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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:
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19
AngeloMysterioso · 27/06/2020 13:01

uncommongroundmedia.com/garden-court-chambers-and-the-public-shaming-of-allison-bailey/

A bit of background here.

TheTamingOfTheresa · 27/06/2020 13:03

Well done all the wonderful people getting behind this. I’ve donated

truthisarevolutionaryact · 27/06/2020 13:05

The comments on the crowdfunder, the comments under Janice Turner's article in the Times, countless comments under the Baroness Nicholson story in lots of publications gives me some hope in these very frightening days.

AngeloMysterioso · 27/06/2020 13:06

Also this from The Times:

Lesbian barrister: my bosses bowed to transgender ‘hate mob’

A lesbian barrister who is under investigation for her stance on transgender ideology has said her chambers bowed to the “hate mob”.

Allison Bailey is being investigated by Garden Court Chambers after she hailed the launch of the LGB Alliance pressure group, of which she is a founding member.

Bailey was subjected to a torrent of abuse and death threats after she posted on social media: “Gender extremism is about to meet its match.”

The LGB Alliance has said its mission is “asserting the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted”. Its stance that “gender is a social construct” faced immediate opposition from trans groups.

Garden Court said on Twitter that it was “investigating concerns” raised about the comments in line with Bar Standards Board policies. “We take these concerns v seriously & will take appropriate action.”

Bailey said her chambers had “simply gone along with what the hate mob want” and were “offering me no support whatsoever”.

She pointed out that Garden Court, which handles many transgender cases, had signed up as a Stonewall “diversity champion”.

“The bigger picture,” she added, “is that Stonewall have signed up many companies, public bodies, voluntary sector organisation and government departments to their manifesto and their value system regarding trans rights. What we call Stonewall law. Without most of the public realising it, a large swathe of British employers have signed up to the Stonewall value system.”

The LGB Alliance has written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to complain that Stonewall is using public funds to promote gender identity rather than gender reassignment as a protected characteristic. “So successful has ‘Stonewall law’ been that the planned compulsory education in primary and secondary schools from 2020 will tell children that ‘gender identity’ is a reality which they need to understand.”

Bailey said she had “no faith” that Garden Court would conduct a fair complaints process. “They are compromised by their relationship with Stonewall.” She claimed the threat to her career would have a “chilling effect on others who dare to think independently of Stonewall”.

Judy Khan, joint head of chambers, said: “We are investigating complaints that have been made about tweets that Allison has sent. We have not made any finding of fact or made any ruling.” When pressed, she added: “We utterly condemn any threat made to any person in chambers or otherwise.”

The JustGiving charity site has suspended the page for the LGB Alliance.

Stonewall said it was “proud to be working to . . . support inclusive workplaces for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people.”

EverardDigby · 27/06/2020 13:19

Thanks justice, I was pretty sure she'd know what she was doing, but glad someone more knowledgeable about the actual law has comes along!

CaveMum · 27/06/2020 13:23

Almost £44,000 now 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

littlbrowndog · 27/06/2020 13:27

💃💃💃💃💃

dianebrewster · 27/06/2020 13:37

£45K in under 5 hours!

endofthelinefinally · 27/06/2020 13:39

Just donated. It is over £45K now.

RoyalCorgi · 27/06/2020 13:43

I've donated. I am amazed and heartened at how quickly Allison has exceeded her target. In a week in which the bullies have seen Graham Linehan off Twitter, and removed Emma Nicholson from her honorary post on the Booker, it's felt like those of us who care about the rights of women and girls have suffered a setback. But there are lots and lots of people out there who care about what is happening. We will not be defeated.

JemimaShore · 27/06/2020 13:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sparkyduchess · 27/06/2020 13:47

It looks like Allison has been booted off Twitter, does anyone know anything? This is shocking.

Whatsnewpussyhat · 27/06/2020 13:47

It's gone up about 10k in the time it's taken me to read this thread!

It's amazing to see this rise against stonewall.

CaveMum · 27/06/2020 13:48

Where have you seen that Jemima? I can still see her account.

JemimaShore · 27/06/2020 13:49

Ignore me - she hasn't

AngeloMysterioso · 27/06/2020 13:50

Does anyone else think this might be something that JK Rowling could throw her considerable financial weight behind? Gonna @ her on twitter, would be helpful if other will as well.

Nihiloxica · 27/06/2020 13:53

@AngeloMysterioso

Does anyone else think this might be something that JK Rowling could throw her considerable financial weight behind? Gonna @ her on twitter, would be helpful if other will as well.
It's far more powerful if it comes from lots of small donations.
teawamutu · 27/06/2020 13:53

I don't think she needs to Grin

But also, from an optics POV might it be better to be able to say to the woke stasi that the action was funded by thousands of people chipping in a few quid from their pay packets, rather than 'transphobic multi millionaire uses her massive bank balance to persecute the saintly Stonewall'?

PronounssheRa · 27/06/2020 13:54

angelo

I don't think JKs money is needed, the stretch target is likely to be hit in a day.
Smaller donations by lots of people might be better anyway as it's shows huge support for Allison

AngeloMysterioso · 27/06/2020 13:57

Point(s) taken!

hellandhairnets · 27/06/2020 14:05

The crowdfunder appears to have been taken down? It says the page is no longer there.

NativityDreaming · 27/06/2020 14:06

I donated earlier but it appears the crowd funder isn’t showing any donations anymore? Does anyone else have a problem accessing it? I was wondering if TRAs are trying to get it taken down.

Polestar50 · 27/06/2020 14:07

Crowdfunder page has disappeared??
I have donated and have been refreshing it frequently over the last couple of hours. It was getting close to £50,000!
Any ideas why it has gone?

AngeloMysterioso · 27/06/2020 14:07

I’m confused- it was showing c£47-48k, then said the case was being brought, now the page is gone altogether? No update from AB on twitter...

alongtimeagoandfaraway · 27/06/2020 14:08

I was wondering that. I was watching it go up £5, £10 at a time. Surely it can’t have been taken down?