Thoughtful article.

I am a trans woman. Regarding your "TERFs believe": I agree with nine out of your ten points, although saying I agree with #8 as you intend it would be inaccurate. The one real disagreement I have is with #5; I think this is a medical decision to be made by the minor's parents in concert with qualified medical advice. Medicine-by-legislation is like performing surgery with a machete; you may succeed in cutting off things that need cutting off, but you will probably also end up cutting off things that don't. And you may miss.

The critical point that virtually no one seems to get is that transgender womanhood, like gender itself (which, you're right, is not a social construct), is a matter of belief, not objectively demonstrable fact; and, as such, gender and trans womanhood cannot legitimately be the basis for law, public policy or civil rights. I say this as a trans woman who has to maneuver her public outings around the availabilty of single-user bathrooms. Don't try it; you won't like it.

If people would draw a bold line between being afflicted with gender dysphoria and "being transgender," many of the hot-button issues could be easily, if not quietly, resolved. They are not the same thing, and virtually everyone treats them as though they are.