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I support this statement and I'm glad people are fighting transphobia within Labour.
However, I feel an important point is being missed in this kind of public commentary: that is, the insistence that only women have cervixes contributes to the denial of life-saving healthcare. https://twitter.com/Labour_Trans/status/1289595008094334979
However, I feel an important point is being missed in this kind of public commentary: that is, the insistence that only women have cervixes contributes to the denial of life-saving healthcare. https://twitter.com/Labour_Trans/status/1289595008094334979
In practice, statements such as "only women have a cervix" result in barriers to healthcare. Men and non-binary people with cervixes often report being denied access to vital services because of how they look or because of flawed administrative systems. https://patient.info/news-and-features/why-do-transgender-people-struggle-to-get-cervical-screening
There is an emerging evidence base which indicates that women and non-binary people with neovaginas (i.e. individuals *without* cervixes) may also benefit from cancer screening programmes. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28217933/
Rosie Duffield's statement was transphobic - but not simply because it denied people's identities, but because it can lead to trans people being denied access to life-saving services. Moreover, this issue is also relevant to intersex people, and for cis women with neovaginas.
In responding to statements that insist that only/all women have cervixes, we have to move beyond simple questions of gender identity - while these are important, they are not the only issue at play, and arguably not the most important issue at play either.
...and lest anyone start treating this as a party political issue... https://twitter.com/NotRightRuth/status/1289840154451030016
As Morvern points out here, the "only women have cervixes" discourse fits into a long history of healthcare denial, for example through telling lesbians and other queer women that they don't need smear tests. https://twitter.com/morvc/status/1289843944520523778
