A graduate student in philosophy has solved the problem of unfairness to women in sport:

The desire for a protected female sports category is a reasonable one. How could it not be? Males have an unfair physical advantage over females in sports, and we should want everyone – not just men and boys – to have inspiring athletes they can look up to and emulate.

But what follows from here? Should all trans women athletes be banned from female sports because of what their birth certificates say, as Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act entails? I don’t think so.

Why not? He doesn’t say. Trans women are men, so why shouldn’t they be “banned from” (that is, simply by … Read the rest

Lara Bazelon in the Atlantic on the ACLU’s lurch into the void:

[I]n 2018, following the ACLU’s successful litigation to obtain a permit for white supremacists to march in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ended in death and disaster, the ACLU issued new guidelines. Citing concerns about “limited resources” and “the potential effect on marginalized groups,” the organization cautioned its lawyers to take special care when considering whether to represent groups whose “values are contrary to our values.”

Like feminist women for instance. They prefer women who are actually men, or who identify as men.

By “our values,” the ACLU was referring to the progressive causes it has championed with fervor and great fundraising success since the election of

Some replies to the ACLU’s calculated insult to women yesterday:

Abortion bans disproportionately harm:
Black, Indigenous & other people of color
the LGBTQ community
immigrants
young people
those working to make ends meet
people with disabilities

Protecting abortion access is an urgent matter of racial and economic justice.

— ACLU (@ACLU) May 11, 2022

“You may as well just say you hate women at this point and that you are actively working to erase women as a political class. It would be way more honest.”

“Way of disappearing the one, coherent group of people that are solely affected by it: women and girls, female people. Patriarchy has always tried to separate women from one … Read the rest

ACLU even worse if that’s possible.

Abortion bans disproportionately harm:
Black, Indigenous & other people of color
the LGBTQ community
immigrants
young people
those working to make ends meet
people with disabilities

Protecting abortion access is an urgent matter of racial and economic justice.

— ACLU (@ACLU) May 11, 2022

It is possible, and this is worse, because it takes so much more effort to remove “women” from a list of this kind rather than a generic “this is bad for women people” blurt. They really took care over this one, rubbing our noses in it over and over again.

In reality abortion bans disproportionately harm Black, indigenous, and other women of color. They … Read the rest

Again.

Those who need it. They. Them. Sssssshhhhhhhhhh don’t mention you know what.

Our, we, we, us, our. Who? Us. Yes but who? We. Yes but WHO??? Us.… Read the rest

I was browsing Nina Lakhani’s tweets because of this Private Eye story:

According to Private Eye, Guardian employees who cannot stop publicly criticising their colleagues due to their views on transgender activism have been invited to attend life coaching events in which they can talk about themselves and play with plasticine pic.twitter.com/RLxKNHu0P0

— ripx4nutmeg (@ripx4nutmeg) May 11, 2022

Can you read it? Kath Viner told staff not to attack other staff on Twitter, and the next day Lakhani attacked Hadley Freeman on Twitter – over, of course, Sacred Transism.… Read the rest

Corrections.

Latin American reproductive rights activists vow to protect hard-fought gains in their own territories as they brace for potential ripple effects when the US supreme court overturns Roe vs Wade https://t.co/vVj5MybyNb

— Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) May 5, 2022

The Guardian tweet says “Latin American feminists vow to protect abortion rights” and “Women’s movements have fought hard.” Guardian US reporter’s retweet says “Latin American reproductive rights activists.” Correct correct correct, erase erase erase.… Read the rest

God I despise Joe Manchin. Can we just fold West Virginia back into Virginia please?

The Democratic legislation to enshrine abortion rights into federal law looks set to fail in the Senate this afternoon by a vote of 49-51, after the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin said he would cross the aisle and join Republicans to vote no.

Easy for him. Not his body taken over. It would fail anyway because filibuster blah blah blah, but Manchin is plant food.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat, has been speaking with reporters in the Senate hallway, saying he believes the legislation as presented “goes too far”.

Gotta keep those women down some.… Read the rest

I’m seeing a lot of conversations about emotional support dogs and contingencies related to them and who gets to decide und so weiter so I decided to seek basic information via Google. Questions questions.

What does an emotional support pet do?

How do I train my emotional support dog for anxiety?

Can I make my cat an emotional support animal?

Can emotional support dogs fly?

Imagine how supportive it would be if your dog could fly!

But what do you do if your emotional support dog has anxiety?… Read the rest

It seems that unprovoked attacks, like hangings, concentrate the mind. Finland and Sweden are feeling less neutral.

Finland and Sweden could apply for Nato membership within days – a monumental shift for two nations with a long history of wartime neutrality and staying out of military alliances.

Russia strongly opposes the two states joining and uses the expansion of the West’s defensive military alliance as a pretext for its war in Ukraine.

Well, Putin opposes. What Russia thinks independent of Putin is not always easy to know, because Putin doesn’t allow it to be easy.

Putin is all of the totalitarian force and punishment of Stalin, with no trace of any fig leaf of working class solidarity or any … Read the rest

The Telegraph did a story on the mother, the support person, and the dog. It will be a Royal Court play next, then a 6 part series on Channel 4.

Stonewall’s witness interrupted Allison Bailey’s tribunal hearing on Tuesday so that their dog and mother could accompany them while giving evidence.

Actually it was dog and mother and support person who turned out to be a support solicitor i.e. an extra lawyer who was a surprise to the court. I think the court wasn’t best pleased.

[A]s Kirrin Medcalf, head of trans inclusion at Stonewall, was sworn in to give evidence via the online hearing before Employment Judge Sarah Goodman on Tuesday, the hearing was forced to break after he

The Guardian has a piece by the author of “The Family Sex Show” saying it was right-wingers who objected to onstage porn for 5-year-olds.

The show is called The Family Sex Show. Its aim is to reimagine the way we think and talk about relationships and sex.

And it’s for children. What could possibly go wrong?

It doesn’t seem to have crossed Josie Dale-Jones’s mind that responsible parents don’t necessarily want Josie Dale-Jones “reimagining” the way we think and talk about relationships and sex onstage for an audience of their children. Who is Josie Dale-Jones? What’s her expertise? What does she know about child abuse, pedophilia, child groping, child grooming, child rape? Why is it up to her to reimagine … Read the rest

The ACLU has an article promoted on Facebook about Alito’s draft, so I clicked on the link to see if they managed to mention women at all. The answer: as little as possible.

What to Know About the Leaked Supreme Court Abortion Draft Opinion, and What’s Next

On Monday night, Politico published a leaked draft of the highly anticipated Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The draft majority opinion, penned by Justice Samuel Alito, overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which has been on the books for nearly 50 years and has ensured abortion is a protected federal constitutional right. If this draft decision is issued as the official decision, it would be unprecedented

Ain’t this the truth.

The Guardian reports:

A paedophile has been jailed for 10 years after using social media to groom children.

Rachel Fenton, who police said was known as Richard Fenton when arrested and charged, pleaded guilty to 21 child sexual abuse offences and a drug offence and was sent to a male prison.

The Guardian understands Fenton was living as a man when arrested in November 2020 and was later charged under that name.

But during the sentencing hearing on Monday, Manchester Minshull Street crown court heard Fenton had changed their name and was in the process of transitioning to become a woman.

Gee I wonder why. Couldn’t possibly be to escape violence from male prisoners could it?

A spokesperson for

For ALL women, meaning including men.

It's been produced by Kirrin Medcalf, Stonewall's trans officer. pic.twitter.com/Gxixqy6Jk2

— The Lies They Tell (@sarahstuartxx) December 13, 2020

… Read the rest

Ok it appears it’s going to be wall-to-wall tribunal here for a bit, because what’s coming out is too astounding to miss.

At this point they’re talking about whether Kirrin Medcalf [KM] consulted with other people before emailing Garden Court. KM is head of trans inclusion at Stonewall, and was a new hire at the time.

It was within discussions about safety and about how people might be in a space with someone who wanted to physically harm them.
BC: in email with lots of redactions. You say these redactions are your stuff?
KM: not 100% sure. Some of it
BC: look at claimants statement. She sets

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) May 10, 2022

“people might be in a space … Read the rest

At the tribunal: is “terf” derogatory or no?

BC: [new doc] tweets from 2015 'Kill all Terfs' 'Girl Dick TERFS can choke on my' 'Enjoy my lady dick in your mouth cunt wipe' 'shoot a terf today' 'all terfs deserve to be shot in the head' 'kill all terfs' someone holding two knives 'POV you're a terf in my mentions' 'suck on

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) May 10, 2022

BC: i don't suggest that this is how a majority of how transpeople behave but i am suggesting that you knew the term terf is used as a derogatory term and was used with violent rhetoric
KM: I disagree – there are instances but it's not the norm. It's usually used

Originally a comment by Tigger the Wing on Age appropriate.

Four? Nope. Eleven? Well…

Yesterdat evening, eleven-year-old grandson and I were discussing our tastes in computer games etc. and he suddenly blurted out “We’re transgender!” Now, I got the impression it was a new word he’d overheard and had worked out the likely meaning in his head; and that he couldn’t wait to impress Granny with a word which she might not know (that age group does like to get one over on the adults). After some gentle probing, I discovered that he did, indeed, think that ‘transgender’ means ‘gender non-conforming’.

Over the course of a somewhat eclectic and rambling conversation (because eleven and ADHD) I explained that everyone … Read the rest

BradfemlyWalsh shared the best tweet from the Allison Bailey tribunal to date:

could be there.
EJ: yes and we would be able to see the support person in those circumstances.
IO: We need to fit them all in
EJ: all of them?
IO: yes KM, his mother, his support person and his support dog
BC: this is all new information

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) May 10, 2022

“Yes KM, his support person, his mother and his support dog.”

It’s a gift, I tells ya.

KM by the way is the “Head of Trans inclusion at Stonewall” who wrote to Garden Court Chambers to complain about Allison.

BREAKING & EXCLUSIVE: I’ve published Stonewall’s complaint about me in full, along with my