Womanhood has always been a battlefield. For centuries, we have fought for our right to vote, to work, to control our own bodies. We have clawed our way through oppression, shattered glass ceilings, and defied every force that sought to reduce us to silence.
Now, a new war is being waged—one that does not just seek to control women, but to erase them. So the question is: what makes a woman? Is it her chromosomes? Her reproductive organs? Or is it her lived experience—her struggle, her resilience, her unyielding right to define herself? This question is not just philosophical; it is political. It is a matter of survival.
U.S. President Donald Trump has waged a war against women—real women—by systematically erasing trans women from existence. In a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, he vowed to end what he called "transgender lunacy" and implement policies that recognize only two genders: male and female. Under the guise of "protecting women’s rights," his administration has unleashed a wave of attacks—banning trans women from sports, stripping them of legal recognition, and denying them basic dignity. But let’s be clear: these policies do not protect women. They endanger them. They endanger us all. Feminism that excludes trans women is not feminism—it is bigotry in disguise. And if we let them come for trans women today, who will they erase tomorrow?
Trump’s latest attack centers on the tired, debunked myth that trans women are an existential threat to women’s sports. His executive order bans trans girls from competing in teams that align with their gender, claiming it is to preserve fairness. But let’s look at the numbers. Out of more than 8 million student-athletes in the U.S., fewer than 160 are trans. The NCAA, which oversees more than 500,000 college athletes, has fewer than 10 trans competitors. This is not an invasion but a manufactured crisis, a political weapon designed to dehumanize and exclude.
Meanwhile, the real issues plaguing women’s sports—chronic underfunding, lack of scholarships, pay disparities—are conveniently ignored. If Trump and his allies truly cared about women in sports, where is their outrage over the U.S. women’s soccer team fighting for equal pay? Where is their concern for female athletes denied opportunities due to lack of resources? The answer is simple: this was never about protecting women. It was always about controlling them.
The consequences of these policies are terrifying. Trump’s orders don’t stop at banning trans women from sports; they systematically strip them of their humanity. By redefining gender to be determined only by sex assigned at birth, his administration is erasing trans identities from legal existence. This affects everything from passports to medical care, making it even harder for trans women to access the resources they need to survive. Even more horrifying, Trump has ordered trans women in federal custody to be moved into men’s prisons—a decision that directly puts their lives at risk.
Studies have shown that trans women in men’s prisons face an extreme risk of violence, harassment, and sexual assault, yet Trump’s policies disregard their safety. This isn't just discrimination, it’s systemic cruelty. The idea that these measures "protect" women is a blatant lie. Exclusion and erasure do not protect women; they endanger them.
Furthermore, this brutality is not confined to the United States. Here in the Philippines, trans women face relentless attacks on their humanity. We pride ourselves on being one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in Asia, but what does that really mean when 50 trans and nonbinary Filipinos have been murdered since 2010—and justice remains out of reach? What does that mean when trans women cannot change their gender markers, cannot access legal protections, cannot even report workplace discrimination because the law refuses to acknowledge their existence?
For years, the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill has been stalled in our Congress, leaving trans Filipinas vulnerable to unemployment, abuse, and even death. And when they die, they are misgendered in the headlines, their true identities erased as a final act of cruelty. And yet, when they demand rights, when they demand dignity, they are met with the same accusations: that their existence threatens cis women. Threatens us how? By existing? By demanding to live free from discrimination and violence? The hypocrisy is deafening. If this is what “acceptance” looks like, then what does oppression mean?
Feminism must be inclusive, or it is nothing at all. To exclude trans women is to be clear: true feminism must stand in global solidarity with trans women. We cannot claim to fight for gender equality while allowing trans women to be cast aside. Advocacy must go beyond hashtags and symbolic gestures—it must push for concrete policy changes.
In the Philippines, passing the SOGIE Equality Bill is more urgent than ever, a step toward ensuring that trans Filipinas have the same rights and protections as any other woman. Internationally, we must challenge harmful narratives that frame trans inclusion as a threat rather than an expansion of rights. The idea that trans women endanger cisgender women is not only false, but a weapon of the same patriarchal fearmongering that has historically kept all women oppressed. If we let them take rights away from trans women today, who will they come for next?
For centuries, women have been told who they are and what they are allowed to be. “You belong in the home.” “You are too weak.” “You cannot lead.” “You must not speak.” And now, Trump and his allies add another command to that list: You are only a woman if we say you are. But we refuse. We refuse to be defined by their narrow, exclusionary, oppressive vision of womanhood. Trans women are women. Their fight is our fight. Their erasure is our erasure.
If we let them be erased, we will be next. So I ask again: what makes a woman? Is it her body? Or is it her fight? Because if womanhood is about fighting for survival, for dignity, for the right to exist, then trans women are some of the fiercest women we have. And feminism must stand beside them—or it is not feminism at all. Because the question is not whether trans women belong in feminism, it’s whether feminism means anything at all if they don’t.
Article: Ariane Claire S. Galpao
Cartoon: Sharen Angelique Gomez
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