WPUK Brighton Meeting: Turning the Tide

[PlonitbatPlonit]

Tickets now available to hear Kathleen Stock, Helen Saxby, Gill Smith and Ruth Serwotka in Brighton on 16 July

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-womans-place-is-turning-the-tide-tickets-47592125328

Helen Saxby's blog notthenewsinbriefs.wordpress.com/

Article by Gill Smith www.transgendertrend.com/lesbian-detransitioner-must-question-primary-solution/

Kathleen Stock's blog medium.com/@kathleenstock

Article by Ruth Serwotka morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-do-we-need-new-womens-movement

This isn’t easy. I’m doing this because it matters. Not because I’m a psychopath. I’m being socially shamed in attempt to isolate me and silence me. Women are particularly susceptible to this conditioning. In my case it hasn’t worked. I feel no shame
Even if I’m wrong, I should have the right to say it. I don’t know of any other area where academics using pseudonyms. People are frightened for their jobs

twitter.com/manwhohasitall/status/1018933315024375809

We need analysis, discussion on law - there is ambiguity between GRA & Equality Act. We need clarification that you can change your gender but not your biology
Some people say people can become women if they take hormones. This isn’t true. Academics need to say so. We will lose our sex based rights
Marsha Johnson never claimed to start Stonewall. Storme Delarverie did.

Oh good show, MTHIA.

Kathleen stock is wonderful. I love her.

Docstockk: Law cannot change biology. The law was never intended to make pronouncements on biology. The law created a legal fiction designed to allow transwomen to be treated as a woman in certain contexts
Philosophy can help us understand difference between misgendering someone as an insult and distinguishing biological differences. If we can’t name our bodies, we can’t challenge sexism
Philosophy can help us define lesbian. We need a conceptual understanding of what a lesbian is. If the meaning is changed, we will need a new word. Same sex attraction will still exist
Many trans people are alarmed at dominant discourse for fear of backlash. Academics need to model debate so Young people aren’t stifled or shamed into silence - we need to show how to disagree

This climate of fear is allowing fascistic tendencies to develop. The harassment, the bomb threats, the aggressive protests - to try and stop women talking. Academics need to ‘woman-up’

And that is why the TRAs are hounding KS.

Because she understands them. She knows exactly what they are and what they are doing.

So they have to try silence her, otherwise other people will get to understand the TRAs and know what they are doing. And that would be catastrophic for them.

I think we have a change of speaker:

Thank you to everyone for being here to defend a woman’s right to meet, talk, organise @ruthserwotka #wpuk

A letter signed by key trade unionists, the lesbian protest at Pride - the ground is shifting

I would like an opinion on the government promoting fraud by permitting people to change their name and sex on their legal documents by deed poll.

We need to consider why we are here - the toxic climate, the misogyny, the abuse, the fact that women’s rights are sliding backwards - esp for poor women
We still don’t have equal political representation yet Labour has opened up AWS. None of the leading political parties are standing up for women
We must never forget that every week more than two women are murdered in this country. We need services that are women-only that serve the needs of women and girls

On one hand govt acknowledges violence against women BUT they are cutting women’s rights and services and the GRA threatens what we have
Recently, people pretending #GRA proposals were about a little tidy up and women were making fuss about nothing

Thanks for the updates Melamin and thanks to you and all other attendees for standing up for women's voices.

Here is evidence of lobbying by Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence, Scottish Trans Alliance, Women & Equalities and several MPs womansplaceuk.org/references-to-removal-of-single-sex-exemptions/ … #wpuk
Stonewall must be held to account for part they have played in lobbying to remove single sex exemptions

We want to protect single sex wards. We think there should be female-only prisons. We think women have right to have female health practitioners; elderly/intimate care; we want female only changing rooms and toilets in schools
Women and girls should not have to compete against someone who is male-bodied
It’s been a tough few weeks. But we have to stand up against the orthodoxy and demand our right to discuss these proposals

(@K_IngalaSmith is also worth a follow but I am sticking to a womans place in the hope there are no rude words to get me accidently banned )

Melamin
Thank you for these excellent updates.

Thanks - hope it is not too much of a jumble as I jumped tweets a bit at the start. The TRAs have been writing vaguely rude haiku . I'm not sure how that looks good for them, but it never seems to bother them.

Following and cheering to myself.
Thank you @Melamin for the updates.

Thank you for the updates melamin I follow Kathleen Stock on Twitter, she is wonderful.
Thinking of all of you at Brighton tonight, wish I was there.

I walked past what I think is the venue earlier with my daughter. Quite a bit of police presence and chanting, placards etc. Didn’t look out of control though and not getting a big reaction off the public.

With the police presence there at least they won't be chanting "burn it down" to terrorize the neighbors the way they did before.

There is so much chanting about everything these days, it's losing it's impact. I thought the Trump rally would have more impact, but it just didn't seem to.

Anyway: twitter.com/TerfBlocker/status/1018923170890469376

I'm not laughing, honest.

RC
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@BN11Ruth
3m3 minutes ago
More
So the 'trans' crowd/supporters who came into the #WPUKBrighton #WPUK DON'T have the decency to wait until the end of the meeting. Having had the space to say what they wanted, they leave without listening to women's responses. Same old, same old".

Okay so I went with an open mind.

The protesters were nice and friendly, got chatting to one who encouraged me to respond to the consultation on the GRA.

‘Trans people welcome and support consultation’ was the main message from the protesters along with peaceful cries of TWAW and TMAM.

So the meeting.

The first feminist blogger women opened up with a sarcastic jeer in inverted commas ‘trans women are women' met with cries of 'bollocks' and 'are they fuck' and it went downhill from there.

All I took from her speech was a mantra of ‘gender is a load of bollocks, tell everyone you know’

The de-transitioner was good, she recounted her own experience. Everyone’s experience is valid and I respected hers. I am not convinced that every trans person’s experience matches hers but she was very brave and I respected her.

The philosopher. Lots of jeers and laughter at her statement 'trans people have periods' (of course trans people have periods if they were born with female anatomy). Her main message was 'I'm not kind and I don't give a fuck'. Nothing new there.

The closing speaker made one good point about the EA exemptions being upheld (weirdly I was the only one who clapped that bit) the rest were just rallying transphobic cries as per the other speakers.

I resented the last speaker claiming the pride protests had done lesbians a favour, and the whole room cheering. As a lesbian it did me no favours at all.

Not surprised they needed security guards.

Stayed for a few questions but but had to leave before I was sick in my mouth. Off home now to bleach my brain.