Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans
philosopher; co-founder, Women's Declaration International; author, Transgender Body Politics

Heather Brunskell-Evans is an academic specialising in the philosophy, sociology and politics of medicine.

In a collection of essays, Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body (2018), Heather expressed the view that children are not ‘born’ transgender, and that their welfare requires us to exercise caution in social transgendering children as well as the attempt to medically sex-transition adolescents. She discovered three things: her seemingly moderate view was so inflammatory it incurred fury from trans activists who tagged her with impunity as a TERF and transphobe; the Women’s Equality Party took away her role as spokeswoman because she couldn’t agree with its position that ‘woman’ is an overall category subdivided into ‘cis’ women and transwomen; and finally, the mantra ‘Transwomen ARE Women’ is repeatedly screamed at her by transactivists wherever she talks.

The book’s publication has been pivotal in her understanding of identity politics, of what is currently regarded as progressive, of who is authorised to speak ‘truth’ about equality and human rights and who gets to do the authorising. As such, Heather has inevitably been drawn to the political and epistemological questions: What is a woman? What is a man?

Her latest book is Transgender Body Politics (2020) published by Spinifex Press.

Follow Heather on Twitter: @brunskellevans

RELATED SESSIONS

Saturday 28 October, 10:15 Council Room, Church House
Are slippery-slope arguments ever valid?

Sunday 29 October, 13:45 Council Room, Church House
Bodies that matter: transgenderism and transhumanism