Hate Crime - committee evidence session today and next week

[SusanSmithFWS]

Just to flag up that Lucy HB of Murray Blackburn MacKenzie and Claire Graham of dsdfamilies are up at 11.15 giving evidence on the controversial Hate Crime Bill today

Next week we will be up!
www.scottishparliament.tv/channel/virtual-meeting-3

The EHRC chap John Wilkes is an idiot.

Yes we support sex being added as an aggravator to the Bill. And then later, oh no, we support it possibly being added at a later date. Or perhaps gender. But we definitely support it being explored through the working group instead.

Why is it so hard?!

Bumping. I will be tuning in. One of the benefits of working from home!

Thank you all, and good luck.

Claire Graham on there, too, I see. Good stuff.

'Meeting suspended' - tea break, or something else?

💪

We can see quite clearly how important women's voices are:

(If the pic is too small: Nine tiles on the screen. Eight men. One woman.)

@ArabellaScott

Claire Graham on there, too, I see. Good stuff.

'Meeting suspended' - tea break, or something else?

They have three different panels, it's a monster session!

This one now is focusing on race.

The final one is the one with Lucy and Claire, as well as Scottish Trans

All those men - especially smug Kevin - saying how it's very complicated to include women and they need loads more years to consider is we are worthy.

Thanks, Susan. Focussing carefully on everything except women, I see. Good stuff. It's a protected characteristic, except when it suits to ignore it.

Don't know if I can sit and listen to all these men explain why women are just not important, actually.

Oh, another bloke! Good stuff!

It is really telling how many men have been so keen not to protect women, isn't it?

Liam Kerr was brilliant in annoyance with Kevin! He and Annabelle Ewing are very good.

The Scotland section of the Times has a confused, or maybe confusing, article about the hate crime law today:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1bfd928a-285f-11eb-b054-8dc1447a1be1?shareToken=9dfbb950a6139f8b947f5571b3f5548c

I'm doing tedious admin work this morning and have had Scottish Parliament on in the background, just out of interest (not in Scotland).
Just caught this, at 09.35.10: the Stonewall Scotland talking about the importance of getting into schools and winning hearts and minds at an early age:

www.scottishparliament.tv/channel/virtual-meeting-3

He also, I think, has twice mentioned LGBTQI — so it looks as if Intersex has been formally captured by Stonewall in Scotland, at least. Chilling, when you understand what the agenda is.

@Shedbuilder

I'm doing tedious admin work this morning and have had Scottish Parliament on in the background, just out of interest (not in Scotland). Just caught this, at 09.35.10: the Stonewall Scotland talking about the importance of getting into schools and winning hearts and minds at an early age:

www.scottishparliament.tv/channel/virtual-meeting-3

He also, I think, has twice mentioned LGBTQI — so it looks as if Intersex has been formally captured by Stonewall in Scotland, at least. Chilling, when you understand what the agenda is.

Equality Network have been funded for "intersex" project for 5 years - £45K pa. They did nothing for years until they started getting called out recently.

Yet Tim previously gave evidence to the census committee that Equality Network does not represent intersex.

And the chap from BEMIS. Unable to say whether sex should be added to the Bill and would have to go back and consult with the members. Why, for crying out loud?! All the consultations and evidence submissions are supposed to have been done by now. How can anyone appear in front of the committee and say oops we forgot about this.

They are on in 5!

Screen currently has nine white men on screen being questioned by another white man. No women or people of colour. No mention of women or misogyny. 51% of the population completely ignored.

I thought Scotland was better than this.

the Stonewall Scotland talking about the importance of getting into schools and winning hearts and minds at an early age:

Well that's one way of putting it.

Yes, guidance just released by the DfE to schools about dealing with political factions with interesting, extreme and one sided views who may misrepresent the law in their own interests and who are terribly keen to get to children to get their message in ahead of any adults doing unhelpful things like presenting more balanced points of view or remembering about safeguarding.

Lucy is rather marvellous.

Bloody hell at the swarms of white men!

Just showed daughter and said this is why representation is important...!

Lucy's asking really important issues here about democracy and public consent and is admirably clear. Alan Tomkins now saying that Parliament should lead — echoes of the previous 'change hearts and minds' stuff.

Lucy really clear that what's being pushed by the trans lobby is very different — the destruction of a sex class, the insistence on changing language without public agreement — from Parliament introducing protection for ethnic minority populations in the 1960s.

She is so clear and calm!

OMG! Becky from STA telling porkie pies about the stickers!

Is anyone else finding this all a bit 1984? I've not been concentrating on it as much as I should, but every time I do focus hard I'm picking up really authoritarian soundbites. I think Claire, who's representing intersex, is asking some questions that indicate she has her feet on the ground and knows what real people think.

Liam Kerr just threw Lucy the ball — the chilling affect of the law and its misuse, how the mere threat of being investigated or prosecuted will shut people up — and she's grabbed it and run very articulately. Talking now about Adult Human Female stickers being referred to the police as potential hate incidents. Offence being recast as hate.

Response from Becky Kaufman is accusing Lucy of creating a theoretical bogeyman. Yup. The erasure of women, half the population, is just paranoia.

All the white men 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️