6th Apr 2019 - The Scotsman - Joan McAlpine defies ‘bullies’ in sex and gender dispute

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I already posted this on the Joan McAlpine thread, but it is such an excellent and broad ranging piece I decided it deserved a thread of its own

www.scotsman.com/news/politics/joan-mcalpine-defies-bullies-in-sex-and-gender-dispute-1-4903317

“Clearly people are being bullied,” said McAlpine. “They try to shut you up by labelling you and othering you, by using extremist language.

This isn’t just about trans people’s rights, they have the same human rights as everyone else and extra protections in the Equality Act and hate legislation, and that’s quite right. This is about women’s rights and how the changes being pushed for impact women

She says she felt compelled to speak out after discovering that the National Records of Scotland had been asked by trans campaigners to change the sex question [in the census] , and had agreed to do so with no consultation.

If lawmakers feel constrained about asking questions or raising points they think matter, on any topic, it greatly increases the risk of making bad law.”

McAlpine believes there has been “policy capture” by equality organisations – which receive hundreds of thousands in funding from the Scottish Government

What’s interesting is that those who didn’t agree with our conclusions, the groups who have the money and who were initially the only ones consulted, were extremely angry that their privileged position was challenged. They have come back and said we should not have taken evidence from some of the women’s groups and gender critical feminists who we did take evidence from. That strikes me as extraordinarily undemocratic.”

This a great article. Very clear no word salad

What a great article. I wish there were more like her speaking out and articulating the issues so well.

An excellent article. You could apply the same analysis to every situation where women's safe sex segregated spaces have been invaded by men. Changing rooms / showers in swimming pools and gyms, prisons, hospital wards, toilets, swimming pools, refuges, rape crisis centres, even same sex relationships. Only men get a say. Only trans groups were consulted, spoken to, invited to comment. As soon as women speak up, we are bullied, harassed and accused of bigotry.
And still, this is not recognised.

"You could apply the same analysis to every situation where women's safe sex segregated spaces have been invaded by men. Changing rooms / showers in swimming pools and gyms, prisons, hospital wards, toilets, swimming pools, refuges, rape crisis centres, even same sex relationships."

And if the Equality Act was being applied fully there would be no violation by any men of any girls' and women's boundaries, since that law provides exactly that protection for females in all relevant circumstances.

The question that needs to be raised here is why are all these organisations / public institutions ignoring the Equality Act 2010 and choosing to fail to protect the female sex in accordance with UK law? Why are they choosing to violate the boundaries of females?

Joan McAlpine is fantastic. I wish there were more MPs like her

Great article. Centering women and our interests and needs, not treating us as if we don't exist. Joan McAlpine is terrific (and brave).

Extremely angry that their privileged position was challenged. They have come back and said we should not have taken evidence from some of the women's groups and gender critical feminists

Yes, that's the long and short of it.

The banned poster knocking about here last week demonstrated: an expectation of unquestioned privilege to behave as wanted without consequences, yet immediately demanding HQ act if anyone challenged them or responded to their behaviour, calling it 'harassment'. This is about unquestioned privilege and enforced ignoring and silencing of women or tantrums.

As a country, we have to get a whole lot better at standing up to trantrums.

Thank you again Joan. I think "Policy Capture" is a great phrase. Some women's organisations, who (I believe) would be well intentioned re: including transsexuals protected under Gender Reassignment, 10 years ago, seem to have now painted themselves into a corner. Of course they have been influenced, by some groups (who are self interested), as they now seem to be at risk of throwing the baby (women's rights under EA2010) out with the bathwater.
So we are getting mair mince online re: how feminists (i.e. women) are being influenced by Far Right groups- as if we are not intelligent women (many with experience of juggling childbirth/families as well as Education/jobs) who have independent thoughts and agency.
There is even the derisory suggestion feminists are being funded by them-wonder where my/your cheque is. So what if the HF (who I'd never heard of before) was the free venue for meetings & panels by Feminists/Women Activists.Many self supporting groups have used Churches/Chapels to meet up without being affiliated to any religions.
This is the same propaganda used about suffragette/suffragists to try and discredit women who challenged men's rights. Men have never had to live by these rules about who you are and are not allowed to talk to. Suggesting women do is very controlling and, if using violence & harassment to intimidate, is very like Coercive Control: which women are protected against in legislation-the new Domestic Abuse Bill in Scotland.

OrwellianMinceanddumplings

Criticism of the political leanings of media would have some credibility if there were demands that left leaning media covered this debate also.

Anti-women activists are not making this demand and one has to wonder why this is the case?

JackyHolyoake there is no credibility to it, as you say. But that doesn't seem to stop some e.g. Unions & University Student articles (some posted in here) spreading propaganda mentioned.
This article simply states facts: www.christian.org.uk/news/msp-abused-for-opposing-non-binary-census-option/
It's not a paper I read but I don't need to have a Christian faith to agree with this article. Likewise, articles by the Scottish journalist Madeleine Kearns' are excellent but I don't subscribe to/read anything else in the paper she is working for (NR). She is also getting abuse from misogynists for speaking out-add @to her name (no spaces/lower case) & see a horrific example she posted on Twitter (5th April).

Women took centuries to get into university, get a democratic vote, to keep working after marriage, to keep working after having children, to get rape in marriage outlawed, to get abortion rights, to get equality in gender pay - oh wait - that bit hasn't happened.

This is in the EU/UK (not Northern Ireland on abortion rights).

Other countries do things differently.

Transwomen stroll up and get all the equality laws they want within a decade.

Can anyone see the inequality in this?

placemats I saw a piece, today, about a Fife project-think funded to encourage women re: voting so won't post link as good for disabled/BAME women. But it also specifically mentioned transwomen-even though anyone born male -who met same criteria as other males 90/100 years ago- could vote. I saw the slideshow (online) about one of their events-it was about the history of suffragettes-a campaign about WOMEN who, as a CLASS or probably more accurately CASTE, were not allowed to vote because of their sex. How on earth has this been turned around to include anyone born/socialised male, as if they are in a marginalised group.
The propaganda used against suffragettes(in the slides) could quite easily have had suffragette scored out & feminist or terf written in place of it. Same shite different decade.

Agree wholeheartedly Orwellian

Great post. Enraging though but given the historical denigration of women in society, I'm not giving up.

How on earth has this been turned around to include anyone born/socialised male, as if they are in a marginalised group.

How indeed.