Bette Midler is setting the record straight about her claim earlier this week that the use of trans-inclusive languages “erases” the identity of cis women.
On Monday, the actor tweeted a controversial opinion, proclaiming, “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators,’ and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!” That statement prompted backlash from many social media users who highlighted this rhetoric as a talking point often used by anti-trans individuals. Terms such as “pregnant or menstruating people” have started being used instead of “pregnant or menstruating women” as a way of acknowledging that transgender and nonbinary people are also effected by issues like access to reproductive care.
However, on Tuesday, Midler returned to Twitter to clarify her stance on the subject in a series of tweets, stating definitively that she never intended to make any sort of harmful statement against the transgender community. “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! My tweet about women was a response to this fascinating and well written piece in the NYT on July 3rd,” she began the Twitter thread, referring to the opinion piece titled “The Far Right and Far Left Agree on One Thing: Women Don’t Count.” In the essay, author Pamela Paul makes the argument that “the word ‘women’ has become verboten” and that liberal institutions are working “to deny women their humanity, reducing them to a mix of body parts and gender stereotypes.” Midler insists, “There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that.”
She continued, “It was about the same old shit women—ALL WOMEN—have been putting up with since the cavemen. Even then, men got top billing. But seriously, folks, if anyone who read that tweet thinks I have anything but love for any marginalized people, go to Wikipedia and type in my name.” The actor explained, “I’ve fought for marginalized people for as long as I can remember. Still, if you want to dismiss my 60 years of proven love and concern over a tweet that accidentally angered the very people I have always supported and adored, so be it.” Midler concluded, “But the truth is, Democracy is slipping through our fingers! I’m all in on trying to save Democracy for ALL PEOPLE. We must unite, because, in case you haven’t been paying attention, divided we will definitely fall.”