Irish women will be heard (trending)

[GrainneMhaol]

Hi everyone. #WeWillBeHeard is trending on twitter in Ireland. It is in reponse to Amnesty International, the National Women's Council of Ireland and other major NGO's calling for people who "defend biology" or who are gender critical to be disenfranchised.

Their words: "..Let us say unequivocally that the statements of newly launched organisations that seek to defend biology or fight gender identity and expression do not represent the wider LGBTI+ community nor feminists in Ireland... We call on media, and politicians to no longer provide legitimate representation for those that share bigoted beliefs."

This is a thread with pictures and the hastag which is trending

twitter.com/TCDFFT/status/1331208440971137024?s=19

A response letter from The Countess didn't fight for this thecountessdidntfightforthis.com/we-will-be-heard/

And an archived copy of the original ridiculous letter they are replying to (usual tropes about being far right etc) archive.is/glPXl#selection-1561.0-1561.202

I'm only got the 4 Dec issue today but The Phoenix has picked up on COG's unpleasantness on Twitter. And the wider issue of them shedding members due to the change of direction in their campaign work.

(Apologies if the scan isn't great)

I need to buy a copy of the Phoenix now!!

Wow ,
Hmmm,
CO'G earns €120,000 a year to campaign against the criminalisation of the purchase of sex; and to campaign to repeal legislation limiting overseas donations to domestic charities?

And has moved away from "boring old prisoners of conscience, torture and the death penalty".

Amnesty hasn't seen any of my € for a while, since I became an adult and it's not an organisation that will, for the foreseeable future.

COG's latest is suggesting a Patreon for him to put together a book of his recipes. Tweeted from his blue tick Amnesty account. You couldn't make it up.

I'll have to buy a copy too as my eyes are not up to deciphering that text

Hang on.

Didn't Glinner pre-empt the cookbook idea? grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/colm-ogorman-publishes-book-of-recipes

Eh, Abhann? More the venting of a very, very annoyed woman.

Looking at the proposed hate speech legislation, the men's parliament must be so happy to have misogyny reworked into a new Cathecism. Well nigh on 80% ain't too far off. The men's parliament (under H. McEntee , ironic) are bringing blasphemy back as a crime. seems to regard the theology of gender identity as an objective thing now. Maybe they'll incarcerate women again; Fallen, if we say out loud that we don't believe in it or refuse to pretend that it is not harmful to women and girls. And boys.

Yes @Cailleach1, I completely agree. It really is shocking to me and incomprehensible from an intellectual point of view, how people have bought into the Trans ideology - I mean it is about as logical as scientology, if even that.

I could post further analogies but I would get banned.

Honestly I wasted two hours of my life discussing this with a 'woman is just a label' friend the other night and it was soul destroying. Essence of a woman yes, biological body, me trying to put everyone into boxes

Sorry if this has been posted already.

gcn.ie/talking-sense-launches-to-combat-harmful-anti-trans-discourse-in-the-media/

'Talking Sense is a special information evening for journalists and other media workers interested in trans rights and media discourse in Ireland. This event will address the legislative and healthcare backdrop to trans lives in Ireland, best practice for journalists and media workers when reporting on or discussing trans people and the issues unique to trans people, and how contemporary discourse was formed and cascaded.

In recent months and years, entrenched opinions, polarising rhetoric, and misinformation have very unfortunately characterised parts of the “discourse” about the lives and healthcare of trans people. This is especially pronounced in certain other countries social and mainstream media, leading to a heightened, distorted atmosphere, particularly online.'

@lionheart thanks for sharing that. Somehow I suspect 'stop telling lies about suicide and murder' is not going be on the agenda there.

With the exception of the 'Patricia Pearse' stuff in the Indo a week or so ago, which was more bad taste than anything else, there has not been anything genuinely anti-trans in mainstream media - this, like so much else in this arena, is such an over-correction.

"...the lived reality of people’s lives is often misrepresented as a topic of debate, or more nefariously as a threat to another cohort in society."
Does the 'lived reality' of women matter, or... ?

This is just so exhausting. The main argument is not 'trans individuals are particularly dangerous', it's that male violence exists. Even if the statistics didn't suggest that male violence remains the same post-transition, and even if 'transition' is often merely social, it would still be a problem to make it easier for men to access women's spaces.

"Say what we tell you to say" to journalists.

So marginalised, so unheard.

@7Days

"Say what we tell you to say" to journalists.

So marginalised, so unheard.

Exactly. 'Best practice for journalists and media workers when reporting trans issues ' = forget all that investigative journalism stuff lads. Puff pieces only thanks.

Interesting that this thread has been bumped today. I have been contemplating how far behind the UK we are in terms of even having the conversation about trans issues in Ireland.

It sounds awful to say, but I'm actually jealous of the shit going on in the UK, at least people are getting a voice, getting the issues out there, politicians are being asked about it, something's happening.

Some of the most outspoken people like Helen Joyce and Graham Linehan are Irish (albeit living in the UK), and I rarely, if ever, hear them talk about this issue as it relates to Ireland. Maybe because the laws are already in place to it seems like a lost cause.

I guess our best chance of clawing back some sense is for this to play out across the Irish sea, because let's face it, we get a lot of cultural influence from the UK, whether we like to admit it or not. If Irish people see and hear what is really going on over there, they might stop and think - 'wait, is that actually the law here as well?'...

Anyway sorry, was just pondering today how sad it is that we are so far away from even bringing this out in the open here. It feels hopeless really.

@CreepingDeath, we are followers not leaders in Ireland, on this and so many other issues. Maybe if someone could convince the Irish establishment (politicians, media, and those pulling the strings) that women's rights are actually cool, important and "progressive" there may be a change. It feels like the conversation and fight will have to happen elsewhere, unfortunately, before those on this island open their eyes.

BTW, my post above was about Alison O'Connor's opinion piece in The Irish Examiner last Friday. She, like TCDFFT, is doing her bit to bring these issues to light here.

It is heartbreaking, isn't it? Self-id is the law in Ireland. More than half the population see only around 22% of the Dáil are like them. Imagine that around 78% of the Irish parliament is men. You may as well have the Bishops running the country again. In a way, new clerics are. These guys are only too happy to implement a new misogynistic ideology; to the detriment of Irish women and girls again. As long as they are top of the heap, like their forefathers. They won't waste too much time over any injustices. They'll spend more time on the cover ups. Mother and baby homes, anyone? They don't have much sense of solidarity with Irish women.

Having an equality act that acknowledges the existence of Irish women as a discrete human sex class (with corresponding dignity and rights) would have been a step too far for those boyos. Imagine the majority of Irish people are women, and these guys (behind it all) are trampling all over us over again. They've barely come up for air since the last time their forefathers did it.

Disclaimer: I'm very cross and have no rose tinted glasses about these bros.

Thanks, I just googled her article and read it. Hopefully it will resonate with some people. Maybe you were deleted for linking to it or something, I still don't know all the rules around here. We seem to be very closely monitored .

And yes to being leaders not followers, as my dad used to say - the government don't act, they react. I suppose it's just hard to fathom that this happened right under our noses, and they didn't even care enough about women to consider us. I don't trust any of them now.

It's like when the scales fall from your eyes, and you can't unsee it, and I want to stand up and shout about it. But nobody else seems that interested, or even if I say something about it, they make interested noises, but I can see their eyes glazing over at some point.

And these are people who would be interested in politics and love a good debate about other things, around the time of the abortion and gay marriage referendums there was plenty of discussion and debate to be had. But this has pretty much nothing. And it's so bloody important!!

Just having one of those days where I feel overwhelmed by it all. And it's going to be a long way back from this.

Cailleach
Having an equality act that acknowledges the existence of Irish women as a discrete human sex class (with corresponding dignity and rights) would have been a step too far for those boyos.

Exactly. I had to listen to someone reading out parts of the Equality Act recently for an unrelated thing, and my blood pressure went haywire when they said gender. In my head I was thinking 'you mean sex, just say sex, it should be sex' .

And yes to the litany of historical abuses against women: the magdalen laundries, the symphysiotomy scandal, the cervical screening scandal etc. etc.

It's just the apathy that gets to me sometimes. The 'ah sure it's grand' attitude that means things don't really get dealt with.

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-40710719.html

It is so rare to see this written about in the MSM in Ireland and Alisons article is very sensible.
So many people remain unaware of the laws in Ireland and hopefully this article will shed some light on the issue.

Great thread!

Isn't Irelands big influence the US? Specifically the Democrats who are having a lot of difficulties with CRT, defund the police etc. Maybe the US cultural implosion will have an impact because it seems to be on the cards. Critical mass heading towards the 'how we feelz' bandwagon, fingers crossed

Oh yes, the cultural imports!
Some are AOK, and some are not.

You have to keep up with which is which.

Woman= Adult Human Female....Beware! West Brit/ British influenced, mindless unthinking woman!!
Woman= whatever you're having yourself...."we are the best little broadminded country in the world".

Black Lives Matter..... grounded in a colonial country with a history of slave trading and ownership. In Ireland, not so relevant (not that we dont have racism, we are riddled with it, e.g those awful green signs "Irish Lives Matter".....another import )

"The most vulnerable group"....I point to the abhorrent statistics on the Traveller Community's health and education outcomes.

Ultimately, decrying GC women as West Brits is a continuing pattern of just not listening to women.

There are occasional articles and groups like The Countess, Irish Women's Lobby etc but there's very little traction. The fait accompli legislation is a huge part of it. The lack of intelligence and questioning amongst our TDs is another. A mix of ignorance/disinterestedness (fear?) on their part and of course there's little room for divergent opinion now that we think we have progressive kudos.

Stella O'Malley is another Irish woman who is very active in this area (and still lives here) but she's as likely (maybe more likely) to be talking about the situation in other countries than what we can do here. In fairness her focus comes from the therapy/intervention/damage of the affirmative mode and medical interventions and she'd be pretty isolated if she didn't have the network she does. I love her podcast Gender: A Wider Lens (not Irish focused but really broad ranging).