Green MSP forced to apologise for attending women's rights event

[Onatreebyariver]

twitter.com/andywightman/status/1137017582425391105

Any support you could show him on twitter that he attended this event would be great. He even apologised for misgendering the bearded human with a penis who attacked a woman.

Doesn't condemn the piece of shit's actions. But apologises for using the person's biological pronoun instead of adopted one.

I wonder how many events he's apologised for attending before? facepalm

This is really funny.

I detest Andy Wightman. He is obsessed by the class war and land ownership. I don't know why he joined the Green Party- I don't think I've ever heard him actually speak on green issues.

The only sensible thing he has ever said is recently he has been campaigning for a limit on the number of air b'n'bs and that they should be a specific planning class in their own right.

Although it is very probably the first time Wightman has ever apologised.

'International best practice'?

Around the world, theocracies, dictatorships, single-party states are all examples of international best practice in state-sponsored thought-control.

Is that the Green Party vision of Britain's future?

Theories about why he caved on the thread. He seems to be involved in a costly defamation law suit

He seems to be involved in a costly defamation law suit

He needs to be hoping hard then that the panel he's libelled and GC women in general continue to be far more tolerant in this respect than his 'friends'.

Heard of the Freedom Programme Andy?

I'm minded of a quote for Primo Levi
"Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and act without question"

We really need our politicians to be brave.

Yes he's crowdfunding £120,000 for his defence costs. It's reached £60,000 with 4 days left. He's getting nothing from me.

🤔

Anybody know what the defamation suit is about?
Theories on the thread are that if he didn't apologise he might have been subject to some kind of gp process, because of their trans inclusion policy which he voted in. Or something.

I wonder if I will ever be able to respect the Green Party again

I don't wonder, I know I never will again.

Man apologies for listening to women, is bad enough. Man forced to apologise by political party for listening to women is beyond parody and beyond disgusting.

In the light of aggressive physical attack on Julie Bindel, the Scottish Greens response was not to stand up for the political right of women to organise and meet and discuss, it was not to condemn aggression and intimidation of women for meeting, thinking and speaking. Instead it was to give legitimacy to the attackers and intimidators by forcing an apology for merely listening to women.

It's blatant misogyny. It's blatantly anti-democratic. The Scottish Greens are a disgrace.

And he shouldn't have apologised. He should have stood his ground and defended his reasonable position of wanting to hear what women had to say.

Anybody know what the defamation suit is about?

It's something to do with an organisation called Scottish Wildcat Haven- which does seem to be involved in wildcat conservation.

I might be wrong but from what I can work out from Google I'm guessing Wightman might have been querying whether it was genuine in its aim and/ or querying its links to "Highland Titles" which is a company which "sells" 1 foot square souvenir plots in Scotland to people who are stupid enough to believe you can be an owner of land and call yourself a laird or a lady on that basis. Scottish Wildcat Haven appears to have got funding and possibly land from Highland Titles.

The sale of these souvenir plots gets some people very worked up. They are marketed as "owning a bit of Scotland" and that you can add the place name (e.g Jane Smith of Auchtertochter) The objectors see it as an insult to Scotland. Wightman gets very exercised over land issues, although he is usually proposing that individuals should be capped on the maximum area they can own.

However the Keeper of the Scottish Land Register refuses to register these titles so all anyone gets will be some sort of pretty bit of paper, not a proper title to land. And you can call yourself whatever you like as long as it's not fraudulent. It's all very silly and personally I can't get worked up about a fool and his/her money where it isn't harming anyone other than the person parting with the money , and presumably they are people who have the cash to spare.

I dislike Wightman a lot. I won't be sorry if he loses this.

Well now there'll be a lot more women people not sorry if he loses.

Doesn't this make the bravery of Joan McAlpine shine out by comparison?

Yes!

Andy Wightman folds immediately.

This tells me

1. I was right to be pleasantly surprised he attended.
2. The Green Party still hate women (or is it Non Men?).
3. This is going to be extremely embarrassing for both.

This was retweeted by Johann Lamont MSP
twitter.com/andywightman/status/1136690728099307521

twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1137243640835784705
twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1137232710467035136

Andy Wightman is a long standing well known politician who is generally well liked locally. His about turn is shocking in it's immediacy and the fact it appears to suppress freedom of speech utterly. All of his supporters and acquaintances who paid very little attention to wimmin's ishoos before now are suddenly wondering what is afoot. This is fresh air through an industrial sized fan

Andy Wightman is a long standing well known politician who is generally well liked locally

The "generally well liked locally" is debatable.

I don't recall him ever having spoken up about women's issues; I don't recall him having much to say about green issues. He is forceful and opinionated (nothing wrong with that) Apologising is not his style.

I saw him once sitting on a panel about the future of forestry chaired by Muriel Gray where he was looking at his phone during the audience QA. He almost self combusted with annoyance when one of the landowners he most vilifies was cited as a shining example of getting people involved in local community woodland initiatives.

Andy has a history of being a brave campaigner and an excellent researcher. Certainly not someone who just goes with whichever way the wind is blowing

I agree with this. I fundamentally disagree with Wightman's politics (except air b "n' b) but the man doesn't usually lack the courage of his convictions and is usually impervious to criticism.

He hasn't spoken about feminism, which is why I was pleasantly surprised that he attended the meeting. I wrote to him about the GRA and got the expected GP brush off response.

He is forceful and opinionated (nothing wrong with that) Apologising is not his style.

Which is why this is having such an impact!

Well it didn't take long for his cage to be rattled as he told us all to fuck off last night!

Where was that feistyquine. I'm never going to vote Green and/or indy but he might do well to remember that Unionist, former Labour voters who have moved to the Conservatives aren't the only posters on here.

I have no opinion on Andy other than that I appreciate that he came along to listen to women speak about women's rights.

Those who do have an opinion or even know him as their MSP or a fellow campaigner might be understandably dissappointed. But him being made to apologise for listening to women discussing their rights is opening so many eyes today about the totalitarian, woman-hating nature of this ideology that I can't help but welcome this development.

Same with that unfortunate headline from Pink News. Prioritising the hurt feelings of a violent male over the right of a lesbian women's rights campaigners not to be attacked for her opinions in a week where a lesbian couple was viciously beaten is such a dreadfully bad look. So much so, that they are now being called out by people who have remained silent until now.

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The Scottish Greens are also trying to push through a policy that basically denies women are oppressed because of their biological sex!