Looks like the National Lottery and Stonewall have picked a side in the cotton ceiling debate

[pimmsnlemonade]

No surprises that it isn't lesbians' side - or women's generally:

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/new-lottery-bonanza-for-transgender-lobby-3bqjhr730

The Big Lottery Fund (BLF) will pay £494,000 to “empower trans leaders and organisations” in “facilitation, media and influencing”. The money is being handed to the advocacy group Stonewall for distribution to other activists, creating a “network of leaders” to lobby for change. Stonewall was central to the campaign for contentious changes to gender laws.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lottery-thousands-pay-for-former-trans-stripper-to-sway-public-opinion-6lw9xbwgr

Life has moved on for Page since then. Now in London, she is working for the advocacy group Stonewall on its “transgender leadership programme”, which is managing a new national lottery grant of almost £500,000. This was given to Stonewall to “empower trans leaders and organisations” with a “particular focus on leadership, media and influencing”.

Page’s activism in Canada may not assuage those feminist concerns. In 2012, amid some controversy, she ran a workshop called Overcoming the Cotton Ceiling. The “cotton ceiling” is a term used by some trans lesbian women to criticise biological lesbian women for refusing to have sex with them because they have penises.

A search of its grants database reveals that last year £5.5m was paid to projects mentioning the word “women’s”, the lowest for any full year since 2004. In the first 10 months of 2018, £3.7m was paid to women’s projects, suggesting a further drop across the full year.

[nauticant]

I'm always amused by how willy nilly looks like it's being used as deliberate irony.

[nauticant]

www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/media-statement/statement/stonewall-statement-sunday-times-article

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

she plays a vital role every day to build acceptance without exception for LGBT people

Meaning lesbians having sex with "lesbian" trans women...

[Badstyley]

Knicknack Seconded. My bed and my body are not penis inclusive. Stonewall can fuck right off with its misogynistic rapey lesbophobia.

[feministfairy]

That will be why the paper has pulled the comments section. Presumably people have been "clarifying" the nature of comments, maybe with examples and questions about safeguarding?

It will be good to see Stonewall have to justify how someone with open accusations about employing a paedophile is an appropriate person to be a charity adviser on Trans issues? Are they not aware of the massive scrutiny of the charity sector for repeatedly ignoring safeguarding issues?

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Leaving this here:

[DotAround]

There will be a charity, LGBT and Intersectional feminism backlash.

Nobody decent wants bullies foisting trans ideology on children.

Nobody decent wants a cotton ceiling rape culture.

Nobody decent wants Eugenics.

Old style feminists and lesbians will be seen as OK because they stood against a dangerous movement, the right-wing need FPFW as much as FPFW need the right-wing press.

[HawkeyeInConfusion]

But the Big Lottery isn't allowed to fund political activity. It says so in their rules.

[DotAround]

Stonewall and Mermaids may have persuaded BLF that rules are a transphobic social construct.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

But the Big Lottery isn't allowed to fund political activity. It says so in their rules.

I suspect that Stonewall does not understand that what they are doing is political lobbying.

[HomeStar]

ItsAllGoingToBeFine

augh oh my god. I hope that story gets traction. There is no way in hell this Page person should be put in a position of any power over people.

I also noticed in Page's bio they are a Santera, a priestess of
Santería. Everyone's entitled to their own spiritual beliefs so I didn't want to say anything, but IME many people who style themselves shamans or something similar, who work with plant medicines and with people while they're in vulnerable psychological states, are power-tripping creeps. (Not all shamans, naturally.) The combination of "Santera" and "cotton ceiling workshop" looked to me like a horrifying red flag parade. I bet if people really dig into this person's background, a long history of similar behavior to that described in this tweet will become apparent.

[HomeStar]

Also a particularly troubling aspect of that tweet is when you link it in with Page's writing, which is filled with jealousy of FTM trans people and resentment of MTF trans people not being considered attractive in their community....
and then they're facilitating workshops which allow older MTFs to prey on young and vulnerable FTMs via BDSM relationships? It's like they're facilitating their own revenge fantasy.

[ChattyLion]

About that Stonewall media statement... If there are inaccuracies in the article, why would Stonewall not use their press statement to set out clearly what they are?

[EverardDigby]

As someone pointed out on Twitter, it is perhaps interesting that both Stonewall and Mermaids were applying for "small" grants, just below the threshold that would trigger additional scrutiny...

This is not necessarily sinister, it just fits with the upper limits that programmes such as Reaching Communities, which is their general fund, are advertised at.

[arranbubonicplague]

Gilligan's Twitter thread has some predictable comments but also useful mentions of Morgan Page's involvement of the cotton ceiling workshops:

twitter.com/mragilligan/status/1076655725508771840

[silentcrow]

Just to pick up on a comment from page 1 (sorry):

I'd like to know if all these fetishists educational representatives/stonewall champions who go into schools have even been DBS checked for starters.

As I understand it (booking speakers for school is part of my remit), a DBS clearance is not required for any person coming in to deliver training or as a speaker because they are never left alone with minors. They must be accompanied at all times by a member of staff, even to eg go to the staff room at lunch or to the loo.

You could see this as a loophole; I can see it from another perspective in that the speaker is never left in sole charge and therefore responsible for safety and behaviour - no visitor should ever be left in that position (imagine if a fire alarm went off and you'd never been to that school before). It apparently went on a lot with teachers just sodding off to do their marking, but the absence of a DBS check for that visitor means there must be someone from the school always there. It should also mean that a speaker can't be left alone and able to say anything they like without challenge. How well that works in practice...who can say.

[hackmum]

I see on Gilligan’s a Twitter thread that there is no attempt to engage with the argument, just the usual manipulative shit about trans children committing suicide as a result of his article. They really are pathetic.

[DotAround]

No mention at the BBC, ITN, Ch4 or the Guardian?

None of the MPs whispering into ears saying anything?

[AngryAttackKittens]

Dear god, the comments on Gilligan's twitter thread. I'm used to seeing unhinged TRAs say those things to dissenting women, but it's still a bit of a shock to see them doing it in plain sight and aiming it at a senior male journalist.

He's doing the right thing in not responding, and I hope he keeps it that way. And that the general public gets to see the malevolent, manipulative rage that's unleashed when TRAs are challenged.

(I also hope Gilligan knew this was coming and was mentally prepared for it.)

[happydappy2]

Can anyone explain why The Times have deleted & closed the comments on this article? I can understand the mods deleting offensive comments but why are the whole lot pulled? thanks

[CaptainKirksSpookyghost]

This is it, the masks have come off, 'Poor me' isn't working and they've got nothing else.

[Theswaggyotter]

I’m also wondering about comments which I can’t see- were they in support of the article? I’ve seen a fb comment on Women’s lives matter about this article - detailing what Aimee challenor has been getting up to which I expect will be swiftly deleted

[HawkeyeInConfusion]

One tiny personal silver lining for me - although I don't buy lottery tickets regularly, I occasionally get tempted by an odd ticket. That temptation is now truly gone. No matter how big the jackpot I can now walk past without any hesitation.

[happydappy2]

Comments were all very supportive of the article, pointing out that Stonewall has lost its way.

[Iused2BanOptimist]

SilentCrow re my DBS remarks. It's not so much that I fear the possibility of inappropriate contact with children during the school visit, though I absolutely believe that some nearly all of the discussion material is likely to be inappropriate. But a DBS does at least act as a very basic haven't been caught yet method of screening out persons unsuitable for the role of schools champion.
If schools are not able to scrutinise the "teaching" material that is going to be used (maybe they are? Or maybe just those doing due diligence do so?) then they pretty much have free rein to ramble on about whatever rubbish they like during the presentation and it's not easy to police once they have warmed to the theme as the tape of the Mermaids teaching session shows.