Mandatory shop bags
Meanwhile, if the shop hands you a carrier bag (one you have to pay for) and it has anything about trans world on it, it is against the law for you to refuse it.
How is the shop entitled to control who says what in “the shop’s vicinity”?
The police ignore rape but get very busy on gender heresy in public.
Never mind that the best course of action, for the benefit of the environment, is, in most situations, to refuse the shopping back that they give you, regardless of the writing on it.
Something about this story doesn’t add up.
1. Since mandatory bag charges came in, I’ve never seen them give you a bag if you haven’t requested it.
2. Why did the cops warn her against “handing out literature”?
I suspect that what happened is that she asked for a bag, they offered her the Progress Pride one, she said something about not supporting gender ideology and gave the clerk a leaflet, and the clerk called the police. Obviously that was still a ridiculous overreach, and not a police matter at all, but the story as written by Fair Cop doesn’t make sense.
How is it the shop’s business to have anything to say about a customer’s decision to accept or reject a shopping bag? The “Progressive Pride” flag is not, as we have discovered, a neutral statement. It’s no longer even friendly. It is the banner of forced teaming, of aggressive, insistent parasitism of trans activism on gay and lesbian rights. It is a statement of a political ideology and religious belief. It is the promotion of an anti-that is profoundly anti-women. It is the flag of an occupying army flexing its muscles in yet another power play, and the shop’s behaviour confirms it: they called the fucking police. And even more unbelievably, THE FUCKING POLICE FUCKING RESPONDED! The correct answer on the operator’s part would have been to tell the wannabe Stasi informant to go away and stop wasting the police’s time or face charges. But no. It turns out that the police are quite happy to waste their time and intimidate members of the public by jumping to the call of furious, authoritarian trans “allies” who can’t stand the thought of anyone failing to accept with fervour and gratitude the Flag of Enforced Compliance being thrust upon them. Off to re-education camp for them!
At least police in the UK don’t seem to be as heavily armed or trigger-happy as American cops, otherwise there might have already been bloodshed over stickers, ribbons, limericks, or sarcasm.
If I was a cop I think I’d die of shame being tasked to do this kind of bullshit given the serious crime (especially against women) that is everywhere around them. Then again, from what we hear, they may quite enjoy the situation. Good chance to be bullies without the risk of being nutted.
Offered without comment:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1705987480095257047
How can the police order anyone to not politely hand out literature in the shop’s vicinity? This doesn’t seem like a case of hate speech at all.
[…] a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Mandatory shop […]
J. A., I don’t know about England, but in the US, a shop is private property. People can hang up signs saying “no solicitation” or “no literature”, and that is to be respected as far as their property extends. Though we had a case in my previous hometown where the local college had someone arrested on their property after the umpteenth time they told him to stop handing out Christian right literature and shouting slut and whore at the female students. He was arrested for disturbing the peace. A court overthrew that, saying the city had no right to regulate what people said on the sidewalks. So these girls were to be harassed without recourse, and that apparently included the college property. It was a private college, not a public one, so perhaps I am wrong in my first statement. Screechy would probably know better than I do.
Anyway, when a college run by Christians asks the police to remove an evangelical Christian because his Christianing is unpalatable…I found it utterly amusing, at least until the city decided to repeal the disturbing the peace ordinance, and no more could we be protected from such scoundrels.
Got any links? I’d love to read more on that shouting slut and whore bit.
I’ve tried to find links in the local paper, which is where I read about it, but they keep it behind a paywall. Even if you take the paper (as we did for 17 years), it can be difficult. I’ll keep looking.