Countering the Myths of 'What Is a Woman?': Trans Women and the Real Fight Against Misogyny

Paula Sadler
May 4
21 min read

Sisters Under Siege: Trans Women and Cis Women Face the Same Misogyny

By Rev. Paula Josephine Sadler

Women are under spiritual attack. Womanhood is under spiritual attack. Transgendered woman who are women are under attack on every front, and Trans Men, Non-Binary, its an all out Gender War. From Social Media, to Churches, to the Federal Government. Whether getting a cup of coffee at Starbucks, checking out at the Grocery Store, the hatred, oppression, prejudice, violence is unprecedented against the "T" in general. Lets really look at "What a women is" As Matt Walsh came out with What is a woman-which mocked trans lives as valid or real. We will now tell you what a Woman is...

Shared Struggles of Womanhood

Late one evening, I walked home with my keys clenched between my fingers, heart pounding at the echo of footsteps behind me. Every woman knows this fear. My friend—who happens to be a transgender woman—grips her keys in the same white-knuckled way when she walks at night. The threat we brace for is the same: not a transgender person lurking in the shadows, but the very real possibility of male violence. The man who might harass or attack us will not pause to check our anatomy or chromosomes. In that moment, we are simply two women vulnerable under the same patriarchal menace. This common reality underscores a painful truth: transgender women face the very same misogyny, sexual violence, and gender discrimination that cisgender women do.

Consider the grim statistics. Across the world, 1 in 3 women – including trans women – will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime who.int. In these attacks, the perpetrators are overwhelmingly male; nearly 99% of rapists are menhumboldt.edu. These numbers do not distinguish between cisgender and transgender victims, because misogyny doesn’t care about the gender you were assigned at birth. When a woman is catcalled on the street or abused by a partner, it makes no difference whether she has a uterus or not. Trans women and cis women alike live with the daily reality that being a woman – in identity or in appearance – means being a potential target for harassment and violence by men. The same leering comments, the same wage gap and workplace sexism, the same struggle to be heard in meetings instead of talked over by male colleagues – these burdens fall on all women.

Yet too often, society (and even some who call themselves feminist) forgets this shared struggle. Instead of recognizing a transgender woman as a fellow sister surviving under sexism, they ask hostile questions like “What is a woman?” – as if to imply transgender women aren’t real women at all. But womanhood is not defined by what’s between one’s legs; it’s defined by lived experience and identity. And in living as women, trans women endure the same injustices and fears that cis women do. When we fight street harassment, or campaign for safer campuses, or mourn sisters lost to domestic violence, transgender women are right there with us – both as advocates and as victims.

Women Are More Than Their Reproductive Organs

One of the most common arguments from those who are skeptical of transgender women’s womanhood is that “women can get pregnant and give birth.” It’s true that trans women (except in extremely rare cases of uterine transplants) cannot become pregnant. But is a womb truly what defines a woman? If that were the case, we’d have to start questioning the womanhood of millions of cisgender women who cannot or choose not to bear children – a notion that is as cruel as it is absurd. For example, about 10% of cisgender women in the U.S. – around 6 million – have difficulty getting or staying pregnantwomenshealth.gov due to infertility or other health issues. Many other women have lost their uterus to cancer or never had one to begin with. Women go through menopause and can no longer conceive; some women are born without a uterus or with genetic conditions that affect reproductive development. Are these women any less “real” because they cannot carry a child? Of course not. Their womanhood is never in doubt, nor should it be.

The only substantive difference between a cis woman and a trans woman lies in certain anatomy and the capacity for childbirth. But even anatomy isn’t always binary. There are intersex women with XY chromosomes who have a uterus, and cisgender women with XX chromosomes who are born without a functioning uterus. Biology is full of variations. We don’t reduce womanhood to a single biological trait for cis women, so why would we do so for trans women?

Womanhood encompasses far more than reproductive organs. It’s also about how one is perceived and treated in society. A transgender woman who comes out and begins living as female will suddenly find that the world treats her very differently than it did when she was assumed to be male. She might be subjected to the same subtle talk-downs and dismissals that many cis women know too well. (As one trans woman wryly noted, after she transitioned, she went from being judged by her accomplishments to being judged by her appearancemedium.com – a shift every woman can recognize.) The essence of womanhood lies in one’s identity and lived social experience, not the ability to bear children. We readily accept this truth for cis women; we must accept it for transgender women as well.

The Real Threat to Women: Male Violence, Not Trans Women

If there’s one thing that unites virtually all women, it’s the source of the threats we face. The hard reality is that violence against women is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men – usually men we know. In the United States, about one-third of women murdered are killed by their current or former male partnerbjs.ojp.gov. Globally, men in positions of power create and enforce brutal policies that control women’s bodies and lives. It wasn’t transgender women who banned girls from school in Afghanistan; it was the Taliban’s men. It wasn’t transgender women who stripped away reproductive rights in various parts of the world; it was male-dominated legislatures and courts. From the husbands and boyfriends who commit domestic abuse, to the strangers who assault women on public transit, to the religious extremists who force women under veils or behind walls, the common denominator is male violence and male control.

Transgender women are not committing these acts of violence. In fact, there is no evidence whatsoever that trans women pose any threat to cis women in spaces like bathrooms, shelters, or locker rooms. On the contrary, studies have found that allowing transgender people to use public restrooms matching their gender doesn’t increase any safety risks or crime at allaxios.comaxios.com. Reports of someone “pretending to be trans” to attack women in bathrooms are virtually nonexistent – they were exceedingly rare both before and after trans-inclusive laws. The idea of the transgender predator in a women’s bathroom is a myth, a specter used to scare people. The real bathroom danger, sadly, is faced by trans women themselves: nearly 70% of trans people report being verbally harassed, and 9% physically assaulted, just for trying to use a public restroom in peacetransequality.org. The irony is heartbreaking – the very people cast as a threat are in fact at risk of being attacked by intolerant men (or even women fueled by misinformation).

We must remember who is actually hurting women. It is men who commit nearly all sexual assaultshumboldt.edu. It is men who overwhelmingly perpetrate domestic violence and rape during war. It is men who have written laws through history to deny women property rights, voting rights, and bodily autonomy. Trans women are not responsible for any of this oppression. They have never been the ones terrorizing women – they are women, and they suffer under the same terror. A transgender woman trying to go about her life isn’t a threat to you; if anything, she’s facing the same threat from others. Demonizing trans women as “unsafe” not only defames a vulnerable group, it also distracts from the real menace: the entrenched culture of misogyny and male violence. We cannot keep falling for the classic divide-and-conquer strategy that pits women against each other while the patriarchy carries on unchallenged.

Transgender Women on the Frontlines of Violence

In fact, transgender women often face even more extreme forms of violence and stigma on top of the sexism all women endure. Because trans women live at the intersection of misogyny and transphobia, they are frequently targeted in especially vicious ways. The statistics are harrowing. A UCLA study found that transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape and assault williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu. To put that in perspective, in one survey period trans women suffered roughly 86 violent victimizations per 1,000 people, compared to about 24 per 1,000 for cis womenwilliamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu. Nearly half of transgender people (47%) have been sexually assaulted in their lifetimehrc.org. Every year, we mark the somber Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th to mourn trans people killed in hate-fueled attacks. Last year alone, at least 350 transgender and gender-diverse people were murdered worldwidehrw.org — the vast majority of them trans women. Here in the U.S., Human Rights Campaign documented 32 trans people (mostly trans women) killed in 2024hrc.org, and those are just the reported cases. The true numbers are likely higher, obscured by misidentification and underreporting.

Why are trans women so often the targets of brutality? Simply put, transgender women are often portrayed as if they are immoral, deviant, or “tricking” society, and this toxic narrative dehumanizes them. In some cultures, trans women are seen as sinners against religion; in others, as perverts undermining social norms. These hateful caricatures make it easier for attackers to justify violence – they tell themselves their trans victim is not an innocent woman but a “fraud” or a “man in disguise.” The results are tragic. Trans women have been beaten or killed by strangers in the street, by dates once their trans status was discovered, even by police. Many live in poverty and exclusion, which increases their exposure to violent situations hrw.org. And adding insult to literal injury, when trans victims do seek help, they often face further indignities. Police and media frequently misgender or “deadname” trans women who have been attacked, erasing their identity in official reports. (One analysis found authorities misgendered nearly 40% of trans homicide victims in news or police reports hrc.org.) Imagine surviving an assault and then seeing the world refuse to even acknowledge who you are – it’s a second wound.

The truth is, transgender women today live under a state of siege that most cisgender women fortunately have never experienced. A trans woman often has to think twice about something as simple as using a public restroom or walking into a women’s shelter when fleeing abuse, because she might be turned away or even attacked just for being trans. One transgender woman recounted being confronted in a store bathroom by a cis woman who didn’t think she looked feminine enough – the cis woman hit her with a purse and told her to leavemedium.com. She later said she felt her safety depended on wearing more makeup and “looking” the part to avoid harassment medium.com. No cis woman has to prove her womanhood in order to use a toilet without fear of assault. But trans women endure this terrifying scrutiny routinely. They are denied basic dignities that others take for granted, all because of who they are.

And yet, despite these hardships, transgender women show remarkable resilience and courage. Far from being broken by the violence against them, many trans women have become leaders in the fight against gender-based violence and bigotry. They speak out, they organize, and they stand up not only for themselves but for all women. Trans women know better than anyone what it’s like to have one’s womanhood challenged and attacked, and that gives them a powerful voice of empathy and strength in our shared battle for equality.

Transgender women and allies rally together in a show of unity. Many trans women are on the frontlines of activism, holding banners that read “Trans Solidarity” and “Stand against anti-trans bigotry,” as seen here. They march not just for transgender rights, but for women’s rights and human rights as a whole. This solidarity is born from lived experience: trans women know what it means to be denied safety and dignity, so they fight for a world where all women – cis or trans – can live free from fear. The courage of trans activists has benefited the broader feminist movement, injecting it with new energy and perspectives. Their voices remind us that an attack on one woman’s dignity is an attack on all women’s dignity.

More Than Victims: Trans Women as Family and Community Builders

It’s important to recognize that transgender women are not only defined by the violence against them. They are also defined by the love and leadership they give to their communities. Trans women across the world play nurturing, caregiving, and family-building roles every day – even if these roles often go unseen by a public fixated on debates about their identity. They are volunteers, mentors, friends, partners, daughters, and yes, mothers. Some trans women are parents to biological or adopted children; others become “chosen aunties” or godmothers to friends’ kids. Many trans women form what the LGBTQ+ community calls chosen families – tight-knit networks of support especially vital for those whose biological families rejected them. In these chosen families, trans women frequently take on roles akin to matriarchs or big sisters, providing guidance and care to younger LGBTQ people. For instance, in LGBTQ ballroom culture (made famous by shows like Pose), transgender women of color have long served as “House Mothers,” literally creating houses/families of marginalized youth and lovingly guiding them when their own families would not familyequality.org.

These contributions aren’t just anecdotal; data backs them up. LGBTQ+ people, including trans women, are significantly more likely than the general population to be caregivers for friends and “chosen” family members in need chcs.org. One analysis found LGBTQ individuals are 3.5 times more likely to provide care for friends or non-biological family chcs.org – essentially stepping into familial, supportive roles for those around them. This makes sense when you think about it: having often faced rejection themselves, trans people understand the importance of acceptance and care. They often go above and beyond to create safe spaces and a sense of family wherever they can. I’ve seen transgender women organize community drives for homeless LGBTQ youth, stand vigil to protect other women at Pride marches, and comfort sexual assault survivors with a compassion born from personal experience. These are acts of womanly strength and empathy in the truest sense.

It’s bitterly ironic that while trans women are demonized by some as threats to family or society, in reality so many are quietly holding families and communities together. They are counselors, nurses, artists, and teachers. They celebrate holidays with loved ones, set up meal trains for sick friends, or advocate for better healthcare and education – very much the same things cisgender women do. When a cis woman says she is fighting for a better world for her daughter, I’ve seen trans women fight just as fiercely for the next generation – whether or not they have a daughter of their own. Transgender women share the nurturing spirit that we cherish in womanhood. They prove that qualities like kindness, caregiving, and solidarity are human qualities, not confined by whether one was born with XX or XY chromosomes.

Moreover, broadening our understanding of womanhood to include trans women has strengthened our communities. It teaches us that there are many ways to be a woman. A trans woman might not have experienced girlhood in the same way a cis woman did, but that doesn’t mean she has nothing to contribute to womanhood. On the contrary, she brings unique insight. For instance, trans women intimately know what it’s like to live in a society that has seen them as both a man and as a woman – and many will tell you that the respect and privileges granted to them in male-presenting days evaporated once they lived openly as women. This perspective exposes sexism in a stark way. As one transgender writer observed after transitioning, “Look what I’ve accomplished… People finally know who I really am. [But] by coming out, I’ve given up a lot of privileges, and replaced them with hurdles.”medium.com. Trans women’s experiences of losing male privilege and gaining the camaraderie and challenges of womanhood can galvanize all of us to push harder against sexism.

In short, transgender women enrich the fabric of women’s spaces and feminist causes, rather than threatening them. They show up with empathy, resilience, and a dedication to justice forged by hardship. When we embrace trans women as our sisters, we make the feminist movement larger and stronger. We gain allies who will fight alongside us for equal pay, for safer streets, for better healthcare, for all the issues that affect all women. We also reclaim a shared humanity: by seeing the woman in a trans person’s heart, we affirm that people are more than the labels society slaps on them.

Beyond the Binary: Embracing All Gender Identities

It’s also worth remembering that gender is not a simple either/or box into which everyone neatly falls. Humanity has never been strictly divided into just “100% male” and “100% female.” Throughout history and across cultures, there have always been people who live between or beyond those binaries. Many indigenous cultures, for example, recognized more than two genders – from the Two-Spirit people of many Native American nations, to the hijras of South Asia, or the muxe of Mexico britannica.com. These societies understood that gender exists on a spectrum, and that some individuals are neither wholly one nor the other. Today, we use terms like non-binary, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, agender, and more to describe the rich diversity of gender identity. These identities are just as valid and deserving of respect. Some people may feel both masculine and feminine; others may feel like neither. They too suffer from rigid gender norms – often facing ridicule or exclusion simply for not fitting expectations. And they too are targeted by the same patterns of misogyny and homophobia when they are perceived as breaking gender rules.

The existence of transgender people (including trans women) and non-binary people is a reminder that nature loves diversity. Not only do our cultures have room for more than two genders, even our biology does. For instance, a small but significant number of babies are born intersex each year – with a mix of male and female anatomical traits. Experts estimate that up to about 1.7% of the population is born with intersex traits (depending on definitions)amnesty.org. This is roughly comparable to the number of people born with red hair! The point is, the binary of “completely male vs completely female” has never been a perfect reflection of reality. Human bodies and brains exhibit a spectrum, and so does human identity. By policing gender based on stereotypes or superficial traits, we do violence to that reality – we force people into narrow boxes that cause pain and erase who they truly are.

Think about it: we don’t insist that a cisgender woman wear makeup and dresses every day to “prove” she’s a woman. We accept that women can have short hair, wear combat boots, or be CEOs and welders. A woman can be nurturing; she can also be bold, aggressive, stoic, goofy, or anything else under the sun. A man can be gentle and caring as well as strong. When we recognize that traits are not owned by one gender, we free everyone. Policing trans women for not fitting some 1950s housewife ideal is not just anti-trans; it’s anti-woman. It implies that any woman who doesn’t fit someone’s narrow definition could have her identity questioned. That hurts cis women too. Conversely, embracing a broader understanding of gender liberates us all from restrictive norms. It means my cisgender daughter can grow up knowing she’s no less a girl if she likes football, and a trans girl can grow up knowing she’s no less a girl if she happened to be born into a different body. It means non-binary youth can exist without being told they are “confused” or “freaks,” and can instead live authentically as themselves.

In an inclusive vision of society, womanhood and manhood are broad, embracing categories, and we also carve out space for those beyond the binary. We learn from each other. Cisgender women can learn courage and self-definition from trans women. Trans women, in turn, often draw strength from cis feminist movements and the progress made by cis women throughout history. Non-binary and gender-nonconforming folks teach all of us that there are infinite ways to express being human. We have so much to gain by rejecting the fear and ignorance that says “different is bad.” Different can be beautiful. Different can expand our horizons of empathy.

Rejecting Hate, Embracing Unity

The current cultural climate, fueled by inflammatory media like the documentary What Is a Woman?, is doing a great disservice to all of us. That film’s title question is posed in bad faith – it isn’t seeking to understand, but to mock and provoke. The implication is that if you can’t define “woman” in one snappy sentence (preferably tied to anatomy or chromosomes), then trans women must be impostors. But the reality is that womanhood, like manhood, is a rich human experience that defies a simplistic definition. How would I answer “what is a woman?” I would say: A woman is someone who identifies and lives as a woman, someone who experiences the world as a woman and is treated as such. This definition includes cisgender women, transgender women, and many transfeminine non-binary people as well. It is not a razor-thin technicality; it’s a lived truth.

What the makers of What Is a Woman? and their anti-trans supporters fail to understand is that excluding transgender women from womanhood does nothing to protect cisgender women – it only harms the most marginalized among us. Their rhetoric tries to pit cis women’s safety and fairness against trans women’s inclusion, as if we must choose one or the other. This is a false and cynical choice. We can protect and uplift all women simultaneously, because the threats to women come from the same place. Keeping trans women out of sports or bathrooms does nothing to stop sexual harassment in workplaces, or domestic violence behind closed doors, or sexist laws being passed. All it does is humiliate and endanger transgender people, while giving a scapegoat to those who don’t want to confront patriarchy itself.

Imagine if the energy spent trying to ban trans girls from school sports was spent addressing the real issues female athletes face – like unequal funding, sexual abuse by coaches, or lack of media coverage. Imagine if the passion some have for debating trans women’s genitals was redirected toward ensuring all women have access to healthcare and reproductive autonomy. When we stop seeing transgender women as the enemy, we can unite to tackle the actual enemies of all women: sexism, misogyny, violence, and inequality. Transgender women are not a threat to feminism; they are feminism’s natural allies and part of its future. They are our sisters, our coworkers, our friends. Many of them have literally put their lives on the line fighting for gender equality and LGBTQ rights, enduring slander and threats. To reject them is not only unjust – it’s self-defeating.

I offer a vision of solidarity: a world where womanhood is expansive and inclusive, where no woman fears that she will be shunned for not meeting someone else’s criteria of “real” womanhood. In this world, cisgender women stand up for their transgender sisters when they are attacked in the media or in the street. In turn, transgender women stand shoulder to shoulder with cis women in the fight for pay equity, for bodily autonomy, for safety from violence. Men, too, are invited into this vision – yes, men (cis and trans) must be part of the solution by challenging misogyny among other men and embracing a healthier masculinity that isn’t threatened by women’s freedom. And those who identify as neither male nor female have a respected place, teaching us that our humanity doesn’t hinge on fitting into a letter on a passport.

In this vision, a woman is simply someone who says, sincerely, “I am a woman,” and lives that truth. There is nothing “dangerous” about that. What’s dangerous is the violence and hatred that seek to police who gets to be called a woman and who doesn’t. We have the power to end that danger by rejecting those hate-filled narratives. Unity is our strength. When cisgender and transgender women come together, when all people of good conscience unite against gender-based oppression, we form an unbreakable line. We can push back against the real threats – be it abusive husbands, discriminatory laws, or documentaries that spew distortions – with the combined force of our solidarity and compassion.

Transgender women are our sisters in this struggle. They bleed, they cry, they love, they worry, they strive – just like any woman. The misogyny that hurts them is the same misogyny that hurts cis women. The patriarchy doesn’t care whom it hurts, as long as it keeps women (and those who dare to be feminine) “in their place.” But together, we can demand our place – which is anywhere we want to be. Together, we can insist on a world where no woman, cis or trans, lives in fear of violence, and where all women have their dignity affirmed.

It’s time to stop asking pointless, gotcha questions like “what is a woman?” and start asking, “How can we better support all women?” It’s time to stop gatekeeping womanhood and start gate-crashing the systems of oppression that have held women (and transgender people of all genders) down for so long. We have far more pressing battles to fight: sexual violence, wage gaps, maternal health crises, the overturning of reproductive rights, to name just a few. We need every ally in those battles. We need unity, not division. Trans women are not opposing us in these fights – they are standing with us, bleeding the same blood and shedding the same tears.

In the end, the struggle for women’s rights and safety is one struggle, whether the woman in question is cisgender or transgender. The sooner we acknowledge this, the stronger we become. Let’s choose solidarity over fear. Let’s recognize transgender women for who they are: women, deserving of every bit of empathy and protection that any woman deserves. And let’s recognize that men and people beyond the binary also have a stake in ending misogyny, because everyone’s humanity is diminished under a system that ranks and bullies people over gender.

To those who remain skeptical, I say this from the heart: Transgender women are not against you. They are you in all the ways that matter – they laugh, worry about their families, try to make ends meet, and want a better world for women. The only difference is that they’ve had to fight to be recognized as who they are. If you let them in, if you listen to their stories, you’ll find your prejudices melting away and replaced by understanding. We can all still have our disagreements and discussions about sports or language or other nuances, but those should never overshadow the core fact of our shared humanity. A inclusive sisterhood (and indeed, human family) is not only possible but necessary.

Misogyny will not be defeated by excluding some women. It will be defeated by uniting all women and allies to uproot the injustice at its core. Cisgender women, transgender women, and non-binary folks who experience gendered oppression are natural partners in this mission. Let’s move forward together, with a powerful, inclusive vision of womanhood, manhood, and beyond – one where everyone’s identity is respected and no one is left behind in the fight for equality and dignity.

Title: Our Common Enemy Is Misogyny, Not Trans Women

Including Trans Men and Non-Binary People in the Struggle Against Gender Oppression

While this article has focused largely on transgender women and their alignment with cisgender women in facing misogyny, it is equally vital to acknowledge and uplift the experiences of trans men and non-binary people who are also subjected to profound discrimination.

Trans Men and the Burden of Toxic Masculinity

Trans men are often expected to embody hypermasculine ideals upon transitioning, and they face hostility both from those who reject trans identities and from the patriarchy that seeks to control what a “real man” should be. Many trans men are subjected to:

Sexism before transition, and then misogyny turned into toxic masculinity expectations after.
Barriers to medical care, legal recognition, and mental health support.
Erasure in feminist and LGBTQ+ circles, despite their unique perspective on both womanhood and manhood.

Their struggle reminds us that masculinity must be redefined, not rejected—made safe, emotionally expressive, and inclusive.

Non-Binary People and the Challenge to Gender Norms

Non-binary individuals are perhaps the most invisibilized in gender discourse. Their existence calls into question the entire structure of binary gender roles and, as such, is met with:

Social ridicule and invalidation (“They/them isn’t proper grammar” or “You’re just confused”).
Medical and legal exclusion, with most systems refusing to recognize non-binary genders.
Higher rates of mental health crises, often due to ongoing systemic and interpersonal invalidation.

They are divine reminders that gender is not a line with two ends, but a sacred spectrum, and that divinity is not binary.

At Universal Rainbow Faith, We Declare:

Trans men are sacred.
Non-binary people are sacred.
All gender identities are valid expressions of the human soul.

We hold space for every gender-diverse person who has been told they are wrong, broken, or dangerous. We affirm: you are exactly who you are meant to be. Together, we reject the fear-based ideologies of people like Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, and Candace Owens, and we replace them with the light of spiritual truth, radical inclusion, and unconditional love.

Let this be our final answer to the question: “What is a woman?”

A woman is anyone who knows herself to be one.A man is anyone who knows himself to be one.And some of us are neither, and we are just as sacred.

Together, we rise.

Our Common Enemy Is Misogyny, Not Trans Women

By Paula Josehine Sadler

Shared Struggles of Womanhood

Consider the grim statistics. Across the world, 1 in 3 women – including trans women – will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. In these attacks, the perpetrators are overwhelmingly male; nearly 99% of rapists are men. These numbers do not distinguish between cisgender and transgender victims, because misogyny doesn’t care about the gender you were assigned at birth. When a woman is catcalled on the street or abused by a partner, it makes no difference whether she has a uterus or not. Trans women and cis women alike live with the daily reality that being a woman – in identity or in appearance – means being a potential target for harassment and violence by men. The same leering comments, the same wage gap and workplace sexism, the same struggle to be heard in meetings instead of talked over by male colleagues – these burdens fall on all women.

Conclusion: Misogyny will not be defeated by excluding some women. It will be defeated by uniting all women and allies to uproot the injustice at its core. Cisgender women, transgender women, and non-binary folks who experience gendered oppression are natural partners in this mission. Let’s move forward together, with a powerful, inclusive vision of womanhood, manhood, and beyond – one where everyone’s identity is respected and no one is left behind in the fight for equality and dignity.