Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and anti-transgender activist. Murphy’s projects Feminist Current and The Same Drugs are key anti-transgender resources.
Background
Meghan Emily Murphy was born November 30, 1978 and grew up in Vancouver. Murphy’s family was reportedly “not just left, but most left.” Murphy’s parents were a Marxist labour activist who served as a shop steward at Canada Post and a feminist who worked in arts administration. Murphy has a sibling.
Murphy said, “I have left the left because I don’t wish to be part of a cult.”
Rejecting femininity was fine, except that it developed into a disdain for “wives” and “mothers” who had predictively and passively capitulated to the patriarchy, choosing mundane lives for reasons I could not possibly imagine.
Murphy says this rightward political trajectory felt like being excommunicated:
The left disavowed me long ago for insisting that pornography and prostitution was not an empowering choice sexually liberated women make for fun and wealth, then again for understanding that penises are male and girls who cut their hair short and replace pink frilly dresses with bowler hats and mismatched high top converse are not “non-binary” or “trans” or “boys,” but simply little girls who don’t want to play by old-fashioned rules.
References
Murphy, Meghan (April 22, 2015). Laverne Cox’s objectified body ’empowers’ no one. Feminist Current https://www.feministcurrent.com/2015/04/22/laverne-coxs-objectified-body-empowers-no-one/ [archive]
Bindel, Julie (October 9, 2015). No platform: my exclusion proves this is an anti-feminist crusade. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/09/no-platform-universities-julie-bindel-exclusion-anti-feminist-crusade [archive]
Greer, Darryl (November 3, 2016). Writer Quits Rabble Over Pulled Blog. Canadaland http://www.canadalandshow.com/writer-quits-rabble/ [archive]
Signatories (May 11, 2015). Open letter to rabble.ca – Support Meghan Murphy suffered a misogynist campaign by the sex industry lobby. Sisyphe.org [archive]
Statement on review of Meghan Murphy petitions. rabble.ca. May 14, 2015. [archive]
Murphy, Meghan (September 7, 2016). Are we women or are we menstruators? Feminist Current https://www.feministcurrent.com/2016/09/07/are-we-women-or-are-we-menstruators/ [archive]
Murphy, Meghan (October 21, 2016). Hi friends. Just an overdue update. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/meghanemilymurphy/posts/10153849501632343 [archive]
Murphy, Meghan (June 21, 2017). Why a women-only spa in Toronto should not change its policy to accept trans women. CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/women-only-spa-counterpoint-1.4170158 [archive]
(March 20, 2018). Interchange – Sex Politics: Meghan Murphy and the Feminist Current. WFHB. https://wfhb.org/news/interchange-sex-politics-meghan-murphy-and-the-feminist-current/ [archive]
Authenticity & empathy: Meghan Murphy. Woman’s Place UK (WPUK). https://womansplaceuk.org/2019/05/28/meghan-murphy-authenticity-empathy/ May 20, 2019. [archive]
Murphy, Meghan (July 22, 2019). The Yaniv scandal is the end-product of trans activism. The Spectator. [archive]
CTV Vancouver (January 11, 2019). Trans advocates rally against controversial feminist speaker Meghan Murphy. CTV News. [archive]
Meghan Murphy Presents a Feminist Case Against Bill C-16 on YouTube
The Standing Senate Committee On Legal and Constitutional Affairs – Evidence. Senate of Canada. Parliament of Canada. May 10, 2017. [archive]
Legal and Constitutional Affairs – Meeting Detail. Senate of Canada. Parliament of Canada. May 10, 2017. [archive]
Tasker, John Paul (May 12, 2017). Transgender rights bill threatens ‘female-born’ women’s spaces, activists say. CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. [archive]
Robertson, Dylan C (May 30, 2017). Senate committee rejects motion to narrow trans bill’s scope. Daily Xtra. [archive]
Twitter-ban feminist defends transgender views ahead of Holyrood meeting. BBC News. May 22, 2019. [archive]
Sitwell, Ros (May 24, 2019). Hundreds of women gather in London to discuss sex and gender. Morning Star. [archive]
Meghan Murphy: Canadian feminist’s trans talk sparks uproar”. BBC News. October 30, 2019. [archive]
Wells, Georgia (February 11, 2019). Writer Sues Twitter Over Ban for Criticizing Transgender People. The Wall Street Journal. [archive]
Prengel, Kate (November 24, 2018). Meghan Murphy: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. Heavy. [archive]
Robertson, Julia Diana (November 27, 2018). Twitter Bans Meghan Murphy, Founder of Canada’s Leading Feminist Website. AfterEllen [archive]
Brean, Joseph (February 12, 2019). ‘Yeeeah it’s him’: Vancouver writer sues Twitter over its rule against misgendering trans people. National Post [archive]
Brean, Joseph (October 29, 2019). Meghan Murphy, the woman behind trans wars breaking out at the public library. National Post [archive]
Matt, Naham (February 12, 2019). Feminist Writer Sues Twitter After She Tweets ‘Men Aren’t Women’ and Gets Banned. Law & Crime [archive]
Fry, Madeline (July 10, 2019). This journalist lost her lawsuit against Twitter for banning her account, but she’s not giving up. Washington Examiner [archive]
Davis, Wendy (June 13, 2019). Twitter Defeats Lawsuit By Journalist Banned For ‘Misgendering’. Digital News Daily. MediaPost [archive]
Grant, Melissa Gira (November 22, 2022). Elon Musk’s Anti-Trans Twitter Regime. The New Republic
Binder, Matt (November 22, 2022). Elon Musk is reinstating banned Twitter accounts. Here’s who’s back. Mashable
Compton, Julie (January 14, 2019). ‘Pro-lesbian’ or ‘trans-exclusionary’? Old animosities boil into public view. NBC News. [archive]
Hoard, KC (October 29, 2019). Hundreds protest controversial Toronto Public Library event featuring Meghan Murphy. The Globe and Mail. [archive]
Wadhwani, Ashley (July 23, 2019). Vancouver Public Library banned from Pride parade after allowing controversial speaker. Surrey Now-Leader. [archive]
Ritchie, Kevin (October 18, 2019). Toronto Public Library facing Pride ban over Meghan Murphy event. NOW. [archive]
Rider, David (October 17, 2019). John Tory ‘disappointed’ Toronto library allowing event with writer accused of being anti-transgender. Toronto Star. [archive]
Resources
Meghan Murphy (meghanmurphy.ca)
Substack (substack.com)
Feminist Current (feministcurrent.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)