Schools shouldn’t have “blasphemy” rules.

The home secretary has agreed to issue new guidance on ‘blasphemy’ incidents at schools, following concerns raised by the National Secular Society.

In a letter sent last week, the NSS asked Suella Braverman to work with the Department for Education towards “an improved understanding of blasphemy and its role in the wider threat posed by Islamism” in the context of state schools.

Writing in The Times this weekend, Braverman said schools should answer to “pupils and parents” rather than “self-appointed community activists”.

“I will work with the Department for Education to issue new guidance spelling this out”, she added.

Ms Braverman’s article continues: “We do not have blasphemy laws in Great Britain, and must

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Will we be queering queer?

Queer in the queer theory/new queer movement sense is the worst word, because it represents self-contradiction. It implies a confusing, a muddying, a cognitive dissonance built right into it. To queer a concept isn’t to prove it or disprove it; it’s neither hardening the rules nor softening them; it’s neither clarifying the boundaries nor eliminating them; it’s neither respectful or disrespectful. It’s putting something in almost a quantum state exactly so that it can’t be inspected accurately.

“Queer” is applied to sexual orientation by straight people most of all, because they both want to be a part of the gay rights movement (which would make them imposters), and they … Read the rest

Via What a Maroon I read a review by Jacob Brogan of a novel about lesbians which (as WaM noted) doesn’t use the word “lesbian” once. The word “queer” on the other hand appears nine times. I get that the word “queer” has been, according to some people, reclaimed or repurposed or seized or whatever you want to call it. There’s a parallel, I think, to the way the word “Negro” went out of favor to be replaced by its English language equivalent, “Black.” It was a move from the weirdly euphemistic to the blunt, because what the hell was there to be euphemistic about anyway? “Negro” came to seem tellingly squeamish. There’s also of course a parallel to the … Read the rest

In Argentina as in the US abortion is difficult or impossible to get.

María was 23 when she decided to have an abortion.

At the health centre where she had gone for treatment, she says she overheard one doctor saying to a colleague: “When will these girls learn to keep their legs closed?”

It’s always the girls who have to keep their legs closed, not the boys who have to keep their dicks in their pants.

María lives in Salta, a religiously conservative province in north-west Argentina, where many healthcare workers are still against abortion. She was eventually given a pill to end her pregnancy, but she says the nurses were reluctant to treat her and wanted to make her

A letter to the Guardian wants us to know that Mormonism IS NOT SILLY.

While it was heartening to read that Lucy Mangan found those featured in the documentary The Mormons Are Coming to be “lovely – gentle, kind, sincere” (TV review, 28 February), her comment that they were “fill[ing] people’s emotional voids with their lies” attempted to perpetuate the derogatory caricature that Mormons are hapless simpletons.

But supernatural religious claims are just that: supernatural.

The review took aim at what Mangan termed “the essential absurdity” of Joseph Smith’s claim to have received ancient records from an angel. I doubt such remarks would be used to describe Moses before the burning bush, or Gabriel’s appearance to the prophet

Washington Post cartoonist sums up:

https://t.co/ZhDwiPFbff pic.twitter.com/UGEH7teZ78

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) February 18, 2023

… Read the rest

Trump took his show on the road yesterday.

The former president spent his wide-ranging, nearly two-hour remarks rehashing the “America First” agenda that has played well with his base.

With “wide-ranging” meaning rambling and incoherent.

“In 2016, I declared I am your voice,” he said. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”

He’s downright biblical!

Speaking with reporters before the speech, Trump said he would stay in the race even if he is indicted in ongoing criminal investigations of his handling of presidential documents and his role in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

…

After months

That’s nice. That’s charming. Oxfam Canada thinks women don’t get to have a day for themselves. Other subordinated groups get to have a day for themselves, but women don’t. Why’s that? Because we’re such Karens? Is that it?

@OxfamCanada stands in solidarity with @FaeJohnstone and all trans folks, who are fighting for their rights everyday.

We recognize and celebrate the diversity of all identities, and will not tolerate any hate and bigotry.
Read our statement: https://t.co/udy5ND3IxK pic.twitter.com/PWiKwc2OtX

— Oxfam Canada (@OxfamCanada) March 3, 2023

Fighting for what rights? What rights do trans people – especially trans women – want that they don’t have? What rights do they have to fight for? The right to shove women aside and take all … Read the rest

Andrew Sullivan on Murdoch and Fox:

The great and obvious flaw in the political right’s legitimate criticism of mainstream media bias is that the most dishonest, cynical, postmodern, post-truth, “everything-is-power” media enterprise is Fox News. 

You only have to watch it for a few minutes to immediately grasp this, which is why most visitors from other democratic countries are shocked that it exists at all, when they see it.

Same.

But it’s rare to get real, actionable, behind-the-scenes proof of the deception, and thanks to the Dominion lawsuit, we have it. It will be important to watch the trial, of course, and see how Fox tries to counter the specific claims. But it seems indisputable to me that many

Billy Bragg has trouble making up his mind. Yesterday as we saw he was all “do women really get to say things?”

Do women get a free pass to say whatever they want when discussing their rights? Would you oppose an anti-abortionist woman if she came to your town to argue that women should have fewer rights?

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) March 3, 2023

And today he’s all “right to protest!!!” and “right to free expression!!!!!”

See, I always believed that the right to protest was a fundamental part of the right to free expression, but you do you.

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) March 4, 2023

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Sastra on A myriad of other genders.

Near as I can make out, the “myriad” of genders comes in two forms:

1.) Genders that involve different ways of playing around with man (male) and woman (female.) Included are man, woman, neither-man-nor-woman, both-man-and-woman, switching between man and woman, switching between man and neither-man-nor-woman, and any other combination you can think of, in fluctuating circumstances. We can at least conceive of such genders because they conceptually draw from our prior understanding of man (male) and woman (female.) Gender and sex used to be synonyms.

2.) Genders that don’t involve man (male) and/or woman (female.) The connection to sex is tenuous at best. This is where we find … Read the rest

Maryam Afshang at the BBC three days ago:

Almost 700 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since November, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut.

No girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.

“It became evident that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed down,” the deputy health minister said on Sunday.

Then he took it back. I wonder if we can guess why.

The first poisoning took place on 30 November, when 18 students from the Nour Technical School in the religious city of Qom were taken to hospital. Since then, more than 10 girls’ schools have been

Man with flailing hands and fast excitable way of speaking that he no doubt thinks make him terrifically feminine and thus a woman says “it’s not just women who give birth.”

Yes it is Sparky. When you’re talking about humans giving birth that is “just women.”

He hopes we can see it’s not rooted in erasure but trans inclusivity.

No can do, Sparky. Erasure is exactly what it is – erasure of the entire subordinated sex to flatter the vanity of people like you.

Also it’s eTcetera, not eKcetera.… Read the rest

Another eraser of women:

It’s not people in general who need abortion healthcare, it’s exclusively women.

For residents of the 24 states that have already or are likely to ban abortion, bodily autonomy is on the line and a critical part of their health care is being denied.

We applaud all of the advocates in these states working tirelessly to fight these bans.

— Elizabeth Nash (@ElizNash) January 10, 2023

For women living in the 24 states…

This is the part of a long struggle to build back a future that goes beyond Roe: Accessible, affordable and compassionate abortion care for everyone, everywhere.

For more on state abortion policies, demographic & abortion data, check out: https://t.co/0UuydublDP

— Elizabeth Nash

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Take your “inclusion” and.

Also how revolting to see two women in government putting women’s safety at risk for the sake of this stupid ideology.

What’s in it for them? Not that politics should be about self-gain (thanks Mr. Trump!), but how do these two women see their efforts to ruin women’s sport? Certainly not as “efforts to ruin women’s sport” but that’s what’s going to happen if they get their way. Politics should at least be about being aware of the results of your actions, otherwise, why bother? If they’re not willing to talk to people who will be predictably and adversely affected by this proposal than they’re not … Read the rest

Something our trans “sisters” will never have to worry about:

The nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape, threats from state officials and pressure from anti-abortion activists.

An abundance of caution from the point of view of the pharmacy chain – not from the point of view of the women who need the pills.

Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Walgreens in February, threatening legal action if the company began distributing the drugs, which have become the nation’s most popular method for ending a pregnancy.

It’s that important to keep … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Sastra on Take your inclusion and.

Hannah Blythyn, wrote that their “preferred position was to follow a case-by-case approach, rather than a blanket exclusion of transgender people”.

I’m gobsmacked by people who actually think it’s possible to decide whether to include or exclude trans-identified males from women’s spaces using a “case-by-case approach.” The nature of the claim, that transwomen are a TYPE OF WOMAN, completely precludes it. They’re built like an ox and just as strong? Some girls are big. They completely pass as female and nobody in the woman’s restroom would even know they’re trans? What about those poor transwomen who don’t? Where are we going to draw the line?

I had a conversation … Read the rest

The BBC reports:

Welsh ministers wrote to the Welsh Rugby Union expressing “concern” about its ban on transgender women competing in female-only games.

Concern about not allowing men to compete in women-only games. How did we get to such a stupid place and why can’t we get the hell out of it?

Their letter stated “inclusion” should be the “starting point” for decisions on transgender people’s participation in any part of society.

No it should not, because the issue is not “transgender people’s participation in any part of society,” it’s men’s intrusion on women. As always, calling it a “transgender” issue conceals the actual issue. Men aren’t shut out of women’s spaces and games and the rest because they’re … Read the rest

But what are we meaning by “hate crimes” here?

The Conservatives are soft on crime.

Their weakness is letting down LGBT+ people and failing to keep them safe.

Labour will strengthen hate crime laws to make sure perpetrators of anti-LGBT+ hate crimes can’t dodge longer sentences. #LGBTHM23 https://t.co/dJG9yIshYx

— Anneliese Dodds (@AnnelieseDodds) February 24, 2023

Will saying a man is not a woman be included in the list of hate crimes?

Like saying "men can't be women" or "if you've got a willy you're a man" or calling Eddie Izzard he?

— Florence Jeffries (@FlorenceJeffr10) February 25, 2023

… Read the rest

The Philadelphia Inquirer screams

Hershey Canada Women’s Day campaign sparks transphobic vitriol on Twitter

Or to put it another way: Hershey hijacking of Canada Women’s Day sparks protests from women on Twitter.

The subhead is almost as stupid and dishonest as the headline:

For International Women’s Day, Hershey Canada launched a campaign spotlighting young women trailblazers on its chocolate bars. Their inclusion of transgender woman Fae Johnstone sparked Twitter hate.

It’s not “hate” to say that events for women should not feature men, just as events for workers should not include bosses.

The lede is also stupid and dishonest; three for three.

An ad campaign from Hershey Canada intended to highlight women trailblazers is being met online with transphobic hate.