Women's Equality Party pragmatic advice please

[speakingwoman]

Does anyone know How many people are in WEP?
I'm just wondering what the power of my vote would be if I joined. Or if a few hundred feminists (re) joined.

Membership costs from £4 a month.
I'd be willing to pay that to make a difference.
Will have a proper look on Monday.
WEP were one of a couple of groups that got a beautiful statue of a local suffragette erected in my city.

There's a new branch opening near me.
Am willing to give it a go for £4 a month for a year and see if I can make a difference.

If WEP were happy to treat Heather in that way - I don't trust their sense of due process.

I'm not sure that even if Heather were to say, "Ignore the injustice, this issue is bigger than any one individual" that I could swallow the lack of procedural justice.

I realise that I have no particular home but WEP set an abysmal precedent with Heather.

I might consider it, I'm currently politically homeless.

Bump

What happened to Heather is a massive concern.

What happened with Heather was disgusting.

However, if we sit in the corner refusing to join because of our outrage we will be nothing but 'right'.

Heather got treated so badly due to the aggressive tactics of people who not only join, but colonise.

To ensure there are no more Heather's we need to be in control, not looking in with shocked outrage from the outside?

The statement WEP put out said they want to evolve the gender discussion with their members, GC voices need to be part of that discussion.

It may be that existing members don't feel they can speak up too clearly, but if we join we may change that, courage calls to courage?

That is what I feel this is about.

I may be wrong, possibly it's too late or we cannot hope to have the numbers needed? I accept I may be naive.

I feel like I need to try.

I'm a member. I went to the conference and came away quite optimistic about the prospect of them at least having a sensible and informed debate.

There is a TWAW contingent but although they are noisy, they are not a majority by any means. I suspect that some of the #nodebaters will also leave in a flounce if there is proper debate, and others will begin to see the greyer areas.

Personally I hope that they abandon the self-ID / no-self-ID trench warfare that the other parties are in and start to look at alternatives.

I'm seeing what happens. Thinking about joining.

I've just joined. I'll give it a go and see how things go.

If nothing seems to be changing I'll quit (and tell them why). But I figure it's worth giving it a go.

Given that I left - could somebody who is in or has just joined please ask if WEP altered their disciplinary procedures post-Heather to ensure due process?

I'll have a look and join for these purposes

I would be up for it if we think we can make a difference. WEP are at least SWERFS so far as I can see?

And they are not led by a teen anarchist identifying as a middle class man in his 70s so that's good....

Really happy to see this thread. Some of you might have read our live reporting from the conference. I'm a member who was distraught at the HEB incident and at some other things but I think there's a real opportunity to influence now.

WEP are at least SWERFS so far as I can see?

Yep.

I've just joined and signed up for my local branch based on the political party thread and this one. I'm on the fence here - I'll attend a few meetings and see how it goes.

It does feel good to be politically engaged again though.

Ok, I have joined.

I’ve just joined. I figure I’ll give it a go and it feels better than doing nothing.

I have just joined now. Fingers crossed, I can make a difference if we all sign up.

Anyone else?

I would join if they don't stick by 'trans woman is a woman'. Joined Standing for Women over the weekend.

Tho' it's not from Standing Up for Women, I found this an interesting thread.

via Richard Garside

If, and it is a big if, woman no longer means adult human female and now means person who identifies as a woman, apart from striking me as a fairly useless and confusing definition which obfuscates attempts to the discrimination suffered by a now nameless sex class...we can't retrospectively apply it in place of old uses. It was not people who identified as women who were denied the vote in Britain between 1832 and 1918, it was female people [continues]

twitter.com/HiccupFrog/status/1040941404233654272

Sophie Walker on the difference between sex and gender and challenge to the BBC Radio 4 reporting.

Ooh, Sophie is getting braver!

Lang
I haven't listened to the R4 segment in question but there is quite a bit of discussion about this on SM.

If the BBC were forced to recognise the difference and definitions of the terms sex and gender in this respect, it could be really significant.