Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Allison Bailey to sue Stonewall

999 replies

OhHolyJesus · 27/06/2020 08:20

There is a crowdfunder so I won't share the link but here a part of the text. It's long but brilliant and this isn't the half of it. Off to find my wallet...

The new trans activism: all scrutiny and critical voices labelled ‘transphobic’

In early 2018, when I first heard that plans were underway to make the lives of trans people easier, my reaction was that this was a good thing and I did not give it a second thought. I kept coming across the term ‘TERF’ but ignored it. I thought that bigots were simply being called out.

Then one day I clicked on a link: terfisaslur.com where someone had collated the online abuse that was being directed at women who I realised had entirely valid concerns and questions about the wisdom of replacing sex with gender.
I learnt that the new trans activism wants to smash the distinctions between men and women; replacing sex with notions of gender identity; making sexual difference a matter of self identification; and demands that any and every man that wishes to identify as a woman must be allowed to do so.
I learnt that the new trans activism is focusing, inexplicably, on young children and declaring them ‘trans’; treating puberty as a disease to be blocked with powerful drugs; delivering our young people into the arms of a multi-million pound industry of big pharmaceutical companies and plastic surgeons.
I saw that the same males who would have society regard them as women, were quick to brandish knives, axes, baseball bats and nooses, as they threatened with rape women who questioned the wisdom of replacing sex with gender —TERFs.
I realised that the new trans activism operated a crude but effective system of punishment and reward: agree with every demand of the trans lobby and be safe; object and face vilification, abuse, boycott, character assassination and cancellation.
I was horrified (and terrified).
I wanted to look away, to pretend that I had not seen it; that it did not reveal the worst woman-hating, lesbian hating, misogyny that I have ever come across in my lifetime.
I did not look away and I urge others not to either. Thanks to brave women who have come before me, such as the late, great, Magdalen Berns, whose courage and no nonsense approach to calling out the new trans activism as the men’s rights movement it so clearly is, gave me courage.
I realised that I did not have to accept that any man can claim to be legally a woman, without having to undergo any hormone or surgical intervention, psychological evaluation or risk assessment.
I realised that it was okay and necessary to say that it is reckless and naive to think that men will only identify as women if they are stunning and brave and harmless: that the wicked, abusive, predatory, unwell and downright cantankerous will, by some miracle, refuse to take advantage of free and easy access to women, to their politics, safe spaces, sports, legal protections and identities.
I was shocked to discover that significant numbers of male sex offenders are permitted to identify as women and nothing is being done to stop them. In England and Wales, some 40 per cent or more of trans identified males in the prison population are men with convictions for sex offences, including rape and possession of the most serious indecent images of children. I read a steady stream of news reports from around the world of males who identify as women committing serious sex offences.
It is repugnant to me and wholly unacceptable, and frankly unbelievable, that the new trans activism demands that sex crimes committed by males who identify as women are recorded as having been committed by women; and that these males can demand to be referred to by female pronouns.
I discovered that women incarcerated in prison are left vulnerable to serious sexual assault and mental anguish, as males, including sex offenders, are locked up with them. The new trans activism demands that a man’s desire to identify as a woman is more important than the right of imprisoned women to safety and dignity. These women have no way to escape, no choice, they are locked up. I do not see how this is anything other than state facilitated abuse and mental torture.
Where there should have been discussion, investigation and inquiry, there has been the silencing of concerned and critical voices; not voices from the far right, but from women like me, who are of and from the progressive left.
Mantras have been chanted because the new trans activism is a movement that cannot bear scrutiny: TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN; TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS; TRANS PEOPLE ARE WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE; PROTECT OUR TRANS SIBLINGS, and so on, do nothing to engage with and address the serious concerns that exist about replacing sex with gender.
The new trans activists are joined by politicians, journalists, lawyers, writers, entire organisations, and assorted celebrities, in the chanting of these mantras to shut down debate, while others who are appalled at what they see happening are too afraid to speak out. It is cult like behaviour, it is Orwellian, and it has disgraced and shamed a generation.
Labelling all critical voices ‘transphobic’ is a cynical political ploy of the new trans activism. It must be resisted.

Surviving child sexual abuse: understanding that women and girls are oppressed because of their sex and not their gender identity
The man who sexually abused me as a 9 year old little girl; the man who targeted my single-parent mother; the man who told me that I could trust him whilst he slipped drugs into my orange squash to render me helpless as he sexually assaulted me, was tried and convicted of multiple sexual assaults against me in 2015, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He was released from prison last month (May 2020) to serve out the rest of his sentence on licence.

I make this disclosure now because I feel compelled to stand in solidarity with other women with similar experiences of male physical and sexual violence. It is not weaponising trauma to say so, any more than recounting racist abuse is.

We must not allow men or women to bury, minimise and ignore the visceral reality of male violence. We must not allow the new trans activism to force survivors back into the closet; this would be an abuser’s charter.

It should be a cause of great alarm that the new trans activism takes such a regressive and shaming attitude to disclosures of abuse. This culture of denial and belittling has been the bedrock and the hallmark of every abuse scandal. It is a red flag that signals a safeguarding catastrophe in the making.
It is women like me whose lives have been torn apart and seriously blighted by wanton acts of male violence that know that men are often not who they say they are or claim to be.
I know that conflating sex with notions of gender identity will leave women with no legally enforceable boundaries against any man.

I know that if the new trans activism is not brought to heel, women will disappear as a political class.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
19
thisonebreath · 02/07/2020 14:06

I still haven't had my donation taken.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 02/07/2020 14:15

Just checked my bank, mine is showing as pending.

Cismyfatarse1 · 02/07/2020 14:22

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/diversity-charity-in-trans-row-n38p6xfq5?shareToken=cce32fed380d9cbe02b3acd137d74986

The Times article with a share token for those that want to read it. From today's Law section.

BlackForestCake · 02/07/2020 14:31

I'd like to donate to help Katie Alcock's case against the Guides. But I really don't fancy giving any personal information to CrowdJustice, given their recent behaviour. Is there another way?

You don't have to give any personal information, I filled it in just with initials. Obviously you need a bank card. Some of the online banks offer a virtual disposable card that you can use.

CircleofWillis · 02/07/2020 18:14

Very short article. I don't understand why they didn't get a quote from Allison.

A black lesbian barrister has crowdfunded £60,000 in a day to sue her chambers and the diversity charity Stonewall after a row over transgender rights.

Allison Bailey, of Garden Court in Lincoln’s Inn, claims that she was victimised after she helped to set up the LGB Alliance, which is critical of Stonewall’s approach to trans rights. CrowdJustice, a funding platform for legal actions, removed her appeal after receiving complaints. After a review, it partially reinstated the page with only a brief summary of Bailey’s action and a statement from its chief executive, Julia Salasky.

“We messed up,” Salasky says, adding that CrowdJustice should not have allowed the appeal to be posted “before ensuring its content in its entirety met the high standards that our community expects”. A spokesman for Garden Court said the allegations were “groundless” and “without merit”; Bailey remains a member of the set. Stonewall declined to comment on the allegations.

EmpressLangClegSpartacus · 02/07/2020 18:39

Just donated to Katie Alcock, being careful to omit the CrowdJustice tip.

NotAGirl · 02/07/2020 18:56

@EmpressLangClegSpartacus

Just donated to Katie Alcock, being careful to omit the CrowdJustice tip.
Grin
Imnobody4 · 02/07/2020 19:51

Great tweet from Jodie Ginsberg ex head of Index of Censorship.
twitter.com/jodieginsberg/status/1278621504675045378?s=19
Sorry my battery is going.

StuffThem · 02/07/2020 23:01

My head is spinning.

Are CJ taking more donations to Allison at the moment or not?

TERFLurve · 02/07/2020 23:50

Legally this is not a 'trans rights issue' it’s a 'sex rights issue' - a blog about boxes: Audrey Ludwig womansplaceuk.org/2020/07/02/legally-this-is-not-a-trans-rights-issue-its-a-sex-rights-issue-a-blog-about-boxes-audrey-ludwig/
An excellent article by a discrimination lawyer, in was linked to in the Jodie Ginsberg tweet below.

Melroses · 02/07/2020 23:59

@StuffThem

My head is spinning.

Are CJ taking more donations to Allison at the moment or not?

No - they just haven't adjusted their usual automatic e-mails system.
Melroses · 03/07/2020 00:00

This reply has been deleted

This post has been hidden until the MNHQ team can have a look at it.

Shedbuilder · 03/07/2020 10:50

I've just read Audrey's piece and it's an excellent introduction to the problems of conflicting protected characteristics.

Flowers for Audrey, who has dared to stick her head above the parapet and discuss the problems that have arisen from badly-drafted law that conflates sex and gender. It can't have been easy. Good to read that she's been supported by her employers and professional body.

BaronessBrighterThanYou · 03/07/2020 11:20

I can't wait to read melroses' midnight post.

crumpet · 03/07/2020 12:02

The Roll on Friday post is so far receiving support.

www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/lesbian-barrister-raises-ps60k-sue-her-chambers-and-stonewall

Melroses · 03/07/2020 14:24

@BaronessBrighterThanYou

I can't wait to read melroses' midnight post.
I was wondering too for a while. Grin

Then I realised I had probably linked to another interesting crowdfunder that I had seen when looking through the CJ which is not allowed. I forgotted Blush. I haven't had any e-mail though.

Should have gone to bed earlier Hmm

Needmoresleep · 03/07/2020 14:29

Do Slater and Gordon, the lawyers, also deserve a “chapeau”.

Given how many larger law firms have been Stonewalled it’s hard to believe they have not come under pressure.

KatieAlcock · 03/07/2020 14:36

Well I give them several gold stars.

PurpleHoodie · 04/07/2020 17:26

Good luck Katie.

Sending some more your way Flowers

nauticant · 04/07/2020 19:42

Slater & Gordon:

www.slatergordon.co.uk/about-us/awards-accreditations/

Slater and Gordon are proud to be a Diversity Champion Member of Stonewall.

Just in case you want to see the full extent:

www.stonewall.org.uk/diversity-champions-members

Binterested · 04/07/2020 19:47

Bet Stonewall don’t go after Slater and Gordon. They don’t want to lose that juicy revenue stream. It would be great if they did though. So many law firms are unthinking signatories to Bonerwall and it’s clearly a massive conflict of interest when it comes to representing clients fairly in discrimination cases.

MoltenLasagne · 04/07/2020 19:55

That ROF article is very amusing in it's snarkiness. I particularly liked the caption under the picture: Bailey and a few messages from people who probably didn’t donate.

Needmoresleep · 04/07/2020 20:09

Interesting, but not surprising Nauticant. Most large law firms have signed up. Slater and Gordon does a lot of employment law, including trade union stuff, and as a result handles discrimination cases. They would want to show that they are on board.

however...law firms are expecting the financial landscape post-Covid to be difficult. Some may well consider where they can trim costs. Increasingly Stonewall may look like a good place to start.

I agree with Binterested. A fair proportion of staff will be LGB, often G. Supporting Stonewall will feel like the right thing to do. That is why Allison is such a threat. The LGB Alliance offers an alternative.

I would love to know what pressure Slater and Gordon have been under. Good for them that they did not succumb.

The conflict that gets me most is that the Chair of Stonewall works for the FCA which regulates banks and the financial sector. Surely that can't be right.

ItsLateHumpty · 05/07/2020 14:30

ReSisters reproduced the original crowdfund page in its entirety, with the original photos:

twitter.com/ReSistersU/status/1276971509249081344

New silk @MccolganAileen currently advising @BluskyeAllison

twitter.com/thelawyercatrin/status/1278972558109487109

Just to bump this thread,

Allison - hope you’re OK.

TheWayOfTheWorld · 07/07/2020 08:25

So anything further on why the page hasn't been reopened for a new stretch target as requested?

Swipe left for the next trending thread