Cotton ceiling

Cotton ceiling is the purported marginalization of trans women in queer sexual spaces. The term has been the subject of criticism, with some arguing that the idea of the cotton ceiling is coercive.

History
The term was coined in 2012 by transgender porn performer Drew DeVeaux, referring to the feeling of being invisible as a trans woman in queer sexual spaces. The term gained wider use after a 2012 workshop at Planned Parenthood Toronto called, "Overcoming the Cotton Ceiling: Breaking Down Sexual Barriers for Queer Trans Women".

Criticism
British barrister Allison Bailey tweeted a criticism of the cotton ceiling with regards to the 2012 Planned Parenthood workshop. She wrote, "Stonewall recently hired Morgan Page, a male-bodied person who ran workshops with the sole aim of coaching heterosexual men who identify as lesbians on how they can coerce young lesbians into having sex with them. Page called [the workshop] ‘overcoming the cotton ceiling’ and it is popular." She was asked by her employer, Garden Court Chambers, to delete the tweet and one other, the tweets, Bailey's gender-critical beliefs, and her treatment by her employers were subsequently the subject a discrimination action case.

Rosie Swayne condemns accusations of the cotton ceiling being coercive, writing that the sexuality of trans women is so "policed" that entering into a discussion of the cotton ceiling will inevitably result in accusations "of being ‘rapey’".

In her 2021 BBC article, "The lesbians who feel pressured to have sex and relationships with trans women" (initially titled, "We're being pressured into sex by some trans women"),Caroline Lowbridge wrote that the term cotton ceiling is "controversial." In her article, Lowbridge spoke to lesbians who experienced internalized pressure into including trans women in their sexuality and, in at least one case, who's experiences of such pressure resulted in having unwanted sex with a trans woman.