Essex Library transgender upset.

[ChesterGreySideboard]

Essex County Council removes 'bigoted' transgender image www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-47064138

I agree that this isn’t an ideal picture at all, but in fairness I’m not sure what is.
My problem isn’t with people being upset about it but with this quote: Another said: "The depiction is not only awful but 'man, woman or transgender' is an extremely ignorant choice of genders."

Ffs.

It is impossible to say the word or mention it on the most neutral terms without causing offence (whether any was intended or exists). That is the way, the name that shall not be named.

Everyone can work out which box they tick without being shown some stupid image next to it. Every other single form I have filled in doesn't have a picture next to the boxes.

Well no, because you are clearly literate. These forms are for people who aren’t literate.

I notice the complainer hasn't suggested an alternative because they know there IS no picture that wouldn't offend any of them. Except maybe "a woman, but more so".

Exactly. Trans men are literally not in the picture are they.

Accessible literature doesn’t require pictures of everything.

In needs clear type and simple unambiguous language.

In this case they have tied themselves in a knot trying to be politically correct and have chosen a picture that could cause offence.

Male / female/other would have done the job.

As said upthread I’m GC, but I can live with a third option being offered on a consultation about library closures.

*That was my authoritarian autocorrect speaking: it should have read: transmen.

Well no, because you are clearly literate. These forms are for people who aren’t literate

People who have low literacy are not totally incapable of reading a single word. You just need very clear language. If they need pictures for this question, how the hell can they ask questions about library closures? How is that meant to be represented in pictures.

If woman was a picture of a half-naked bikini-clad woman, we would be offended, so I don't think it requires lots of mental gymnastics to work out why this was offensive to trans people.

"Ms O'Connell, who ran for the parliamentary seat of Maldon in 2015 and 2017 for the Liberal Democrats, said: "I'm trans myself and we all know the problems with funding cuts facing councils but they view expertise in these areas as somehow optional.

"These are the basics and they need to be right.

Zoe O'Connell is is one of Sarah Brown's partners.
www.mirror.co.uk/incoming/gallery/transgender-would-be-mp-lesbian-lover-5579940

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/20/greatest-sexual-taboo-polyamorous-transgender

Both Zoe O'Connell and Sarah Brown have key roles within Lib Dems LGBT+ group and enjoy considerable power and influence within the Liberal Democrat party.

Both O'Connell & Brown have also been involved with the very influential Stonewall trans advisory group from its formation.
Sarah Brown holds a position wihin it currently alongside other LiB Dem members Aimee Challenor & Helen Belcher (Trans Media Watch):
www.stonewall.org.uk/trans-advisory-group

examples of Zoe O'Connell's previous complaints:

Andrew Gillingham twitter comment: "Latest bullying transgender complaint (against David Davies MP over We Need to Talk meeting) has been swiftly rejected by parliamentary standards commissioner"

Link to doc embedded:
www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/not-upheld/davidtcdaviesnotupheld.pdf

(extract)
'Letter from the Commissioner to Cllr Zoë O'Connell, 23 May 2018
I wrote to you on 27 March 2018 to say that I was beginning an inquiry into your allegation of a breach of House of Commons rules by Mr David TC Davies MP. I am writing now to let you know the outcome.
I have corresponded with Mr Davies and I have consulted the Serjeant at Arms.
Having considered carefully the evidence I have obtained, I do not uphold the allegation.'

Andrew Gilligan comment, Zoe O'Connell also made "equally stupid" IPSO complaint against him:

twitter.com/mragilligan/status/1001830695466041344

to embedded IPSO judgement : [[www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=20177-17]]
thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3263172-Andrew-Gilligan-Latest-bullying-transgender-complaint-swiftly-rejected-by-parliamentary-standards-committee

Times Lucy Bannerman October 2018
'Lib Dem trans activists ‘hounded’ abuse victim'
(extract)
"Natalie Bird, 38, a mother of two who fled an abusive former partner, was accused of “dangerous transphobia” by transgender activists in the party. She had said that opening up safe spaces without proper safeguards to anyone who said that they were female could put women at risk.

She opposed segregating women’s refuges by chosen gender instead of biological sex, and said that it was not fair to make female victims of domestic violence, abuse and rape share services with people with “functioning” male anatomy.

After being allegedly bullied on social media by party activists, Ms Bird was brought before a disciplinary hearing to face a complaint in the name of Zoe O’Connell, on behalf of the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats. The correspondence says that Ms Bird had “expressed troublesome views”.

The hearing found no evidence to support the complaint of transphobia, but Ms Bird lost her position as chairwoman of the Radical Association, made up of party members, following a vote of no confidence. This cost her her role as a judge of the Ashdown Prize for Radical Thought; an ironic move, Ms Bird said, given that the prize’s aim was to reward “big, bold, radical” solutions to society’s most “daunting problems . . . no one has the courage to argue for” (continues)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lib-dem-trans-activists-hounded-abuse-victim-b6dx39tv3
thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3399104-Times-Lib-Dem-trans-activists-hounded-abuse-victim-Natalie-Bird-Article-refers-to-Zoe-OConnell-Sarah-Brown

My understanding is that the Lib Dem LGBT+ twitter account is run by four people.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3211247-The-Lib-Dem-LGBT-twitter-feed-is-annoyed-at-Mumsnet

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3207415-Just-when-you-thought-the-LibDems-couldnt-out-crazy-Labour

Accessible literature doesn’t require pictures of everything.
In needs clear type and simple unambiguous language.
In this case they have tied themselves in a knot trying to be politically correct and have chosen a picture that could cause offence.

Guidance for Easy Read documents includes many points including font choice, language decisions and the use of pictures. This is is about accessibility for people with learning disabilities as well as those with limited literacy skills.

It is long established, evidence based, good practice.

see Public Sector Guidance (2010)

'Making written information easier to understand for people with learning disabilities'
This good practice guidance is aimed at people who commission easy read information for people with learning disabilities.

Details
This guidance is primarily for public sector organisations at a local and national level, but also for other organisations who produce public information specifically for people with learning disabilities, or anyone involved in commissioning easy read materials."

www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-written-information-easier-to-understand-for-people-with-learning-disabilities-guidance-for-people-who-commission-or-produce-easy-read-information-revised-edition-2010

I assumed that person was scratching their head to show confusion or uncertainty (ie, not sure which one I am).

People just love to be offended.

You are presumably aware that Aspie is specifically referring to the selfie placed online by Liz the Glitch in response to having spent time in the same room as some gender critical women.

And, of course, my message gets deleted. It’s fine for TRAs to post violent images as ‘empowering’ but if we refer to those images ourselves we are transphobes.

Did the censors ask Liz the Glitch whether they thought it was an offensive image before deleting my message?

When you can guess the content of all the deleted posts, have you been spending too long on this board?

Don’t the pictures get to the heart of the dilemma? If trans-women are women and trans-men are men, the correct picture for a trans-woman will be a woman. Sort of highlights the oxymoron but they need to be separately recorded, doesn’t it?

Just leaving this here for anyone who might have time to complete the survey. It's open until the 20th of February.

libraries.essex.gov.uk/libraries-consultation/complete-the-survey/

Unlike the TOWIE depiction, a lot of Essex is actually quite rural with poor transport links between villages. Libraries and the Library bus service matter to a lot of people who don't have easy access to towns and cities.

I'd hate to think that the furore distracts from the campaign to keep the libraries open.

Sorry, are you saying that "man, woman, transgender" isn't an ignorant choice?

I’m more concerned about my library service being decimated than a ham fisted image in a leaflet designed for people with learning disabilities.

As someone said upthread - what would have been a better image to denote “transgender”? I’m not saying the one they used was great - it wasn’t - but it was an impossible task.

Should have been holding an Empowerment Bat instead, obviously.

There is no way to accurately portray a trans person in pictures without offending

The point of these illustrations (as one part of good practice for signage and documents) is to make it easier for people with learning disabilities to access public life.
Its about accessibility FGS.

Its worth asking why TRAs decide to make their 'successful' complaints and the consequent apologies so public.

The Library accessed images from appropriate source:

"The image was provided by a company that specialises in producing easy read versions of documents for the government and NHS England, according to the council."

rather than finding out more about the background to easy read documents or working with those with expertise in illustrations for people with learning disabilities:

"The picture was circulated on Twitter on Wednesday, with The Save Our Libraries Essex campaign describing it as "looking like institutionalised bigotry".

One Twitter user described it as a "gross misrepresentation with zero bearing on any transgender person".

Another said: "The depiction is not only awful but 'man, woman or transgender' is an extremely ignorant choice of genders."

The use of images is to make public services and life more accessible for people with learning disabilities.

Queer theory is not easily represented by Maketon, Talking Mats and its language use antithetical to good communication principles:

^"Whatever way you are trying to communicate with someone with a
learning disability, there are some simple rules you can follow for
good communication. It is important to always use accessible
language, and to avoid jargon or long words that might be hard to
understand. You should also take into account any physical
disabilities the person may have that could make communication
difficult for them"^

Mencap
www.mencap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2016-12/Communicating%20with%20people_updated%20%281%29.pdf

People can just put man and woman. If it's for people with learning difficulties. The whole concept of transgenderism is fraught even for people mired in it.

I'm sure if a trans, non binary or gender fluid person doesn't feel represented, they will perfectly understand when it's explained.

I do think it was a poor choice of pictures, in that two of them were cheerfully doing thumbs up, while the other was, scratching their wig.
It was a bit ...1970's!

However, yes, the far far greater travesty here is the council's cuts that are set to decimate the library service - in areas that are very deprived already.

I do think it was a poor choice of pictures, in that two of them were cheerfully doing thumbs up, while the other was, scratching their wig.

It will be a stock image to represent 'transgender' to people with learning disabilities. The image shows a male person taking off a stereotypically female wig.

This is what it says on the actual survey linked to above.

Q30. What is your gender?
Male
Female
Prefer not to say
Prefer to use my own term

Q31. Does your gender identity match your sex as registered at birth?
Yes
No
Prefer not to say

Wouldn't it be simpler for the easy-read version just to have Q30 with male/female/prefer not to say as the options? And Q31 "Are you transgender?" yes/no/prefer not to say.

The easy read version doesn't seem to have a prefer not to say option available, which surely should be an option.

The easy read version doesn't seem to have a prefer not to say option available, which surely should be an option.

It says the questions about yourself are optional 'You do not have to tell us if you don't want to'.

It says the questions about yourself are optional 'You do not have to tell us if you don't want to'.

I missed that. But if you can read and understand that information/instruction, would your comprehension or reading ability be so poor that you needed a picture to understand the words 'man' and 'woman'?

Also, on the standard version of the survey, it says at the top "You do not have to answer the questions below", but also gives 'prefer not to say' options (for people like me who fail to read the instructions). So I still think 'prefer not to say' should also be an option for those who need the easy read version.

Thank you to anyone who has taken time to complete the survey

I missed that. But if you can read and understand that information/instruction, would your comprehension or reading ability be so poor that you needed a picture to understand the words 'man' and 'woman'?

Forms are often filled out with a supportive person present.
So rather than just answer on behalf of someone, it might be read /shared reading and the pictures mean than the answer can be chosen etc. Some people point to symbols/pictures or sign to express their choices.