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Original poster

Is this an about-face from The Guardian?

263 replies

NopeNi · 17/10/2018 19:07

Well fuck me I wouldn't have expected to read this in the Guardian.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it still focuses on rights for transwomen and calls both sides of the debate "toxic" (of course) but it also says:

..."But misogyny too must be challenged. Gender identity does not cancel out sex. Women’s oppression by men has a physical basis, and to deny the relevance of biology when considering sexual inequality is a mistake. The struggle for women’s empowerment is ongoing. Reproductive freedoms are under threat and the #MeToo campaign faces a backlash. Women’s concerns about sharing dormitories or changing rooms with “male-bodied” people must be taken seriously. These are not just questions of safety but of dignity and fairness."

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/17/the-guardian-view-on-the-gender-recognition-act-where-rights-collide

OP posts:
hackmum · 17/10/2018 19:25

Mystified. I bet an awful lot of internal argument went into producing this. After all, in the Guardian's comment pages you won't even catch a glimpse of gender critical feminism - it's all Shon Faye and Owl and Little OJ and all the rest. Something, I reckon, must have peak transed them in the last week. Could it be Karen White? Or the MPs being frightened to be named?

I reckon one of their middle aged female staffers must have written it - someone like Anne Perkins.

HamiltonCork · 17/10/2018 19:24

Just far too little and far too late.

stillathing · 17/10/2018 19:24

Do you think the 98% “not buying it” poll in the Times might have given them pause?

Well this diehard leftie has certainly spent more £ on the Times than the Guardian over the last year.

heresyandwitchcraft · 17/10/2018 19:22

I cannot believe this! Where is the "wrong side of history" bigoted T*RF rhetoric?
Well done on this article.
The Overton window has shifted.

boatyardblues · 17/10/2018 19:20

Do you think the 98% “not buying it” poll in the Times might have given them pause?

OvaHere · 17/10/2018 19:18

I guess the Guardian have finally read the room!

ErrolTheDragon · 17/10/2018 19:18

WTF is the point of a 'single gender space' though?

Most activities and spaces are open to everyone. A 'gendered' activity might be theoretically open to all but in practice only attract people with one 'gender' with respect to that activity. That's fine. Single sex spaces and services exist for reasons related to sex not gender.

Original poster
NopeNi · 17/10/2018 19:17

I know, I keep eyeing it up, waiting for it to be deleted, or wondering if I've misread the date somehow.

Are there any comments on it? I can't see from my phone if there are.

OP posts:
sillage · 17/10/2018 19:17

Looks like standard public relations damage control to me.

To hold the Guardian to account for this statement would mean a sharp increase in the amount of articles published by gender critical feminists. Until that increase in the Guardian's gender critical content, statements like these are meaningless.

vicviking · 17/10/2018 19:16

Was surprised to read that. Is the current editor tied up in a cupboard? Seriously - credit where credit is due. It is good to see this.

niceberg · 17/10/2018 19:13

Blimey, pass me the smelling salts!

mimivanne · 17/10/2018 19:11

Its a sign of something,an outbreak of balance ?

Procrastinator1 · 17/10/2018 19:10

I think this might mean I can start reading the Guardian again. Wouldn't be surprised if they are in favour single gender rather than single sex spaces in the long run though.

I wonder what prompted this. The academics' letter and Maria Caufield perhaps.

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