WOMEN SHALL OVERCOME

On October 2nd 2021 the 5th annual Women Shall Overcome event was held at The Studio Widnes. This is an annual event in which the Fortuna Female Society and The Studio spotlight and celebrate women. This years event was curated by Meg DeMar and was a mixture of film, music, poetry and soapbox speeches. There were films from Fortuna Female Society about the impact of covid on women and a Drag King film from Mooncup Theatre, a womxn led collec�ve. Music from local female-iden�fying ar�sts Mondegreen, Seagoth (find her interview in this issue!) and Meg DeMar joined by Serial Culture writer Ben Cooper. Poet Emily McChrystal shared work from her new book Soul Notes poetry and some of the audience also had a go at sharing poetry, speeches and shou�ng about what they are passionate about!

Liv Eren was approached prior to the event and asked if she could share a speech on the Soapbox that night. Here is her speech.

When I was invited to come and speak at this event tonight, I was quite torn on what I wanted to speak about, there really is so many topical issues that I could address, but I really just wanted to focus on a subject which I think is o�en overlooked and targeted by those who claim to be within our movement. It also comes to mind because I was recently targeted by the terf mum mafia on twi�er for visibly suppor�ng this. If you’ve not already caught on, I’ll be discussing trans-inclusive feminism. It might be difficult to believe that there is even a need for these conversa�ons, we live in a society which claims to be inclusive, diverse and accep�ng, we live in a �me where trans people are flourishing, wri�ng books, appearing in film and media, ge�ng married, having kids, the list really does go on. But in reality, we have so much further to go un�l there is true equality, true acceptance and true understanding.

As somebody who is the L in LGBT, some would say it’s easy to see why I would support transgender rights - I’ve felt similar, but certainly not equal, prejudice, directed at me for a part of my iden�ty that I cannot change. And so naturally, you’d imagine that all lesbians would jump at the chance to show their solidarity with transgender people - but unfortunately, for a very small minority, that is not always the case. Groups like LGB alliance who exist solely to fight against trans rights are supported by lesbians who hide their prejudice behind the claim that they are feminists - when in reality, we know they are anything but.

I wanted to highlight this issue, because many of the arguments used against trans people today are the exact same arguments which were used just 30 years ago against gay people and are being spoken by these so called members of our movement. We, as feminists, have a responsibility to drown out those who claim that feminists shouldn’t support transgender rights. We need to speak openly about why, we NEED to support transgender rights because if your feminism isn’t intersec�onal - it is not feminism. You are not a feminist.

And if that alone does not convince you, according to a stonewall survey, 41% of trans par�cipants said that they had been subject to hate crime in the last year, 25% had experienced homelessness and 67% said that they had avoided being open about their iden�ty in fear of nega�ve reac�on of others - that's the reality of it. and this is why our movement, the feminist movement should always stand in solidarity with our trans siblings. And if I catch any of youse liking, sharing or suppor�ng anything transphobic I'll be raging. Trans women are women.

My experience as a performer for the women shall overcome event was overwhelmingly positive - playing alongside Meg was my first time properly on stage, so I was definitely quite nervous going into it. However, the fellow performers and people in attendance at the event were so lovely; the welcoming atmosphere made me feel a lot calmer about going on stage. The feedback I received once we had finished the set was heart-warming and really quite life-affirming! A brilliant night contributing towards a positive cause - I’m so happy I got the chance to be a part of it! -Ben Cooper

WOMEN SHALL OVERCOME 02/10/2021

Comments from attendees-

‘I didn’t think I needed this, BUT I DID!!’

‘You are the only you! You are amazing!’ ‘Know your strength, know you are loved, know there is no shame here!’ ‘Everyone can and should be a feminist, change is now.’ ‘Let’s take the spirit of tonight forward into tomorrow. It’s time for real change.’