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Original poster

Here’s a Mermaids fuck-up to brighten your Sunday morning...

113 replies

AngeloMysterioso · 16/05/2021 09:51

So in a tweet yesterday Mermaids (shock horror) MISGENDERED non-binary Owen J. Harcum, saying that HE had been elected Mayor of Bangor.

A while later they deleted the tweet, reposted it using “they” instead of “he” and issued an apology, basically blaming their accidental hate crime on Grammarly, which I believe is a proofreading app.

Grammarly then responded calling them out on their blatant and quite possibly libellous lie, and so Mermaids deleted that tweet too.

Hope Grammarly sue their asses.

Here’s a Mermaids fuck-up to brighten your Sunday morning...
Here’s a Mermaids fuck-up to brighten your Sunday morning...
Here’s a Mermaids fuck-up to brighten your Sunday morning...
OP posts:
languising · 16/05/2021 14:38

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

But if you write 'they is' you sound illiterate. I would take the long way round and re-write as much as possible to avoid any pronouns at all in those circumstances.
You can just write 'they are'
Lemmen · 16/05/2021 14:31

I have to admit I don't follow them closely (though know of them and why they're a creepy little organisation of course) - is this the kind of error they punish others for on Twitter then?

Defaultname · 16/05/2021 13:39

Has Dracula got deadnaming?

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 16/05/2021 13:17

@OneEpisode

Both Mermaids and the LGBT Foundation were using the #BanConversationTherapy hashtag. They seemed to have used the #BanConversionTherapy tag too…
Grin Grin Grin
Tanith · 16/05/2021 13:10

@Tambora

Surely 'they' is the plural and the correct word to use should be 'it'?
Indeed it should. "It" was perfectly acceptable for Bram Stoker and writers of his time.

However, "it" is now deemed transphobic, I believe. Heaven knows why ( because it's impersonal - well, so is "they" - that's different etc. etc.).
They haven't got around to cancelling 'Dracula' yet, though.

OneEpisode · 16/05/2021 13:08

Both Mermaids and the LGBT Foundation were using the #BanConversationTherapy hashtag. They seemed to have used the #BanConversionTherapy tag too…

TheWordWomanIsTaken · 16/05/2021 12:55

How does a spell check replace 'they' with 'he'?
Watching the wheels falling of this wagon is hugely entertaining.

ChubbyLittleManInACampervan · 16/05/2021 12:48

I think they were a bit flippant about the literal violence they perpetrated

persistentwoman · 16/05/2021 12:45

One more to get the thread back on track:

twitter.com/Jebadoo2/status/1393628146948313094

persistentwoman · 16/05/2021 12:40

Just to divert the thread over to trains for a moment, I came across this rather glorious (slightly related) twitter thread:

twitter.com/moleatthedoor/status/1393658807016898571

Grin
PaleGreenGhost · 16/05/2021 12:30

And surely it's so much more offensive when Mermaids do it, because they actually believe in gender ID? They let slip that they still know Owen's sex. They're not supposed to know it any more.

Whether or not a non believer misgenders should be irrelevant. I may choose to use desired pronouns out of fear or kindness (depending on situation and person demanding or asking). But I can no more undo my belief that the person is still a human of one sex or another than I can force myself to believe in God.

YouSetTheTone · 16/05/2021 12:10

@CardinalLolzy

This puts them on the same level of misgendering (calling a NB person "he" by accident) that Maya Forstater is constantly accused of.
Can Maya Forstater use this in her next hearing? That a TRANSGENDER CHARITY did what she’s been hounded for. It makes no sense for her to be accused of something if they are allowed to get away with the same thing. I mean I know we all know that none of it makes sense but could this tweet from Mermaids be relevant in a court of law?
LongPauseNoAnswer · 16/05/2021 12:02

The whole thing is utterly preposterous. Tying themselves into knots and contradicting themselves all over the place. If it wasn’t so dangerous it would be hilarious.

“They is” here too … just to point out the absurdity of the whole thing.

HarmonicAnalysis · 16/05/2021 11:56

"Grammarly supports the singular 'they'."

You had ONE JOB, Grammarly...!

toffeebutterpopcorn · 16/05/2021 11:46

It wisnae me! Us don’t make mistakes! It wis Grammarly! Hate them, not me!

Hazelnutlatteplease · 16/05/2021 11:36

@WhatyoutalkingaboutWillis

It wasnt a true apology . It was a passing the buck. Not us gov 👉👉👉it was the spell check..... quick throw someone else under the bus

Grammerly coming in on it 🤣🤣🤣

Ereshkigalangcleg · 16/05/2021 11:35

I don’t care. It’s they is every time for me. It helps to draw attention to the inherent daftness.

I agree.

OldCrone · 16/05/2021 11:31

I don’t care. It’s they is every time for me. It helps to draw attention to the inherent daftness.

I agree. It makes it clearer that you're talking about a narcissistic person who makes demands on others about how you speak about them.

Original poster
AngeloMysterioso · 16/05/2021 11:31

You know for a fact that if it was anyone else other than Mermaids that both Owen and Mermaids would have been all over them like flies on shit. They’re getting away with something they’ve had other people prosecuted for.

OP posts:
PaleGreenGhost · 16/05/2021 11:27

@WhatyoutalkingaboutWillis

've been made aware that some people are jumping on *@Mermaids*_Gender for accidentally missgendering me in a tweet. Dont. Dont do that. Mistakes happen, an apology was made and accepted. Moreover Mermaids are an amazing charity who we should all be supporting. Donate, dont hate!

This was theys response.

What! How do they know this wasn't the moment of enlightenment for many of us? Maybe the re-education finally paid off and we were outraged by the sheer violence of Mermaids acknowledging the protected characteristic of sex when discussing a human holding a role traditionally dominated by one of the two possible sexes?

Actually I might be theologically fluid, meaning I follow a different set of beliefs each day, but I'm atheist on a Sunday (so I can see how ridiculous that sounds).

Lemmen · 16/05/2021 11:26

... those meetings sound like.

Lemmen · 16/05/2021 11:25

From Wikipedia - "On 3 March 2021 the then Deputy Mayor of Bangor, Owen Hurcum, resigned as a representative of Plaid Cymru citing transphobia within the party and sat as an Independent."

Oh boy, what fun.

toffeebutterpopcorn · 16/05/2021 11:24

Anyone else would have had PC Gul on their doorstep to check their thinking.

I wonder why qualifications this young person has to be mayor. I assume they have worked on the community, set up a charity, maybe created jobs through setting up a business... or dyed their hair blue and called themselves ‘they’. One or the other...

MidsomerMurmurs · 16/05/2021 11:21

But if you write 'they is' you sound illiterate

I don’t care. It’s they is every time for me. It helps to draw attention to the inherent daftness.

If I see a email signature or a Twitter bio with (they/them) then I will respect that by solely using those two pronominal forms. If I have to write “They has specified that them’s pronouns are they/them” then that’s what I’ll write. I think it would be disrespectful to assume that they wanted a possessive “their” pronoun if they haven’t said so, so I’ll just mangle the grammar.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 16/05/2021 11:20

I've been looking this all up in the how to explain binary to children section because I have no actual idea apparently there are 72 genders
What are the 72 genders?
There are many different gender identities, including male, female, transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these.
Fuck.....I'm going to continue ignoring this rubbish just like I always have.

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