This is what happens when women try to meet to discuss and respond to a public consultation that affects them

[WillNotBeSilenced]

• Attempts to get the venue to cancel the room booking
• Protest organised
• Threats of violence posted online
• Group of (mainly males) blocking the entrance and intimidating women
• One person (appeared to be a transman, although we didn't get as far as preferred pronouns) filming the women going into the building and trying to get their names
• Attempts made to get into the room so women have to barricade themselves in

What were the women trying to do? Hold a private meeting to discuss their responses to a public consultation and to express the view that the current law should be maintained and that the safety and privacy of women and girls should be taken into account by decision-makers.

twitter.com/elletorrito/status/1051229830711250945

They think they are untouchable.

What I hear from that last clip Will posted is a man shouting at women and what I see is a man standing aggressively in the way of women.

Plus ca change.

Of course they are untouchable.
GMP tweeted
No Terfs on our Terf
So Women aren't welcome in Manchester.
Which is fucking unfortunate for those of us who live there

Does anyone have a link to the online threats?

Do you think that this group had a right to protest in a deomocratic society? Could they have done this in a less intimidating way which would have been acceptable?

It looks as though both sides were filming the other and presumably both posting images and possible names online. Should the gender critical women not do this in order to take the moral high ground when accusing the protest group of doing the same?

Trying to see all sides here.

They didn't just want to protest - They wanted to stop us from being able to meet as part of a systematic, ongoing attempt by transactivists to silence women.. They badgered the venue to try to get them to cancel the booking so we couldn't meet and when that didn't work they moved out to the "protest" and threats (I have a screenshot of one of the threats although I'm nervous about sharing it as it a) links me to another social media ID and b) I believe that if you post jpgs or documents online it sometimes has your name/details embedded in it).

Some women were deterred from attending the meeting because they didn't feel safe (by which I mean they feared being assaulted not hearing views they disagreed with). I have been to events which have been peacefully, unthreateningly protested but this was not one.

Their manner was threatening, they were repeatedly, deliberately blocking the entrance so that you had to try to move round them/get them to move to get in, which was intimidating. And this was a big group, mainly made up of men (bigger, stronger, greater tendency towards violence), we were individual women going in on our own. The power dynamic is huge. They were also part of a movement with a history of violence, threats and intimidation against women using terminology like 'terf' which is associated with rape and death threats (terfisaslur.com)

I would never film a trans person going into a trans meeting (or even turn up at one) but they had turned up filming us - It was entirely justified for the braver members of our group to film them to try to document what women face when they try to meet up. As shown, people want "proof" that it really happened or they deny it. Already they are trying to present it that they were lovely, smiley, friendly people spreading 'love' and educating us. If it weren't for the videos of them shouting "fuck off T**fs" etc how do we challenge that? They would just deny anything ever happened.

(And don't even get me onto the subject of men harassing women, some of them, including myself, lesbians while claiming that they are the f**king lesbians!!)

I think there's a difference between protesting and trying to intimidate women out of meeting (and, in most situations, it is disproportionately going to be women who are deterred from taking part in public life due to the actions of men).

Thank you for your thorough response.

Serenade whilst I can completely see your point on 'seeing both sides'.

When was the last time you saw film footage of a 'trans' meeting with demonstrators outside?

When was the last time you saw film footage of demonstrators outside a generic feminist meeting?

This is a regular group that meets (monthly? if not more regularly). To discuss feminism.

On this occasion they chose to focus their meeting on a government consultation that affects women's rights. Within the boundaries of a normal feminst discussion.

Immediately, their discussion is deemed by others as wrong, and worthy of a demonstration against them.

And suddenly these women are faced with a demonstration outside their meeting place.

Your suggestion to 'take the moral high ground' and not film their experiences would have meant no footage. So they may have reported demonstrations outside on social media, but lots of people would have said 'didn't happen'.

Unless the demonstrators themselves chose to post the footage online.

Why do women always have to be kind, good, 'take the high ground', not show what's going on?

Cross post with Will who actually had to run the guantlet. And kudo for Serenade for recognising that.

Hello - yes I think the footage of leaving does make a really important point. It sounds very frightening and I am glad it is being documented.

I think people should have the right to peacefully protest if they believe that a meeting is very wrong (I am not saying it is). It doesn’t sound like that was what was happening here. I don’t think they should be trying to get the meeting cancelled.

I don’t think that people should post guesses of names and faces online as was done on a twitter thread linked here. There is fear of violence on both sides of this issue whether that is true or not.

I think all people should be ‘kind and good’.

There is fear of violence on both sides of this issue

I don't think it's particularly helpful to frame it like that, though.

Are feminists in fear of violence? Yes - and this is because of direct threats and physical action by trans activists. Rape threats, bomb threats, punches, violent imagery, having the police called on women peacefully leafletting, being doxxed, having pictures of their children posted online with details of their schools.

Are transactivists in fear of violence? Yes.

Is the threat from feminists? No. Trans people are afraid of male violence. But their purported allies take that fear out on women. Why do you think that is?

I think all people should be ‘kind and good’.

Yeah. They're not though. And it's not feminists or lesbians who throw the punches, or threaten to. It's men.

These are aggressive males who are flexing their muscles all over women's rights. They don't care about genuine transexuals - like Fionne or Miranda - the genuine dysphoria sufferers -These activists are just as aggressive to them.

There is fear of violence on both sides of this issue whether that is true or not.

The 'violence' AWAs fear is very different to the violence GC women fear.

Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.

I'm not buying the idea that MRAs fear violence from GC women. Why would they? These are mostly male bodied people who have demonstrated high levels of aggression and a willingness to inflict violence on women on more than one occasion. Conversely, the GC women have 'taken the high ground' and done nothing more than try to use their democratic rights to free assembly and protest. They haven't threatened, intimidated or attacked the MRAs, they haven't sent bomb threats. The violence has all been coming from one direction.

Their 'violence' is anyone disagreeing with them - the answer this by calling the police, trying to get people fired, social media threats and pile ons, physical threats of violence...

Don't like to hear the word 'no'. Like a small child. Bullies never win in the end

Always remember that misgendering is 'actual violence'.

There is fear of violence on both sides of this issue whether that is true or not.

Transactivists do not fear violence from feminists. This is a hallmark of abusive behaviour called DARVO. The loudly proclaimed "fear" is a manipulative, abusive tactic.

DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim or the whistle blower into an alleged offender. This occurs, for instance, when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.

Both sides - oh like the Nazis and civil rights folks in Charlottesville? Fine people.

Trying to see all sides here.
I think all people should be ‘kind and good’.

Yes, all people should be. Unfortunately some people are hugely entitled, and willing to stomp all over women.

I have such a fucking rage when I read about things like this that I start thinking about Greenham Common, and wondering about a cavalcade of women who travel from venue to venue protecting the women who want to meet and talk. Might bring home to the general public how threatened women are by 'lesbians'.