Hugo Rifkind in the Times "Even thinking about trans people is wrong"

[Igneococcus]

Haven't read it yet because I need to go out but here it is:
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/even-thinking-about-trans-people-is-wrong-xn2jdw9gw?shareToken=c954514bf7b48618a205cf71b7f57d92

Thanks for the share! Thanks Hugo Rifkind for covering the story! It's careful, but well-done.

That's a very good piece (apart from the fact that he was sacked for a retweet, not a tweet afaik?)

Small detail. Rifkind was Stonewall's Journalist of the Year in 2012

A small but interesting detail ...

I loved this from the comments: Is it any wonder that more and more men are becoming women? After all so many advantages have been recently bestowed on women that it makes perfect sense to become one if you are not one by birth. I do worry that as this trend gathers momentum the feminists may become resentful as they see their hard won gains being lost to a monstrous regiment of men who have become women .

Here's another comment
Thanks, Hugo, good article. You might be amused or aghast or both to learn that the trans rights activists have lobbied a billboard company which had been paid to put up posters near the Labour Party conference venue this week. The posters have been removed and the company has abased itself for not spotting the 'red flags'. Brace yourself for the heinous revelation that the posters showed the words: 'Woman. Noun. Adult human female.' Even as I write the tanks are rolling towards the presses of the Oxford English Dictionary. All trace of science or logic must be removed! A century since women got the vote, and we are going backwards at warp speed.

Pleased to see this. I thought it struck a nicely reasonable tone which (combined with his being a fella) would normally result in no pushback whatsoever. I wonder if times are changing though, the twitter mob seems angrier and more afire with the light of true purpose. Well done Hugo.

He does repeat the nonsense about suicide unfortunately.

It's all preparation for the new official Rules For Speaking Correctly As A Non Trans Person, which can be summarized as "apologize early, often, and even if you have no idea if you've done anything wrong yet". Psychological pre-crime is a serious matter and one must always be on the alert lest a thought that tomorrow when the guidelines for how to speak about trans issues change again will be forbidden sneaks in. Here is a suggestion as to how to get it right. "Hello, my name is Susan I'm sorry I'm not trans and am thus very boring and oppressive Jones and I'm here to, wait did you need someone to do the dishes in the break room? I'll just do that before I start my actual job as a chartered accountant, shall I? Oh no, asking rather than just knowing what you'd want and doing it was a microaggression, wasn't it? Did my asking if you'd like me to do it for you make you feel attacked? I'll just report to the reprogramming center after work, shall I? Oh, shit, I forgot, do you have anything that needs doing at home? I'll just head to your flat right after work and have a bit of a tidy up before my daily confession, then. Wait, your name is Susan too? I'm sorry that I stole your name, I'll tell my parents how awful they were to call me that next time I speak to them."

Aside - why can I not do paragraphs all of a sudden? Is this some sort of baroque method of preventing the unruly ladies here from deploying pronouns of mass destruction?

I believe MNHQ have accidentally employed an incel in the tech team, who, more familiar with the "wall of text" mode of communications, has removed that annoying paragraph setting.

It's in site stuff.

(I'm just going to use a new post for a "carriage return" until we get paragraphs back)

Maybe the new inceltern is hoping to make it look like we're all shouting all the time. Perhaps all caps only is next!

Maybe the new inceltern is hoping to make it look like we're all shouting all the time. Perhaps all caps only is next! Damn, beat me to it! Lower case is transphobic. Enjoy your abc privilege while it lasts!

Paragraphs and new lines are a luxury reserved for app users only at the moment.

But you can insert them using dictation (if your machine supports that) or cut and paste them from elsewhere ...

...there you go, borrow mine.

I should have thought about cutting and pasting, shouldn't it? More coffee it is then!

Shouldn't I. Going to be one of those days apparently.

Here's a link to a previous thread about the same article - this thread contains a fantastic Lisa Muggeridge video link In this, Lisa Muggeridge talks about grooming tactics and basically says GG has been infiltrated by a network of predatory males, naming names, saying that firing Agnes was a typical move in such a scenario, removing anyone with the ability to see through the bullshit (I am paraphrasing here). Worth listening to. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeIcbzg3VAo

I loved the way that Hugo R focussed on one absurdity: the policing and censoring of philosophers whose job it is to think critically, dispassionately and clearly.

He didn't need to get into the the transgender debate. He didn't need to poke about in the reasons why this was happening, or how we arrived at a point. In the comments section he challenges posters that accuse him of writing things that he hadn't written.

Wouldn't it be great to see a reply justifying why philosophers must be policed and punished in this particular sphere? Why don't they speak up, these self-appointed guardians of the Faith?