That is the description of this section:
Feminists discussing feminist issues from a feminist point of view.
The debate over what it means to be female and the right to woman's spaces is absolutely key to feminism. This is not some minor side issue. It appears as though many feminists, maybe even a majority, defend the existence of wbw spaces.
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival and The Vancouver Pharmacy for Women both consider themselves to be feminist and a large number of feminists agree. They represent a major feminist position which upholds the rights of wbw to have exclusive space to gather. They are not "non-progressive" groups.
Maysie you stated:
"Agreement is clearly not possible. And I don't even mean agreement on the issues, terminology, etc, but we can't even agree that oppression is going on, that oppression of trans people exists."
I don't think a single person in that thread or any other has claimed that trans people don't face oppression. I certainly do and have acknowleged that they do face oppression and that it is severe enough to threaten their health to the point of loss of life. Living as women they face the same patriarchal oppression as wbw do and on top of that they have the added burden of facing oppression as trans people. It addition they have to go through a usually long and arduous process to qualify for surgery (if they choose physical transition) and even once they do gathering the necessary funds can be a barrier to actually recieving the multiple surgeries. The surgery itself is serious and they face ongoing medical issues throughout life. The likelihood of facing rejection from at least some friends and family is high and they could also face job loss. And that is just the abstract of the Coles Notes version of the issues that they face.
None of that answers the questions:
How is it okay to silence women's voices defending the right of wbw spaces?
Is discussing a particular feminist issue only okay if all feminists agree or if no other oppressed group objects?
Is coming to an agreement a requirement for threads to stay open?