I Can No Longer Stay Silent

[AmProperlyIn]

I'm a long time member but name changed for this, to keep anonymous.

I've been passively following the threads in the feminism boards, particularly relating to the proposed new laws regarding self identification. Been seething quietly and discussing with DH. Thinking about how this may affect my DD as she grows up.

Then I read an article in The Telegraph, about men identifying as women being allowed to be treated on women's wards, and this bit in particular

"One trust even advises staff to consult with the transgender patient if a female victim of sexual assault objects to sharing facilities with someone who may be biologically and legally male."

So, I shall be silent no longer. However, I have never felt strongly enough about something before, to actually do anything, and I really don't know how to go about making my feelings known.

What do I do next? How do I go about getting the word "out there". The friends I have already spoken to about it, have absolutely no idea that this is happening.

One trust even advises staff to consult with the transgender patient if a female victim of sexual assault objects to sharing facilities with someone who may be biologically and legally male

Why does a woman have to have been a victim of a sexual assault to not want to share facilities with a man, and why does that man get consulted on the woman's feelings?

Its almost as if the man is in charge of the female wards. Weird huh?

I think the Fair Play for Women website is a good place to start.
In their shop you can buy a pack of leaflets that spells it all out. I leave them all over the place - in the tampon section of the supermarket, in the GP waiting room with the magazines, in the library, on the bus seat.

You can also email your MP to ask them to support women only wards.

It’s so hard. I feel the same and friends I talk to are similarly confused/appaulled and sometimes just can’t see why that would suddenly happen.

I just keep reading, absorbing and building/testing information.

I check everything and R0wantrees posts brilliant links to dig into background.

Thank you. I have checked out the website and will keep reading.

I am way outside London in a smallish town and this issue has not really affected me personally but I can't stand by and watch women's rights be eroded and pervy men be allowed to gatecrash women only spaces for their gratification.

One trust even advises staff to consult with the transgender patient if a female victim of sexual assault objects to sharing facilities with someone who may be biologically and legally male

How would that "consultation* with the transgender patient go? Would HCP's be breaking patient confidentiality by informing them of the other patient's concerns and reasons for them, or just slandering them as being transphobic and unreasonable?

I've tried to speak to friends about this. Result: one lost, two distanced.

I didn't have that many to begin with.

I am working on "peak transing" my sister and friend. They both have influence in various health areas so I'm hoping it spreads!

Would HCP's be breaking patient confidentiality by informing them of the other patient's concerns and reasons for them, or just slandering them as being transphobic and unreasonable?

I suspect there would be a quiet word with the patient in question letting them know who objected to their presence so that we saggy-titted protestors could be silenced by labelling us transphobes and bigots and that we are the problem.

Ooops - "and telling us we are the problem".

How would that "consultation with the transgender patient go? Would HCP's be breaking patient confidentiality by informing them of the other patient's concerns and reasons for them, or just slandering them as being transphobic and unreasonable?*

Exactly.

'Hi wo/man, just to let you know that the woman over there objects to you being in this ward. That one, the one with the yellow flowers on her locker.'

strange looking paradise

I'm sorry to hear that

I have written to my MP about the hospital ward scandal and have asked him to cjnsuder very carefully when voting on any women’s or trans related issues, whether self Id could affect womens’ safety, security and dignity in any given situation.

Useful thread with links for anyone new to the issues:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3145470-Break-it-down-for-me

I'm still reading . The more I read, the more I realise there is a small number of "people" trying to assert themselves over women and their hard-won rights.

How have they achieved so much power? I keep following links from Mumsnet and I feel like I've fallen into a parallel universe.

Expecially reading stuff posted by a particular heterosexual autogynephile - as described by Lord Moonie (who is my newest hero). It's like listening to my 9 year old DD...............a never ending stream of unconscious twaddle.

And, how can a person who is not female(as per the dictionary definition) be a Womans' Officer? Can I tweet this person for advice on how to best cope with my murderous menopausal rages?

And, how can someone with a penis be a lesbian?? My head hurts and I've hardly got to grips with any of this. But I do know that should I see a person with a penis in a female only space I will be making a large and loud fuss about it. Although if DD is with me, I probably won't need to as she'd remark...a lot about it.

I think I'm going to have to join twitter to keep up with this, and hope my head does not explode.

Next is letters to my MP and local council I think.

Sorry about all the "and"s should have read before posting, but I am becoming incandescent and grammar is falling by the wayside.

strange I'm sorry you lost your friend over this. I've lost one too. It hurts. But I think pretending to believe the lie, and ignoring the harm that's being done, and not joining in the fight would hurt more in the long run.

AmProperlyIn you could start by have a look at the equality section of your local councils website, and see whether they list sex or gender as a protected characteristic. It should say sex but lots say gender instead. Pointing this out to them can be a way to start the conversation.

Great suggestion ^^ Also local schools.

Sorry to hear that StrangeLookingParasite. A while back I had "the chat" with a friend and was told that the right place for a male rapist who says he's a women is in a women's prison. I'm now finding that I can't view them in the same way that I did before.

My success versus estrangement ratio is about 70%.

"A while back I had "the chat" with a friend and was told that the right place for a male rapist who says he's a women is in a women's prison."

Personally I don't think there is much hope for someone who thinks (are they capable of "joined up" thinking?) like that. Perhaps they also think that the crime(s) should appear on the female and not male statistics?
A male rapist locked up in a prison with women - or as we shall now refer to them "targets" - what could possibly go wrong?
Well we know what goes wrong because it already has.