“How can you be trans and think that way?”, was one of the criticisms that emerged after hearing her statements.
Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot in the United States Army, sparked controversy by expressing a series of opinions that clash with positions defended by part of the trans community.
Among them, she asserted that “trans women are not the same as women” and questioned whether acknowledging biological differences is necessarily transphobic. She also maintained that trans women may have physical advantages in certain women’s sports and defended a more cautious stance regarding gender-affirming treatments for minors.
Ellis, however, made it clear that she does not consider her identity to be something that should determine her opinions: “I am trans. That does not mean that I automatically agree with all the positions associated with the trans community”.
And that is precisely where much of the controversy lies: while some consider it contradictory for a trans woman to defend these ideas, she insists that belonging to a community does not mean having to think like all its members.
