Hillary Clinton. (ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty)
Hillary Clinton has said that trans rights pose a “legitimate concer” for cisgenders women’s “lived experience”, despite previously saying she was “just learning” about trans identities.
Clinton gave an interview on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, November 12, to promote the book she co-authored with her daughter Chelsea, The Book of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories of Courage and Resilience.
According to Out, she said: “I do think there is a legitimate concern about women’s lived experience and the importance of recognising that, and also the importance of recognising the self-identification [of transgender people].
“This is all relatively new. People are still trying to find the language for it.”
The point about the struggle for trans equality being a “new” issue echoes her comments in an interview with The Sunday Times in October.
For that interview, Clinton was joined by her daughter to promote their book and tension was caused between the two of them over trans rights.
Asked by interviewer Decca Aitkenhead whether someone “with a beard and a penis” could be a woman, Chelsea answered with an emphatic “yes”.
However her mother said: “Errr… I’m just learning about this. It’s a very big generational discussion, because this is not something I grew up with or ever saw.
“It’s going to take a lot more time and effort to understand what it means to be defining yourself differently.”
Hillary Clinton also said trans people on single-sex wards “absolutely” make cis people uncomfortable.
She was also asked about the NHS announcement that trans people would be allowed to stay on single-sex wards that aligned with their identity, and whether this would make “British feminists of Hillary’s generation” feel uncomfortable.
Clinton responded: “I would say that, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.”
Clinton declared her support for the transgender community earlier this year on the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
On this #TransDayOfVisibility, let’s affirm that we see, stand by, and celebrate our transgender friends, family, and neighbors. pic.twitter.com/NfvXJbcAzw
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 31, 2019
She wrote on Twitter: “Let’s affirm that we see, stand by, and celebrate our transgender friends, family, and neighbors.”