Trans women have come under increasing fire in recent years. Right-wing conservative groups, conspiracy theorists and ultra-Christian movements are fanning hatred with disinformation. This leads to exclusion and a deterioration in the social position of trans women .
TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) also play an important role in this. They claim to stand up for women’s rights, but use this as legitimacy to exclude trans women.
First, let’s define the term “transgender. Trans people experience a deep-seated sense of discomfort with the gender assigned to them at birth. The transgender community has great gender diversity. Roughly speaking, one can distinguish between:
- Trans men: people who identify as male but were given female body characteristics at birth.
- Trans women: people who identify as women but were given male body characteristics at birth.
- Non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) persons: people who do not unambiguously identify as male or female.
A 2024 CBS survey of the Dutch population aged 15 and older found that 0.4% of people identify as trans men, 0.3% as trans women and 0.3% as NBGQ.
Trans people are born that way
Biologists have long shown that transgender people are a biological variation. Also, the much assumed statement that the XY chromosome makes someone a man and the XX chromosome a woman is not always true. Other variations exist. People with Swyer syndrome look and feel like women, but genetically they look like men, with an X and a Y chromosome. However, research on these women showed that they have a gene on their Y chromosome with an abnormal shape, the SRY gene, which blocks their development into men. There are numerous other studies showing that trans people are born this way. The same goes for intersex people, who have bodies with both male and female characteristics. The fact that they don’t always show who they are is due to societal pressure, which often leads to the belief that trans people make their own choice to be trans.
Discrimination
So although trans women make up only 0.3% of the Dutch population, they are often the target of hate campaigns, and this increased exponentially after the corona pandemic. Research from The Green Amsterdammer from 2023 shows that the number of hate messages about trans people on social media increased fivefold between 2021 and 2023. In addition, Transgender Netherlands saw a 60% increase in reports of discrimination against trans people in 2023.
Conspiracy Theories
That hate campaigns and disinformation mainly target trans women also became clear during the 2022 parliamentary debate on the new transgender law. This law, which was eventually parked, was heavily influenced by disinformation and conspiracy theories about trans women.
For example, it is claimed that trans women try to gain access to women’s toilets and locker rooms to abuse other women, but there is no evidence to support this claim. Studies by Rutgers and the RIVM show that sexual violence is primarily perpetrated by cisgender men (men whose gender identity matches their birth sex) and that trans women, on the contrary, are more likely to be victims.
Another common misconception is that male athletes would change gender to win in women’s competition. Again, there is no evidence for this; in fact, research shows that trans women who have female hormones do not retain a significant strength advantage. In fact, research commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shows that trans women are more likely to be at a disadvantage. Another persistent conspiracy theory is that trans women are more likely to be child abusers, but there is no evidence for this either. On the contrary, research shows that child abuse occurs mostly in the family setting.
All of this puts trans women in an increasingly vulnerable position with many negative consequences.
Employment discrimination
According to the study Views on sexual and gender diversity in the Netherlands and Europe from the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP), transgender individuals experience more discrimination in the labor market. This contributes to higher unemployment rates within this group. The same SCP study highlights that transgender individuals have lower average incomes than cisgender individuals. In addition to the fact that women already earn less than men, for trans women this points to an even larger wage gap.
Problems in healthcare
Trans people experience a lot of unfamiliarity in mainstream care. See also our article on gender inequality in healthcare. In addition, trans people who are still in their transition process or have yet to start it face enormously long waiting lists. Up to even six years! Causes are a growing demand for trans care, a limited supply of care and unnecessary procedures. The previously mentioned transgender law could have reduced some of the long wait times.
Several measures are needed to improve the position of trans people. Such as improving healthcare and, for example, better representation of trans people in media, politics, business and civil society organizations.
In addition, education is important. Both in schools and businesses. Companies can contribute by actively implementing inclusive policies and creating safe workplaces. We can help with that.
View our list of training courses we offer for education and business at this link: https://bureaugelijkebehandeling.nl/educatie/
