The Big Lie - how the WEP was always about gender rather than sex

[Ereshkigalangcleg]

An anonymous blog by a WEP insider hosted on Graham Linehan's website.

"^When the Women’s Equality Party (WEP) was co-founded in March 2015 by author Catherine Mayer and TV presenter Sandi Toksvig at the annual Women of the World festival, held at the Southbank Centre in London, tens of thousands of women rushed to join, feeling for the first time that a political party had been formed that was dedicated to us. After all, we were in the name!

Since then thousands of women have been leaving, feeling let down by a party that was meant to be for women & girls and our rights. But it is a mistake to think that WEP was captured by gender ideology – it was founded on gender ideology. We women will never ‘recapture’ it as it was never ours to begin with.^

https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/the-big-lie?r=7vhv8&utmcampaign=post&utmmmedium=email&utmsource=copy

I had always really liked Sandi toksvig and enjoyed her book; I can see why she might have been wanting to support other marginalised groups after the prejudice she faced as a lesbian. But I would like to know if she has changed her mind at all over time. I admire people who admit that they got it wrong or supported causes for the wrong reasons, but have thought more about it. I hope that she is one of those.

I suspect that a political party that only focuses on one group, is unelectable.

For a political party, I just want one that values equality, where no-one group can trample over the rights of other groups and call them phobic or facist for disagreeing with them. I want an equality party for ordinary people and ALL the protected characteristics under the equality act. The reason we're in this mess is because one group said #nodebate and doesn't care about or listen to other groups.

Further shenanigans from the ridiculous Women? Who are They? "Equality" Party:

An anonymous WEP member speaks. Despite having a convoluted "Members' Assembly" where participants heard oral evidence which led to 71% of members voting to retain single sex spaces, the upcoming member consultation, promised in 2018, has now been dropped and swept under the carpet. A male Google engineer is apparently calling the shots, according to this piece on @glinner substack:

https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/the-wep-continues-to-betray-its-members

Mandu Reid, leader of the WEP, made an announcement to the membership via email yesterday:

‘I am excited by the new frontiers that open up with self-ID and non-binary identities, and I don’t think they have to be at odds with the protections we have all fought so hard for.’

She went on:

“In my view, the bigger threat to those hard-won rights is this debate itself, which is stopping us from coming together around our common cause. That is why I have decided in consultation with the Steering Committee not to run a traditional form-filling consultation, which risks creating further polarisation. Instead I want us to embark on a process of sustained dialogue, to help break the deadlock.”

Is this the consultation on what a woman is? They've decided to drop it?

What a waste of space the WEP is.

To paraphrase a certain person “enjoy your erasure WEP” what an embarrassment they are

What is the actual point of them? What a brilliant metaphor for them though tbh, they hold a democratic process, and 45 of 49 women's opinions who took part in the members' assembly aren't given equal weight to one over-invested man at Google who has donated to them to keep on astroturfing the TRA "inclusion" shite when clearly the majority of their own members value sex spaces.

debate is a threat eh?

it is when your position is pure bollocks I guess

Surely the "common cause" is women's equality? In which this question is pivotal?

Not so much that they're showbiz luvvies, but Mayer and Toksvik are both the emigre children of foreigners who went to elite GSA schools.

this weird idea that men who believe so strongly in gendered stereotypes that they think 'feeling like a woman' can make you one have any kind of common cause with feminists just blows my mind

I feel like I'm going mad everytime someone explains to me that as a feminist I must include all trans identifying males. It blows my mind.

If WEP's founding members had not left for [insert your own reason - mine was the lack of due process with which they treated Heather Brunskell-Evans] maybe that wouldn't have brought about a situation where WEP is so poor that a single contributor can influence it so much.

They're such a waste of space.

Quite, EmbarrassingAdmissions

@Jaysmith71

Not so much that they're showbiz luvvies, but Mayer and Toksvik are both the emigre children of foreigners who went to elite GSA schools.

I don't see the relevance of this point at all.

So the WEP are dictated to by a man. The WEP. For shame.

The electoral commissions database on donations is very interesting.

@PronounssheRa

So the WEP are dictated to by a man. The WEP. For shame.

The electoral commissions database on donations is very interesting.

www.theonion.com/man-finally-put-in-charge-of-struggling-feminist-moveme-1819569515

What a waste of space and such a let down.

I saw those donations in a spreadsheet some months ago. This man is basically paying Mandu and the admins salaries, as the members subs won't cover. Of course they are going to do what he is paying for!

What a classic, man buys a womens political party.

They are rubbish on policy.

Mandu, immediately she was appointed, stood in the London assembly elections, which just seems like this was only ever a jumping off point. I'm sorry I ever gave them money.

If your feminism loses focus and becomes "Let's just be kind to everyone!" I think you need to find another name for it. 🙄

Sustained dialogue?

Is that what we’re calling struggle session where disobedient women are browbeaten into parroting the party line that they had previously refused to take, now?

I was a founder member, too, but let my sub lapse after the treatment of Heather B-E, too. The writing was on the wall then.

They claim to be a new way of doing politics but I doubt even the Tory Party would allow one of their fat cat donors to have such an influence on policy and direction.

@PronounssheRa

So the WEP are dictated to by a man. The WEP. For shame.

The electoral commissions database on donations is very interesting.

How dare he!

Would Private Eye be interested?

Might be worth a try.