The only information I have on the incident which took place at the Law and Disorder Conference comes from this piece published on the blog Gender Trender and the Law and Disorder Conference Facebook page. I have no interest in rehashing the debate on transgenderism and radical feminism. I do, however, want to examine the concept of privilege and the excusing of behaviour as it pertains to this situation.
As far as I can tell from the comment of one organiser (see below), the post on Gender Trender and the discussions on the Law and Disorder Facebook page is that one transwoman* felt triggered by the inclusion of a stall by environmentalist group Deep Green Resistance at the conference. DGR are extremely critical of the construction of gender in our Capitalist-Patriarchy and I simply refuse to believe that the organisers of the Law and Disorder Conference were not aware of this. Frankly, their claims to the contrary read as desperate attempts at minimising their own culpability in not ensuring the safety of EVERYONE in attendance at the conference.
It is not clear if the transwoman who originally felt triggered was involved in the following incident or if they approached the conference organisers with their concerns. What is evident is that several transwomen approached the DGR stall and began defacing their materials as well as drawing all over one of the woman on the stall in permanent market. This is the official statement from one of the conference organisers about the incident:
This statement has since been deleted on the Law and Disorder Conference Facebook page due to apparently transphobic comments; as opposed to being removed because it condoned the physical attack on one woman and the destruction of personal property. A woman was physically assaulted and personal property vandalised and the organisers of the conference think this is an acceptable response to one transwoman being triggered? Since when was being triggered considered an acceptable defence for the crime of vandalism? Not to mention the fact that being surrounded by a group of people intent on defacing your personal property as well as putting their hands on your body isn't just triggering; it's terrifying.
Defacing and destroying books which contain opinions and information you disagree with isn't an acceptable response. It is a malicious, silencing tactic designed to intimidate. Cornering one woman and drawing on their body in permanent marker is assault. Those involved in this attack should be prosecuted. This isn't reasonable adult behaviour. It is violent and those who seek to minimise personal responsibility for committing a crime are equally guilty. After all, we don't know the identities or personal histories of the two women who were targeted and attacked.
Is is acceptable to trigger and assault women because you disagree with them? To me, that sounds an awful lot like the construction of male entitlement and male violence in the Capitalist-Patriarchy.
* I do not know the identity of the transwoman who felt triggered. I will delete comments that name any individuals involved in this incident. My comments policy is here.
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