Berns, a lesbian radical feminist, became known for her series of YouTube vlogs in the late 2010s concerning topics such as women's rights[2][8] and gender identity.
[2] As a teenager, Berns participated in activism, including campaigning against Huntingdon Life Sciences, attending discussion meetings of, and distributing election leaflets for, the Socialist Labour Party,[2][20] and, according to the Morning Star newspaper, protesting against a fur shop in Piccadilly.
[8][37] In 2015, Berns expressed opposition to the Edinburgh University Students' Association "LGBT Liberation" group, issuing a statement of support for the decision to exclude drag acts from participating in that year's Pride Glasgow event.
Her first and subsequent vlogs criticised the idea that an unwillingness on the part of cisgender lesbians to have sex with trans women who have penises (an instance of what has been referred to as the "cotton ceiling") is due to transphobia, bigotry, or prejudice, rather than sexual orientation.
[58][59][60][61] In May 2016, Berns was among the signatories of an open letter to the Morning Star newspaper that lauded it for "giving a platform for a sex-class based analysis of women's position, in the face of the convergence of neoliberal individualism and alienation from class consciousness".
[62] In July 2016, Berns spoke at Thinking Differently: Feminists Questioning Gender Politics, a conference in London focusing on "the implications of transgenderism for women's rights".
[15] Transgender rights activist and philosophy professor Veronica Ivy drew criticism—and a protest letter with over 500 signatories—after defending celebrations by Berns's opponents of her impending death.
[82][83][84][85] Writing in The Social Review, Joaquina stated that Berns had suggested that "the 'trans agenda' is bankrolled by George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist" in an article concerning transphobia and antisemitism.
[86] Writing in the Morning Star, Susan Chynoweth and Deborah Lavin (Berns' mother) praised Berns' "determined defence of women's sex-based rights and the rights of lesbians to assert their sexuality in the face of relentless demands to redefine sex as gender", and said she was "one of the best-known feminist speakers of her generation".
[9] National Review staff writer Madeleine Kearns called her videos a "great source of inspiration and clarity for those trying to resist gender extremism".
[5] Writing in The Velvet Chronicle, Julia Diana Robertson eulogised Berns as a "rare force of nature", suggesting that "while many may never know the impact she made, the ripple effect will be felt for many years to come".
[88] In Der Freitag, Berns was described as a "person who pits logical thinking, scientific definitions and dictionaries against ideological zeal and perceived reality", whose videos "will continue to help people navigate gender, feminism, and identity politics, inspire and hopefully lessen the confusion.
"[90] Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist[91][92] Graham Linehan voiced vocal support for Berns on Twitter and other platforms.
[98] The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) stated that Berns "gained a large online following for her own forthright brand of radical feminism".