Reasons for becoming “non-binary”
Oh look at that now. Remember Gregor Murray? The Dundee councillor who “identifies as gender non-binary”? And had to apologize last month for calling some women “utter cunts”?
Not the first time he’s had to apologize. Pink News back in May 2014:
The former chair of the Scottish National Party’s LGBT group has attacked First Minister Alex Salmond’s plan for a 40% female quota in boardrooms.
SNP Councillor Gregor Murray, the deputy convener of education on Dundee City Council, was previously convener of the SNP’s LGBT group, Out for Independence, when it was still an unofficial organisation within the SNP.
The Herald reports Cllr Murray wrote on Facebook that the quota was “the biggest load of piss I have ever seen in my life”.
He went on to call it “fucking stupid.”
Although females make up 52% of the population, only 36% of public board members and just 21% of board chairs in Scotland are held by women.
Scottish Labour equalities spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “When even senior nationalists are admitting that Alex Salmond’s recent conversion to gender equality in his cabinet is tokenism, you know that he is fooling no-one and most women will see the SNP’s clumsy attempts to woo them for what they are.”
An SNP spokesman said: “Women now make up 40% of the Scottish Government Cabinet, and ensuring that women make up at least 40% of the boards of our public bodies will help to drive that change forward – something that the SNP takes extremely seriously, even if Labour clearly does not.”
Cllr Murray has since sought to apologise for his use of language.
He really dislikes women – but now that he’s “non-binary” that’s okay.
Because if he expresses misogyny with polite words, that makes it OK?
Karellen, yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up.
I’m not a big believer in shouting people down and preventing them from speaking. Neither am I a believer in providing every space as a free forum to express any idea a person has or treating all ideas and opinions as having equal merit.
However, the right especially (but not exclusively) are leaning heavily on ‘free speech’ arguments for all sorts of issues and are pretty much playing the ‘if I can’t say what I want, where I want, when I want I’m being censored and suppressed’ card. It’s nonsense of course because they have so many ways of getting their views out that no-one can possibly claim ignorance of them. The left especially (but not exclusively) nicely fall into the trap of wanting to ban all sorts of speech and expression as totally as possible on the grounds of ‘safety’. Whch by and large (but not always) is daft.
Funny thing is that in my experience left-leaning people are more likely to want free debate that right-leaning people who tend to want to silence people with uncomfortable ideas. They mostly do this by telling them to shut up and that their views are silly, irrelevant or divisive.
We’ve seen a bit of this debate in NZ recently. NZ falls somewhere in the pack of ex-colonial countries. We aren’t the worst example of how to treat indigenous peoples, but neither has our record been good. We have a founding treaty, which was written in both English and Maori. The English largely did not understand Maori and certainly didn’t understand how certain words and phrases were interpreted. Same for Maori. Thus while many Maori did sign the Treaty, it’s arguable that they were signing up to their understanding of the Maori text, which was quite different to the English understanding based on the English text. After that things went a bit south and followed the usual path of colonisation. land theft, disease, rip off deals, broken promises, wars, cultural impoverishment etc. Since the late 1980’s early 1990’s there has been a move to try and address past grievances and level the playing field. That has not been without it’s difficulties and wobbles, but I think has proven to be positive. The inclusion of Maori culture in general society is better. open racism is less acceptable, or at least more noticeable, than it once was. All the ill effects that go with poverty are very very gradually diminishing amongst Maori. Still, there is a long path to go.
Yet we have what is I hope the dying gasp of the social conservatives and outright racists. in the current incarnation they hide behind Hobson’s Pledge. This is an apocryphal pledge attributed to the William Hobson, one of the co-authors of the treaty, and then Lieutenant Governor (he later became Governor). Basically it is claimed that as he shook each chief’s hand after they signed the treaty he stated that we were all one people. Basically there is no proof this ever happened and quite a bit to suggest it did not. However, the Hobson’s Pledge crowd argue that as we are all one people and there is no longer any law that discriminates against Maori, they should all just shut up and move on.
Recently one of their leaders was banned from speaking at Massey University (because safe space). Auckland University allowed him to speak, where a crowd of protesters shouted him down. Queue cries of free speech, censorship, they were so rude etc etc.
Apparently trying to wipe any reference and open acknowledgement of the existence of an entire race from our culture is fine, as long as you do it politely (which Don Brash does). Don brash it should be noted has vociferously complained about Radio NZ announcers choosing to use Maori phrases and greetings on air. He has his supporters.
Sorry this is so long and tangential to the topic. I guess my point is that such underlying fuckery is widespread and directed at any group trying to express their rights and existence.
I’m not binary. I’m analog.
I’m not even ambidextrous or bicarbonate.
Damn.
I’m just not special enough.