Bristol uni update in the times

[mcduffy]

Feminists locked in trans row to sue Bristol student union

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f39c65c2-1d78-11ec-8d6d-67649e90fafa?shareToken=5bbd1241b7ad955c9bea165ce183101f

I'm off to find the page and a shovel. Had a windfall this month and so a larger donation than usual is on the cards! Thinking this is a very important test case for the single sex exemption, please can someone more knowledgeable confirm?

Morning! Thanks for the share. Shall have a read of it now.

Thank for the article!

I would just like to applaud this paragraph, which sets out very clearly - and so unlike articles in the likes of the Indy, etc - the problem:

have insisted that all members of Women Talk Back undergo “diversity and inclusivity training” that will focus on the importance of allowing men into previously women-only events

Well done, that journalist.

This is a key point for me, I think: “the rights everyone has to single-sex spaces mean nothing if public bodies and institutions, such as the Bristol student union, can override and dictate which rights women should or should not have”.

And that's my concern with whatever Keir Starner currently says about keeping sex-spaces in some circumstances. Which ones? Who gets to decide? What does he even mean by "single-sex" these days?

We need clarification of what the law says (although I'm pretty sure I know what was intended), and therefore this case matters. A lot.

Indeed, @ArcheryAnnie, it is very clearly written.

Yep, not even the slightest obfuscation via gender double-speak in there.

At worst, one use of "gender" as a synonym for sex might have slipped through.

Thanks for this. Have donated the week’s ‘treat money’, and considering adding more. Watching that video of the nasty prick talking, and all the women being so polite made me RAGE. Tbf, though, they came out looking far better than he and his supporters. My instinct to get all the women present to rugby tackle the fuckers to the floor would not have been correct, on reflection....

Could any of you suggest a search term? I've had a quick look and can't currently find.

@Herja - try "Women Talk Back" and then some of the usual gardening-related words.

It’s an excellent article and as ever, Josephine March is doing a sterling job in the comments section.

The group's Twitter is here - you can find a link from there:

twitter.com/womentalk_back

I had a lovely update email from them a couple of days ago. Hope it's ok to share it here:

Update on Feminist Student Society Sanctioned for Being Women-Only

We feel humbled and frankly surprised by the confidence so many people have placed on us to take on this challenge to protect single-sex services and spaces. We were worried because you haven't seen our faces, you don't know our names and our legal case has received no newspaper coverage so far so we assumed that we would spend a very long and stressful month trying to reach our Initial Target but you truly delivered and we are so grateful. The outpouring of solidarity and support has been so heartening and reassuring.

We wish we didn’t have to be doing this, but we are encouraged to know that the public sentiment to protect women's rights (and everybody's right to single-sex services like ours) is so strong. We appreciate how you have spread the word about our legal case by sharing our funding effort and boosting financial contributions.

We all feel particularly emotional reading all the comments showing solidarity. As we mentioned in our text, we are four young women taking on an organisation that has a lot more resources than us, but we feel supported now knowing that so many of you are watching, backing us and following the developments of our legal case so closely. We will be updating you every step of the way, including information regarding when and where we file our case.

All we want is for the Bristol SU to admit that their sanctions against us were discriminatory and unlawful, to prevent what happened to us from happening to other women, to continue providing our consciousness-raising meetings as a service for women and hosting our successful public events open to the public. We may be young and right at the beginning of our careers, but we will not budge on these points.

Thank you for letting us know loud and clear, through your messages of solidarity and financial support, that you all feel just as strongly as we do about the protection of single-sex services and spaces, and that you will walk with us every step of the way to ensure we see this through.

Kind regards,

Women Talk Back!

Thank goodness for these strong women, happy to raise their heads above the parapet to protect single sex spaces- especially in a university like Bristol which on the whole hasn't just drank the kool aid but is bathing in it.

I am confused about the single sex exmptions to the the equal rights act

who actually decides whether an aim is legitimate?

or does it always have to go to court?

Gosh my blood is boiling reading their Crowd Funding page. This is such an important case isn’t it, I mean it just goes straight to the heart of this issue, are we allowed to implement the Equality Act?

@zanahoria

I am confused about the single sex exmptions to the the equal rights act

who actually decides whether an aim is legitimate?

or does it always have to go to court?

It is the provider who decides. In this case, the student society. Their case is strong, especially since they make such a clear distinction between activities where single-sex is a necessity because it wouldn't work otherwise (consciousness raising sessions) and public meetings, where it is not.

Once the provider has applied the exception, someone who is against that would have to go to court and sue for unlawful discrimination. But as I said, it is a legitimate aim and a proportionate means to exclude all males from consciousness raising sessions for female people about female experiences, while allowing everyone access to other events.

Donated - thanks for raising awareness

What kind of man forces himself into a women’s group that doesn’t want men in it.

Donated, I am beyond annoyed this morning, what with this & The Lancet’s “Bodies with vaginas”.

Also donated, thanks @mcduffy. Hope they get an influx of donations now!

Thanks. Also donated.

Yes, I don't have any legal knowledge, but this looks to me like a case to establish the parameters around what constitutes 'a proportionate means to a legitimate aim'.

And, once again, although the outcome is extremely important, the sunlight is equally crucial.

No-body can read things like this and be any doubt as to the massive control women are being subjected to through this ideology.

They have banned the group from conducting women-only events and have insisted that all members of Women Talk Back undergo “diversity and inclusivity training” that will focus on the importance of allowing men into previously women-only events.

Digging.

In March it is claimed that two “trans-activists, including a self-identifying transwoman” attended a session organised by the group called “Boundaries and feminism”.

What’s that saying at the moment? Tell me you don’t give a about women without telling me you don’t give a about women.

Argh it got rid of my expletives!

Tell me you don’t care about women without telling me you don’t care about women.

What kind of man forces himself into a women’s group that doesn’t want men in it.

Well, we all know the answer to that ...

If you used asterisks in or around your swear words that'll be why, ARoombaOfOnesOwn.

Their donations are going up quickly this morning!