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Phipps, Alison (2020). "Feminists and the Far Right". Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism (1st ed.). Manchester University Press. pp. 133–159. ISBN 978-1-5261-4718-9. JSTORj.ctvzgb6n6.10.
Sharpe, Alex (May 2020). "Will Gender Self‐Declaration Undermine Women's Rights and Lead to an Increase in Harms?". The Modern Law Review. 83 (3): 539–557. doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12507. S2CID214079382.
Williams, Cristan (2021). "TERFs". The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies.
Varieties of TERFness, special issue of the Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2023
Da Costa, Jade Crimson Rose (24 August 2021). "Chapter 27: The "New" White Feminism: Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism and the Problem of Biological Determinism in Western Feminist Theory". In Brunton, James; Carter, Kristi (eds.). TransNarratives: Scholarly and Creative Works on Transgender Experience. Toronto: Women's Press. pp. 317–334. ISBN 9780889616226.
Lee, Bora; Kim, Hee-jin (2020-02-21). 가장 보통의 사람]불안이란 이름의 ‘혐오’…트랜스젠더 배제한 ‘터프’ 해부하다 [“Hate” in the Name of Anxiety … Dissecting “TERF” That Excludes Transgender People]. 경향신문 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-06-28.
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Lee, Hyun-Jae (December 2020). "A Critical Study of Identity Politics Based on the Category 'Biological Woman' in the Digital Era: How Young Korean Women Became Transgender Exclusive Radical Feminists". Journal of Asian Sociology. 49 (4): 425–448. doi:10.21588/dns.2020.49.4.003.
Lifu, Guo (2024-01-29). "Medals and conspiracies: Chinese and Japanese online trans-exclusionary discourses during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games". Beyond Diversity. düsseldorf university press. pp. 117–134. doi:10.1515/9783110767995-010. ISBN 978-3-11-076799-5. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
Kawasaka, Kazuyoshi (2023). "Chapter 8: Queers and National Anxiety: Discourses on Gender and Sexuality from Anti-Gender Backlash Movements in Japan since the 2000s". Global Perspectives on Anti-Feminism: Far-Right and Religious Attacks on Equality and Diversity. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 182–201. ISBN 9781399505390. JSTOR10.3366/jj.7358671.14.
In "Views - Sex and gender" we can find this phrasing: "they believe sex is biological and cannot be changed". I propose that we slightly modify it by saying: "they state sex is biological and cannot be changed in humans". It is factual that sex is entirely biological (simply because this notion pertains to the scientific branch of biology), and it is factual that humans do not change sex (we can certainly modify some sex-related traits, but if biological sex is to be understood as the developmental pathway aimed at organising a person's body around one of the two reproductive strategies, then we cannot undo those workings). I find it weird that stating factual notions is turned into a matter of belief, where one belief is just as legitimate as the other. Should we say that scientists believe the Earth orbits around the sun, or is it, instead, a better option to portray the opposite view a belief? Simogne (talk) 21:26, 7 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I'd also like to propose another specific change. In "Views - Transgender Youth" the paragraph ends with information about WPATH supporting puberty blockers as a prescription for children. I agree that we ought to represent medical views and opinions and it's useful if we also add contrasting (although reviewed) positions of other medical organisations.
1) the NHS of the United Kingdom has come to conclude that prescriptions of puberty blockers in minors, aren't clinically effective for treatment of gender dysphoria following the Cass Review.
2) While not pertaining puberty blockers, but still in the realm of interest of Transgender Youth, the ASPS has recommended to delay surgery for gender-affirmation purposes until at least the age of 19.
3) Sweden, Finland and Norway' health policy bodies all support precautionary guidelines wrt puberty blockers in some form.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Subject: Systemic bias and failure of NPOV regarding the UK legal and social context
I would like to open a discussion regarding the neutral point of view (NPOV) of this article, specifically concerning its framing of gender-critical (GC) beliefs as "fringe" or "anti-rights" while ignoring significant legal and social mainstreaming in the United Kingdom.
1. Conflict with Legal Reality (WP:WNT & WP:NPOV) The article’s tone treats GC beliefs primarily as a form of prejudice. However, per the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal in Forstater v CGD Europe (2021), these beliefs—specifically that biological sex is real, important, and immutable—are a protected "philosophical belief" under the Equality Act 2010. The court explicitly found these views "worthy of respect in a democratic society." By presenting these views in "wikivoice" as inherently exclusionary or pseudoscientific, the article diverges from the legal standing of the subject in a major jurisdiction where the movement is most active.
2. Issues with "Due Weight" (WP:DUE) The current version relies heavily on academic critiques (predominantly from Gender Studies) to define the movement. While these are "Reliable Sources," WP:DUE requires us to represent the subject's own perspective fairly. Currently, the article uses the term "TERF" in the lead as a primary identifier, despite it being characterized as a slur or a derogatory label by those within the movement and in broader UK public discourse. This adopts the language of the movement's opponents rather than providing a neutral description.
3. Framing of "Controversy" The article presents the debate as a conflict between "human rights" and an "anti-gender movement." This ignores the cross-partisan nature of the debate in the UK, where GC views are held by significant portions of the political left, trade unions, and feminist organizations. Characterizing a widely-held, legally protected, and mainstream philosophical position as a "fringe controversy" is a failure of neutrality.
Proposal: The article needs a significant rewrite of the lead and the "Beliefs" section to:
Use the self-identified term "Gender-critical" as the primary descriptor.
Attribute critical characterizations (like "trans-exclusionary") to specific groups or scholars rather than stating them as objective fact.
Include the legal recognition of these views in the UK to provide necessary context on their mainstream status. ~2026-97970-5 (talk) 17:36, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Several things:
1) The article reflects what reliable sources say about the subject. Legal judgements are not reliable sources except for the opinion of the court, lest we say that black people aren't equal to white people courtesy of Dredd vs Scott.
I can see where they're getting their confusion from, but WP:DUE specifically does not require abstract "fairness" (which would require editors make value-judgements, and could lead to WP:RIGHTGREATWRONGS situations.) What it requires is that we fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in those sources. The latter point is key. We don't weigh non-expert objections to climate change, or evolution, or opinions on who won the 2020 US election, or the effectiveness of vaccines, or views on the Shakespeare authorship question equal to those of high-quality scholars published in peer-reviewed sources. And according to those sources, the "gender critical" view is, medically and academically, on the fringes. There are legal, political, and cultural institutions that would declare climate change to be false, for instance; we don't weigh those equally to high-quality academic sources. This is no different. --Aquillion (talk) 18:18, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
The Category Error of "Consensus"
When editors compare Gender-Critical (GC) views to "Climate Change denial," they are applying a scientific metric to a normative debate.
Scientific Subjects: Involve empirical, falsifiable data (e.g., "Is the Earth warming?"). Here, the policy on fringe theories (WP:FRINGE) applies strictly.
Philosophical/Legal Subjects: Involve competing definitions of rights, identity, and social organization (e.g., "How should the law define 'woman' for the purpose of sex-segregated spaces?").
In the latter category, "truth" is not discovered in a lab; it is negotiated in courts and parliaments. By using gender studies departments as the only "reliable sources," the article ignores the legal consensus provided by the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal. In a democracy, a high-court ruling that a belief is "worthy of respect" is a significant, high-quality source that carries as much weight in a "Social/Legal" context as a peer-reviewed paper does in a "Scientific" one.
A Relatable Example: Capitalism vs. Socialism
To see why the current framing is non-neutral, consider how Wikipedia handles Capitalism or Socialism.
Most modern academic sociologists or critical theorists might produce papers arguing that "Capitalism is an inherently exploitative and destructive system."
However, Wikipedia does not state in its first sentence: "Capitalism is an exploitative economic system that causes poverty." * Instead, it says: "Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production." It then attributes the "exploitative" label to specific critics (Marxists, etc.).
Most people agree that calling Capitalism "wrong" in the first paragraph would be biased, even if thousands of academic papers say it is. The same logic applies here: the article should describe what the GC movement is and what it believes, rather than leading with a "scientific" debunking of a philosophical position.
Polemical vs. Descriptive Frameworks
The argument highlights that the article has become polemical—it starts with a conclusion (that GC views are "prejudiced") and works backward. This is a departure from Wikipedia’s role as a descriptive resource. For example, in an article on Religious Beliefs, Wikipedia describes the tenets of the faith without calling them "scientifically unproven" in the opening summary.
The Failure of Neutrality
By framing a mainstream, cross-partisan political movement in the UK as a "fringe controversy," the article adopts a non-neutral standpoint. If a viewpoint is significant enough to change national laws, influence major trade unions, and be a central point of debate in a General Election, it is—by definition—not "fringe." To remain neutral, the article must stop "debunking" the movement and start "describing" it, which includes acknowledging its legal recognition and the mainstream nature of the debate in the British context. ~2026-38678-7 (talk) 08:47, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
As for your suggestions @Simogne, this is not the place to summarize the entirety of each medical body's opinion on the matter. Honestly, that sentence fragment should be removed since it seems to invoke a hint of SYNTH. I think I added that, so my bad. Katzrockso (talk) 20:58, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
We are describing their beliefs (hence the "Views" section), so it is strictly accurate and correctly worded for this type of section. See, e.g. the second sentence of Feminism (Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—they prioritize the male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies); I think one could argue that this is a factual statement and it is quite strange to describe this as a "position", but this is a necessary part of encyclopedic writing (WP:NPOV). I don't think we need to involve ourselves in any particular notion or conceptualization of "sex" or its malleability. Katzrockso (talk) 23:07, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
The central flaw in the counter-argument is a category error that treats a philosophical and legal debate as if it were a purely scientific one. While "scientific consensus" governs articles on biology or climate change, it is not the sole arbiter for social movements or legal rights. On Wikipedia, we do not use "economic consensus" to state in Wikivoice that Capitalism is exploitative or Socialism is inefficient; instead, we describe them as economic systems and attribute critiques to specific schools of thought. By framing a legally protected philosophical belief in the UK as "fringe" based solely on academic critiques from a single field (Gender Studies), the article adopts a polemical tone rather than a descriptive one.
Furthermore, the comparison to the Feminism article actually reinforces the need for a rewrite. The Feminism page defines the movement by its own tenets (patriarchy, equality) and attributes them to the movement itself. To be consistent and neutral under WP:NPOV, the Gender-Critical article should similarly lead with the movement’s own core definitions and the legal context of the Forstater ruling—which recognizes these views as "worthy of respect in a democratic society"—rather than leading with adversarial labels or "debunking" the subject in the first paragraph. Neutrality requires that we describe the conflict, not side with one set of sources to dismiss the legal and social reality of the subject. ~2026-38678-7 (talk) 08:50, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Can you specify which sentences you are objecting to in the article? I can see rewording this sentence again Emerging from a fringe movement within radical feminism mainly in the United States if you dislike "fringe" so much; the point here is to express the point that the antecedent ideology of "gender-critical feminism", a particular strain of radical feminism from the 1960s and 1970s, was numerically small and limited in its influence/salience within the broader feminist movement. As currently worded, it seems to imply something inaccurate (that this movement was a very small numerical minority within radical feminism, a statement that I do not believe is as accurate) so I will try to rewrite it later.
As for your repeated citations of the Forstater ruling, the legal judgement once again has no standing here. Legal judgements are not reliable sources, and Wikipedia itself does not decide whether or not a belief system is "worthy of respect in a democratic society". The article catalogs and describes what reliable sources say about a subject, particularly those sources that are independent of the subject.
As for the comparison to feminism, you are misunderstanding the basis for these articles. The Feminism article does not describe the tenets of the movement because the movement defines itself that way, the articles describes the tenets of the movement because reliable sources do. The relevant factor is not deference to a group itself to describe/define itself, something that would inevitably lead to problematic promotional content and inaccuracies, but what independent reliable sources state about the subject. Katzrockso (talk) 19:50, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
1. The Inconsistency of "Fringe" as a Descriptor
The argument that the movement is "fringe" is self-contradictory if the editors simultaneously acknowledge that the movement was "not a small numerical minority."
The Critique: Using the term "fringe" while admitting it may be numerically inaccurate suggests the word is being used as a value judgment rather than a statistical fact. On Wikipedia, "fringe" is a technical designation (like for Flat Earth theories). Applying it to a social movement that influences national law and healthcare policy (like the NHS or Cass Review) creates a factual disconnect between the article and the real-world influence of the subject.
2. The False Equivalence in Dismissing Legal Sources
The argument compares modern high-court rulings (like Forstater) to historical injustices (like Dred Scott) to suggest that legal rulings have "no standing" as reliable sources.
The Critique: This is a logical fallacy of False Equivalence. While a court does not determine "Scientific Truth," it is the primary authority on Social and Legal Standing.
Neutrality Issue: To ignore a High Court's determination that a belief is "worthy of respect in a democratic society" while labeling that same belief "fringe" in the article’s lead is a failure of WP:DUE (Due Weight). Legal rulings are highly reliable sources for documenting how a society categorizes and protects specific viewpoints.
3. The "Academic Silo" Problem
The argument insists that only "independent" academic sources (specifically from Gender Studies or Sociology) should define the movement, rather than the movement's own definitions or legal context.
The Critique: This creates a Selection Bias. If an article only uses sources from an academic field that is ideologically or theoretically opposed to the subject, the article becomes a polemic (a one-sided attack) rather than a neutral description.
Comparison: Wikipedia typically defines movements like Feminism, Capitalism, or Environmentalism by their own stated goals and principles first, and then adds criticism. Reversing this—defining a group primarily by its critics' labels—violates the spirit of WP:NPOV. ~2026-97970-5 (talk) 08:37, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Bummer. You talk exactly like an LLM. In Wikipedia talk discussion, you'll do much better if you make your case clearly and concisely. I kind of share your apprehension about labelling a philosophical belief as fringe (but I note it is a minority position). It is also not divorced from the science. There is science on this matter, and although the application of the science is debatable, those who express a view that is clearly opposed to the science on principle clearly are taking a fringe position. Whether that is the case for gender-critical feminism is where the debate lies. I think you should engage with the science, see what we know, and go from there. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 11:21, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, I'm just a human who has undergone extensive Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF).~2026-97970-5 (talk) 19:33, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Delightful troll since RLHF is literally a spicy autocorrect training technique. I've gone ahead and collapsed all the obvious climate-change-Clippy content. Machines have no voice in article talk pages. Simonm223 (talk) 19:09, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Seems to me that you are arguing at cross purposes. The article says that GCF is fringe within feminism and has sources for that. That is different to saying the gender critical views are fringe within society. It can be simultaneously true that GCF is fringe in the field of feminism while certain GC views are mainstream in society. StupidLookingKid (talk) 15:19, 15 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The whole article reads like a polemic, there does not seem to be any attempt at being a encylopaedia. ~2026-97970-5 (talk) 17:36, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Do you have any specific changes you might propose to improve the article? Wikipedia is WP:Not a forum, so your edits on the talk page here should offer actionable and specific advice on how we might remedy the alleged issues you have identified Katzrockso (talk) 01:30, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
I'm not sure why my previous post was collapsed as 'LLM-generated.' I used a structured format because I was told to be specific and actionable. I'm a single human editor trying to update this page with the 2024 Cass Review and UK High Court rulings that are currently missing.
If the formating is the issue, I’ll keep it simple: WP:NPOV says we should attribute labels like 'trans-exclusionary' rather than stating them as fact. Can we actually discuss the Forstater ruling and the NHS policy change, or are we just going to keep talking about my prose style?" ~2026-38678-7 (talk) 19:38, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
"Thanks for the direction. To keep this actionable and avoid 'forum-y' debate, I propose the following specific edits to improve neutrality and reflect the current (2026) global landscape:
1. Lead Section (Termining & Tone):
Current: 'Gender-critical feminism is a trans-exclusionary fringe movement...'
Proposed: 'Gender-critical feminism is a movement that maintains that biological sex is real and immutable. While proponents identify as gender-critical, academic critics and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups frequently characterize the movement as trans-exclusionary.'
Reasoning: Per WP:NPOV, descriptors like 'trans-exclusionary' should be attributed to the groups that use them rather than stated in Wikivoice, especially when the subject of the article explicitly rejects the label.
2. "Transgender Youth" Section (Updating with Secondary Sources):
Proposed Addition: 'In 2024, following the Cass Review, the NHS England ended the routine prescription of puberty blockers for children, citing a lack of evidence for long-term effectiveness. Similar precautionary guidelines have been adopted by health authorities in Sweden (Socialstyrelsen) and Finland.'
Reasoning: Including only the WPATH position while omitting the official policy changes of major national health services creates a WP:DUE imbalance. These are high-quality, independent secondary sources.
3. "Legal Status" Section (Contextualizing the UK):
Proposed Addition: 'In the United Kingdom, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled in Forstater v CGD Europe (2021) that gender-critical beliefs are a protected "philosophical belief" under the Equality Act 2010, finding them "worthy of respect in a democratic society."'
Reasoning: This is a factual, verifiable legal milestone. Mentioning it doesn't mean Wikipedia "endorses" the view; it simply documents the legal reality of the movement's status in a major jurisdiction.
4. Removal of "Fringe" as a Statistical Descriptor:
Proposed Action: Remove 'fringe' from the lead when describing the movement's social/political impact in the UK and Northern Europe.
Reasoning: While the view may be a minority in specific academic departments, the label 'fringe' is technically inaccurate for a movement that has successfully influenced national legislation and health policy (as evidenced by the NHS and various High Court rulings).'
I’m happy to discuss the specific wording for any of these points to ensure they meet consensus." ~2026-38678-7 (talk) 14:23, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]