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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Janice Turner in the Times today

67 replies

13RidgmontRoad · 08/08/2026 05:26

“It is entirely feasible for everyone, women and trans people, to enjoy swimming and sport. It requires no more than practical compromises, repurposed spaces, a few more gender neutral loos. But this would mean acknowledging biological sex exists, that sometimes female safety takes precedence over male feelings, and that the mantra “trans women are women” is not literally true.

“The Greens — plus some Labour folk and Lib Dems — will never concede this. (Nor will many trans activists, including groups like Bash Back, whose members pledge to defend their right to women’s spaces via threats and violence.) They prefer to live in a state of perpetual outrage about the impossibility of something they could instantly solve, even if it means escalating division and fear.”

Clear-minded and articulate as ever. I live in one of the affected councils and seeing our newly-elected councillors froth over this while umpteen public service, repair and welfare issues sail down the river has been quite something.

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/posturing-council-culture-war-over-single-sex-spaces-f9tlq8tcr

Verifying Device

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/posturing-council-culture-war-over-single-sex-spaces-f9tlq8tcr

OP posts:
BernardBlacksMolluscs · 09/08/2026 11:07

Google tells me that these are the key social issues facing South Derbyshire, Niblett's constituency. Bet her constituents are darn glad they've got her plugging away for them in Westminster

Housing and Infrastructure

  • Affordability and Growth: High demand and new housing developments mean younger residents struggle to buy homes in their local villages.
  • Public Services: Rapid population expansion places heavy strain on local infrastructure, leading to overcrowded schools and difficulties accessing nearby GPs and dentists.

Health and Wellbeing

  • Health Inequalities: Significant gaps in life expectancy exist between affluent areas and more deprived urban pockets (such as parts of Newhall and Swadlincote).
  • Physical Inactivity: High rates of physical inactivity among adults and rising childhood obesity create long-term public health hurdles.

Transport and Isolation

  • Rural Isolation: Limited public transport connectivity in remote parts of the district makes it harder for non-drivers to reach vital services like hospitals and general practices.
  • Social Isolation: Dispersed rural settlements heighten the risk of loneliness and isolation for vulnerable or older residents
BernardBlacksMolluscs · 09/08/2026 11:07

no mention of dildos, weirdly

Emilesgran · 09/08/2026 11:08

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 09/08/2026 11:07

Google tells me that these are the key social issues facing South Derbyshire, Niblett's constituency. Bet her constituents are darn glad they've got her plugging away for them in Westminster

Housing and Infrastructure

  • Affordability and Growth: High demand and new housing developments mean younger residents struggle to buy homes in their local villages.
  • Public Services: Rapid population expansion places heavy strain on local infrastructure, leading to overcrowded schools and difficulties accessing nearby GPs and dentists.

Health and Wellbeing

  • Health Inequalities: Significant gaps in life expectancy exist between affluent areas and more deprived urban pockets (such as parts of Newhall and Swadlincote).
  • Physical Inactivity: High rates of physical inactivity among adults and rising childhood obesity create long-term public health hurdles.

Transport and Isolation

  • Rural Isolation: Limited public transport connectivity in remote parts of the district makes it harder for non-drivers to reach vital services like hospitals and general practices.
  • Social Isolation: Dispersed rural settlements heighten the risk of loneliness and isolation for vulnerable or older residents

“Plugging away for them” 😱

DisappearingGirl · 09/08/2026 11:09

It really irritates me every time someone describes the law/guidance as so complicated.

For a decent sized leisure centre that already has male, female and gender neutral (family) changing rooms - what exactly is complicated?

Floisme · 09/08/2026 12:13

DisappearingGirl · 09/08/2026 11:09

It really irritates me every time someone describes the law/guidance as so complicated.

For a decent sized leisure centre that already has male, female and gender neutral (family) changing rooms - what exactly is complicated?

I've posted something similar on another thread but I think this repetition of words such as 'complicated' and 'unworkable' is to establish a narrative. I think the hope is that, if the words are used enough, they will be remembered and - regardless of whether or not they're correct - accepted as true, thereby creating an environment where a push to reconsider the Equality Act would be heard sympathetically.

quixote9 · 09/08/2026 13:21

Mapletree1985 · 08/08/2026 12:06

It seems the precedent those councils seek to establish is that, if you don't agree with a law, you don't have to obey it.

Sounds like a dangerous precedent.

From her article: "But maybe Green councils like Southwark regard laws they don’t agree with as optional. (If so, I have thoughts about the Local Government Finance Act 1992, under which my council tax is levied.)"

My question, like Turner's, is can anyone play?

icingonmycupcake · 09/08/2026 13:34

MrsOvertonsWindow · 08/08/2026 09:35

A CPS barrister has contributed to the debate with a twix post seemingly threatening women with possible consequences for challenging men in women's spaces.
You'd think after the public exposure of their incompetence with the convicted sex offender Levy murders, the CPS might try to dial down their anti women narratives - but this guy went there. Sarah Phillimore is on the case:

https://x.com/SVPhillimore/status/2085603188342759428

www.dailymail.com/crime-desk/article-16030659/Simon-Levy-two-women-dead-sexually-assaulted-Tube-victims-justice-broken-REBECCA-CAMBER.html

:

So asking someone to leave a space they have no legal right to be in is breaking the law?

Makes no sense to me.

ElenOfTheWays · 09/08/2026 14:15

Google tells me that these are the key social issues facing South Derbyshire, Niblett's constituency. Bet her constituents are darn glad they've got her plugging away for them in Westminster

@BernardBlacksMolluscs
Please tell me this double entendre was deliberate 😂

Recyclingbinday · 09/08/2026 14:20

Imdunfer · 08/08/2026 08:07

She's very clear that it needs to be trans people.

Not taking something that isn’t yours it not a compromise.

ElenOfTheWays · 09/08/2026 14:27

Recyclingbinday · 09/08/2026 14:20

Not taking something that isn’t yours it not a compromise.

Yes exactly. No rights have been removed from trans people. The rights of women have merely been restored to where they belong.

TransParentlyAnnoyed · 09/08/2026 14:41

13RidgmontRoad · 08/08/2026 05:26

“It is entirely feasible for everyone, women and trans people, to enjoy swimming and sport. It requires no more than practical compromises, repurposed spaces, a few more gender neutral loos. But this would mean acknowledging biological sex exists, that sometimes female safety takes precedence over male feelings, and that the mantra “trans women are women” is not literally true.

“The Greens — plus some Labour folk and Lib Dems — will never concede this. (Nor will many trans activists, including groups like Bash Back, whose members pledge to defend their right to women’s spaces via threats and violence.) They prefer to live in a state of perpetual outrage about the impossibility of something they could instantly solve, even if it means escalating division and fear.”

Clear-minded and articulate as ever. I live in one of the affected councils and seeing our newly-elected councillors froth over this while umpteen public service, repair and welfare issues sail down the river has been quite something.

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/posturing-council-culture-war-over-single-sex-spaces-f9tlq8tcr

Yeah that's really constructive. So long as the pretence continues that trans people (a tiny minority) who use cubicles alongside cis are the problem, the issue of cis male violence can be entirely avoided.

Sex offenders go where they want in public places. They place cameras, wait for women and children to be alone. And are likely to get a suspended sentence in the unlikely event they're prosecuted.

There's a reason CSA offenders hide within the anti-trans community, as they do within any group which regularly discusses children's safety.

13RidgmontRoad · 09/08/2026 14:49

TransParentlyAnnoyed · 09/08/2026 14:41

Yeah that's really constructive. So long as the pretence continues that trans people (a tiny minority) who use cubicles alongside cis are the problem, the issue of cis male violence can be entirely avoided.

Sex offenders go where they want in public places. They place cameras, wait for women and children to be alone. And are likely to get a suspended sentence in the unlikely event they're prosecuted.

There's a reason CSA offenders hide within the anti-trans community, as they do within any group which regularly discusses children's safety.

These are two issues, and most of us can hold them in our minds concurrently.

That’s leaving aside issues like TIMs’ offending rates as against the general population (https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/18973/pdf) and the bad actor/men in frocks problem. I don’t want to share my rape crisis session with a natal male, even if he’s the pope. And I question his motives if he wants to be in there.

OP posts:
BridgetYourFortyDaysAreUp · 09/08/2026 14:51

It might help if we could tell the difference between "cis"-identified male offenders and "trans" - identified male offenders.

Anyone like to jump in and give us a quick tutorial, so we can easily spot the bad ones by sight?

Anyone?

UtopiaPlanitia · 09/08/2026 16:04

TransParentlyAnnoyed · 09/08/2026 14:41

Yeah that's really constructive. So long as the pretence continues that trans people (a tiny minority) who use cubicles alongside cis are the problem, the issue of cis male violence can be entirely avoided.

Sex offenders go where they want in public places. They place cameras, wait for women and children to be alone. And are likely to get a suspended sentence in the unlikely event they're prosecuted.

There's a reason CSA offenders hide within the anti-trans community, as they do within any group which regularly discusses children's safety.

A couple of really great places to wait for women and girls to be alone, and feeling less vigilant, is women's toilets and changing rooms. So the push towards allowing all men to claim the right of entry into women's single-sex spaces has really reduced the effort involved in being a voyeur who wants to watch or film women and girls when they're least vigilant and most vulnerable.

Why would a society want to make it easier for men like this? Why not make it harder?

Single-sex spaces aren't entirely pervert-proof but when they're used properly, and the social contract is intact so that both sexes respect and enforce the boundaries involved, it makes it a damn sight harder for men to predate on women and girls.

And I do not want to be supporting anything that makes the lives of male perverts easier. We know that men who ignore women's boundaries in favour of their own wishes and desires are dangerous.

Good men stay out so that bad men stand out.

MoistVonL · 09/08/2026 16:21

These are two issues, and most of us can hold them in our minds concurrently.

This

What part of "it's men, however they identify" gives you trouble, @TransParentlyAnnoyed ? We are very concerned about male violence against women and girls. We are, at the same time, concerned with the safety, privacy and dignity of women and girls in single sex spaces.

There are two sexes, and only one of them is responsible for almost all attacks on women. Their gender identity is irrelevant, it's their sex that matters to us.

Peregrina · 09/08/2026 17:58

There's a reason CSA offenders hide within the anti-trans community, as they do within any group which regularly discusses children's safety.

You seem a bit muddled. What do you mean by the anti trans community? Is it those women who just tell men that no you don't belong in this space? They will say that to any man who transgresses the boundaries.

I need to correct myself here - we would like to say it to any man transgressing the boundaries but most of us don't have the courage so we wait until the man is out of the way. It's irrelevant whether he wears a frock or not.

FilmsandBooks · 09/08/2026 19:17

TransParentlyAnnoyed · 09/08/2026 14:41

Yeah that's really constructive. So long as the pretence continues that trans people (a tiny minority) who use cubicles alongside cis are the problem, the issue of cis male violence can be entirely avoided.

Sex offenders go where they want in public places. They place cameras, wait for women and children to be alone. And are likely to get a suspended sentence in the unlikely event they're prosecuted.

There's a reason CSA offenders hide within the anti-trans community, as they do within any group which regularly discusses children's safety.

Well, if there’s no safety to be found in women’s loos then transwomen’s arguments they need to use them because they feel unsafe in the men’s is a nonsense, isn’t it?

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