Trans-exclusionary radical feminism, or gender-critical feminism, by country surveys the development and activities of trans-exclusionary or gender-critical feminist movements across national contexts. This article outlines country-specific examples of organisations, campaigns, legal disputes and alliances; shows how such feminists position themselves in broader anti-gender movements; and assesses their impact on trans rights and contemporary feminist politics in national situations.
Americas
Brazil In a 2024 article, sociologists Ana Carolina de Oliveira Marsicano and Tabata Pastore Tesser noted an increase in trans-exclusionary discourse on social media among the Brazilian left.
On 1 October 2025, the Brazilian National Women's Conference voted on a motion to repudiate anti-gender and trans-exclusive movements, with 95% of attendees voting in favor. The motion condemned trans-exclusionary groups MATRIA, LGB Alliance, and Raízes Feministas.
Canada In April 2025 Nurse Amy Hamm was found to have committed unprofessional conduct by the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, following lengthy proceedings. She is appealing to the British Columbia Supreme Court. Online comments made by the nurse between July 2018 and March 2021 were considered "discriminatory and derogatory statements" about transgender people. Hamm said she was not transphobic, but worried for the rights of women and girls. In August 2025, she was suspended by the college and asked to pay nearly $94,000 in fees.
Mexico According to researchers Siobhan Guerrero McManus and Julianna Stone Neuhouser, gender-critical feminism rose to prominence in Mexico in 2017 following the publication of the essay "Cuando lo trans no es transgresor". They identified two trends in Mexican culture that contributed to the rise of gender-critical feminism: the rise of fourth-wave feminism in Mexico and the Frente Nacional por la Familia's declared opposition to "gender ideology".
United States Although trans-exclusionary radical feminism originated in the United States in the 1970s, it has largely fallen out of favor among American feminists. Some trans-exclusionary radical feminist organizations do remain, however, such as WoLF, an organization that operates mainly within the United States.
Europe
France
In France, the gender-critical or TERF strain of feminism was long understood as less significant or dangerous to trans rights than non-feminist, conservative or religious groups. Journalist Yacha Hajzler described the strain as an extremist minority supported by the political far-right, while Constance Lefebvre dismissed TERFs as a small uninfluential minority of French feminists. However, in the years leading up to 2022, TERFs gained increasing prominence in public discourse. Roux Ange argues that French anti-trans feminism in particular advances a "universalist feminism" that collapses intersectionality.
The French gender-critical feminist movement is closely linked with conservative and far-right movements. Trans-exclusionary feminists Marguerite Stern and amplify and support anti-trans lobby groups and . Founded in 2021, Little Mermaid Observatory was established by Céline Masson and Caroline Eliacheff to lobby against transgender healthcare for minors.
In 2019, feminist activist Stern, launched a series of collages or posters, sometimes known as the movement, that denounce sexist violence. On 22 January 2020, she sparked controversy with her statements in a Twitter thread that trans women were "taking up more and more space in feminism", culminating in her leaving the group of activists and ostracizing her from the broader movement. This controversy led journalists Flavie Motila, Lisa Peyronne and Marielle Poupard to describe Stern as taking the "tête" (lead) of the TERF movement.
On 12 February 2020, a statement authored by journalist Pauline Arrighi was published in Le Huffpost titled "Trans Question". It was signed by 60 people, including Stern, and questioned whether trans women should be able to identify as women. Following protests, the publication removed the statement after only a few hours and apologized that the statement contained comments that went against the values of the publication. The piece was later republished in Marianne with the title "Trans: Is It Enough to Self-Claim as a Woman To Demand To Be Recognized as One?" and garnered over 140 signatories, including sociologist Christine Delphy.
As a rejoinder to Stern's thread and the tribune republished in Marianne, a group of transfeminist authors penned a piece titled "The Debate on the Place of Transfemmes Is Pointless". The piece reaffirmed the importance of solidarity with trans women in the feminist movement and showed how purported 'legitimate concerns' give rise to violent depictions of trans people, and was signed by 1014 individuals and 113 organizations.
Another site of dispute was over NGO 's publicity campaign including a cartoon of a pregnant transgender man. Far-right activists first targeted the author of the cartoon on social media, prompting Minister of Equality Isabelle Rome to speak out in the organization's defense. Marguerite Stern and Dora Moutot wrote an opinion column in Marianne addressed to prime minister Élisabeth Borne warning of an 'ideological drift' of Planning Familial. As a result, the pair met Aurore Bergé, president of the majority party La République En Marche, who praised their arguments. Following this meeting, Bergé introduced an amendment to a proposed law to guarantee the right to abortion that would exclude transgender men from accessing this right, which was swiftly criticized by LGBTQI+ associations and described as transphobic.
On 6 January 2023, Stern and Moutot launched a website femelliste.com, containing their "Femelliste Manifesto". It aims to highlight "sexed realities" and the rights of "original and authentic women", concluding that trans women must be removed from the category of womanhood. CJ Gomolka describes this particular brand of gender-critical feminism, sometimes described as "femellisme", as revanchist and a type of "femonationalism". French philosopher Camille Froidevaux-Metterie argues the term "femellisme" is a label invented by the media to give legitimacy to a political stance based in trans hatred. Stern and Moutot have been connected with ultra-conservative groups, conspiracy theorists and the far-right.
This contingent of trans-exclusionary feminists in France highlight one area of contention as freedom of expression and speech. In August 2022, Dora Moutot attacked journalist Hanneli Escurier in an Instagram post. In October 2022, Motout referred to trans mayor Marie Cau as a "transfeminine man" on journalist Léa Salamé's television program. In early 2023, associations Mousse and Stop Homophobie, filed a complaint against Moutot for incitement to hatred, which Cau later joined. In defense of her actions in a piece for Unherd, Moutot argues that French feminism has corrupted and that her and other are "fighting for freedom of expression". A group of 30 figures published an opinion piece in Marianne denouncing the complaint, arguing that it constitutes a threat to freedom of expression.
Germany
Since 2021, a TERF or gender-critical feminist discourse has developed as an alternative to mainstream feminism in response to the coalition government introducing self-ID legislation. This minority of feminists invokes language of 'biological sex', social contagion and misinformation about transgender violence, citing experiences in the United Kingdom.
The law governing transgender legal recognition in Germany is the Transsexuals Act (TSG), passed in 1980. It has been amended for unconstitutionality and has been the subject of significant criticism from German political society. Due to these issues, the German government aimed to write a new law to replace the TSG, culminating in the proposal of the Self-Determination Act (Selbstbestimmungsgesetz or SPG), published on 30 June 2022. The law was aimed at removing unnecessary bureaucratic requirements for transgender people to change their legal gender in the previous law such as expert assessments and humiliating questionnaires. It was supported by the German Women's Organizations (DF), the main women's organization in Germany that represents over 60 women's associations and groups, and came into effect on 1 November 2024.
However prior to passing, the proposed law was the subject of significant public discourse on its merits, with the most prominent opposition stemming from right-wing actors and gender-critical feminists. Concordant with other hashtag campaigns, #FrauenSagenNein emerged in online German discourse as a way for women to express opposition to the law. In a network analysis of the hashtag, researchers Zahn and Lünenborg identified an alliance between gender-critical feminists and right-wing activists opposing the law.
Alice Schwarzer, German journalist and editor of the feminist magazine Emma, published a book Transsexualität (2022) arguing that a 'trans lobby' was causing young people to falsely see transitioning as a solution to their problems. Schwarzer explicitly invokes the English context of the debate over trans rights, warning that dangers from trans women and academic shifts she claims occurred in the UK might happen in Germany as well. Since 2021, Emma has increasingly focused on transgender issues. The magazine published a series of articles throughout 2022 that advance an exclusionary understanding of womanhood, treating trans identity as a social trend. Amongst invocations of 'social infection' of transgender children, these articles have been described as transphobic and cite disinformation campaigns from the British tabloid Daily Mirror.
One women's rights organization, Terre des Femmes, published a position paper in 2020 titled "Transgender, Self-Determination, and Gender", arguing for the primacy of 'biological sex' over gender and emphasizing the organization's focus on the discrimination against "women and girls". In July 2022, the organization's board voted to withdraw the document, citing damage to the group's reputation and the fact that paper strayed from their inclusive values. In 2023, the minority trans-exclusionary faction led by Inge Bell split from the organization, claiming that the organization had succumbed to identity politics.
Originating as a social media hashtag modeled after right-wing activist Matt Walsh's documentary What Is A Woman?, the initiative "Was ist eine Frau?" (What is a woman?) was started by women's rights activists and an unnamed individual. It sought answers from the candidates for German federal election on the question "What is a woman?". The campaign was supported by groups Initiative "Let Women Speak!", Women Heroines Association, and the Lesbian Action Center Reloaded. Out of over 2000 candidates, by 6 February 2025, 100 had answered.
Iceland
According to Women's Declaration International, an anti-trans advocacy group, the number of trans-exclusionary feminists in Iceland is low. According to Owl Fisher, a trans activist, trans rights have been supported by the Icelandic feminist movement for decades.
North Macedonia In North Macedonia, 'gender-critical' feminists have aligned themselves with the anti-gender movement, commonly portraying transgender women as a threat to children and women. According to Slavcho Dimitrov, Manja Velichkovska & Irena Cvetkovik, "[a]s a direct consequence, transgender individuals in North Macedonia have faced the repeated failure to pass the newly proposed Law on Legal Gender Recognition". See also original Macedonian version; At a series of public forums in 2023, local municipalities hosted gender-critical women's rights activists alongside showings of transphobic films like Matt Walsh's What Is a Woman?.
Norway