‘Women-Only’ Spaces That Exclude Trans Women Lead Us Down This Awful Path

March 16, 2015 / Ronnie Ritchie

What have you heard about excluding transgender women from so-called “women-only” spaces?

People have different ideas about why cis-women-only spaces are necessary, but their ideas come from assumptions and misunderstandings about how power and privilege work.

This comic shows how excluding trans women is not okay – and why it’s transphobic to do so.

With Love,
The Editors of Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1:

(A trans woman walks up to a desk, with a sandwich sign next to it advertising a women-only event. There is a cis woman, presumably a greeter, seated at the desk.)

Panel 2:

(The ciswoman holds out a hand as the trans woman attempts to pass. The trans woman looks at her, startled.)

Cis Woman (CW): Whoa, whoa! I’m afraid you can’t go in there.

Panel 3:

Trans Woman (TW): (looks offended) Why not?

CW: This space is only for biological women.

Panel 4:

TW: (angered by the transmisogyny at work) Excuse me?

CW: It’s nothing personal. The way that women who are born women are raised much differently than women who are born men. We want to make a space for people with the same experience to be together.

Panel 5:

TW: (clearly upset) Do you understand how unfair that is? Cis women don’t need a space exclusively for them!

CW: (looks startled)

Panel 6:

TW: (close up, she gestures to herself, clearly speaking from the heart) Cis women’s voices are heard more than anyone else in feminist spaces, whereas people like me are hardly heard at all. I want a place where I can be heard and supported by other women who experience sexism and misogyny like I do… because I’m a woman!

Panel 7:

(Two individuals – one trans man and one DFAB non-binary person – walk by as the cis woman lets them go. The cis woman clearly hadn’t been listening to the trans woman at all. The trans woman stands by in disbelief.)

CW: Hello, welcome!

Trans Man: Thanks.

Panel 8:

(Trans woman is clearly upset, gesturing where the trans man [TM] and non-binary person [NBP] had passed.)

TW: See? Even they get to go!

CW: Oh, they’re different! They know what it’s like to be a woman!

Panel 9:

(Close up of the trans woman’s face. She is 500% done.)

Panel 10:

Caption: Meanwhile…

(The trans man and non-binary person are walking together. The non-binary person glances over their shoulder, concerned.)

NBP: Does something about this seem off to you?

TM: Yeah, I guess, but all of my friends are here…

To learn more about this topic, check out:

[do_widget id=”text-101″]

Ronnie Rene Ritchie is a comic artist, illustrator, and storyteller working out of Peterborough, Ontario. Since graduating from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon with a BFA in Illustration, Ronnie has had work featured in galleries and sex shops across North America, and their autobiographical webcomic, GQutie, has seen its popularity soar online. Learn more about GQutie, Ronnie’s illustration, or follow them on Twitter @ronithebear.