At Feminist Current, Meghan Murphy interviews Kara Dansky, lawyer and spokeswoman for Women’s Liberation Front and their opposition to a U.S. redefinition of “sex” to include “gender identity” in Title IX. I don’t agree with everything that WoLF stands for, however almost all of what she says in this podcast is relevant to Bill C-16, and I really appreciate the measured tone she uses throughout the interview. Opposition to this kind of legislation is often called “fear-mongering” (which she addresses in the interview), and yet it’s hard to argue against such a well-reasoned and winsome approach. After an intro to Title IX, the best part begins around the 8-minute mark.
Kara Dansky: Obliterating sex as a meaningful category worthy of legal protection…women don’t exist anymore under this new interpretation… this goes way beyond bathrooms and locker-rooms.
Kara Dansky: To say that we’re being hysterical…we think we are expressing a valid concern both about the safety of women in restrooms and locker-rooms but ultimately about the legal erasure of women as a category worthy of civil rights protections. We know male violence against women is a problem. That’s not a mystery.
Meghan Murphy: And, you know, it’s incredibly frustrating to see women’s concerns around male violence, considering that male violence is happening to women every single day, all around the world, it’s incredibly frustrating to see those concerns being treated as, you know, “crazy”, like we’re inventing this.
Near the 18 minute-mark Kara suggests what may be some viable solutions to gender-identity concerns around washroom and change-rooms.