Thank you, SNP et al

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/number_of_passport_applications#incoming-2134682

Except those computerised records aren't being kept - this is the passport office, the request asks for number of people per year who have had their 'gender' changed on their passport. The passport office refuses:

The information requested is not held in a readily available format and would require us to undertake an extensive search of our records, and carry out a data cleansing exercise, which would exceed the cost limit. This is because in order to respond to your request, we would need to manually investigate individual passport records to identify if a customer had requested to change their gender on their UK passport. We would also have to check all individual’s previous UK passports to ascertain what was originally entered as the gender and then check additional records to confirm if there were an amendment. It is estimated that the time taken to search for and collate any information falling within scope of your request would exceed the appropriate limit, therefore section 12 of the Act is engaged.

I think your faith in computerised records being able to pick up these things, and being used to do so, is poorly placed.

(and as an IT bod, I am genuinely perplexed that this isn't something they can do in an afternoon with some clever queries)

Too big a risk that someone will post a comment about the rejected sex offender amendment?

Why do you think that’s the case?

What's most interesting for me is the radio silence from my friends and family who usually post about trans rights on social media.

My cousin is a total Corbynite and always virtue signalling about other things she considers human rights including trans right. Nothing.

Teacher pal who is all right on always posting about LGB issues. Nothing.

Parents of a trans child in my kids year who are always posting about trans rights. Nothing.

Not only one, the first person in a chain...and it will help you next time you speak out.

Thanks. I’ll do this tomorrow.

It is good to hear the message getting out. I found that before the votes this week I was leafletting in the local town centre and was rather surprised. The number of people who knew at least something about this was heartening. Considering the weather and that we were doing this in the Christmas rush, there were women and men who wanted to know more. The surprise was the number of young people, men and women both, who were fully supportive. All ages.

Never again will any poster seriously be able to post ‘you are all old and will die out’ or that we are a minority. It just will not be credible.

Just had Xmas FaceTime with family…first time brothers and I in agreement , and all the younger generation too. Very reassuring. For a long time they seemed to be under the impression that lesbians and feminists like me were responsible for it all. And the left.

My parents are in their 70's. They are disgusted by what is happening. YY to all of their friends to knowing and caring about what is going on.

Absolute lunacy.

What a shitty legacy for Nicola.

I just don’t understand how politician thinks they will succeed in convincing the ordinary person in the street that a woman can have a penis and a man can give birth.

To contribute another anecdote. A few years ago I raised the subject with my smart engaged centrist relatives assuming they'd instinctively be unsupportive of gender ideology. I was quite taken aback that they were fairly uninformed but had a general sense that people who were critical of gender were bigots. I was fairly bruised and never raised it again.

Today they brought up the issue at Christmas lunch thanks to sturgeon.

The penny had completely dropped, and they all agreed it was all nonsense, obviously women need single sex spaces, how on earth could the SNP allow any man to get paperwork to say they are a woman and get access to these spaces. I explained the percentage of male sex offenders in the female prison estate and they were horrified.

All live and let live types of a range of ages, in agreement that what is happening in Scotland is clearly dangerous to women.

So thank you SNP and Nicola Sturgeon. You've successfully got the whole country talking and have aided the gender critical movement no end.

Yes @wesayno . It's easy to dismiss "all GC" on twitter as fundamental Christians or Far Right or whatever 🤨 but when you're well known for being left leaning, liberal, seriously active and helpful in your local community and personally supportive of people from all backgrounds and identities, it's harder to pop you in such an ill fitting box.

I bang on in my TERFy way whenever I can. And I'm demonstrably kind, inclusive, non bigoted and live out those values. You can't dismiss me.

It isn't under people's noses though, is it? It's swept away, usually omitted from the media altogether, distorted on the rare occasion it does make it to the mainstream, and the only publications that pick up stories are dismissed as right-wing.

It's why word of mouth is so important. After years and years of us trying to warn about this, I'd say only this year has it started to enter the mainstream in any real way. Because everyone knows that's the end of the charade. 2023 is going to be loud with the sound of women not wheeshting.

This is an excellent thread, thank you. Point well made about not doing something so deeply damaging and contentious directly before families and friends gather together. This is the beginning of the end for gender ideology. And not before time. I hope Labour are watching. But personally I'll not forgive them for their behaviour towards women's rights up till this point.

Fenlandia

Michael Crick is a political journalist with 189,000 Twitter followers. He's retweeted that 2020 clip of Julia Long asking Lisa Nandy about rapists in women's prisons.

Crikey, Nandy really is stupid.

I mean, this would be the logical conclusion right.

But that's not how a DBS works.

You could put any new name down and if the check is clean then bingo.

It doesn't cross reference anything and also, there is a teams hotline that you should use if you don't want anyone at your new work to know your history...so those sex offenders that wish to remain under the radar just forget to call it.

As I've said previously, if you think convicted sex offenders are honest enough to call the trans hotline and report themselves saying 'please don't forget to tell my potential new employer about my convictions' then you are completely insane.

This thread has made my Christmas, thank you Nicola for making this shitshow so glaringly obvious!

I'm afraid now the Scottish debacle will need to be dealt within Scotland - very little I or anyone outside can do.

There are 2 very important things people in the rest of the UK can do:

1 Write to your own MP explaining the problems with the Scottish Bill in itself, and especially the problems with how it will interact with non-devolved legislation for the rest of the UK. This prepares them in the long term if something similar is introduced in Westminster, and in the short term you can ask them to ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to use the section 35 provision to stop the bill getting royal assent.

2 Write directly to the Secretary of State for Scotland to ask him use the section 35 provision to stop the bill getting royal assent, on the grounds that it adversely affects non-devolved matters.

Yes- a discussion last night with my nephew and niece- previously full on with this fantasy.
This week has seen a huge change in public perception. Thank you NS!

Jesus, Joseph, Mary and the wee bloody donkey! Do you really believe this? Do the shit-for-brains that voted for the bill believe this?

I have heard of computerised records but the registrars in three of the home nations have not and record any changes as a note in the margin of the paper register. Scotland does have a computerised system and the Registrar General for Scotland maintains a Gender Recognition Register. The bad news is that this is confidential and cannot be used for purposes such as DBS checking.

NI numbers do not change but it would be illegal to use them for DBS checking as that is not a purpose for which they were originally intended.

I find it quite frightening that people are so unaware of what’s going on under their noses.

My DF, DH & me explained it all to his partner who has no idea. She kept stopping us to say “but but that’s insane!! That can’t be happening”

Very proud of DF who knew all about JKR and DH who explained all the sports stuff so it wasn’t just me banging on

i think we blew her mind!

Yes this happened to me. My father in law came round to drop off presents and after general chat he started speaking about this being passed into Scottish law. He was shocked by it all and my teenagers were agreeing with him

Excellent, OP! I am anticipating similar discussions over the next few days with family members who I know are appalled by the situation in Scotland.

Happy Christmas, Nicola!! Absolutely spectacular OWN GOAL 👍

Except that someone could supply a passport issued under their new identity as part of a DBS check and forget to declare their previous identity and its not clear that the link would be made.