Women's Declaration International 2024 Conference

I recently attended the third annual WDI USA conference. This year it was held in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference covered a range of topics. The structure involved lectures as well as breakout sessions. Topics covered included desistance and detransition, reproductive rights, and my favorite, a lecture by Amy Sousa @knownheretic critiquing the diagnosis of gender dysphoria in the DSM.

I was thrilled to be able to share a room with the magnificent MaryCate Delvey. I snapped this candid photo of her after we had a Saturday night costume change.

We also took this photo, which created some controversy on Twitter since we are both female trans women. Therefore, it was another example of a terf adjacent to a trans woman, in both directions.

I was thrilled to catch up with the brilliant mathematician, Dr. Liz Fedak, at the sticker table, which MaryCate graced with the best terf ferret stickers that exist on the planet.

But it's not all about the lectures. The social aspect of attending conferences such as WDI is just as important for burnout prevention and refueling our commitment to the cause, as the information-dense pedagogy. WDI conferences are female-only, creating a woman-centered atmosphere where we were able to speak freely, without needing to waste our time trying to convince men today women's lived experiences are a result of systemic issues that affect us as a political class. The benefit of this discursive legitimation cannot be overstated. Women can see each other’s intelligence, competence, skills, and hierarchy, without concern for how we are coming across to men in the room. We were freed for a few days of the male gaze.

Saturday night, we went to the local lesbian bar, and danced the night away. Here's the group picture from the dance floor.

Amy Sousa laughed in the face of her cancer diagnosis and underwent a dander flux in the middle of the club to applause, because there are no strandsphobic wigots! This was her celebration of the end of chemo prior to surgery. We were glad to share in her celebration of successful treatment.

The food was incredible, as usual.

On the last night, I took a walk in search of snacks with WDI president Elizabeth Chesak. We happened upon a rainbow flag crosswalk. When walking across it, we inadvertently scuffed it, which I understand is now considered a hate crime. Oh well.

The last day, we went out to lunch to a Turkish restaurant. I got to blow the cobwebs off of my Türkçe with an enthusiastic Merhabalaaaar çay olabilir miyim?

They even served simit instead of bagels. It's been a very long time since I had fresh simit.

I want to thank my dear subscribers for supporting me. This work, including my participation in activist networking opportunities such as WDI, would not be possible without your support.

My hope also is that by going to these conferences and promoting them on my platforms, it will demystify more active participation and thereby lead to more women realizing these events aren't so fraught, and will make the leap to step up to the plate themselves. This year there were no protestors. No infiltrators. No attempts to storm the gate like last year. We are winning and they're weakening. We just have to keep pushing back. If you know if any other events you want to see me attending or speaking at, please let me know!