Petition to Sheffield Council to be sensible about Self-ID

[sheffieldlass]

(NC to avoid outing by location, fairly long-term poster here).

The Sheffield feminist group Women of Steel have started a petition asking the council to consider women's concerns in regard to Self-ID and not dismiss them as transphobia.

Only Sheffield folk can sign so please share widely if you agree, in the hope of reaching some that may not be in the online feminist loop.

Here's the petition: goo.gl/forms/qMP3MsdkcOJC63fT2

Here's a statement of our position: bit.ly/2Ni2Y0V

Some context: We had a Women's Place meeting last year and since then one of our Labour councilors has been slandering and abusing the venue on Twitter. He has also commented on the "Trans kids burn TRFS" flyer saying that it just shows how some people feel about TRFs (a word he uses liberally in his own tweets). This from a man who was chucked off the licensing board for having business interests in an escort agency, and is known to have used fake Twitter accounts to abuse constituents who disagreed with him.

At the last public council meeting, a transwoman, apparently encouraged by this excrescence of a man, asked a "question" which falsely accused the WP venue of transphobia, including out-and-out lies about WP itself. This was met with rapturous applause from the councilors, some standing. It seems many have swallowed this frightening nonsense whole.

The petition however, is not about any individual (that situation is being dealt with separately) but will give us an opportunity to talk at the next meeting, which will probably be the first 3 minutes of sense many of the councilors will have heard on the topic. Women and girls are at risk from this council, who may well make bad decisions about local single-sex provision, school guidance, etc, if they don't start to get a better understanding of the issues.

[sheffieldlass]

P.S Any remarks I have made about individuals are my own expressions of my personal feelings and are not intended to represent Women Of Steel

[MarciaDidia]

Hi SheffieldLass. When does the petition close please?

[sheffieldlass]

Hi MarciaDidia We are hoping to present it to the council at their next public meeting which is the 6th of March.

[AnotherLass]

Hi, I signed but now I'm getting anxious about being "outed", particularly given that this sounds like the council haven’t got the foggiest.

I have personal reasons for really not wanting that to happen.

Can you make it very clear to them that they should not release the names publicly? Sorry for my pathetic paranoia. Thanks!

[MarciaDidia]

Thanks SheffieldLass.

[sheffieldlass]

Hi AnotherLass. Thank you so much for your support, especially given your concerns. Courage calls to courage!

It's absolutely not pathetic or paranoid to be concerned about your name being released. I think everyone feels the same.

Before sharing the petition I already emailed the person who deals with petitions, and asked that very question. They assured me that they would not publish any names.

[sheffieldlass]

Bumping for t'weekend lurkers!

[glenthebattleostrich]

I live close to Sheffield but don't live work or study there. I do however visit regularly to shop, go to shows etc.

If they go ahead with endorsing self id I won't go there anymore.

[sheffieldlass]

glenthebattleostrich They haven't made any official announcements about endorsing it. We are just worried about their attitude around the issues, and want them to hear our side of the story.

[SciFiScream]

Not located in a place to sign just stopping by to say I love the name 'Women of Steel'

[sheffieldlass]

Thank you! Our namesakes:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_of_Steel

[LilyMumsnet]

We're just moving this over to our petitions topic now.

[zoeyinghu]

Hi, I am a training journalist from University of Sheffield and I found out about this petition when I went to the council meeting last Wednesday. I am just wondering if it's possible that I can have a chat with someone who is working on this? I would sincerely appreciate any help you could give, my email address is [email protected]. Thanks a lot!