That's right: trans WOMEN, male to female. While debate rages about whether trans-masculine people belong in women's spaces, we must not forget that there are many communities that claim to be by and for women but shun and exclude one group of women: trans women.

• We've witnessed women being misunderstood and treated like outsiders -- just for being trans. We've seen women being ostracized for having relationships or sleeping with trans women. That's bullshit! If a community wants to call itself pro-woman, that needs to include ALL women, regardless of class, race, size, ability, how we express our gender, who we love, or what gender we were assigned at birth.

• Trans women have been a part of queer, lesbian, and dyke communities since the beginning. Trans women have been marching alongside other women since day one, and still are today! It's ridiculous that, all too often, trans women are silenced and forced to suppress part of their experiences and who they are, in order to fit in.

• Our community should be smart enough to see through the few narrow stereotypes our society offers about trans women. Trans women are just as diverse, complicated, and individual as non-trans women. There are butch trans women; there are femme trans women. There are trans women of all kinds and experiences. Generalizing about trans women is just as asinine as perpetuating stereotypes about any other group of women.

• Society encourages women to compete with and hate each other. To resist this, we must work to support all women. We have to examine and deal with our own misogyny and transphobia, and stop projecting our biases onto other women -- including trans women, who are not only devalued and objectified as women, but often excluded by other women.

• Women's bodies and genitals come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. That's awesome! We are all more than the sum of our body parts. We believe in self-determination over our own bodies and how we use them, and we know that making any kind of assumption about someone based solely on the shape of their body is deeply foolish.

Signed,

1. Ariel Federow, New York, NY
2. Naomi Clark, New York, NY
3. Jess Snodgrass, Pittsburgh, PA
4. Heath, Brooklyn, NY
5. Jack Aponte, Brooklyn, NY
6. Heather Galaxy, Washington, DC
6. Zoh, NY
7. Kristin W, Olympia, WA
8. Gremlin Jane, Chicago
9. Erica Weinstein, Brooklyn, NY
10. Julian S, Chicago
11. Bryn Kelly, Detroit, MI
12. Amalle, Philadelphia, PA
13. Mary Lu Mendonca, Boston, MA
14. Kristin W, Olympia, WA
15. Rachel Friedman, Philadelphia, PA
16. Cianán Russell, West Lafayette, IN
17. Kylie Drennon, Houston, TX
18. Maggie Crowley, Jamaica Plain, MA
19. Beth Flanagan, Occupied Cascadia
20. Sarah Rose, Tazewell, VA
21. Andrea Dallas, San Diego, CA
22. Emilia Lombardi, Pittsburgh, PA
23. Jessica Grae Hanscom, Portland, ME
24. J. Rogue, Austin, TX
25. Mickey Lambert, Brooklyn, NY
26. Nora Butler Burke, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Kanien'keha:ka & Algonkin Territories
27. Laura Mina, Chicago
28. Sam Feder, Brooklyn, NY
29. Shomara Terceros, West New York, NJ
30. Arianna Perezdiez, San Diego, CA
31. Kisha Munson, Hackensack, NJ
32. Jacquie Foster, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
33. Angelina Anderson, Burlington, VT
34. Chris Schanche, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
35. Nina Callaway, Brooklyn, NY
36. Aleza Summit, Brooklyn, NY
37. Timothy Colman, Philadelphia, PA
38. Lindsey Morrison, Jacksonville, FL
39. Myles G, Washington, DC
40. Dex Thompson, Vancouver, BC, Canada
41. Naomi Sobel, New York, NY
42. Stosh Cotler, New York, NY
43. Jay Wartenberg, Chicago, IL
44. Dean Spade, New York Pretty, NY 10003
45. Temim Frutcher, NY
46. Julia Williams, Northhampton, MA
47. Nikki Levine, New Orleans, LA
48. Tony Mayes, Tulsa, OK
49. Dana Goldstein, Moorestown, NJ
50. Imogen Park, Brooklyn, NY
51. Marie Abbondanza, Philadelphia, PA
52. Sienna Baskin, Ridgewood, NY
53. Holly Lewis, Austin, TX
54. Judy Yu, New York, NY
55. Alexa Mavroidis, Arlington, VA
56. James Sheridan, Parrish, FL
57. Susan Forrest
58. Talia Mae Bettcher
59. Rebecca K. Tangen, Brooklyn, NY
60. Laura Wolfgang, FL
61. Sondra Martin, Los Angeles, CA
62. Stacey Whitmire, New York, NY
63. Crystal Klinger, Glendale, AZ
64. Amy King, Brooklyn
65. Stacey Montgomery, Arlington, MA
66. Grover Wehman, Brooklyn, NY
67. Ashley Chicane Phoenix, AZ
68. Victoria Minetta, Hollywood, CA
69. Kate Kozeniewski, Philadelphia, PA
70. m. posadas, Philadelphia, PA
71. Walker, Seattle, WA
72. Liz Tierney, Philadelphia, PA
73. Shannon Windsor, Durham, NC
74. Lina Corvus, Bernville, PA
75. CJ Holm, Baltimore, MD
76. Sho N., Boston, MA
77. Jennifer Bruso, Portland, OR
78. Leah Wallace, Detroit, MI
79. S. E. Smulyan, Providence, RI
80. Chris Scarano, NYC
81. Elijah Hobbs, Washington, DC
82. Khalia Latte`, (412)
83. Red Durkin, Anchorage, AK
84. Mariel Reyes, Brooklyn, NY
85. Rita Brinkerhoff, Kansas City, MO
86. Jennifer Elizabeth Birch, Pittsburgh, PA
87. Elinore Kaufman, Philadelphia, PA
88. Jenn Jett, Philadelphia, PA
89. Lisa Fabbro, Vancouver, BC
90. Susan Wolf, Medford, MA
91. Gina Abelkop, Seattle, WA
92. aMy leigh, Edmonton, AB, Canada
93. Yonah Etshalom, Philadelphia, PA
94. Tierney Gleason, Brooklyn, NY
95. K.R. Roberto, Athens, GA
96. Lauren Steely, Los Angeles, CA
97. Pascal Emmer, Philadelphia, PA
98. Julia Terrwyn, Cannon Falls, MN
99. Haley Hieronymus, Boston, MA
100. Gina de Vries, San Francisco, CA
101. Andrea Doucette, Amherst, MA
102. Holly M, San Diego, CA
103. Frankie Hill, Northampton, MA
104. Raquel Evita Saraswati, Boston, MA
105. Yalith Fonfa, San Francisco, CA
106. Isabel Lugo, Philadelphia, PA
107. Astrid Ingram, Riverside, CA
108. Zach Strassburger, New York, NY
109. Deena Loeffler, Ann Arbor, MI
110. Julia McCarthy, Anchorage, AK
111. Ren Pilinger, Cambridge, MA
112. Maria Welborn
113. Danielle Sigwalt, Washington, DC
114. Alice M. Roth, St. Louis, MO
115. Kath Murray, London, UK
116. Cheyenne Elrod, NC
117. Vanessa Moreno, Whittier, CA
118. Maria Linger, Anchorage, AK
119. Angelica G., Chicago, IL
120. Aaleeya Spence, Portland, OR
121. Sam Rudolph, Vancouver, BC
122. Angel Dobbs-Sciortino, Madison, WI
123. Stacy Bias, Portland, OR
124. Becka Gallagher, Cork, Ireland
125. Michael miller, Limerick, Ireland
126. Tracey Miller, Limerick, Ireland
127. Allyson Miller, Limerick, Ireland
128. Ally Connolly, Dublin, Ireland
129. Robert Quinn, Waterford, Ireland
130. Lisa Saputo, Chapelizod, Dublin, Ireland
131. Michael O'boyle, Cork, Ireland
132. David Nugent, Dublin, Ireland
133. Robin Byrne, Dublin, Ireland
134. Sharon Clancy, Limerick, Ireland
135. Caroline Cronin, Limerick, Ireland
136. Jason O Regan, Waterford, Ireland
137. Samantha Tursi, Rockaway, NJ
138. Rose Condron
139. Leela S., Portland, OR
140. Zlatina Krasimirova Mitova, Kyustendil, Bulgaria
141. Rebecca Hammond, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
142. Sara Anika Mithra, Los Angeles, CA
143. Frances Monet, San Francisco, CA
144. Hazel/Cedar Troost, Chicago, IL

If you consider yourself a part of a community of queer women, dykes, lesbians, etc, and you want to sign the petition, please send your name and address to dykeplustrans@gmail.com. We will of course not use your e-mail for other purposes besides this petition.