating it is open to all female applicants – including transgender women.

Although it has been accepting trans-identified males since 2017, its new policy document enshrines their ability to access the single-sex space.

More educational organisations should follow this example.

Argentina marches for LGBTQ Pride, against government-fuelled ‘hate’

Thousands gathered in Buenos Aires on Saturday for Argentina’s 34th annual LGBTQ Pride march, demonstrating both solidarity and resistance to right-wing President Javier Milei.

Marching under the slogan “Against hate and violence: more pride and unity,” participants paraded from the Plaza de Mayo, the city’s main square, to the National Congress.

You can’t ban how people feel and what they are

Loved how Glamour UK clapped back at JK Rowling

Glamour UK proved how to Protect the Dolls by clapping back against JK Rowling complaining about its latest cover, which features a group of trans women.

The fashion magazine honoured nine “ground-breaking” trans women in a cover story for its annual award, which commemorates women who have made “extraordinary and inspirational” changes over the past year.

Its latest issue, revealed in a Thursday (30 October) social media post, features campaigners, musicians, actresses, and authors all wearing “Protect the Dolls” shirts created by Connor Ives in February.

The phrase is often used by trans women to affirm their femininity and as a synonym for trans rights. Its usage originated in 80s ballroom culture.

Featured on the cover are Munroe Bergdorf, Maxine Heron, Taira, Munya, Bell Priestley, Dani St. James, Ceval Omar, Mya Mehmi, and Shon Faye.

JK Rowling, whose gender-critical views about trans people are extensive and well-recorded, was quick to complain about the magazine’s decision to name the nine “dolls” as women of the year.

The Harry Potter writer claimed that, by choosing to platform transgender women, the magazine is suggesting that trans women are “better” than cisgender women.

In a post on X, she wrote: “I grew up in an era when mainstream women’s magazines told girls they needed to be thinner and prettier. Now mainstream women’s magazines tell girls that men are better women than they are.”

Nowhere in GlamourUK’s cover story does it suggest this. This is only the second time the magazine has picked a trans woman for one of its awards in its almost three-decade history. JK Rowling herself was selected for an award in 2005.

A social media spokesperson for the publication made its thoughts on Rowling’s criticism clear, replying in a post on X/Twitter: “Better luck next year Jo x.”

Perfect response from Glamour UK

Bash Back claims responsibility for vandalising the EHRC HQ

A protest group has vandalised the headquarters of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to the human rights watchdog’s controversial interim guidance on single-sex spaces.

BASH BACK, which has taken responsibility for the vandalism, describes itself as a “trans-led direct action project focused on total transgender liberation”.

A minute-long video shared with PinkNews and also shared on social media shows members of the group approaching the the watchdog’s headquarters in London, smashing windows and spraying pink paint in an act of direct protest. The video appears to have been filmed in the early hours of Friday morning (31 October).

The EHRC’s widely-criticised interim guidance was published in April in the wake of the landmark UK Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland vs Scottish Ministers, which decided the definition of ‘sex’ for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act means biological sex only.

The interim guidance recommended organisations and service providers bar trans men and women from single-sex services and spaces, such as changing rooms and toilets, which align with their gender – but added in “some circumstances” trans people could also be barred from spaces based on “biological sex”.

It was later clarified that these “circumstances” referred to situations where “reasonable objection” could be taken to a trans person’s presence, such as in female spaces, when “the gender reassignment process has given a trans man a masculine appearance or attributes”.

Good on Bash Back for doing this

A good feel personal story.

While chatting with a neighbour about something completely unrelated, I mentioned I was probably just as strong as she was thanks to HRT. I pointed at my chest and said they were real. She then commented that she’d noticed them jiggling when I walked.

At the time I was wearing a tight jumper and bra so my breasts were easily noticeable. That compliment meant so much to me that it left me smiling all day.

Even small compliments like that, which was a total surprise, means the world to us.