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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Can we support Heather Brunsell Evans?

79 replies

AssignedPerfectAtBirth · 20/11/2017 09:49

twitter.com/brunskellevans/status/932544273144270848. Can you retweet?

Her statement

www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/thoughts/public-statement-to-the-womens-equality-party/

The Women’s Equality Party (WEP) has informed me that three Party Members have alleged that my “conduct” on the BBC Radio 4 Programme the Moral Maze on 15th November 2017 has “promoted prejudice against the transgender community”. The Party is currently giving weight to this allegation. As a Spokesperson for the Policy on Violence Against Women and Girls I have been informed I am under review by the Executive Committee.

The Committee is now examining my public statements including my blogs, social media, and on-line forums. It is also assessing whether I have complied with the Volunteer Agreement which I signed at the beginning of my term of office. If the Committee concludes my views do promote prejudice, I have been told I will be expelled from the Party, subject to any appeal I might make to the Appeals Body whose decision will be final.

At the same time, the Party is completely silent about the “conduct” of a fellow panellist on the Moral Maze, Jane Fae. Fae, a trans woman who transitioned to a feminine identity in middle-age, is a speaker for Mermaids (the charity that supports children to transition). She alleged that the prescription of hormone blockers to delay puberty in girls, or the injection of testosterone at the age of 16, is of no greater social or moral concern than prescribing the contraceptive pill.

There are complex psychological and social reasons why, in a society structured by gender and the sexualisation of girls and young women, there is an unprecedented upsurge of girls declaring they are ‘really’ boys. However, there is no credible science to back the narrative that gender ‘identity’ (rather than biological sex) is innate. Hormone blockers have serious consequences on the body, including the probability of infertility. A substantive number of medical practitioners are extremely worried about this practice (as well as the serious medical interventions that usually follow, such as surgical removal of breasts) but daren’t speak out for fear of accusations of transphobia.

I joined the Women’s Equality Party because I believed in a political party which would keep at the forefront the rights and safety of girls and women. Through the example of the Moral Maze, the Party has demonstrated it shares similar approaches to transgenderism and to girls and women’s rights as other political parties: it has not questioned Fae’s views whilst rendering my free speech ideologically suspect; it is concerned to protect the trans community rather than the swathes of girls who are increasingly subject to harmful medical practices.

I refute that I have promoted prejudice against the trans community either on the programme or through my writing and social media. I have called for transparent public debate, without fear of reprisal, of the social, psychological and physical consequences of the narrative that children can be born in ‘the wrong body’.

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knit1purl1 · 24/11/2017 21:28

Just sharing my twitter name @artefactoid as want to support as many critical thinking women as I can

EmpressOfTheSpartacusOceans · 24/11/2017 21:25

Tired, if you're subscribed then open a Times article in your browser and click on the share by email icon. It will give you a draft email containing a URL with the words ShareToken in it. Copy & paste the URL into a thread, FB, whatever & it's open access.

WTAFisthisshit · 24/11/2017 20:04

Thanks tired I'll report myself

TiredOfThisAll · 24/11/2017 20:00

I think there are copyright issues with C&P from the Times, which would apply to photographing articles too.

I subscribed to the Times in the end as I want to support the paper for excellent journalism (but admitting this is akin to heresy where I work!). But the Guardian really is awful.

WTAFisthisshit · 24/11/2017 19:49

I couldn't see it either got the 'this person has protected their tweets' message

WTAFisthisshit · 24/11/2017 19:47

Managed it! Don't know if I'm allowed to share articles from times paper edition? If not please can someone report me?

They're also going after YouTube today for Paedophillic content. I also got a nice response to my email to their feedback address thanking them for JT and CM's GC articles.

morningrunner · 24/11/2017 19:43

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OpalIridescence · 24/11/2017 19:43

I have emailed Heather. I am really finding all of this so disturbing.

I had hoped that people might peak and just have enough of pretending to believe in complete lies for progressive points. But it's not happening.

I spoke to my brother recently, he is a physicist. The topic came up when I mentioned Germaine Greer and he reacted like I had said Voldemort.

He is a scientist, usually demanding any opinion be robustly peer reviewed, but on this he refused to budge from the decreed 'correct view' of trans women are women, that 'cis' women should be happy to renamed (replaced) etc.

Was very grim.

WTAFisthisshit · 24/11/2017 19:43

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OpalIridescence · 24/11/2017 19:36

The actual name of this party is 1984 in practice.

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
The Women's Equality Party

TiredOfThisAll · 24/11/2017 19:28

There is a tweet from A Woman’s Place which says that transactivism is part of the alt-right, dressed up in liberal language (or similar).
Is this just an assertion of what it is like, or are there verifiable links?

I read what Heather Brunsell-Evans said to DD (a teenager) and she said she liked her. We don’t really discuss it, but thank goodness DD has not drunk the Kool Aid.

DoopityDo · 24/11/2017 19:21

Nimko Ali DYAC

DoopityDo · 24/11/2017 19:21

Hasn’t Nikki Ali been a victim of FGM? I’m sure she’s been critical of a transwoman who claimed to her on Twitter that their circumcision was FGM because they identify as female.

You’d think with her being such an advocate for girls and women who’ve had their genitals mutilated she’d be more sceptical of the idea that you can identify your way into or out of womanhood.

ChattyLion · 24/11/2017 19:18

It’s hard to know where to start. How dare they stop future doctors from understanding this issue? And yes shame on the WEP who clearly have misunderstood the clue in their own name. Hmm
Children and young people must be allowed (and protected so they can have) an open future and professionals need to be able to understand the issues to support them.

TammySwansonTwo · 24/11/2017 19:08

Of no more concern than the OCP? Is that a serious statement? What's the bet this person has never been on a gnrh analogue? Fucking disgusting.

AdultHumanFemale · 24/11/2017 18:57

"Am I the only one who hears the phrase 'right side of history' and interprets that as 'blah blah blah blah jazz hands 👐'"

This made me laugh in the middle of the godawfulness.

Wormulonian · 24/11/2017 16:15

It is all incredibly awful. What the hell is happening in our unis and to the right of free speech?

ArcheryAnnie · 24/11/2017 08:31

Argh, Nimco Ali has gone down the "we're on the right side of history" path, and is all "I stand by the Party".

She's an odd one. I like her, and I am totally aligned with some of her politics. But some of her other politics, well - she's a baseline Tory in many things, I think, yet stood against a good Labour woman MP for the WEP because she hates the Labour Party with a passion, and she doesn't seem to have any knowledge or experience (that she's demonstrated - she might be hiding her light on this for all I know) on LGBT+ issues, so she's still uncritically following the WEP party line to centre males who complain about women.

SeaRabbit · 24/11/2017 08:31

I've emailed WEP but have had no reply so they are obviously ignoring me. Think you're right I'll have to dig out my disguise on Twitter and start tweeting support. It's really pathetic behaviour by WEP.

ferntwist · 24/11/2017 07:49

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pisacake · 24/11/2017 03:05

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5112565/Students-bar-academic-transgender-children-comment.html

"Alexandra Tate, president of the Reproductive and Sexual Health Society at King’s College, said the event had been cancelled ‘due to the short notice of these concerns being raised’.

She said: ‘We will endeavour to continue to host speakers whose opinions differ from convention, but in the future we will make sure measures are in place to allow them to be explored safely.

‘We apologise to Dr Brunskell-Evans that we didn’t get these sorted in time for this event.’

When asked to clarify her statement last night, Miss Tate said it was designed to be ‘purposefully vague’. She said 12 members of the society had been expected to attend the talk. It is unclear if any are transgender."

Purposefully vague?

So basically 'we think you're a criminal but we won't tell you what crime we think you've committed'

What the fuck is this shit?

And she was asked to speak on

"pornography and the sexualisation of young women"

So not about transgender. So why are unrelated views even brought in?

They are saying 'you are an actual Nazi, a hate criminal, you have no place in society because of your views'.

Something needs to be done about the bullshit infecting universities.

Anlaf · 23/11/2017 22:11

Dear lord! there's no such thing as a "biological female" eh?

Now he is cross because his twitter mentions have "transphobes" spouting "anti-science"

Your fingers twitch. Do you:
Respond by tweet (turn to page 79 where you find the next 3 hours are spent twitter-battling with One Whose Mind Cannot Be Changed)
Switch off the Internet for the night, possibly forever (turn to page 447 where you fall asleep. You gain one twitter follower. It is a pornography bot).

I would pay cash for a gender critical feminist Choose Your Own Adventure book

TheGoalIsToStayOutOfTheHole · 23/11/2017 21:01

Anlaf

Following those tweets led me to this absolute gem

twitter.com/OwenMacdonald8/status/929633430882668544

Hmm
ferntwist · 23/11/2017 20:06

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MaryMaryQuiteLovely · 23/11/2017 19:05

Red
I'm really glad you have joined in these threads. I love your Westminster and Brexit analysis (major lurker) and am now loving your contribution here

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