Ruth Barrett is an American spiritual leader and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Ruth Bienenfeld was born on February 4, 1954 in Los Angeles to a family deeply involved in Reconstructionist Judaism. After marrying William Q. Barrett in 1977, Ruth Barrett had a child, Amanda Rebecca Barrett, born in 1978.
Barrett attended University of California, Santa Cruz to pursue an interest in spirituality and folklore, eventually joining a coven in 1977.
Barrett began performing women’s music as a teen and recorded five albums with fellow mountain dulcimer player Cyntia Smith beginning in 1981.
Barrett divorced after coming out as lesbian in 1984.
From 1991 until its closure, Barrett was heavily involved with the trans-exclusionary Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Barrett performed with Kay Gardner after they met there. Barrett began releasing solo works in 1990.
Barrett led Moon Birch Grove coven until 1988. That year, Barrett founded Circle of Aradia, which affiliated with Reformed Congregation of the Goddess in 1993. Barrett relocated with partner Falcon River to the Midwest in 2000, founded the nonprofit Temple of Diana, Inc. in 2001, and continues to teach and perform at music events and festivals.
Trans-exclusionary activism
In addition to involvement in Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Barrett is an adherent to “Dianic Wicca,” an explicitly trans-exclusionary set of beliefs and practices.
Dianic tradition is celebrated in exclusively female-only circles.
Power is sourced through our wombs, and female embodied magic that is found in every cell of her body.
A woman is a person who is an adult human female (XX).
In the current climate where transgender activists seek to eliminate protections based on biological sex, we will not participate in our own oppression and erasure by pretending that our bodies are insignificant to what makes us female, as girls and women.
We encourage males who are trans identified to create their own rites of passage that address their significant life cycle events from birth into elderhood. We welcome females who have de-transitioned and wish to reclaim their female being free of patriarchal collusion.
Female Erasure (2016)
Barrett is editor of the anthology Female Erasure: What You Need To Know About Gender Politics’ War on Women, the Female Sex and Human Rights. The book puts forth a variety of anti-trans views centered on the conspiracy theory that trans people are “erasing” women and lesbians.
Contributors:
- Lane Anderson
- Temple Ardinger
- Ruth Barrett
- Cathy Brennan
- Dominique Christina
- “Crash” [Ky Schevers]
- Alix Dobkin
- Maya Dillard Smith
- “Gallusmag” [Linda Shanko]
- Elizabeth Hungerford
- Sheila Jeffreys
- Nedra Johnson
- Nuriddeen Knight
- “Mara Lake”
- Julia Long
- Vajra Ma
- Patricia McFadden
- Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012)
- Ava Park
- Falcon River
- “Joan F. Archive”
- Monica Asencio
- Jennifer Bilek
- Mary Ceallaigh
- “Double XX Howl”
- Kathy Crocco
- Carol Downer
- Ila Suzanne Gray
- Elsa Gidlow (1898 – 1986)
- “Hypotaxis”
- Rachel Ivey
- Lierre Keith
- Dr. Kathleen “Kelly” Levinstein
- Sara St. Martin Lynne
- Kathy Mandigo, M.D.
- Jackie Mearns
- Barbara Mor (1936 – 2015)
- “Phonaesthica”
- Max Robinson
- Kathy Scarbrough
- Sally Tatnall
- “Sharon Thrace“
- “Marie Verite” [Denise Caignon]
- Mary Lou Singleton
- Monica Sjöö (1938 – 2005)
- Yeye Luisah Teish
- Devorah Zahav
- Additional acknowledgements: Karen Cayer, Mary Daly, Therese Hill, and Shiela Jeffreys
References
Malkmus, Doris (November 28, 2004). Oral History Interview: Ruth Barrett. (PDF) LGBTQ Religious Archives Network https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/media/oral-history/ruth-barrett/RBarrett.pdf
Malkmus, Doris (August 5, 2020). Ruth Barrett | Profile. LGBTQ Religious Archives Network https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/ruth-barrett
Cowanl, Zagria (November 9, 2010). Ruth Rhiannan Barrett (1954–) priestess, folksinger. https://zagria.blogspot.com/2010/11/ruth-rhiannan-barrett-1954-priestess.html
Resources
Female Erasure (femaleerasure.com)
Dancing Tree (dancingtree.org)
Temple of Diana (templeofdiana.org)
Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries (womensriteswomensmysteries.com) [archive]
Guardians of the Grove (guardiansofthegrove.org) [archive]
- The Spiral Door Women’s Mystery School of Magick and Ritual Arts
Aeolus Music (aeolusmusic.com) [archive]