Transwomen is Violence Against Women

The recent talk about a new Harry Potter series has put J.K. Rowling back in the spotlight, and with her, the controversy over her views on gender. For a long time, her name received nothing but praise, but ever since she began defending the reality of biological sex, many have criticized her for being transphobic.

J.K. Rowling is not transphobic. Nothing she says is hate speech. She is simply defending the integrity of womanhood by arguing that a man cannot become a woman just by saying he is one.

I agree with her. As a father to a young daughter, this isn’t some abstract debate for me. I don’t want her growing up in a society where men share the same bathroom as her, where men play in the same sports leagues, and where the distinct spaces created for her safety are dismantled.

I couldn’t care less about men wanting to look like women and wear dresses. What I do care about is when those men demand the same benefits, treatment, and access as biological women. Womanhood is sacred and should be protected, not copied. It is a biological reality with unique experiences and vulnerabilities, not a costume to be worn or an identity to be claimed.

At home, my wife and I are already teaching our daughter about these fundamental boundaries. I don’t walk around naked in front of my daughter. At three years old, she’s recognizing her body and knows when she’s naked. Yet, my wife is nude around our daughter to show her that a woman’s body is something to be respected and protected, but also not something to be ashamed of.

Our daughter notices the difference: her dad, being male, is not nude around her, but her mom, a female, is. From this, she learns a simple but profound lesson about privacy, boundaries, and the differences between men and women. The lesson is clear: if a boy at school decides to show her his weewee, she will know it is inappropriate. Her dad doesn’t do that, so why does this boy?

This fundamental lesson is undermined when society allows male bodies into female-only spaces. Someday, I know my daughter will see a penis, likely out of curiosity and sexuality. But to the best of my ability, I want it to be at a time when she fully consents to it. Placing biological males in her bathroom or locker room steals that choice. It forces an exposure she did not ask for and cannot consent to. Even if a child’s curiosity leads them to ask a trans woman about her body, the situation itself—normalizing the presence of male anatomy in a girls’ private space—is a dangerous breakdown of essential boundaries.

For these reasons, the lines must be held firm. The push to redefine womanhood to include men is a form of violence against women; it is an act of erasure that threatens the safety women and girls have fought for. Transwomen should not play in women’s sports. Transwomen should not use women’s bathrooms. Rather than encouraging people to take the plunge and change their sex because of temporary unhappiness, society must be firm in protecting the sex-based rights and spaces that are essential for the safety and dignity of women.