I do want to emphasize - my position does not preclude identifying and condemning clear hate speech and trolling. Some speech is behavior far beyond the pale and should be identified as bullying that is not tolerated.
But yes monstro we’ll just have to disagree on whether or not making someone defensive and angry is the most productive approach.
Looks like Jon Rosenberg has weighed in…
On edit: Whew! Link works! Don’t try this at home, kids!
I really should stay away from this conversation, but some perverse tendency to self-destruction compels me to request clarification on the consensus definitions here: I would have thought that “sex” would be properly broken down into divisions such as “male” and “female”, while “gender” would encompass terms such as “man”, “woman”, “transgender (or trans)”, “non-binary”, &c., &c., &c.
Under this rubric, “Sex is real” strikes me as defensible (devoid of context), but orthogonal to the validity of a comment on whether a trans woman can legitimately call herself a woman.
ETA: Or have I got it all backwards? Or is it more likely that there’s no consensus?
I don’t think trans women calling themselves women is what is being challenged. Are trans women the same as biological women wrt gender? is the question being addressed with Rowling’s “sex is real”. At least that’s my interpretation.
The fact you aren’t sure whether you have it backwards or not shows there is no consensus on this. You can believe trans folks have the right to live as their identified gender and refer to themselves as such while still believing biological sex is important (if not essential) to gender identity.
I have no idea if there’s a consensus. But it is hella confusing to me.
When I think of “transwoman”, I think of a person who was born biologically male but who now sees themselves as both female and woman. Like, if a transwoman scientist was referred to as a female scientist, I don’t think it would be considered polite to correct that designation, even though technically their biological sex hasn’t changed.
I think it is reasonable to ask what constitutes biological femaleness or maleness. Is HRT sufficient to move the needle from one sex to another? Do you have to have surgery? Or is it something that can never be changed, given the importance of developmental history and genes? I think right now, the consensus is that hormones are sufficient.
I am really at a loss as to why anyone would care about what some random web comic has to say on the subject. Is the author famous in some way?
JFTR, I’d fire you for that… 
Aside from any trans issues, society already has some of these edge cases to deal with. Men can be anything from from short, skinny, smooth, effeminate, passive and gay to tall, muscular, hairy, aggressive and straight. Yet those distinctions are not generally considered for most kinds of sex-based segregation. All those men use the same bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters, prisons, sports, etc. regardless of their masculinity. And the same for women. There is a huge range of characteristics for women, but they all are lumped together as women regardless of their femininity. Essentially, the only defining characteristic used to separate those two groups is their genitalia. I’m not sure how to frame this to trans issues, but society has had to deal gender-based edge cases. I suppose it hasn’t really dealt with it much other than “If you have a penis, go here. If you have a vagina, go there.”
I just wanted to say that Monstro and the Edgelords would be a totally awesome band name.
lol! :d
What sort of groupies would they attract???
I see what you did there.