Miranda Yardley (born 1967) is a British accountant, publisher, and “autogynephilia” activist. Yardley identifies as transsexual and is a prominent conservative voice in the “gender critical” movement.
Background
Yardley earned a degree in accounting from Bangor University in 1990. Yardley started an accounting firm in 2000 and took over publishing music magazine Terrorizer in 2002 under the auspices of Dark Arts, Ltd. Yardley later added the titles Dominion and Sick Sounds.
In 2008, Yardley made a gender transition.
Activism
In 2014, Yardley became heavily involved in online fights about transgender politics, specifically rejecting the idea that trans women are women:
The gender critical approach establishes that ābeing a womanā is not a matter of an individualās identity. Someone who is gender critical recognises that trans women are biologically male (and trans men are biologically female), that human beings are sexually dimorphic, that we are all subject to sex-based socialisation from birth. These are not value judgements; being biologically male is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It is morally neutral.
This feminist approach views gender essentialism as the basis of womenās oppression, which as an extreme example would include violence (by men) against women. This is not to say that all men are violent, rather that male socialisation has violent aspects (like female socialisation has aspects that are, to quote a phrase, āsugar and spice and all things niceā). I therefore view gender as a harmful social construct which divides power unequally. I think of it as a hierarchy, with the sex-class āmaleā at the top.
Yardley (2014)
Media appearances
In 2018, Yardley was suspended from Twitter for saying Green Party spokesperson Aimee Challenor is a man. In April 2018 pro-trans cisgender activist Helen Islan brought a “transgender hate crime” complaint against Yardley that led to police involvement and a long investigation. The case was dropped in Yardley’s favor in March 2019.
Since that time, Yardley has been embraced by anti-transgender activists, appearing on their platforms, writing about trans community controversies, and working to change the UK’s 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
References
Yardley, Miranda (August 18, 2014). Kellie Maloney, Newsnight and the debate the transgender community refused to have. New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2014/08/kellie-maloney-newsnight-and-debate-transgender-community-refused-have
Yardley, Miranda (August 30, 2016). What Autogynephilia is, and what is it not; a brief note. https://mirandayardley.com/en/what-autogynephilia-is-and-what-is-it-not-a-brief-note/
Yardley, Miranda (July 10, 2016). 17 Signs I Am An Autogynephile And Didnāt Know It. https://mirandayardley.com/en/17-signs-i-am-an-autogynephile-and-didnt-know-it/
Yardley, Miranda (July 10, 2016). Pornography And Autogynephilia In The Narratives Of Adult Transgender Males. https://mirandayardley.com/en/pornography-and-autogynephilia-in-the-narratives-of-adult-transgender-males/
Yardley, Miranda (June 17, 2017).Ā A History of Autogynephilia. https://mirandayardley.com/en/a-history-of-autogynephilia/
Yardley, Miranda. Written evidence submitted by Miranda Yardley [1840] British Parliament https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/18025/pdf/
Resources
Miranda Yardley (mirandayardley.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
- MirandaYardley (suspended 2018)
- terrorizermir (suspended 2018, reinstated under Elon Musk)
- EmmJayYardley
Instagram (instagram.com)
Medium (medium.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)