Sorry to step in the conversation from out of the blue (wasnt aware of the discussion and catching up now) and sorry again if this may come across as inappropriate, but I cant resist speaking my opinion, so...
honestly: is it a change in name that makes the difference?
Has anyone ever joined the Cowgirls cause of the team name?
(and if we really want to talk about this: who actually identify as a "girl" anyway? Personally, even when age allowed I was too confused and scared of my future as a gay person to be a "girl", nowadays I am happy to be a "woman" or a "lesbian" but surely if I
am named a "cowgirl" it is with a good dose of irony - and I thought the other "girls" in the team could see the irony too)
I voted for trans women to join the team and I am proud we took this decision. I am also realistic the matter is not settled for good (is ever anything?) and chances are, sadly, that transphobic behaviour will happen occasionally and if it does, we must be
there to listen, help, heal and improve (and I am confident we can do this as we done before for example tackling homophobic remarks or racial stereotypes).
But do we prove ourselves by a change in name?
(Or put it another way: is this true effort or is it performative?)
And if some team members feel emotional about the change, is it worth it?
Times are not good (just from recent news, look what's going on with the US Republicans, new PM in Italy, protests in Iran, world cup in Qatar, etc.) is it a good idea to spend energies and erode friendships about cowgirls/ cowgirls+/ cowgxrls?
I know words are important but I am genuinely worried we may end up like those lefties of the 70s who had endless discussions on whether they were "Marxists" or "Leninists" or "Trozkists" or "Maoists" while Reagan and Tatchers and the Chicago School of Economics
were taking power, and 50 years later here we are across Europe with much more inequality, much less social mobility, and nobody who can fucking remember what was the difference between the Leninists and the Maoists.
So, long story short: the name can be changed or not (I think it's fine, but hey! I barely play anyway) but I'd rather we focused energies in sticking together and taking good care of one another (and the world, for what we can).
Sorry for long email
Love
Granny Gran Fran
(formerly known as Filthy Franny Fran Fran)