Please, insult us some more.

An Australian ‘Woman of the Year’ award has become the subject of furious backlash because the winner was not born female.

No, that’s not accurate. The fury is because the winner is male and thus cannot be any kind of “woman of the year.” The fury is because it’s wildly insulting to give an award for women to a man. The fury is because of the contempt for women behind calling a man “woman of the year.”

Transgender woman Brianna Skinner was named the 2025 Sydney Local Woman of the Year this week.

A NSW government initiative, the annual awards give MPs the opportunity to celebrate the contribution of women in their electorate.

By giving an award for women to a man. That’s not a subtle new way of celebrating the contribution of women: it’s a direct open explicit insult to women. It says no woman in Sydney is good enough for this award so we gave it to a man even though it’s designated for women.