WPUK and Lyra McKee

As far as I can see her death had sod all to do with her stance on transgender issues. This isn’t Nigel Farage rending his clothes at the death of Jo Cox. Why aren’t you going after Saoradh?

Since the OP has changed their name specifically to start this thread I have no prior posts on which to judge if their concern is genuine or if this is another ‘Why does glinner only collaborate with white men’ attempt to smear somebody with genuine concerns.

Have her ‘loved ones’ actually commented or are you appropriating their grief?

We have no reason to think it is OP appropriating anyone's grief. That's the sort of accusation wokus dei like to chuck at people. Several people on the WPUK thread have claimed to be 'friends' upset by WPUK 'appropriation' of her something or other (honestly I can't fathom what their fucking point is).

I think OP is well motivated in wanting WPUK to be sensitive to grief. The problem is that when a tribute to someone is suddenly 'problematic', and we give in to the wailing and name calling, where does it end?

It's like when people call tiny issues of tact and reasonable disagreements 'racist', 'sexist' or 'bigoted'- they devalue those terms. It makes nuance and reasonable debate impossible.

Tensions are obviously high and her loved ones will already be upset.

Have her ‘loved ones’ actually commented or are you appropriating their grief?

Oh obviously it’s too soon. It’s proper etiquette to wait a few years before paying tribute to a murder victim, isn’t it? 🙄

I'd be surprised if many of those tweeting at WPUK had ever heard of Lyra before she died. The WPUK tweet and this tragedy is being used and as an opportunity to shame and silence an organisation they hate.

Why is it just WPUK who are attracting the vitriol then? There’s only one group using this for cynical point scoring and it isn’t them.

Why have you namechanged?

They can't even let other women pay tribute to murdered woman without posting about trans rights. Because nothing and I mean, nothing, is more important.

That is the difference between the feminist left and the trans movement.
Feminists can pay a respectful tribute to someone they disagree with. TRAs attempt to silence people they disagree with, and frequently tell them to die.

Iwouldn't expect anything else frankly. I don't see anyone piling on the DUP funnily enough.

This from pachyderm 💯%. Arlene Foster and Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein) both attended a vigil for her. This was despite the DUP opposition to equal marriage and abortion. When everyone comes together to mourn the death of someone who was clearly so talented, that unity sends a powerful message to all paramilitary groups and dissidents trying to prevent peace in N Ireland.

She clearly supported trans rights but she was also concerned with other aspects that do fit in with WPUK's work.

The TRAs and Labour left would love to see the end of WPUK.

It is no coincidence that WPUK has faced the the most protests from TRAs.
It is no coincidence that Leeds City Council (Labour) cancelled a WPUK event in a council building rather than countenance that a left wing organisation was critical of the stealthy erosion of women's rights by the likes of Leeds City Council.

WPUK has its roots in Labour and the Trades Union, not the Right. They are funded by ordinary women (average donation £22) not the evangelicals of the right, as the left would like us to believe. Being of the Left and supported by women who would normally vote for the left - they are seen as dangerous.

They are a contradiction of what the left stands for and says about itself.

Attempts to whip up a frenzy of pearl-clutching just because they praised an opponent won't work on me. I applaud them and will keep sending money to ensure that they continue.

Lyra McKee wrote one of the most moving accounts of recent years of the experience of being a lesbian at school, in a conservative guilt-inducing culture. If you haven't already read this account, or watched its translation into film, you really should

www.thepensivequill.com/2014/08/letter-to-my-14-year-old-self.html?m=0

As well as being a very eloquent writer on her own experience, Lyra was an incredible young investigative journalist working on several projects just coming to fruition: on children who went missing during 'the troubles' www.janklowandnesbit.co.uk/lyra-mckee and the IRA killing of Robert Bradford MP. Her article on the rise of suicide in the ceasefire generation is an example of the quality of her work. www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/conflict-mental-health-northern-ireland-suicide/424683/

WPUK posts daily about admirable women, and Lyra McKee is certainly that.

There's no doubt that she saw herself as part of a larger LGBT community, being pictured holding a sign in support of local trans youth charity GenderJam - an image which has been reposted 100s of times as if to chide WPUK. That's a stance typical (though by no means universal) of many younger lesbians, and also not at all surprising in a context in which the voices of feminists seeking to uphold women's sex-based rights and protections while supporting human rights for everyone, including trans people, are drowned out by the prohibitions and condemnatory proclamations of religious conservatives. However, she also very much stated her belief in dialogue between people who disagree with each other

Her letter to her fourteen-year-old self spoke particularly to a lesbian constituency of WPUK. Her bravery as a journalist spoke to those concerned for press freedom. If there are differences over how to balance women's rights and trans rights, lets talk about them, but not by forbidding WPUK to express admiration for an admirable woman.

She was a lot more than a person who believed TWAW.

And the situation (a journalist murdered) goes beyond individual tragedy. It can be taken as a symbolic attack on the freedom of the press.

Given that , it's ironic that TRAs would try to silence WPUK.

Indeed.

TRAs have always had difficulty recognising the difference between disagreement and wishing someone was dead.

Nor can I think of any other walk of life where paying tribute to a dead opponent would be seen as a cause for outrage

No, neither can i

I think that WPUK tribute sounds measured and respectful. If other people can't appreciate that, that's their problem

Yep

After the Hillsborough disaster, I remember the Manchester United manager and players attending funerals, even though there was intense rivalry between the two clubs.

When Margaret Thatcher died, the Labour Party leader, Ed Milliband paid tribute: "we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength".

If they could manage to see the bigger picture than I think anyone can.

Nor can I think of any other walk of life where paying tribute to a dead opponent would be seen as a cause for outrage.

The person who orchestrated that pile-on is your regular funded to the hilt fulltime TRA who spends their entire time travelling the world on junkets organised by the global single-issue network. I wouldn't expect anything else frankly. I don't see anyone piling on the DUP funnily enough.

Also bizarre to see the trolls attacking WP UK as bigots who should stay away from the memory of a proud lesbian - half their speakers are lesbians ffs!

It is extremely common to see tributes to adversaries, especially in politics, but also in other spheres of life, for instance with artists, writers, campaigners and so on. That we can respect and show respect to those who disagree with us is not an insult to them but a necessity of peacefully co-existing despite our differences.

This. Many of the complaints have been ridiculous.

Agree with that.

I think that WPUK tribute sounds measured and respectful. If other people can't appreciate that, that's their problem.