Fair Play For Women meeting MPs at House of Common on 16th October

[DoctorW]

In fact even better than that, Woman's Place UK and Transgender Trend will be going too.

I (Nicola Williams) will be one of the three women attending in order to answer MP’s questions about how proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act will affect women’s rights.

Womans Place UK and Fair Play For Women have both requested to meet with Penny Mordaunt, Minister for Women and Equalities, to represent the concerns and questions of the thousands of women who support us, but have not been granted a meeting.

So, we are taking the meeting to the House of Commons to give Penny Mordaunt, and all MPs, the opportunity to meet us, ask questions and hear our views. All they need to do is drop in and meet us. This is the opportunity for MPs to hear the voices of women concerned by these changes and to increase their knowledge about this subject in a calm, confidential environment.

Every MP has received a formal invitation for this meeting but we need YOU to make sure they come. Please email your constituency MP telling them that you support us and ask them to confirm to you that they will attend this meeting.

You can find your MPs details here www.writetothem.com/
Email them this weekend before their diaries get filled. The meeting is just 10 days from now.

Meeting: How will changes to the Gender Recognition Act affect women’s rights? Tuesday 16th October 2018 at 10:30am until 12:30pm in Room S, House of Commons

Received a response back from my MP (extreme Tory brexiteer), who has previously asked PQs about this issue stating that he will do his best to go to the meeting and that this is an issue that greatly concerns him. First time we've ever been in agreement!

My Conservative MP is in a committee that morning but is sending a researcher. I have spoken to her about this twice now, though, and she fully understands the issues and is on board. She also mentioned the names of a couple of other MPs she has been discussing this with who are similarly concerned.

When I spoke to her this week, she had literally just received an email from a TRA telling her not to go to the “anti-trans” meeting on the 16th. Let’s just say that the email seemed to have generated a peak-trans moment. #TRAowngoals

Jean Hatchet's powerful speech which includes the testimony of a women who has experienced serious and sustained abuse by men and who explains the consequences for her of being in refuge with a male:

starts at 14:00

I went to see my MP today (Labour, male). I had written twice and received a fairly standard cut and paste email saying not a lot, and I was not confident. I had tons of notes but I didn't need them. He is of the view that the GRA goes too far as it is. He can't attend the meeting but I asked him to send an assistant. He was concerned about Girl Guides, prisons, and agreed that it is not possible for a man to say he knows what it feels like to be a woman. He agrees the debate is silenced and has become toxic. He is aware of women leaving the Labour party over this and he is really disappointed in the 'party' line.

Hooray!

Loving your work Biological!

Redkeyboard and Hullabaloo I've written to CL as well and also emailed asking her to read the report. Maybe one from you will help too.

Well done biological

Still haven't heard back from my MP. Labour (I have a secret hope he may be GC, seems quite common sense store person. )

Thanks @redkeyboard. I will do. Will start a response to her tomorrow

Great work @alwayslightinside

Well after waiting nearly a week I got a response from my M.P. telling me how proud he is of the work being done to lead transgender rights, and insinuating that I am confused and have misunderstood... No acknowledgement of my request he attend the meeting...

How patronising...

Sorry Strangers, I had to rotate them...

How patronising...

It sounds like the sort of thing Maria Miller would write.

He is the Chief Whip for the Conservatives and part of his job description is to keep his ears to the ground. A good chief whip spots risks and opposition to proposed legislation and alerts the Prime Minister, after making enquiries with colleagues.

The GRA is getting distinctly whiffy and leaving a bad small around the Conservative party. If he's any good at his job then he'll be aware of the toxicity and risk to his government. Perhaps, on the quiet, he'll send someone to the drop-in session - but has to show support for government policy in a letter.

It sounds like the sort of thing Maria Miller would write

July 2017 Janice Turner interviewed Maria Miller MP, its worth reading:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/2993425-Maria-Miller-interviewed-by-Janice-Turner-full-text

Thanks upstart

thanks for the comments theOtherPamAyres! I don’t quite know what to do - is there any point sending a response? I’ve been in touch with him before and received similarly unedifying response... I’ve not been very well lately and although I’m keeping up with things re the GRA my brain is firing on one cylinder today!

Well he's misunderstood the outcome, hasnt he.
You could ask him what protection for women really exists, when they put Karen White in a womens psychiatric unit, then a women's prison with no risk assessment.

Can I just check my understanding because it seems to me that some MPs are either clueless or are taking us for fools. So if the Equality Act remains unchanged and single sex services are lawful (in certain circumstances) then how do service providers police access to those single sex services?

When up to an extra 495,000 people, mostly biological males with intact genitalia, are walking around brandishing their new birth certificates which have rewritten history to declare they were born female after a simple self-ID process, how are service providers meant to know who the biological males or females really are?

Doesn't self-ID just make those single sex provisions of the Equality Act redundant?

Strangers go and see him. I met him a few times professionally before he became and MP and he is pretty intelligent. In a meeting it is harder for people to swerve your direct questions!

That letter is standard issue - I've seen a very similar one on these boards.

Do they think we are stupid? (answer: yes).

Can I just check my understanding because it seems to me that some MPs are either clueless or are taking us for fools. So if the Equality Act remains unchanged and single sex services are lawful (in certain circumstances) then how do service providers police access to those single sex services?

This and the rest of your post is a critical point that needs to get across to MPs Charlie. You have missed nothing.

What information can I send to my labour MP who i suspect may not attend the meeting

My MP is an idiot on many counts, none more so than on this. I emailed him, and got an automated reply saying "go look at my standard responses".
There is one, called 'gender recognition' and related to the previous bill - I notice that the wording is very similar to Julian Smith's
www.heatonharris.com/sites/www.heatonharris.com/files/2017-08/Gender%20Identification%20August%202017.pdf

Blimey that is phenomenally lazy of him isn’t it!? Could you email some specific questions and then press for specific replies?