I said this on last week's news night thread and I'll say it again here.
I am grateful to Debbie for putting herself out there. It must be at some considerable personal cost. However...
Whilst Debbie Hayton's writing on self ID leaves you in no doubt as to where she stands on the topic (i.e., with us), her radio (last week's Woman's Hour) and tv (Newsnight) appearance would leave the uninitiated very unclear as to where she stands on it all.
She says what we all agree with, she talks about women's safety and boundaries, but she's not particularly forceful about it, and she is rather waffly. Those unfamiliar with her stance or the debate in general could possibly believe the she is in fact on the side of "trans' and whatever they want, including self ID, because why wouldn't she be? She is an obvious trans woman, plus slight, older, conservatively dressed, softly spoken and reasonable sounding. She epitomises the old school idea of a transsexual, the gentle, thoughtful person who wouldn't harm a fly and just wants to live a peaceful life in their chosen gender; she is concerned about the safety of natal women whilst at the same she's a walking talking example of "no threat to anyone, nothing to worry about here, move along". Those who don't know who we are really fearful of here - the Karen Whites et al - will be wondering why women are being so mean.
I think she's an amazing person, but I do wonder whether she is giving out such mixed messages (not deliberately, just in her being and because she's so mild mannered, and academic), that she may be doing more harm than good. I feel horrible typing this, but that's how I feel every time I see /hear her media bits (I haven't seen today's Sky interview, just to be clear). Her side needs a clearer media voice - a Miranda Yardley or a Rose of Dawn.
I complained to the BBC last week after the Sophie Cook Newsnight interview that women were being excluded from speaking about their own issues. The BBC obviously does not see any conflict. Sky has been more gender critical. Maybe what they were trying to show is that not everyone under the trans umbrella agrees with this - and it is actually men like Debbie who have done the most to be "like a woman" who are critical of self ID, so we should not take the word of the clearly still male be-penised activists who dismiss women's concerns out of hand and tell us that this is all going to be fine.