Woman’s place UK conference

[Silencedwitness]

Is anyone else thinking or going?

womansplaceuk.org/conference-womens-liberation-2020/

Oh prawn I definitely saw you but didn’t know you were prawn!

I took my seat for the opening plenary, and introduced myself to the woman sitting next to me who turned out to be Maria MacLachlan which is exactly the kind of thing that makes you realise OH MY DOG EVERYONE I HAVE EVER ADMIRED FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS IS HERE.

I enjoyed all the speakers, but Maya your speech stirred up so much emotion, it was everything.

I can’t even namecheck everyone, bits of the day keep coming back to me and I’m at the stage of ‘did that really happen’!?

Can’t wait to see the videos, the transcripts, and most of all the photos, of so many women talking, laughing, and plotting!

Sorry not to meet any mumsnetters, and yes, the shoutout from Maya was great.

I'd gone with my best friend - she and I got into 2nd wave feminism together back in the early 80's and was also catching up with my my resisters group, the GC quaker group and meeting people I talk to on twitter ..... so many wonderful women, so little time.

Wow! An amazing day!
Glad I went alone as I was able to just chat to everyone I met. Had a lovely chat with Selina Todd when I arrived, met @RhymesWithOrange, got more stickers from Maya (gave them to several more MNers), and ended the evening in a hotel bar with loads of new friends including the totally awesome Beatrix Campbell. My head's still spinning!

Tempted to emigrate to Scotland based on hearing Joanna Cherry and Joan McAlpine.

Also heard about this event - conference in surrogacy, organised by Object, including Sheila Jeffries as a speaker (she alone is worth the ticket money!)
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/surrogacy-women-and-children-last-tickets-91773345547?ref=eios

Gutted I missed this thread on the day. It was an amazing conference. The hall was packed with women of all ages. Fantastic atmosphere. Brilliant, intelligent talks (Jean Hatchet's workshop was incredibly inspiring). And lots of positive shoutouts to Mumsnet. Wonderful to be around so many women refusing to be gaslighted by TRA ideology. Loved it!

More information on the "protest":

twitter.com/yatakalam/status/1223750618755620864?s=19

"So this is where all those banners against #WomensLib2020 were made: at the Women's Network of the UCL Student Union.

t.co/i0EEgdwpnI t.co/wRt9Yb6S44

The UCL Women's Officer felt pained that a Women's meeting was allowed to take place, because "feminism should always reach out to other marginalizations", and therefore feminists must not meet without the permission of males.

t.co/cDnS5mVjJx t.co/xdJMrQaLzY

"Paula", a self-described "middle aged, hard working woman" with a military background, warned the UCL Women's Officer that @WomansPlaceUK is a hostile organization against which "she" had previously demonstrated.

t.co/UGw33n0SRp "

(There's more to that thread, I've just posted the first few tweets.)

As someone who wasn't there, the banners were a highlight
So thank you, Women's Network of the UCL Student Union. You will never know how much pleasure you have given me (if not in quite the way you intended).

That photo is fantastic.

I was there! And met some very interesting women. One thing I am going to start doing as a result of what I heard yesterday is to use the phrase "gender identity ideology extremists" instead of "trans rights activists" It's a bit of a mouthful but at least it names the problem. Using the term "activist" also implies a positive and revolutionary movement when gender identity ideology is quite the opposite.

Gender ideology ideology extremist is a much more accurate term, thanks for sharing.

Fantastic day, totally overwhelming, totally inspiring. Met so many brilliant women. Highlight was Maya asking me for a selfie! 😍😍😍
Here's to many more x

Agree that Maya was fabulous. All in all, a brilliant, memorable day.

It is such a truly progressive act to protest against a women's liberation conference. So progressive.

I was moved almost to tears by Pragna Patel, speaking for Southall BLack Sisters, whose speech opened the first panel.

In all the social media stuff around TRAs/Gender identity extremism (love that!) we forget the women who really blazed the trail - her speech was extraordinary in the way it brought women's activism from all around the world into the room.

And I got to talk with Beatrix Campbell in the bar aterwards! I was embarrassedly fan-girling....

Took some pics of the wonderful banners hanging in the stairwell of the IoE. There were also 5 quilts made and raffles off - very envious of those who won them!

I'm googling the newspapers to see f there's been any coverage - can't find it. 900 women gathering in central London, and it's not newsworthy?

@Dolorabelle maybe the Morning Star will cover it tomorrow.

It certainly should be in the press. I wonder if it will turn up in columns later in the week. Sounds like a fantastic day! That picture of Liane from Get the L Out standing in front of the tiny band of genderist protestors is wonderful. The contrast between their placards and the ones pictured above is striking.

From the pictures of the protestors it looks like they were a mix of young girls and transwomen, including one @ianwongster gleefully telling older women they'll be dead soon and their faces will sag due to age. He's apparently a make up artist with Mac Cosmetics. I've reported his Twitter comments as abusive, disrespectful etc.

@WomanBornNotWorn He sounds nice.

Ian Wong
@ianwongster
Acknowledging our trans siblings don’t mean cis people lose out and hit rock bottom. There is no correlation at all. All these cis women lashing out at trans women.... like babe, trans women will always be more of a woman than you ever will be.

Just looked up their twitter feed and found this charming gem from a few months ago.

Someone mentioned that Aimee Challenor was one of the protesters yesterday, though I can't see them in the picture that Woman posted.

Was there yesterday and met few "radicalised by Mumsnet" - bloody great to be there. But surprised at media workshop I went to where woman from BBC talked gender not sex - and didn't seem to know the difference.

I didn't see AC as part of the protest - I didn't take much notice tbh but they all looked very middle class and young and were pretty well mannered when I walked past them.

Please all email/tweet/post UCL and say your thanks for hosting.

Please also email the Guardian and ask why they do not feel a conference attended by so many women to mark the 50th anniversary of the original conference is not newsworthy.

And another gem

But surprised at media workshop I went to where woman from BBC talked gender not sex - and didn't seem to know the difference.

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise, because the BBC (British Boys’ Club) is woke as fuck and she has probably been ‘educated’ to use the word gender. I imagine sex is a dirty word to the BBC. She’s a very brave woman for attending and I hope it doesn’t get back to the bullies, or they might make things difficult for the poor woman.

If you scroll down the link to the facebook page of Women’s Network Student Union UCL (the last link in Sunset Beech's post at 09.22), you will see that literally between two posts encouraging women to go along and protest against us TERFs is an advert inviting people to volunteer with the Girl Guides...