Lib Dems back down after ‘vilifying’ gender critical campaigners

The Lib Dems are amongst the worst of the lot on gender ideology. Right bunch of weirdos.

Not a senior person in this case!

I responded to this and got a reply that was far stronger, saying I had been insulting and that she would no longer engage (I said that if she didn’t see this as a problem for women, she had her head in the sand, which I presume was the “insulting” bit).
Ah well.

I was a regular LD voter until last election.

No way will I vote for them again. It's not just that they've been particularly stupid over their gender-related policies. It's the betrayal of their supposed core liberal values, particularly around free speech that gets me.

This line made chuckle from the article

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “We are proud to be a liberal party where our members have a range of views on all sorts of issues, but come together to discuss them in a friendly and constructive way.

They've only done this because of the threat of legal action! They are doing this for financial reasons not because of any rediscovery of their 'liberal values.'

I voted Lib Dem last time but I won't vote for my MP again.

All he's been interested in since getting in is trans rights.

I'd rather have the very boring Tory we had before.

The hard line on this issue came from the top I believe, this is not a case of capture of local groups by stealth, the upper echelons are totally signed up to GII. Until there is a clear out at the management level, I don't believe they have moved an inch in their heads (much as I would love to sign up today and rock up to their conference in my SFW-issue tshirt!)

@borntobequiet I had a very similar response a few years ago from a senior LibDem MP..I wonder if they are the same person. Their response just stopped short of calling me a bigot /transphobic though.

I have subsequently met them and now couldn't vote for them because they are worse in public, dismissive of women's right.

I think it's the LibDem selection process that is selecting these candidates who are unlikely to truly reverse their thinking.

If the Lib Dems had been sane on gender I might have voted for them in the last election. I voted Labour in the end because they were the most sane of the left on the issue (which is still not very sane). I now have a Labour MP who gets my thoughts on this matter at regular intervals.

Congratulations to the Liberal Vouce for Women people. I know some of them and they e been through the mill. Their stalwart and reasonable behaviour is a model of engagement in the face of batshittery.

Well done LVW 👏but CarefulN0w speaks for many women on MN, how fucking dare they indeed

I received abuse Paddick early on when he’d expressed a desire to listen to womens concerns as part of him striving to understand the issue. He didn’t want to listen to us at all, he just wanted to bully women into submission.

I tried again with Jo Swindon over the Challenors 🙄 but at least she wasn’t abusive.

The way they’ve worded that implies they still think it’s women who are being intolerant. I’m done with the Lib Dem’s despite having once been a member. Too little too late

It’s absolute lunacy that a grown man can sit there and spout such abject nonsense, which he absolutely knows is untrue, it beggars belief 🤦‍♀️

It must be costing them votes. I still wouldn't vote for them. Not sure I could vote for them anyway with Ed Davey as leader. If they are serious in their new found commitment to respect women, why don't they make one of the campaigners from LVW their leader. If they did I might well vote for them.

I think many/most of them are opportunists with very limited moral codes. Some of them cock up because they haven't thought about a topic, or because they haven't the guts and humility to say, 'I don't know enough about this to have an opinion.'

Others just want to get elected again next time round, and don't care who they tread on in the process.

I don't know. Without the tactics of villifying and labelling everyone who raises questions a bigot, gender ideology folds like a pack of cards.

I'm not sure that the Lib Dems are at the start of the road back to sense. I think they are more annoyed that the 'shallow puddle' that they stepped in turned out to be a deep, water-filled pothole, but that they fully intend to keep marching up the (gender identity) road, trying to ignore their wet trouser legs and soggy shoes.

Thanks for the share token.

They don't really mean what they are saying though. Anything public like the stall at a conference they will allow but I bet anything else will be dismissed, forgotten about, bottom of agenda and run out of time type things. Their hatred of women will just go underground and fester. Money really does talk.

Coincidentally, I just got a reply from a new LD candidate:

Thanks for your reply.

I am a supporter of individuals and believe in their right to live their life in the way they choose. I have long been a supporter of women's rights and don't see the presence of trans men and women as a threat to those rights in any way. As a member of the Lib Dems I uphold their liberal values in this regard

I appreciate that we all have different opinions and thank you again for taking the time to respond

Ah well. Still with the head in the sand.

Golden bridges meh.
The reason some sort of apology/acknowledgement of fault is needed is that it makes subsequent backsliding much harder.

Thank god for the law and for crowdfunding is all I’ll say. Our politicians either have low critical thinking skills or are just very misogynistic.

Huge well done to LVW - shows that courage does win out, but it has taken a lot of courage.

I do believe in a golden bridge so that Liberal women can participate in a party that mostly reflects their views and political stance.

I'm not expecting any sort of acknowledgement or apology from Ed Davey or those who bullied and harassed LVW though.

Success is the best revenge!

I believe the situation is same as LWD said in December.......

"We, and Baroness Cass, are still waiting to hear from our Health spokespeople as to the party’s formal position on the Cass Review and the issues it raises such as the safety and efficacy of puberty blocking drugs for minors. "
https://liberalvoiceforwomen.org/blog/2024chairsreport

It is being discussed in conference next month:
Lib dem conference Friday March 21st
Liberal Voice for Women
The Cass Review – One Year On
The four-year Cass Review fundamentally changed the discussion regarding healthcare for gender questioning children. Our speakers include health professionals and LGB rights campaigners to discuss why the Review was so necessary and what’s next.
Harrogate Convention Centre, Queen’s Suite: Meeting Room 7

Meanwhile the LGBT Lib dems continue to denounce it:
https://lgbt.libdems.org.uk/news/article/cross-party-statement-on-wes-streetings-engagement-with-anti-trans-groups

To be honest, they’re politicians, I haven’t expected them to tell the truth in a long time. My opinion of Ed Davey completely plummeted after the Post Office scandal, what an absolute weasel he was and is, about that, people went to prison and killed themselves, he’s a disgrace. I think I’m going to have to vote Monster Raving Looney next time if they still exist!

Same, Edith. My party of choice and who I usually vote for, but I cannot just shrug this off.

I suppose like Helle says it's the start of the road back to sense, but my word. That they can't admit that they've been so wrong does not inspire confidence.

Yeah, it does.
Well done to LVW, though. I bailed out of the party long ago over this issue (2020 to be precise) when I got an email back from Ed Davey's office telling me that "supporting trans rights does not contradict supporting women, as the law already makes clear that trans women are women'. Lying bastards.
Tossers hadn't answered a single one of my substantive questions.
I was livid, and told them I was out, and didn't get a reply. My blood pressure is going up just remembering it all.

They've got to do better than this gritted-teeth we-can't-afford-not-to approach if they want to be taken seriously. I utterly despise the LD leadership, which is a crying shame as a lot of their local councillors are really good people.

But receipts. Yep, I have receipts. I can forgive, but I don't forget.

What a plank.