Ireland..you could not make this up

[purplepizzabunny]

A vociferous campaigner for repeal the 8th campaign, Bernie Linnane, posted just now referring to JK Rowling as an "old trout", and freely admitted she has blocked people from the ARC twitter page, even though that page is a very useful source of info for anyone looking for advice on a termination. So in summary a woman makes derogatory comments about a someone's appearance, and decides that women who do not agree with her are not entitled to access information.

twitter.com/Berlinnaeus/status/1368245476810752006

twitter.com/Berlinnaeus/status/1368247803814805504

Because that's the pressing issue of the day. And most importantly she gets to pat herself on the back for her work for equality today. ARGH!

@3timeslucky
@Cailleach1, do you think that if there had been more women the debate would have been there? I don't see that our female representatives have been any more clued in on this that their male counterparts. Did any of those 15% raise any red flags?

I agree that female TDs have been practically as bad as the male ones, but Niamh Smyth (FF) basically asked the Staniland question in the Dáil recently, I posted about it here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4189775-TD-Irish-MP-asks-if-GRA-means-that-men-can-access-womens-spaces

On an aside to the trans debate the blind support for JKR makes me uncomfortable. Can we not draw support for her on international women’s day when she, a writer, alluded to the female antagonist in her series being raped as a punishment.

When Delores Umbridge was coaxed to be taken centaurs in the forbidden forest and they kidnap her and she comes back traumatised, in line with Greek mythology what will they do to her? They horrifically raped her. With so much emphasis put on Greek mythology in the books that would very much have been a fact she was aware and even though it’s an utter work of fiction for that I would also regard her an old trout.

Additionally she has supported a small business on Etsy that whilst promoting women are women pins also produced there’s no such thing as bisexual and another to the effect of lesbians don’t exist.

Yes she came out in support of a cause but she is also not herself without problems.

However for a politician to make personal attacks on a non political member of the public regardless of their stance unless they’re quite literally a nazi I find reprehensible. I think perhaps Ireland should look internally at their existing problems without looking to fix their own.

The fact 9/10 women in the country would have to get on a plane, stay in another country and recuperate in a hotel is fucking disgusting. Pair that with the rampant abuse claims, the Christian brothers, the magdalane laundries and the baby farms within recent memories and there’s a lot of old wounds which first need addressing.

I have read the *debates" in the Dail and Senate when the Gra was being introduced. There wasn't a single dissenting voice. My impression was that it the impact on women wasn't even considered. They were too busy clapping themselves on the back for their progressivness.
It was such a betrayal of women and girls.

@Mermoose I saw your post on Niamh Smyth and have contacted her to say thanks and ask her to keep at it! Thanks for linking it as I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
@saltedcaramelchocolate that's how I read it too

@intheenddoesitreallymatter personally I'm not looking for perfection or purity (ideological or otherwise) in JKR or indeed anyone else. I'll take her position and statements on this issue at face value and on this issue I am grateful to her and appreciative of what she has done. I don't think there's a human being on earth who has never said or done something that isn't questionable in the eyes of someone else. I know where I'd rather focus my energy and attention (and also I'm not willing to read Harry Potter at all, never mind with an eye to dissecting the text ).

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/true-feminists-and-trans-debate-1.4514006

Talk about irony being lost on some people. Apparently there are "true" feminists and then those who weaponise feminism......

So the previous letters outlined the concerns regarding prisons, sterilising children, explaining terf as a slur etc. And the other side comes back with we didn’t call you bangers and you’re a bit mean to exclude transwomen?!!!

The Irish times try to pick the best letters on the topic out of all they receive- if that’s the best they have

@miri1985

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/true-feminists-and-trans-debate-1.4514006

Talk about irony being lost on some people. Apparently there are "true" feminists and then those who weaponise feminism......

" Surely the real cause for alarm here is people who weaponise feminism against one of society’s most vulnerable group*

Clearly Eibhlin has never seen the threats to rape and murder TERFs by members of
" one society's most vulnerable groups."

[quote 3timeslucky]@Mermoose I saw your post on Niamh Smyth and have contacted her to say thanks and ask her to keep at it! Thanks for linking it as I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
@saltedcaramelchocolate that's how I read it too

@intheenddoesitreallymatter personally I'm not looking for perfection or purity (ideological or otherwise) in JKR or indeed anyone else. I'll take her position and statements on this issue at face value and on this issue I am grateful to her and appreciative of what she has done. I don't think there's a human being on earth who has never said or done something that isn't questionable in the eyes of someone else. I know where I'd rather focus my energy and attention (and also I'm not willing to read Harry Potter at all, never mind with an eye to dissecting the text ).[/quote]
Just saw this and I’ll write to Niamh Smyth too. And to Heather Humphries. If she doesn’t know what the law is then she should be getting legal advice on it before answering a PQ. Who does she get it from? Is it the Attorney General?

@XXSex

So the previous letters outlined the concerns regarding prisons, sterilising children, explaining terf as a slur etc. And the other side comes back with we didn’t call you bangers and you’re a bit mean to exclude transwomen?!!!

The Irish times try to pick the best letters on the topic out of all they receive- if that’s the best they have

"Surely the real cause for alarm here is people who weaponise feminism against one of society’s most vulnerable groups?"

Yes XXSex, concerns regarding 3 Transwomen in Limerick women's prison, teenage girls having double mastectomies, hormone treatment that will leave them infertile and have lifelong consequences .,concerns regarding ROGD, social contagion, and so much more.
Yet this is Eibhlins real cause for alarm🙄

This narrative of "one of society's most vulnerable groups" is off-putting (I feel stronger than that TBH, but in the interest of fairness etc etc....)

We have, in the same paper, a letter about the relative tone of the report on the murder of an immigrant Mongolian lady, Urantsetseg Tserendorj, compared with that of Sarah Everard (RIP to them both).
Migrant women in low paid jobs, are a large group of very vulnerable people.

People living in direct provision.
Families of children with significant autism, kept awake for hours nightly, with parents who's need for sleep outweighs their ability to make noise about their circumstances.
Children under the care of Tusla- who's carers are bound by confidentiality to not go blabbing about their story on social media.
Long term survivors of Polio, dealing with the pain associated with post-polio syndrome.

I could go on and on and on and on.

I find it quite upsetting that, the "most vulnerable group" is co-opted by adult males, who have financial and social choices. [I have enormous sympathy for children caught up in it]

Yes. I'd like to know how the vulnerability manifests itself, exactly, so we can target resources efficiently.
As we all know, theres no shortage of problems in this country but resources are not infinite.

7Days I know that you, and any thoughtful person, knows that there are many other problems and other groups.

I wasn't listing them as a "litany of saints" of worthy causes, or a "look how empathetic Fiona is".
What slightly vexes me is, how there's co-opting of sympathy for this group above all others.

Well in recent days, a recording of a podcast where a TENI employee says clearly that there are only about 50-100 TERFS in Ireland , that "we" know who they are and keep tabs on them. Same employee who cheerfully advocated smashing terfs out of existence.

podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yMWNmZGU1OC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/NzcxODY1ZDMtNzQyNy00MGQ1LWJjYzUtODJlZjU0MzFhNzgx?ep=14

twitter.com/ConallEducation/status/1371131019592658949

Irish universities call for a motion to deem certain groups (needless to say it includes women's groups) as hate groups.

Absolutely, Fiona.
The world is full of problems and of course we are all at liberty to advocate for our own causes.
Unfortunately, none of us can demand that our own case takes precedent - it's a delicate juggling of allocating scarce resources among competing claims.
So the best thing to do, imo, is for trans rights activists to explain clearly how their vulnerability manifests, so as a society we can meet their requests as efficiently as we can without disadvantaging another group.

It's unlikely we will reach utopia but things can improve.

@purplepizzabunny

Well in recent days, a recording of a podcast where a TENI employee says clearly that there are only about 50-100 TERFS in Ireland , that "we" know who they are and keep tabs on them. Same employee who cheerfully advocated smashing terfs out of existence.

podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yMWNmZGU1OC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/NzcxODY1ZDMtNzQyNy00MGQ1LWJjYzUtODJlZjU0MzFhNzgx?ep=14

twitter.com/ConallEducation/status/1371131019592658949

Irish universities call for a motion to deem certain groups (needless to say it includes women's groups) as hate groups.

We keep tabs on TERFs, we know where they are? That's frightening.

Not at all in the spirit of advocating to improve things for one's own group while not taking away from anyone else, which it's the approach I would favour.

Keeping tabs. Gosh - they really do want to scare us don’t they.

Sunlight sunlight sunlight.

Get it out in the open and everyone will see the absurdity of it.

**

"where a TENI employee says clearly that there are only about 50-100 TERFS in Ireland , that "we" know who they are and keep tabs on them*

This is from an employee of a group that receives public funding
www.theburkean.ie/articles/2021/01/14/whos-funding-the-irish-trans-industry-tenis-ambiguous-accounting
A group that provides education packs to schools.
A group that is championed by the National Council for Women in Ireland.

Chilling.

They are creepy, creepy people.

What "basic human rights" does Eibhinn think trans people don't have? This phrase gets bandied about and appears to have no substance to it at all. It is do disrespectful to people who actually live lives where their human rights are disregarded.

But then again the mantra has no substance to it either so why am I surprised. I'm not sure if that's clear but I'm not sure if I'm allowed write the mantra or its acronym.

The very fact that Eibhlin stated that TERF is not a slur shows how little knowledge she actually has about this topic. So looking for *basic human rights " for people that already have them is another example of this.
But it is all about "woke" points by people who can't be arsed to check facts

twitter.com/ConallEducation/status/1371131019592658949
LOL, reading this tweet
They really have difficulty understanding that democracy allows people to have different opinions, don't they?

@saltedcaramelchocolate

The very fact that Eibhlin stated that TERF is not a slur shows how little knowledge she actually has about this topic. So looking for *basic human rights " for people that already have them is another example of this. But it is all about "woke" points by people who can't be arsed to check facts

I think those things show indoctrination. 'It's just an acronym/description' comes up over and over again - never mind that it's patently obvious that a term used consistently in an abusive way is 'not just' anything. Same with the 'basic human rights' bit - this is straight out of the handbook. The next chapter is the 'denying our existence' one.