Trans women are women period.

I have been trying to read as many of the books longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction as I possibly can (considering I’m only one person). So far, I’ve read Luster, by Raven Leilani, Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi, Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan and, most recently, Detransition, Baby, by Torrey Peters.

Torrey Peters has received a lot of hate for appearing on the Women’s Prize longlist. She is a trans woman, and TERFS had a lot to say about that. In an open letter, written by the Wild Women Writing Club (that name alone!), members claim that Peters’ nomination “communicates women authors are unworthy of our own prize”.

Some women signed this letter under the names of dead authors, such as Emily Dickinson, claiming they wanted to stay anonymous to “avoid any hate” (I guess it’s easier for them to give than it is to receive). There is so much wrong here, I don’t even know where to start. If you’re hiding behind dead author’s names, you’re not only showing us how ashamed you are of your opinion, you’re also claiming important names for your side without their consent.

But, most importantly, Torrey Peters is a woman. She is not taking anything away from us other women. If anything, she’s adding her voice to ours.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction was quick to say that “the prize is firmly opposed to any kind of discrimination on the basis of race, age, sexuality and gender identity.” They added that “anyone who is legally identified as a woman” can be nominated. This, of course, leaves a lot to be desired. For example, in 2019, Akwaeke Emezi, who is non-binary, was nominated for the prize for their book Freshwater. While the jury patted their own backs, and called the nomination ‘historic’, Emezi was less than impressed.

“Their origin story is that men were excluding them w/the Booker, so when Freshwater was longlisted, I hoped it was a sign that they gave thought to who *they* were excluding,” they wrote on Twitter. But Emezi said the longlisting had “brought a ton of violent shit my way, they got quite some publicity from it, and decided to change … nothing”.

Later, they added: “Forget about me — I don’t want this prize — but anyone who uses this kind of language does not fuck with trans women either, so when they say it’s for women, they mean cis women,” wrote Emezi. “And yes, this does mean that them longlisting [Freshwater] was transphobic. It’s fine for me not to be eligible because I’m not a woman! But you not about to be out here on some ‘sex as defined by law’ like that’s not a weapon used against trans women.”

Peters’ book, by the way, is interesting, beautiful and showed me a new way to look at womanhood. It should probably be read by all the TERFS out there.