"Trans Voices" for Repeal the 8th - something smells funny here

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

MNers, I stumbled across this Twitter account a few weeks ago and I am suspicious as fuck about it, and I thought you lot (knowing a lot more about trans Twitter than I do) might be able to help me figure out wtf is going on with it.

twitter.com/transforrepeal

This is supposedly an account run by multiple trans people, advocating for a combination of trans inclusivity and Repealing the 8th Amendment. I say "supposedly" because it has never once boosted any Repeal the 8th events or news stories - it is solely concerned with denigrating the Together For Yes campaign by endlessly moaning that they use the words "women" and "girls" in their campaign material.

The account was created last month, has very few Tweets and followers, and there's no real names behind it at all - it's all anonymous. Here are some of the fucking ludicrous things tweeted so far:
"Middle Ireland stands with free, safe and legal maternity care/abortion for all its children, not just its daughters. Don’t throw your trans siblings into the ditch now for some safe “soft no’s”
"do right by the non-women and non-girls who cross that sea at the same rate as the others" (Who could possibly believe that trans men have the same unwanted pregnancy rate as women?)
"Did “pregnant people” just do really poorly in the focus groups? It’s so easy to be inclusive, this is bizarre from the normally fantastic trans-inclusive feminist community we have in Ireland"

I suppose my question is - is this a real pressure group? Are trans people really so myopic that they would see the failure of Repeal the 8th - and the lives that will cost - as a worthwhile sacrifice?

I suspect the answer here is going to be "yes, they are". BUT. Bear with me a minute here. I think this might not be a real account.

I know this sounds tinfoil-hat-y, but Aggregate IQ (the offshoot of Cambridge Analytica that was denounced in Parliament last week) is working for Save the 8th right now, and this fake-social-media culture-war bullshit is exactly their remit.

My evidence:

1. John McGuirk, head of Save the 8th and all round misogynist fuckhead, has boosted the account twice, including when it was just 2 days and 4 tweets old. ("Boosted" as in drawn attention to it, 'look at the loony lefties infighting' sort of thing.)

2. Several turns of phrase seem very suspicious, in the same way you often get trolls pretending to be feminists trying to use the language but not actually understanding what it means. Stuff like "why are we playing tone police and respectable politics?" - that just doesn't make any fucking sense in context.

3. Likewise "we demand better treatment than we and our bisexual comrades did three years ago in #MarRef, we demand that ‘the good guys’ don’t throw trans people under the bus for the sake of focus group-tested marketing slogans" - the undercurrent here of focus groups, money, and media manipulation - this is a really common trope among Irish anti-repealers, they think George Soros has given every Repealer a million euro.

4. The account can't make up its ind whether it's one person or several (but they are all totally anonymous either way).

5. I think the account has three aims - either undecided voters see it and think "Jaysis, the Repeal side is full of these nutters, I'm put off", OR it is supposed to provoke infighting and arguments among the pro-Repeal side, OR the pro-Repeal side actually listens to it and dilutes its emotive and powerful "women and girls" message to a less effective one about "pregnant people".

And Save the 8th benefit either way.

Anyway - MN trans Twitter experts, which is it? If the account ever boosted pro-Repeal events, or pro-Repeal news stories, or had any kind of real-life pro-Repeal presence, I would be inclined to say "this are real trans people who are just very stupid and selfish".

But given that they exist solely to criticise and attack Together for Yes, I'm inclined to think that they are a trollish front.

I commented on this thread at the time that it may be that there may be a push with any new legislation/ policies to push for inclusive language. With regards the results of the referendum, this would be likely to focus on 'women' and/or 'female' in recognising those who identify as trans men or non-binary.

It seems logical though that in doing so, this may also have relevance to those who identify as trans women.

There is likely going to be a need to bring changes in quickly.

It is worth remembering that earlier this year in Scotland, the legal definition of 'woman' and 'female' was changed whilst people's focus was elsewhere.

(extract from Fairplay4Women)
"Last year while we were all looking the other way and distracted by the UK government’s proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act the word woman was stolen from us. It was sneakily done by the Scottish parliament and hidden behind a smoke screen. That smoke screen was The Gender Representation on Public Boards Bill.

The Bill introduced the ‘gender representation objective’ – a target that women should make up 50% of non-executive board membership.

The purpose of this bill was admirable. It was to help women overcome the institutional sexism we suffer due to our sex. Positive action to redress the imbalances that have arisen from centuries of historical disadvantage. It was to acknowledge the reality that institutionalised inequality and sexist attitudes stop most women from reaching their full potential in public life..." continues

fairplayforwomen.com/scottish_stole_woman/

current thread re Trans Voices For Appeal:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3260503-Trans-Voices-For-Appeal-Complain-About-Together-For-Yes-Campaign

R4 news says Irish Government will have draft legislation within 6 weeks.

Apparently it was 'cis sexist' to talk about something that only affects females...