Earlier this month, a number of media outlets published pieces about a new “lesbian-run church” having been officially recognized by the IRS as 501(c)(3) organization and a church, giving it tax exempt status. But the news wasn’t only of interest to the media for tax purposes… At Forbes, Peter J. Reilly explained that the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft was controversial on account of an ongoing “conflict” between “radical feminists and the transgender community.” Other sites, like the Advocate, Pink News, Them, Pride, and Reason outright labelled the Church “transphobic,” “anti-transgender,” and a “TERF church” on account of their female-only policy.

Their website explains:

“A Woman is an adult female human. A Girl is a minor female human. The Pussy Church serves Women and Girls only. Males are not permitted to participate, regardless of how they identify. We expressly reject the concepts of gender identity, transgenderism, and gender as being meaningful to defining what a Woman or Girl is.”

In this episode, I speak with Sister Dandelion, a co-founder and trustee of the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft. Sister Dandelion is a poet and priestess, she has been practicing witchcraft and reading the Tarot for 25 years. She honors Z Budapest, Starhawk, and Susun Weed as her witchcraft mentors and foresisters. As a radical feminist, Sister Dandelion has organized and collaborated with women on issues such as male violence, reproductive freedom and women’s health, lesbian liberation, and the creation of woman-loving culture in the context of a woman-hating system.