And so it begins: Transwoman is running for women's officer of NUS

[PosieReturningParker]

Some of her aims:

Gender neutral sex ed
Women in leadership making room for transwomen (because you know how many women are in leadership roles)
BUS accepting transwomen to compete as women in sports

I don't think hate crime/protected category legislation can have been intended to be used to make the argument that calling a male 'male' or 'he' could be a criminal act. Trans activists have got people scared about this, but I notice religious and right wing media are happily continuing to use correct pronouns etc, and no action is being taken. Doctors and academics who are not caught up in the 'social justice' bubble also continue to use accurate terms. I think we are all being tricked and bullied into going along with this terminology mess.

Is there a way to request that mumsnet reconsider their position on language? There is no evidence that calling a male 'he' is against the law. It isn't even impolite, let alone hateful. It is demonstrably causing problems with having any of these discussions.

A site stuff thread? I think you'd get a lot of support Vincent

I've been really annoyed by the mumsnet deletions on this thread. Especially as it is really difficult to discuss this on twitter or facebook. We, women, need a safe place to be able to talk about this issue. Without having to use bizarrely twisted language to avoid deletions. It is just ridiculous.

Can anyone link to the thread where mumsnet decided misgendering should be against the rules please? I'm sure someone mentioned one and linked it but I can't find the post. I think it is necessary to reopen that discussion but I'd like to know the official mumsnet reasoning first.

Hareem's campaign seems to be fairly active on Facebook because I keep getting things on my newsfeed about it.
Very annoying that she has to block people on Twitter if they mention the trans thing though.

The latest thing on FB is an endorsement for Hareem from the NUS LGBT+ Black rep.

The talk guidelines just say they'll delete 'transphobic posts' but there is a big difference between transphobic taunts and simply referring to someone with the correct pronoun or sex.

Also, manywomen in the feminist movement have long made the argument that calling a man 'woman' or 'her' is profoundly disrespectful to women. As there is a well thought out feminist argument that allowing men to coopt woman as an identity is sexist, how have mumsnet created a policy that effectively means women must use sexist terminology when discussing the trans topic??

Hareem's Facebook post is here. If she can't see the problem in a man being women's officer then she shouldn't be women's officer either! I despair about the younger generation! Also I don't know what a terf is but just resorting to calling names is not a debate!

Well she can fuck right off.

"Horrific transphobia" FFS. Hareem doesn't know the meaning of horrific. I'm not even that old but am starting to despair of young women!

"Abuse"?? What abuse?

Does anyone think we, those who are parents, should force our schools to think about TG policy now before the first case?

Yep if she doesn't believe that listening to women is necessary to represent women then I don't think she can be qualified to be women's officer!

The people she disparages as 'terfs' are feminist women. The arguments she disparages as 'transphobia' are feminist arguments. It looks to me that both candidates are running anti-feminist campaigns. They can call it trans-centred and they can call it 'intersectional' but either way, they are openly anti feminist and they are both directing dehumanising terms at women who centre women in their own politics.

This is the thread where MN added transphobic language to their list of deletable offences:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/2123131-MNHQ-Mumsnet-and-transphobia-our-thoughts

Horrific is someone talking about chaining women to radiators as mentioned up thread. It's women being threatened with violence and rape for being "TERFS". I've never once seen any woman advocating violence towards transwomen or even name calling or anything like that. The extent of this so called transphobia is refusing to accept a transwoman as the same as a born female. Pretty minor really but of course women must not be allowed a voice.

I fully believe that all these trans allys will wake up eventually. It's impossible not to see the inconsistencies and misogyny at the heart of the trans activist movement. Hopefully the backlash occurs before women's spaces and sports have been completely claimed as their own.

Hareem seems fairly steeped in trans ideology, given that on her Twitter profile she explicitly states that she's known as "[she/ her]"

I have no issue with using whatever pronouns someone prefers but is that something we're all supposed to declare now?

Also, "pls gtfo of my life" and suchlike is not what I expect to see from anyone running for any elected office. Likewise the conflation of trans people with 'minority women.' Ugh. Wish there was a candidate actually standing for women.

She has no idea. She can forget any fair treatment when the NUS officer is concerned with trans issues.

Posie - there is already a whole lot of trans propaganda out there disguised as 'guidelines' for schools. I really recommend you download some of these documents and go through them, it is shocking. Cornwall Council and Brighton and Hove are two that I can remember offhand, sorry on my phone so can't link.

Thank you 3point :)

Did a Google to understand the term terf, and came upon this article with a gem of a paragraph that I wish we could put to Anna Lee...

So you see, my trans sisters, when you assert your womanhood, what feminists really want to know is if you’re here to maintain the status quo or to change it. Because the status quo isn’t working too well for most of us. It’s hurting us. Women are still treated like shit. And unlike liberal feminists, we’re not interested in spraying the shit with perfume and calling it a flower bed. We’ve come with shovels and we want the shit gone. Will you shovel along with us? Will you march with us for reproductive freedom? Will you lobby for universal pre-k and paid parental leave? We need those things. Will you fight with us against the idea that there is such a thing as a “lady brain” and that it’s “naturally” pink and fluffy and emotional and drawn to makeup and restrictive — but sexy — clothing? Will you fight with us against women’s sexual objectification? Will you take a stand against sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women and girls? Or will your transition serve to reinforce those injustices? Do you come to womanhood offering support or just to make demands?

Well I suppose they are in a minority of women.

The minority of women who are actually men.

Are these two (Hareem and Anna) really the only candidates, nationally, for NUS Women's officer? It seems amazing to me to only have 2 candidates across the whole of the UK.

I am so shocked by Hareem's FB post that MrsJamin linked to. It's made me feel sick actually.
So it doesn't really matter who wins because they both seem to think the same way.

So disingenuous that Hareem conflates having reservations about the possibility of a transwoman bring elected as women's officer, and discrimination against minority women. She must know the difference between men and women, surely?

So Hareem has simply refused to engage with any questions about the trans thing. Hasn't refuted the questions, just refused to answer them. And then blocked the people who raised the subject, ranting, calling them names, accusing them of abuse and swearing at them.

This is textbook bigotry. The absolute refusal to give any pretence at even thinking about any of the points raised before shutting down any discussion of the subject is shocking.