Adichie explained that she does not think that trans women experience fewer difficulties than cisgender women. However, she does believe that “they did not undergo those particular difficulties specific to being born female, and this matters because those experiences shape how adult women born female interact with the world”.

“I think of feminism as Feminisms,” she continued. “Race and class shape our experience of gender. Sexuality shapes our experience of gender.

“And so when I say that I think trans women are trans women, it is not to diminish or exclude trans women but to say that we cannot insist – no matter how good our intentions – that they are the same as women born female.”

Response to Adichie’s post on Facebook was mixed. Marit Stalstrom wrote: “I am a trans woman, a feminist, and I support you 100% Chimamanda! It isn’t transphobic to acknowledge the simple truth that there are differences between women and transwomen.”

Nic Wayara, however, said that Adichie should “stop speaking for trans women. It’s really not that hard… Learn from others instead of acting like you know the most about the experiences of trans women.”

Adichie is not the first high-profile figure to be criticised for their stance on transgender women in recent times. Just last week, Dame Jenni Murray – the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour – was denounced for writing an article in which she suggested that that transgender women were not “real” women, because they could not understand what it was like to grow up female.

Images: Rex Features

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie responds to transphobia accusations