To think that JK Rowling is being very unfairly treated.

She's bloody awesome. I enjoyed her books, & whilst she clearly raided quite a few other authors I'd rate more for literary merit, they were thumpingly good page turners, which my own young dc, & many of the students I teach, found to be a gateway into reading Proper Big Books.

So I was generally admiring & well disposed, but THEN she spoke out of the GC issue. Kindly, wisely, & bravely.

For that, I admire her immensely. Also, someone in her office sends lovely replies if you email in support - my youngest got a name check - along the lines of 'JK says hi to & good luck with ' - & was possibly the most chuffed 11yo in Chuffedville.

She's a good egg, & I think history will reflect that.

@SionnachRua again which of her views are transphobic? Which part of what she said about bathrooms do you disagree with?

Puberty blockers will allow them to transition to the person they want to be and not stick out for their whole lives as some kind of oddity.
Whoever posted this gem, please also post the original paper of the registrational clinical trials that were conducted before approval of this use of these drugs.

No you should say what specific views you think are transphobic

It doesn't mean I think she's an evil person or anything, I just strongly disagree with some views she has. I'm sure she does a lot of great other stuff.

JStar is worth a read up on btw if you enjoy internet rabbit holes but he's really just an example name. I can swap him out for Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy if that makes more sense? I would never buy from him due to his Trump support.

It’s not primarily to do with preferring stereotypical activities of the other sex.

It actually is. 6 out of 8 checks for confirming if a child is transgender has to do with playing with children of the opposite sex, playing with toys of the opposite sex or wearing clothes meant for the opposite sex. 2 out of 8 have to do with not liking your body, very normal for children especially starting puberty, or feeling distress over your body. Later two are not mandatory to have before you can be affirmed as transgender.

Did you know Dutch treatment, the one everyone else always refers to because they came up with the treatment with puberty blockers, don't start treatment for children who say they are transgende around puberty as that time of life is just too confusing for all children and they don't want to make mistakes?

There used to be a regular poster on here who took puberty blockers for a short time as an adult and was quite vocal about the fact they had destroyed her health. She regretted taking them and was horrified by the fact that they were being given to children with no thought to the lasting consequences to their health.

Where does itv end ? Medically treating people to be who they want to be ? Why is it not considered just cosmetic surgery?

Agree with her all the way. It's madness to say trans women are the same as biological women

[quote JoodyBlue]@BudgieHammockBananaSmuggler what did we did do before there were puberty blockers available?[/quote]
People born as men lived their whole lives as females but were laughed at and ostracised because they looked weird. For example.

I genuinely couldn't care less whether or not people can physically change sex. Doesn't matter to me. Can they change chromosomes and thus change sex? Nope. I'm still happy to call them women.

But in real life, things don’t stop here.
Would you like your daughter to play rugby against a trans woman? Do you know the chances of injury? You are ok with that?

Do you want your daughter to compete in other sports with a trans woman having an absolute advantage even before the competition starts?

And that is just tip of the iceberg.

@SionnachRua okay but which of her views are transphobic? You mentioned her views on bathrooms earlier so I posted the extract from her essay where she mentions bathrooms. What specifically from that extract about bathrooms do you disagree with?

It’s not primarily to do with preferring stereotypical activities of the other sex. It is more of a feeling that is hard to define. If you feel like the sex you are born to it’s maybe impossible to truly understand.

A significant proportion of young children do revert back to their biological sex after a couple of years or so. However there are some that from as soon as they can talk express the view that they are a different sex and this persists throughout their childhood and adolescent. This is not going to change. Puberty blockers will allow them to transition to the person they want to be and not stick out for their whole lives as some kind of oddity. It’s a tiny percentage. Hence why it needs a critical review rather than the gender-affirmation ethos that characterises gender identity clinics and gender issue psychologists today

This is a social media board that is mainly female. You are slightly preaching to the converted. I obviously voted YANBU. I wish that there could be rational debate about this without the calls of bigotry because I support both women's right and trans rights and it is not necessary for the two to clash. There just need to be respect from the general population about the needs of trans people (a safe third space, the right to their own pronoun, not to suffer abuse for ho they dress/act etc) but at the same time respect for the genuine needs of women to have women only spaces, their own sex and protection from male violence. I can't see how two groups who have both had their rights trampled upon can not simply try to work with each other. Women fear male abusers using the self-identification legialstion to enter women only spaces and prey upon vulnerable females. Surely trans-women would detest the same thing?
To be a woman (or at least for a woman like me approaching 50) there has always seemed to be a need to accept that physically you are weaker (albeit mentally you are usually stronger) than the men around you and your biology prevents you (sometimes) from achieving the same thing as you might if you are a male (glass ceilings, childbirth etc). I would think part of becoming a genuine woman, for a trans woman is to understand that, understand the specific restrictions/vulnerabilities of the sex you would like to become/identify as and support the concerns they have. I don't think it makes you less of a woman to identify with the concerns of other women. (I am an educated woman of independent means who can earn a huge salary if I wish to and I would never have an abortion - I have no need to support child maintenance laws, domestic violence laws, equality in divorce laws, the right to abortion etc but I do because I am a woman and other women need that protection due to the circumstances they were born in/find themselves in. Usually because of their biology as the person that bears children. I will always protest against the rights of the patriarchy to protect other women. I owe that to myself, my daughters, my mother and my grandmother. In fact if you identify as part of my gender/sex I feel it is your very responsibility to think about this. Think about why a 13 year old child, a rape victim, a female prisoner might be frightened to find someone with a penis in their personal, private space when they may have suffered intimidation from men in other contexts. This is where I think the militant trans lobby are not acting like "women". Equally is there more that feminists could do to try to reach out to young trans-women already "othered" by changing sex. Should we really be havign a rights based discourse which is the language of men but should we instead be having a discourse based more upon collaboration.

Tbh I will probably head off soon enough as I'm a glass and a half of wine in and want to watch Drag Race.

Bike and bigot?!

Reminds me of the old joke about Microsoft and the colours black and white

Black people have been subjected to systemic racism - for centuries. It’s interesting that a relatively ‘new’ minority group has been able to aggressively assert its rights so quickly, by imposing on another group that has similarly faced oppression in various forms - for centuries.

Then you realise that group is mostly men and all your questions are answered.

[quote Impatiens]**@SionnachRua

Thanks. So do you consider her views to be bigoted and/or transphobic?[/quote]
She's an interesting one because I feel she puts a very civil, eloquent veneer on the absolute bile spewed on some forums. Not that she's deliberately doing that, I just feel she's socially palatable in a way that Graham Linehan (for example) isn't.

I've never personally thought of her as a bigot - I reserve that for Linehan and co - but I would probably call her views transphobic and disappointing, yes. Which is not something I want to support. Just as I wouldn't buy from Jeffree Star.

YANBU

YANBU OP.

Rowling has had a brutal time with the media and public recently, for basically saying what most of us are thinking.

Whatever happened to "freedom of speech" 🤔