The tide is stalled - is this why?

[NotAssigned]

Women and a few male allies have made amazing progress in the last few years.

However, while all the signs of the tide turning are there, it is not retreating down the beach.

I'm trying to work out why, because this ideology (TWAW) does not make any sense and yet it pervades political parties, institutions, corporates, the NHS and more.

Here are some possible ideas why. What do others think?

• People have trans-identifying friends who are decent people and just living their life and it would be disloyal to push back against TWAW ideology.

• Language has been hijacked (assigned at birth, pronouns in news reports, etc)

• Intersex conditions have been hijacked (many people think trans=intersex)

• The 'Born in the wrong body' narrative has gained a currency and acceptance due to media reporting of the idea.

• it's section 28 etc all over again.

I know there is nothing new here
I just think if we can distill why people are prepared to go along with this we might be more able to push back.
And I've had a glass of wine.

I don't think it's stalled.

The detransitioners will become very well known and more and more young people will hear their stories.

The sports thing won't go away.

The injustice of housing females with males in prison will come to light. I hope those poor womem sue the prison service.

It's going to take a long time to realise that we can be fair and compassionate to trans people without believing they have changed sex or that biological sex isn't a real thing!

I think it'll be like someone coming round from amnesia.

This is based on nothing but my own assessment of the last 5 years from 'can't say a thing' to eventual reality that we don't need to allow the injustice of the past (or the present) to guilt us into further injustices.

I agree with those who have said that although it feels like a long time to those of us who have had the scales fall off from our eyes, in reality things are only just getting started.

Remember, the main strategy of the trans privilege lobby has been to subvert democratic processes by operating behind the scenes and in as much secrecy as possible. Hiding trans and gender identity policies among other social issues like gay marriage to escape public scrutiny. Appealing to the egos of older politicians and manipulating youth politics to make it seem like the change is 'young' and 'progressive'.

ONLY ADULTS? GOOD PRACTICES IN LEGAL GENDER RECOGNITION FOR YOUTH
A REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF LAWS AND NGO ADVOCACY IN EIGHT COUNTRIES IN EUROPE, WITH A FOCUS ON RIGHTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE
NOVEMBER 2019

GOOD PRACTICES FOR NGO ADVOCACY

In recent years, varying advocacy techniques have been employed by NGOs and politicians in their efforts to effect change in their countries with regard to legal gender recognition.
While cultural and political factors play a key role in the approach to be taken, there are certain techniques that emerge as being effective in progressing trans rights in the ‘good practice’ countries.

1. Target youth politicians
Activists found it particularly helpful to get youth wings political parties on side, as main wings of political parties are often keen to listen and take the views of their younger counterparts seriously. In some cases, activists found it useful to make the point that youth politicians are the senior politicians of the future and that any changes that they are in favour of will inevitably be the policies of the future and are more likely to be on “the right side of history”.

Some campaigns found that allowing youth politicians to advocate for legal gender recognition to be extended to minors was compelling, perhaps because they are well placed to empathise with the situation of their peers.

2. De-medicalise the campaign
Many of the activists we interviewed mentioned de-medicalisation of gender recognition laws being important in their campaigns. De-medicalisation involves separating the legal gender recognition process from the public association with medical treatment or diagnoses. It was observed that the public often finds it difficult to separate these two concepts and this can result in apprehension about expanding access to legal gender recognition processes. Indeed, in certain countries, medical and legal processes are still interlinked.

Therefore, campaigns which seek to reform legal gender recognition laws have the task of separating these concepts through educational campaigns, so that legal gender recognition can be seen in the eyes of the public as distinct from gender confirmation treatments. This also means minors may be more likely to be able to access the processes, as one of the reasons often cited by opponents and critics in such countries for denying such access to minors is that young people should not have irreversible surgeries until they are of the age of maturity. Activists have sought to educate the public that legal gender recognition is a purely civil process.

3. Use case studies of real people
Telling real stories of people who have gone through the legal gender recognition process humanises and personalises the campaign, better enabling politicians and the general public to relate, increasing empathy and understanding. This technique has been used in several countries to great effect, most notably in Malta.

This campaign technique is not always possible due to the cultural environment in the specific country. For example, in the UK, the debate surrounding reform of legal gender recognition laws has been politically charged and trans people have suffered more hate crime than in previous years. Therefore, the employment of such techniques should proceed with caution and organizations should take all necessary measures to protect the individuals involved.

4. Anonymise the narratives
Most notably in Malta, TV programmes and/or other fictional narratives based upon real stories which are acted out have made an impact on swaying public perceptions. These can be helpful where a person does not feel safe to be put on a platform (online or otherwise) for fear of abuse.

5. Get ahead of the government agenda and the media story
In many of the NGO advocacy campaigns that we studied, there were clear benefits where NGOs managed to get ahead of the government and publish progressive legislative proposal before the government had time to develop their own. NGOs need to intervene early in the legislative process and ideally before it has even started. This will give them far greater ability to shape the government agenda and the ultimate proposal than if they intervene after the government has already started to develop its own proposal.

Where NGOs fail to intervene early, the ultimate gender recognition legislation may be far less progressive than activists would like.

This lesson applies equally to the media. There is a real risk that where advocates fail to intervene early, sensitizing the media and the public to trans rights in general and legal gender recognition in particular, persistent negative and pernicious narratives about the trans rights agenda may take hold in the public imagination which will negatively influence the legislative process and the prospects for success.

6. Use human rights as a campaign point
Based on our research, human rights arguments have been instrumental to the success of several campaigns for more progressive gender recognition laws.

In Norway, human rights arguments were a cornerstone of activists’ campaigns. Prior to the most recent legal reforms, those seeking to legally change gender in practice had to undergo sterilisation (although this requirement did not appear in formal legislation). The result was that Norwegian campaigners had a compelling argument that the human rights of trans people were being breached and this was a key factor in the success of their campaign.

Belgium had a similar situation, with their laws being publicly condemned by the UN in 2014 for violating human rights by requiring sterilisation before gender could be reassigned. This prompted a campaign to legislate to prevent these violations, and now Belgium has one of the more progressive pieces of legal gender recognition legislation in the world.

Irish activists also used human rights arguments in their political campaign, factoring in human rights principles in their video campaigns.

It is unclear exactly why this approach has been successful. It could be that the political stigma of a human rights violation, and the resultant international scrutiny is a factor at play. Another possibility is that the approach humanises trans people and makes their situation more relatable.

7. Tie your campaign to more popular reform
In Ireland, Denmark and Norway, changes to the law on legal gender recognition were put through at the same time as other more popular reforms such as marriage equality legislation. This provided a veil of protection, particularly in Ireland, where marriage equality was strongly supported, but gender identity remained a more difficult issue to win public support for.

8. Avoid excessive press coverage and exposure
Another technique which has been used to great effect is the limitation of press coverage and exposure. In certain countries, like the UK, information on legal gender recognition reforms has been misinterpreted in the mainstream media, and opposition has arisen as a result. The effects of this can be dangerous: two out
of five transgender people experience hate crime each year in the UK, with young people the least likely to report incidents to the police.37 One in four trans people (26 per cent) directly experience transphobic abuse online each month.38 The UK Home Office have reported that hate crime in general has risen by 48 per cent between 2014 and 2017, with the number of recorded hate crimes and incidents based on sexual orientation rising by 70 percent over the same period.39

Against this background, many believe that public campaigning has been detrimental to progress, as much of the general public is not well informed about trans issues, and therefore misinterpretation can arise.

In Ireland, activists have directly lobbied individual politicians and tried to keep press coverage to a minimum in order to avoid this issue. Similarly, in Norway, campaigners developed strong ties with youth politicians, who then presented to the senior members of their parties on the changes that were needed.
This technique was effective at persuading more senior politicians, as the changes were being suggested from within their own party rather than an external organisation. We also saw this technique in Denmark.

9. Carpe diem
It is really important for NGO activists to seize the moment when promoting legal gender recognition.

Activists need to quickly capitalise on political momentum. Such momentum may, for example, arise from:
changing dynamics in the domestic political constellation following elections; public backlash against anti-LGBTI sentiment among certain political parties; international condemnation of a state by the international community with respect to its record on trans rights; or strategic litigation related to trans rights either domestically or at a regional human rights court or international human rights body.

These political moments can be brief, but present a window of opportunity which NGOs that we interviewed have used very effectively to lobby for improved legal gender recognition processes.

10. Work together
It is crucial for NGO activists to work collaboratively; with domestic LGBTI organisations, with international and regional trans rights organisations; and with human rights experts in academia.
In the campaigns we studied, such collaboration has a number of positive effects: it ensures that those organisations and individuals with the most relevant expertise (e.g. in relation to trans youth) are brought into the campaign at the right moment to make sure key perspectives and nuance are not omitted; it ensures that the highest human rights standards emerging from comparative experience are drawn upon; it ensures that NGOs that may be weaker on one aspect (e.g. lobbying) but stronger on another (e.g. grass roots campaigning with trans youth) are supported by organisations with complementary skills; and it ultimately gives greater legitimacy to a national campaign and maximizes the prospects of success.

11. Be wary of compromise
A final lesson from the campaigns we studied, is that activists should be wary of compromise; compromise can be a double-edged sword. For example, in Ireland, compromise on legal gender recognition for young trans persons was critical to getting the legislation passed, but it might take years to revise the legislation to render it more favourable to trans youth.

Remember, the main strategy of the trans privilege lobby has been to subvert democratic processes by operating behind the scenes and in as much secrecy as possible. Hiding trans and gender identity policies among other social issues like gay marriage to escape public scrutiny

I think that is absolutely key. Most people have absolutely no idea how many institutions have been colonised by this lobby. The tactics of secrecy are a recognition that this agenda has zero public support. The other tactic used is to immediately start shrieking about 'hate speech' whenever anyone dares suggest that housing natal males with female prisoners is an idiotic idea or that giving children puberty blockers is ethically questionable. This lobby is an existential threat to freedom of speech and democracy. Most people don't know about its rapacious advance. But hopefully the more cases like Harry Miller and Keira Bell are reported, the more resistance to this authoritarian, dictatorial agenda.

TRAs constantly use mistruths and downright lies, that's one big factor.

The general public assume that trans people are people who have major genital surgery - most will use phrases such as 'if they've gone all the way' (meaning they got their cock chopped off) which as we know, is a load of bollocks and most transwomen still have theirs.

The partner to that one is sexism - men (and women) are quite happy to push men-who-aren't-male-enough into the category of women, because they see women as non-men in the first place. People do believe in some sort of male/female brain theory - men are from mars and women from venus as they say.

But whilst we quietly, and not-so-quietly, talk about this both here and IRL, I'm not sure it's our words that will bring the change. As TRAs keep talking, and shouting, and abusing, and intimidating, and harassing, and letting off smoke bombs, and beating women up, the general public will only take so much.

And that's before the idea of transwomen in women's sport gets noticed. People won't take that. Well, some won't. Sexism isn't going away any time soon, I'm afraid.

And it's terrible that cases like Keira Bell and Harry Miller are the price that is required to bring this to public scrutiny. I am still baffled at how this has advanced so far, so fast, but utterly spineless, craven politicos are at the epicenter of this.

I absolutely blame the politicians for this. They are collectively shit.

I absolutely blame the politicians for this. They are collectively shit

Absolutely agree. A craven cabal of pandering mediocrities.

I wonder if it's partly the lack of photographic evidence circulating in the mainstream media. If you have seen a pic of RMck amongst other female cyclists, or the surprisingly tall TW rugby team member, or Yaniv, Karen White, it's much harder to see them as vulnerable little flowers who need protecting. People will have a vague idea of what TWs look like, will assume they have had the surgery, and that persuades them that we are a load of angry old wimmin who are doubtless uglier and less feminine.

Yeah led by stonewall and similar organisations

It makes it very easy for councils and businesses , police to look like they take diversity seriously if they get awards and training from organisations like stonewall. They get huge funding from government

It means that councils police and businesses just follow like sheep with the policies and don’t actually have to put any independent thought into what any of this stuff means

I also think they are afraid of being labelled transphobic.

And believe everything these lobby groups say

Most people have absolutely no idea how many institutions have been colonised by this lobby.

This. I don't think progress has stalled at all. Some sunlight has been shone and public awareness is growing. A couple of years ago, most of the public thought penis removal was the norm and scoffed at the idea of penis owners in women's prisons and sports or that politicians were in favour of such nonsense. Or that puberty blockers were a pause, not locking in a pathway for children too young to consent. Now they know better.

But people still aren't aware of the extent to which all of our institutions have been captured by this lobby. That's the next phase - and it's underway with cases like Fair Cop and others.

We will get there.

It means that councils police and businesses just follow like sheep with the policies and don’t actually have to put any independent thought into what any of this stuff means. I also think they are afraid of being labelled transphobic. And believe everything these lobby groups say

I think those are all important parts of the lobby's advance. Douglas Murray was withering about Starbucks and gave a similar explanation; it's a cheap way to gain woke points by people too blinkered or deluded or lazy to grasp the serious, damaging implications.

I hope Hubbard wins gold at the Olympics

I think the tide is turning, actually. However, I am worried it could turn back if we are complacent.

I think part of the problem is that people do not know or understand what is happening and that is partly because of language.

I also blame Coronation Street - if your only knowledge of transgender people is Hayley, then you won’t understand the issues relating to trans without surgery, AGP, predators abusing self ID etc.

I wonder if the Olympics will be a tipping point. If it actually goes ahead, that is. I sort of hope it will, to bring all this nonsense right out into the sunlight, but in the other hand I don't want the poor athletes who have trained and trained for their dreams to have them dashed on the Altar of Woke.

China will be interesting to watch. The are so immensely competitive.

I hope Hubbard wins gold at the Olympics

If Hubbard gets the go ahead to compete in the olympics, Hubbard will win gold.

I think the tide is turning slowly but we can't be complacent. It's going to take time. The trans lobby has captured the police, the judiciary, academia, the NHS, local councils, schools and much of the private sector. The only people standing up against this are campaigners like WPUK and a handful of brave journalists. This wholesale capture has demonstrated the vital importance of the Fourth Estate.

I also blame Coronation Street - if your only knowledge of transgender people is Hayley, then you won’t understand the issues relating to trans without surgery, AGP, predators abusing self ID etc.

True also for Caitlyn Jenner. Hardly anyone realises that Stonewall's definition of transgender includes someone who only identifies as a woman on a Wednesday and maintains a full beard.

Is there any country that isn't homophobic, that has escaped the bullying trans agender?

I have days where I feel very positive and days where I feel so despondent about all of this.
But I was reading today about Caitlyn Jenner admitting on a BBC programme (Mrs Brown's Boys or something) that Caitlyn Jenner is still in possession of a penis.
I think this will surprise a lot of people and chips away again at the public perception of what transgender or transitioning actually means.

I would like to see the female athletes rise up and do something dramatic at a televised event, if they have an obvious cheat competing amongst them.

But it's a big ask...

China will be interesting to watch. The are so immensely competitive.

Has everyone seen the picture that went the rounds a while ago of the Chinese national champion 4x400 women's relay team?
www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3024504/womens-400m-runners-go-viral-chinese-social-media-looking-men

The Chinese Athletic Association claims they are women, and I'm sure they are - by IOC rules. I think there is a fair chance of this Olympics being a total shitshow.

I would like Pips Bunce to do something to get them in the public eye . I think their take on womanhood as an accessory item for privileged men is so blatantly unfair that it could cast some extra sunlight where needed.

Yes that's what I was thinking of, Kantastic. There was a discussion on here about the different kinds of running shorts they were wearing and how at least two of the four relay runners were obviously wearing another layer under their red shorts.

I think there is a fair chance of this Olympics being a total shitshow.

I think there's a fair chance of this Olympics not happening, unless the coronavirus outbreak can be brought under control very quickly. Which would be a real shame from a GC perspective, because all of this playing out on the biggest stage in the world is exactly what's needed to bring the issue to the attention of people who aren't aware of, and those who've been trying to avoid it under the guise of being "kind".

I don't think it's stalled. Just off the top of my head, in the last few weeks we've had The BBC covering the issues on the Moral Maze, The Guardian publishing Suzanne Moore's article and a judicial review of The Tavistock announced, none of which I would have dared hope for a year ago. But what I do think is happening is that the harder we pull, the more it becomes clear just how deep this runs and how big a task it's going to be.