Joan Smith on that ridiculous (and insulting) ruling:

“Sex is not limited to biological or birth sex,” according to one of [Scotland’s] most senior judges.

Yes, you did read that right. We are plunging ever deeper into la-la land, where sex is no longer determined by boring old things like biology or physical characteristics. It can be changed by a piece of paper, known as a gender recognition certificate (GRC), with unpredictable consequences for women-only services such as the new sexual violence service set up by JK Rowling in Edinburgh.

Usually the law has no truck with la-la land. It can’t afford to. We can’t afford it to.

The decision explodes the argument by Nicola Sturgeon’s government that its

… Read the rest

A court rules that men can be women.

A court has thrown out a challenge against the Scottish government’s definition of a woman in law.

Even governments can’t make lies true. Even courts can’t make a lie the truth. They can pass laws, they can issue rulings, but they can’t just waves their hands and make nonsense The Truth.

The For Women Scotland group complained about the way a bill aimed at gender balance on boards had included trans people under the definition of women.

Imagine if it were about British boards and a bill aimed at national balance, but England insisted that English people who identify as Scots are Scots despite having zero evidence of any Scottish ancestry. … Read the rest

And in come the sneery “wtf is her problem” think-pieces on JK Rowling’s astounding baffling incomprehensible move to open a women’s space in Edinburgh. Why would she do such a thing??? A smug young guy called Ryan Coogan wonders for the Independent:

…up until about a year ago, I held out hope that Rowling was somehow misunderstood or that I just “read her out of context”, as her defenders keep insisting. But I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt, and I’ve seen the context, and if anything it just makes things worse as time goes on. It’s a shame, because she gave me a lot of great memories as a kid, but for me at least, a

… Read the rest

TransLucent has me blocked of course but I’m sampling its tweets anyway. Have a nice sample of the intellectual quality:

Cisgender.
The definition is in the dictionary. @murdo_fraser https://t.co/ybl7MFdfgC pic.twitter.com/enb7YEaxRw

— www.TransLucent.Org.UK (@TransLucent_Org) December 12, 2022

A peach, isn’t it? Murdo Fraser notes that many women find the neologism “cisgender” offensive and demeaning, and genius answers that it’s in the dictionary. Guess what!! Lots of offensive and demeaning words are in the dictionary! The fact that they’re in the dictionary doesn’t make them not offensive and demeaning. The dictionary isn’t a private exclusive club that rejects words that don’t wear the right clothes; that’s not the purpose or job of the dictionary. Also there is no “the dictionary”; there are … Read the rest

There’s something called TransLucent, which used to be called Steph’s Place, which was a website that did (crude) public relations for trans people, mostly (of course) the male ones. The Steph’s Place About Us page is…well let’s just say it’s hard to tell it’s not a parody. Anyway now it has a more spiritchuwal name, and an apology tweet.

Apology. pic.twitter.com/8KNwbWKalb

— www.TransLucent.Org.UK (@TransLucent_Org) December 13, 2022

The writing is even worse than the writing at good old Steph’s Place. We get some of the drift, I think – they claimed to have an article about being trans as a biological condition, and now say they’re not publishing this important article because um er um. What’s not clear is whether … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on He was made to feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, we don’t know what was actually said at that party, and it’s entirely possible that something transphobic or otherwise shitty was said. But I am not inclined to take that assertion at face value, especially given the lack of specifics.

I wonder what this “transphobia” consisted of. They never say.

Failure to affirm the lie demanded of those around him? Disagreement on what constitutes a “transphobic issue?” More likely a case of perceived lèse-majesté than anything actually “phobic.” Refusal to bow down and kiss the ring. Their feelings of discomfort are always entirely justified and sacrosanct. But what of the feelings of everyone … Read the rest

Victoria Smith on women the contaminants:

Should universities — hallowed places of learning, temples of the mind — allow themselves to be contaminated by the presence of females? What if their passive, bovine intellects were to slow the lively exchange of ideas? What if their inferior morals should poison the purity of free enquiry? What if, God forbid, they were to menstruate all over the books?

It sounds satirical but that is in fact how women have been seen since forever, and still are, more than is generally admitted. Menstrual huts may be Way Over There somewhere but the thinking behind them isn’t entirely distant. Terf=cunt=slut=filth.

In a report compiled by lawyers and academics at Garden Court Chambers and

… Read the rest

Oh is that so.

You’ll read a lot today about Jk Rowling setting up a centre for rape victims in Scotland, which on the face of it seems a laudable a gesture.
But the motivation behind the billionaire’s philanthropy has nothing to do with women. It’s about an opportunity to ban trans people.

— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) December 12, 2022

It’s not about “banning trans people.” It’s about women running a facility for women. That’s all. It’s none of Willoughby’s business. He should stop trying to bully women into joining his cult.

So it it ok for rape crisis centres to say “no blacks and no Irish”?

I mean black and Irish are adjectives like trans.

— Elanore Transsaurus-Rex BSc.

… Read the rest

The Scotsman June17 2019:

A police investigation has been launched after a feminist campaigner was allegedly verbally abused and “almost punched” after a women’s rights discussion at Edinburgh University.

Julie Bindel, a campaigner against violence towards women, had claimed she was attacked in George Square after delivering a speech at an event which had been branded “transphobic” by trans campaigners as it focused on the future of women’s sex-based rights.

Women talking about their rights is transphobic. Ok…………..

It was revealed on Twitter that the person who had lunged at Ms Bindel was a trans-woman called Cathy Brennan. The freelance film critic has said: “I will not be discussing it personally with anyone I do not know.”

December 12 … Read the rest

You know…as I look at this photo something occurs to me, not entirely new but a bit more forcefully than usual.

https://twitter.com/MeechSteph1/status/1601875889800740866

What? What is it that occurs to me?

Fear.

The fact that the photo sparks fear. I looked at it a little longer than I usually look at such photos and then noticed a feeling and then realized what it was. If I were cornered by that guy and berated over pronouns or terfs or his genner idennniny I would feel fear. He’s big, he looks like a bruiser, he looks angry. I’ve been cornered by guys like that when they were angry, as I think probably all women have. This is just built in. We feel … Read the rest

But how do you know which side that is?

My pronouns are he/him. And I want to thank Dr. Fauci for his long service.

Be on the right and respectful side of things. It’s better for your own soul, and better for others.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) December 11, 2022

The issue of course isn’t the Fauci part, it’s the pronouns part. (Tiresome of Musk to jam them together.) How does he know it’s right and respectful to pretend that people can and should decide what pronouns other people use to refer to them? How does he know it’s not, on the contrary, rude and narcissistic to make that demand? He doesn’t, because he can’t, because it is rude and … Read the rest

This guy fancies himself a feisty contrarian (which is an amusingly banal thing for a contrarian to do) and yet he’s strikingly non-contrarian on The Orthodoxy de nos jours.

https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/1601167337214070790

The argument of course isn’t that trans athletes are just like e-bikes. Read the introductory text again, or just read Jon Pike’s tweet again while paying attention.

The argument is that unfair advantage is unfair advantage.

The underlying implication is that people (including relevant officials) are systematically ignoring the fact that being male is an unfair advantage in women’s sports just as riding an e-bike would be an unfair advantage in the Tour de France.

https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/1601171949077815297

Basic courtesies like not misrepresenting the other party’s argument?… Read the rest

Susan Dalgety at The Scotsman on the opening of Beira’s Place:

Beira’s Place, named after the Scottish goddess of winter, will offer support and advocacy to women in the Lothian region, aged 16 and over, who have experienced sexual violence or abuse at any time in their lives.

The service has been launched to follow the global 16 Days Campaign for the elimination of violence against women. It is free and has been set up in response to demand from female survivors for a women-only service.

J.K. Rowling, who will fully fund Beira’s Place, said that she had founded the project to provide what she believes is an unmet need for women in Edinburgh and the Lothians said: “As

… Read the rest

Rowling has done a thing.

https://twitter.com/DalgetySusan/status/1602238740197511168

BREAKING:

Today, J.K. Rowling will open a new, women-only sexual violence support service called Beira’s Place | @bindeljhttps://t.co/LyJIMMSo09

— UnHerd (@unherd) December 12, 2022

BREAKING @jk_rowling is funding a new service in Edinburgh, called Beira's Place, for women who have experienced male violence pic.twitter.com/NjlKAIkbUx

— @GinaDavidson (@ginadavidsonlbc) December 12, 2022

… Read the rest

Trans scholarship…

I'm reading, and re-reading this book, and I'll share snippets as I go along. This thread is about the piece by Madeleine Pape. Pape is employed by @iocmedia to promote the IOC framework document…https://t.co/n6G5oYkWXM

— Jon Pike (@runthinkwrite) December 11, 2022

I’ll repeat that: Pape is employed by @iocmedia to promote the IOC framework document…so her “scholarship” on this subject is compromised by a conflict of interest.

…@sharrond62? Pape gives an account of this which seems fairly straight – it's drawn from the @Youtube record, whcih I think starts here: https://t.co/MlSQlx9vrL

— Jon Pike (@runthinkwrite) December 11, 2022

Jon links to a few more speakers.

… Why? well, this is a Case Study of a

… Read the rest

Dylan and tampons, the struggle continues.

No woman in the history of the world has looked at a tampon like this. Periods aren’t an exciting, desirable part of womanhood. They’re inconvenient, often incredibly painful and we put up with them monthly for decades. The least men like Dylan could do is leave us the fuck alone pic.twitter.com/f1BE9fZ0w8

— Slarty Bartfast (@Poppy_yyyyyyyy) December 10, 2022

Looooook a wad of cotton! Isn’t it beeyootiful?? It goes up a laydee’s hooha. It’s sooo pridddeee.

Somehow there’s been a backlash.

Trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney has been forced to defend feminine hygiene brand Tampax after the company sent her a PR package.

Oh no! Who would lash back at that sweet little faun … Read the rest

The Independent on our new overlord:

Musk’s latest post – “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci” – follows a streak of messages from the world’s wealthiest person on his newly acquired platform that increasingly has amplified far-right and conspiratorial content.

The early morning post – hinting at support for Covid-19 conspiracy theories while offending transgender and nonbinary people – was met approvingly by far-right members of Congress, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andy Biggs, who indicated that the incoming Republican-controlled House of Representatives will investigate Dr Fauci.

For…? Benghazi was it? Emails? Communists in Hollywood? Jews under the bed?

At the onset of the pandemic, Musk relied on the platform to downplay the magnitude of the crisis. He also wrongful

… Read the rest

Sigh. I remember the good old days when I didn’t have to spend any time paying attention to Elon Musk. I took full advantage of the luxury and paid him no mind at all. Those days are over. The guy’s dangerous.

My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022

… Read the rest

The Times runs another generic “they’re going after the trans folx!!” piece, disguised in the usual way as being about the LGBTQ.

Since far-right social media activists began attacking Boston Children’s Hospital over the summer for providing care for transgender children, the hospital has received repeated bomb threats.

No, the issue wasn’t “providing care.” That’s worded to make it sound as if Nazis protested a hospital’s treating children for Covid or pneumonia or other diseases. Boston Children’s was (and I assume is) providing “gender-affirming surgery” and bragging about being the first to do so.

Doctors across the country who do similar work have been harassed. 

Doctors who cut off children’s and teenagers’ breasts or penises have been “harassed”? … Read the rest

This could be something to look forward to:

Rupert Murdoch rarely has to answer for the alternative realities presented by his hugely profitable US cable network, Fox News.

Its conspiratorial claims of a parade of cover ups from the 2012 Benghazi attack to the climate crisis and Covid-19 have been lapped up by Fox viewers and scorned by much of the rest of America, and then the world moved on.

Well…the world moved on but with more people believing Fox lies about Benghazi and the climate crisis and the pandemic. It’s not “Fox tells lies and then we move on and nothing bad happened”; it’s Fox tells lies and people believe them and this is why we can’t have … Read the rest