Explicitly and exclusively “by women for women”

Can women have something? Just a small something? If we’re very good? No?

No, of course not.

British Cycling is allowing biological males to participate in its female-only Breeze community rides and has ejected one concerned woman from its Facebook group for ride leaders for using the term “male”, on the grounds that this constitutes discriminatory language.

That’s so interesting. Women are not allowed to say “male” now. So we can’t report rape now, we can’t say we were passed over for jobs that went to men now, we can’t take precautions to avoid male violence now unless we do it in complete silence.

The Breeze programme was set up explicitly and exclusively “by women for women”, but those born male are still self-identifying into these events without any questions being asked.

Which just goes to show how fucking male they are.

Women mostly don’t risk that kind of brazen entitlement, because we’ve been trained (through violence) not to. Men grow up secure in the knowledge that there’s half of humanity they get to bully and push aside and take everything from.

Back in June a woman was banned from the Breeze Facebook group for pointing out that Breeze was meant to be for women and thus not for men.

It has been confirmed that the woman was subsequently banned from the organisation’s Facebook group for Breeze champions. She argued that she was only stating biological reality and that she was legally entitled to express gender-critical views, but the ban has remained in place.

Sarah Doney, a Breeze ride leader in mid-Wales, was so upset by the situation that she sent a letter last week to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, requesting urgent advice. “I am concerned because women come to these rides expecting them to be male-free, and I’ve been told by British Cycling staff that we are not allowed to use the terms ‘men’ or ‘male’. That means I am not allowed to tell women the truth even if they ask.

“I cannot see how it is acceptable for them to compel my speech in this way. I feel my own belief that people cannot change sex is being denied. I am not the only woman in this situation, but everyone is afraid of being dropped as a Breeze champion.”

It’s compelled speech and it’s compelled accept men in your group for women or be kicked out and ostracized. That’s a lot of compelling.

Doney also copied the letter to Jon Dutton, chief executive of British Cycling, who this week replied to her: “Whilst individuals are entitled to hold gender-critical views, that does not give them the unfettered power to voice those views without consequence. Misgendering of a trans person can constitute a form of discrimination.”

So women have to give up all possibility of having groups of their own, on pain of accusations of discrimination, banishment, and being systematically libeled.

A British Cycling spokesperson said: “With inclusion at its heart, the Breeze programme has always been open to transgender women, and we restated this commitment in our revised transgender and non-binary policy position in May this year. We have been very clear that the deliberate misgendering of individuals is a breach of our code of conduct.

Then Breeze is not what it pretends to be, and should say that on the tin.

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