Does anyone else feel disheartened?

I'm a 'leftist Remainer', but I don't like the, er, remaining part of Remain so much, so I was a bit surprised to get a 'like' from them on their FB page. I wondered if they parsed my post correctly? They were talking about:

When educated people say they’re casting a protest vote for the far right, it’s not just making a point — it’s risking the kind of society we all depend on. Protest is powerful, but it should build a better future, not tear it down

and my response was

A lot of very intelligent (and influential) people have seemingly bought into a toxic and misogynistic cult which is spreading world-wide, so it seems being so-called smart doesn't mean you can't be taken in, history abounds in examples, from the South Sea Bubble to the PIE scandal. A recent much-publicised interview with Carla Denyer is a perfect example.

There's still nutters like Nadia Whittome in the Labour Party, though, and she never gets slapped down by Starmer, unlike Rosie Duffield. I don't really understand why.

No. It's to be expected that people who thought they were right, unstoppable and backed by key figures and institutions won't simply say 'Oh, OK then'. But people saying media / social media representation of support masks the broad views of the majority are right. If you're in certain online loops you'll have a sense of a mighty battle to be fought but if you live mostly in the material social world you'll know there's no mass of support for TQI+++ and a lot of fed-upness and relief this stuff is being sorted out.

Scottish Indy supporter friends of mine (academics) have never accepted that the peak moment of support was the 2014 referendum. They were disbelieving of that result, predicting a great fight-back, King Over the Water etc and refused to admit any failings in the movement or the SNP rainbow dream, posting constant support and frank misinformation about the dreadful colonial / bigoted / 'right wing' Westmonster plots on their SM feeds for ages after. Needless to say the independence or otherwise of bella caledonia won't have any hard consequences for them, their wealth or careers and they've quietly stopped posting.

Yes. It was easy for me to remind leftist Remainers how appalled they were about that "enemies of the people" Daily Mail headline and ask whether it was acceptable for an elected MSP to attack the judiciary in the same way.

I had a very similar union experience recently @teawamutu. I'm going to attend a meeting where there will be a vote on the issue. I'm terrified, but I'm going.

Maggie Chapman was a little gift too, with her attack on the Supreme Court. She's offended people who aren't GC but do respect the courts and the law. Chatting to one of them who compared her to Trump!

The "pushback" is all noise and no substance. The Scottish Government accepted the ruling, the UK government accepted the ruling. The Attorney General is pro-sex based rights and is making sure that the ruling is complied with top down. The EHRC are doing the same.

The FA, the SFA, Cricket, Netball, Pool and other sports associations are reverting to female-only rules. The British Transport Police has done the same. Slowly most organisations that are accountable to government and have insurance policies that require compliance will make the change. Some will resist because they will argue they don't have to provide a 'single sex' only service (Ladies Pond for example). These will probably need test cases.

All of the businesses I have seen sending 'supportive messages' to their 'trans, intersex, non-binary colleagues' (I swear they get AI to write these) are completely lacking in any action or substance. They are generic, non committal messages along the lines of 'always support trans people' and 'stand by them' - they know they cannot say they will break the law.

As for the BMA - it's a trade union - it is not the NHS and it is not a Royal College. It's just there to collectively bargain wages and working conditions.

The ones opposing it are making the loudest noise: TRAs peeing in public in Parliament Square, mid-ranking celebrities (face it, when Eddie Redmayne - someone who can barely open a film on his own - is the biggest name you can muster, it's not 'A-list'); a tax lawyer with a grift, a clear mental health crisis and a track record of failure and some Guardian journalists.

If celebrities are comparing their Trans Rights stance to the MeToo / TimesUp moment then we can all sleep easy at night, as that movement was a failure which changed nothing and achieved nothing. It did sell a few badges and get a few lower level actors noticed though - so there's that.

The interesting thing about the celebrity letter was how it called on a lot of publicly funded or owned bodies like the BFI, BBC, Channel 4, Arts Council to support trans rights. These organisations will be in a quandary - when government funds are being cut left, right and centre, especially for anything discretionary - do they really want to start a fight with the people that pay them? I have worked in both fund-raising and the independent film sector and complying with Equality Act is a central plank of securing grants. Lisa Nandy has already said she's not ruling out ending the licence fee. And Kneecap will be helpfully raising wider awareness of the risks arts funding bodies take when they make grants. The independent film and TV sectors in the UK cannot exist without government subsidy and visibly complying with EA2010 is a condition of that subsidy.

I think there are still risks and concerns - especially at lower level and in the NHS but the pushback at the moment is all noise.

I'm feeling sanguine about today's election results and the rise of Reform. Much as I loathe the frog man and his ilk, Labour will have to wise up and seriously address the priorities of ordinary voters and perhaps cater less to the precious element that have led us up this garden path. Otherwise Reform and Kemi will do to Labour what Trump did to the Democrats. It's an open goal.

All this requiring women to be kind and quiet at getting their legal rights dragged back - after the disappearing and behaviour of men and the media in general sod kind, I agree, I'm furious. Kathleen Stock's post nails it.

It'll be a different story once they realise their insurers won't cover them. At the moment, Stonewall and others are still telling them this isn't law. Wait for the misinformation to dispel and the financial consequences to become known.

For all the criticism of women for smiling too widely and celebrating the SC in an unwomanly way, theres a real need to also express our fury and frustration at how this lie was able to be enforced for so long.

YEEEESSSSSSSS!

A la lanterne, vipers!

Lovely post Arabella.
So much has been taken from women and girls but we can get it back.

Schools is where we now need to focus our attention. Transactivists have been all over them selling their "born in the wrong body / girls have no right to boundaries" crap. 😡

Well said Arabella

Oh, gosh no, OP.

Most people are terfy.

https://archive.is/YUmYj

There is work to be done. But it is a different world from what it was a few years ago.

We have Forstater - 'gc' views are protected beliefs.
We have the Supreme Court - transwomen are men, women's rights are protected, LGB rights are protected.
We have the Cass Report - gender incongruent or questioning children should be supported but not medicalised or 'transed'.

We have a bunch of small but very mighty grassroots organisations working on all different fronts to counter gender ideology's creep.

Most of all we have the ability to talk about it. The omerta and media blackout is gone.

We have a lot of sunk costs and people who've been fed bullshit (sex is a spectrum, etc). It will take time to disentangle the nonsense from every aspect of life where it has been coded into regulation and policy. Politics, religion, healthcare, police, justice system, prisons, schools, the arts, sports, media, HR and the workplace ... there's a way to go!

All we ever needed was sunlight, though. It's breaking through.

Take courage!

This tweet from Kathleen Stock summarises how I reckon many of us are feeling:

https://x.com/Docstockk/status/1917999038194217155

"I know I have a rep for calm serenity but the closer we get to sanity, the more I feel need to wreak vengeance, raze buildings, salt the land and take down every Establishment or celeb muppet that ever fell for gender nonsense, till they are all in outer reaches of the D-list"
👏👏

I’m on another parenting site where it’s being discussed, there are women doggedly subjecting other women who don’t want to change in front of males or compete against them in sport to struggles sessions.

Why can’t women just say no? why isn’t that enough? It’s actually awful to witness and makes me so angry.

Yes me too!

'Even the “protect the dolls” campaign backfired!'

Gender critical feminists could not have dreamed of a bigger gift than 'Protect The Dolls' 😁

I feel exactly the same. Toys being thrown out of the pram by a loud minority doesn’t change a thing. Even the “protect the dolls” campaign backfired!

Not surprised at all. I'm chock full of admiration for the intelligent, principled and extremely courageous women who have dared to do this and in doing so have moved the needle back to protect the hard won gains of earlier generations of feminists from those same fascist bigots. I presume you were referring to women like Allison Bailey, Maya Forstater, Kathleen Stock and numerous other wonderfully brave and defiant plaintiffs?

And I've not seen a 'gratuitous drag queen' news story for days.

God, let’s hope we’ve seen the last of these.

Not disheartened so much as absolutely sickened by the extreme misogyny that has become so normal in the UK.

Sorry if it’s been mentioned already but I listened to Julie Bindel on the Political Party podcast and it was very reassuring that it is the beginning of the end. Clowns like Stonewall and others have to keep challenging it as otherwise they have nothing to do, the organisation will close/refocus and they lose their jobs.

https://archive.ph/YUmYj

"Overall, the public backed the Supreme Court ruling by 59 per cent in favour, against 18 per cent who disagreed – a three-to-one majority."

Stop worrying. Celebrate. Shout it louder. That 18% will only shrink the more vocal we are.