Kate Nash - "GERM"

Photo by Emily Marcovecchio

Recently, the UK Supreme Court recently ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. Kate Nash has released a new single in response to that ruling, and it might be the most punk rock song of the year. It's a spoken word rant that rallies against the belief that transwomen are a threat to cis women, toxic masculinity, and name checks Elon Musk and Donald Trump. It's a surprisingly experimental song from Nash, and it's straight up badass. At a time where people keep insisting we need Rage Against the Machine to come back, Kate Nash might have us covered.

Kate Nash says of her latest single:

“Using feminism to erase the rights of others is inherently un-feminist. ‘GERM’ is my response to the recent news that the Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex and that the concept of sex is binary. Trans people were excluded from the conversation.

"I am left uneasy as I see behaviours we would otherwise or previously label as intolerance or bullying become normalised & even celebrated by the media & in society. I believe this will lead to more transphobia and more misogyny in the UK. I also believe it to be misdirected and not at all where feminist efforts should be focused. In fact, I don’t consider it to be feminist at all. The demonisation of entire groups of people, led by bad faith actors, is not a step forward but a huge echo of a past we should have moved on from.

"I owe so much of myself to feminism. Tarnishing the most important ideology in my life by denying the existence of trans women is something I take very personally.

"Denying that trans people exist and having a personal desire to remove them from public spaces because it makes you uncomfortable to share spaces with trans people is transphobic. Dismantling systems of oppression lies at the very core of feminism. If you are transphobic therefore you are not a feminist. Welcome to your rebrand GERM.”

You can watch the lyric video for "GERM" below. The song is available now via Kill Rock Stars. For more on Kate Nash, check out the artist's website.