I've just been looking at the actions of some of the more volatile trans women activists, in Scotland and the wider world - ignoring the more salacious stories.
This is a completely new world to me because although I have a trans woman friend, our friendship is based purely on shared interests about which we are both passionate, and strange as it might seem, we have never discussed transgenderism. She never raises the issue, so neither do I. That's the level - nil - of my knowledge.
But what I have read is shocking to the core - the calls for feminists to be "throat-punched", and worse. I'm not going to elaborate because it's easy to get carried away and present a mis-leading picture of trans women. But these activists really do take the biscuit.
The point I would like to make is that from what I can gather, they are often well-known, making regular appearances at women's events, and are also very vocal on certain social media, and I am thinking that they are, in fact, a minority, but a minority with a very big 'presence'.
I hope I am right, and this is true, and that these particular 'activists' are not at all representative of the majority of trans women. Who, surely, must abhor the violence and sheer thuggery of these activists, and be worried that they are going to be viewed in the light of their utter madness.
The second point - and again, I admit my lack of knowledge here is - are these volatile and violent activists in fact really trans women in the now accepted sense of the word, or are they a 'subset' of male misogynists who have adopted this role as a way to attack women? They insist they "are women too" and dress as women, etc, but their violent behaviour is, very generally speaking, quite the opposite of that of the average, ordinary woman. I have read of them joking about gagging feminists with their penises - so when I read things like that, I cannot help but wonder if they really do identify as women. Because that, to me, sounds very much like misogynistic male behaviour.
Excuse my ignorance - I'm willing to be educated about a world of which I've not had experience - didn't know existed - apart from my above-mentioned friend. Her only reference to her own transgenderism was a simple announcement to close friends that, after many years thought and struggles, she had decided to identify as a woman and would we please call her by her new name "xxx" which she chose because it had always had an appeal. So I knew her before she transitioned (though I don't know the extent of the process) and 'she' is exactly the same person as when she was a 'he' - kind, generous, sweet-natured and totally absorbed in the hobbies / interests we both share. And it was an easy 'transition' for me to accept him as her - basically, because nothing changed much.
Are these activists really of the same group?