Protests planned as anti-trans women’s conference comes to SF Hilton

A group of TERFs (trans exclusion radical feminists) is having their second annual conference in San Francisco for some reason, and local trans activists plan to protest at the host hotel.

Women’s Declaration International USA is the American chapter of a British group dedicated to spreading the gospel that the “trans agenda” is a threat to womanhood, women’s rights and feminism in general. The group may not be very large or influential — its Instagram has just over 2,300 followers, and the three-day conference is expected to have only about 100 attendees — but its agenda is anathema to many in San Francisco, which is a city ​​with a strong and growing trans community.

“Trans people are outraged that they’re holding this meeting in San Francisco,” says Tatyana Moaton, senior strategy advisor with SF Community Health, speaking to the Chronicle. “San Francisco is a place that has been a beacon of hope. People come to San Francisco specifically because it’s considered a sanctuary for them. This (convention) sends the wrong message because it’s not who we are .”

The conference begins late Friday afternoon with a reception and dinner at the host hotel, the Hilton San Francisco Financial District (in Chinatown). Moaton and others plan to protest there, and if you want to join the protest, the conference schedule can be found here.

Activists also called on the independently operated Hilton to cancel the event, but the hotel issued a statement saying it “does not adopt or endorse the views of any individuals or groups we serve.”

As the Chronicle notes, Women’s Declaration International held a rally in Oakland last year to protest the transfer to a women’s prison of trans inmate Dana Rivers, who was convicted in 2016 of killing two lesbian friends over a biker gang dispute.

The group advocates a strange mix of left and right ideologies – arguing, like conservatives, that trans identity does not or should not exist, while also advocating radical feminist thought and fighting for access to abortion. They are also anti-porn, and pro-gay rights – but they prefer the abbreviation to be just LGB.

In a comment to the Chronicle about the possible protests, women’s statement of board member Lauren Levey says: “Men have always had problems with women fighting for our sex-based rights,” and “We don’t hate anyone. There is no hate involved. But we don’t accept their ideology. In other words, we don’t accept that a man can be a woman.”

While Moaton and others have asked city leaders to speak out against the conference, SF Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin suggests they “take the bait.”

“A lot of people are picking on San Francisco for right-wing hate precisely because they want city leaders to amplify it and leave it on Fox News,” Peskin tells the Chronicle.

But do these women even watch Fox News? It takes all kinds of nuts and bolts to make the crazy salad of worldviews in our world today, but these ladies are something special.

Does this sound radically feminist, or like the Proud Boys?

“The breakdown of Western culture and traditions is threatened by a deliberate erosion of long-held values, norms, and above all, borders. The dangers to our culture should not be taken lightly. The attack on femininity is a threat to our entire democracy. “

That’s from Suzanne Forbes-Vierling, one of the anti-trans activists apparently speaking at the conference.

Too bad they’re not here the same weekend as the anti-abortion protesters. That can lead to some fun fights.