Minnesota State University Moorhead is hosting an event titled “Let’s Talk About TERFs” on April 8, 2021.
UPDATE (April 10, 2021): Watch the video of this ridiculous event, where attendees were regularly kicked out of the meeting for asking questions that challenged the panelists' perspectives.
TERF (“Transgender-Exclusive Radical Feminist”) originally designated radical feminists who did not include transgender-identified people under the LGB umbrella, but the term has become a catch-all insult for any woman who expresses concerns or questions about anything related to transgender ideology:
"Trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) argue that including trans women in women’s spaces like sports erases the rights and experiences of cis women, straight and queer. What’s really at the root of this transphobic ideology? How are feminism and women’s rights weaponized against the trans community to ultimately harm all women and gender non-conforming people, and how can we fight back? Tune in to find out![i]"
The epithet “TERF” has close, if not parallel, connotations to misogynistic slurs like b*tch and c*nt. It is often used to dehumanize women and to advocate violence against them.[ii] Minnesota State University Moorhead’s event might equivalently be titled, “Let’s Talk About B*tches,” “Let’s Talk About C*nts,” or “Let’s Talk About [INSERT RACIAL SLUR HERE].”
Calling reasonable and credible concerns about women’s safety “transphobic” is gaslighting at its finest. Framing women’s rights as “weaponized against the trans community” is a classic DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) tactic cherished by abusers worldwide.
Considering transgender rights activists’ relentlessly savage personal and professional assaults[iii] on anyone who doesn’t fall in line with their outrageous demands, the organizers of this program have no grounds on which to stand when they imply that they have been unfairly targeted for abuse and are justified in organizing to “fight back.”
Partners for Ethical Care has reached out to the university, but has received no response.
We encourage anyone who also finds this misogynistic event unacceptable to contact the university, its president, and/or its board of directors and tell them so:
Minnesota State University Morehead
Email: https://askus.minnstate.edu/app/ask Phone: 1.800.593.7246 or 1.800.456.8519 Chat: https://askus.minnstate.edu/app/chat/chat_launch/c/1883 Contact Form: https://www.mnstate.edu/contact
Minnesota State University Morehead President:
Anne Blackhurst 1104 7th Avenue South Moorhead, MN 56563
Phone: (218) 477-2243
Fax: (218) 477-5093
anne.blackhurst@mnstate.edu
Minnesota State University Morehead Board of Trustees:
Ahmitara Alwal 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 ahmitara.alwal@minnstate.edu
Asani Ajogun 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 Asani.Ajogun@minnstate.edu
Alex Cirillo 10107 Brookhaven Drive Woodbury, MN 55129-4800 Phone: 651-208-7342 cirilloac@gmail.com
Jay Cowles, Chair 275 Market Street, Suite 274B Minneapolis, MN 55405 Phone: 612-359-9449 jay.cowles@minnstate.edu
Dawn Erlandson 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 dawnerlandson@gmail.com
Jerry Janezich 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 jerry.janezich@minnstate.edu
Roger Moe, Vice Chair 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 roger.moe@minnstate.edu
Javier Morillo 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 Morillojavi@gmail.com
April Nishimura 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 april.nishimura@minnstate.edu
Oballa Oballa 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 Oballa.Oballa@minnstate.edu
Rudy Rodriguez 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 rodolfo.rodriguez@minnstate.edu
Kathy Sheran 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 Kathleen.Sheran@minnstate.edu
George Soule 30 7th Street East St. Paul, MN 55101 651-201-1705 George.Soule@minnstate.edu
Cheryl Tefer 30 7th Street East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: 651-201-1705 cheryl.tefer@minnstate.edu
Michael Vekich 3924 Natchez Avenue South St. Louis Park, MN 55416 Phone: 612-709-6262 vekich@vekich.com
Partners for Ethical Care works to end the unethical medicalization of children by the gender industry. Contact Partners for Ethical Care at support@partnersforethicalcare.com.
[i] https://mnstate.campuslabs.com/engage/event/6996526
[ii] https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/05/01/trans-activism-become-centered-justifying-violence-women-time-allies-speak/ [iii] https://quillette.com/2018/10/18/trans-activists-campaign-against-terfs-has-become-an-attack-on-science/