I am a young woman in my mid twenties living in Melbourne, Australia. Our city is quite liberal, and indeed, all public institutions, brands, companies and councils are intensely courting the LGBT+ communities. It has made for any hint or suggestion of questioning trans people and non-binary people as career and image ending. It is deeply unfortunate, because as we all know, the way we respond to biologically male and female people is something that our bodies cannot control. If I see a large male, my body freezes and tenses. I have been assaulted and raped by men, and while women can be cruel, I have never felt the same bodily fear as I have with men. But it is not something trans women will ever understand, and the majority of people now can never say for fear of being accused of transphobia.

I often take public transport, and now, on one of my commutes via bus, see the same trans woman loudly harassing and speaking to young girls on the bus. This trans woman is very clearly male, tall, with a paunch, a large masculine nose, deep male voice, large man hands, long feet, and is extremely overbearing. This individual wears garishly pink clothes, high heels, and has purple hair. This individual only speaks to women, and young women at that. 'She' loudly tells young biological women how pretty they are, and asks them intimate questions about where they buy their clothes, underwear, and what skincare and routines they do to maintain their looks. 'She' then overshares about her own habits. She then moves her seat to closer to these strangers, who are giving her polite answers back. 'She' goes on for uncomfortably long times.

At least back in the day, trans women admitted they were different to 'cisgender' women, and attempted to transition. Nowadays, it seems any male who doesn't even put in any effort, whether that's physical, behavioural, or emotional, can decide they are female. If they don't have money or time to physically transition and have surgeries, what about simple female behaviour such as being more kind, empathetic and less aggressive?

#australia #melbourne #publictransport #bus #discomfort #aggression #harassment #exhibitionism #domination