Michael Nugent, Atheist Ireland

[AlwaysComingHome]

So far the Atheist/skeptic community has either gone full TWAW (eg FreeThoughtBlogs) or, more commonly, shamefully avoided the subject entirely (Ophelia Benson is a notable exception).

Now Mick Nugent of Atheist Ireland (and friend of Graham Linehan) has dipped his toe in the water with a fairly balanced article.

www.michaelnugent.com/2019/09/02/sex-and-gender/

I guess when you’ve stood up to the IRA TRA’s aren’t quite so scary.

When did he stand up to the IRA, and what about? Read his Wikipedia page (well, skimmed it) but see only a war of words with Sinn Féin.

My only disagreement with the article is the idea that predatory males and transwomen are mutually exclusive categories, rather than (if we are being generous and ignoring prison statistics) distributed in the same proportions as predatory males within the entire male populace.

Since 1 in 5 women has been sexually abused at some point in their life, usually by a man, this is not a negligible proportion.

link

When did he stand up to the IRA, and what about?

The wiki article mentions picketing Sinn Fein and UDA offices after bombings. That's a pretty ballsy thing to do.

I think the article is very good. Put in a way which is logical and will appeal to undecideds.

He says himself he is new to this so as a starter piece it's not bad. I did have a few ? moments when I read it, or instance not sure why he feels public toilets are not in the same 'vulnerability' category as dormitories etc.

Comments will be interesting.

The wiki article mentions picketing Sinn Fein and UDA offices after bombings. That's a pretty ballsy thing to do.

It's interesting, the focus on his bravery in picketing Sinn Féin (a political party), but no mention of the UDA (a paramilitary and terrorist organisation). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Defence_Association

I would never vote Sinn Féin, but it wouldn't cost me a thought for my safety to picket their offices either here in the Republic or in the North. I can't say the same for picketing the UDA offices.

Transgender people are as loving, caring, and law-abiding as any other random person. But some predatory biological men could take advantage of lenient gender-based regulations. So there should be safeguards that do not allow people with biologically male bodies to use these facilities, simply on the basis that they self-identify as a woman with regard to gender. For clarity, this problem is not caused by transgender women. It is caused by some predatory biological men.

This bit does assume there is no overlap between the group known as transgender women and the group known as predatory biological males. I think one of the things we've learnt, unfortunately, is that the overlap is much bigger than your average benign, progressive liberal would like to imagine.

...and seems to be greater than one would expect, statistically.

I guess when you’ve stood up to the IRA TRA’s aren’t quite so scary.

Did he fuck. He'd have shite himself had he stood against the ira. It's easy to "campaign" from the relative safety of Dublin. Had he stood up to the ira he'd have been on the streets in Northern Ireland defending us all from terrorism on ALL sides.

Plus he stood up for the security forces and their links to loyalist terrorists so he can twat off

Did he fuck. He'd have shite himself had he stood against the ira. It's easy to "campaign" from the relative safety of Dublin. Had he stood up to the ira he'd have been on the streets in Northern Ireland defending us all from terrorism on ALL sides.

Obviously not getting fucking kneecapped then shot in the head in fucking Belfast just like you did means he’s a coward.

Obviously not getting fucking kneecapped then shot in the head in fucking Belfast just like you did means he’s a coward.

I was neither kneecapped nor shot in the head 🙄

Nor did I say he was a coward. I pointed out that you were wrong to say he'd stood up to the ira

Good article. Like others I raised my eyebrows at his comments on public toilets, ignoring the fact that being transgender does not mean you cannot be predatory. And I also wish that in the sporting area it was consistently highlighted that EVEN when there is a requirement that testosterone levels be reduced in order to compete against women those levels still remain significantly higher than a woman's testosterone will ever be.

It'll be interesting to see what discussion ensues. Hopefully it won't be about what qualifies as bravery in the face of the IRA; or the rights and wrongs of Linehan and his commentary/engagement with TRAs.