New Statesman article on Kathleen Stock

[brainegg]

This is by Philip Collins, who (according to Wikipedia) was chief speech writer to Tony Blair and also helped Keir Starmer write his 2021 Conference speech. Hope Keir reads this

www.newstatesman.com/comment/2021/10/kathleen-stock-trans-rights-and-a-crisis-of-free-speech-in-british-universities

I think he was the one who said (when he was let go at the Times) - they wanted someone more plugged into the government and I’d rather be plugged into the mains.

The mental health of trans people is notably worse than that of the general population.

Is this true? He uses gender assigned at birth but it’s good to see this in the New Statesman.

I would agree they are often in very poor mental health

I don't think that the current affirmation approach will help them

Trans is in no way linked to mental ill health absolutely not. Not in any way, shape or form. Suggesting it is is actual violence and makes them suicidal but not in a mental health kind of way....

He seems a bit confused.

But, in truth, the support for Stock is not coming from reactionaries. It is coming from, for example, feminists who, in the previous generation, argued vehemently for the autonomy of and respect for women that they believe is now threatened by the dismantling of the idea of gender.

It's the idea of sex which is under threat. Transactivists don't want to dismantle the idea of gender, they think it's more important than sex. Did he mean to write 'sex' there?

There is a case to be made against Stock’s contention. Perhaps biological sex doesn’t determine much of our behaviour and therefore doesn’t matter a great deal.

Again he seems to have misrepresented her standpoint. It's the fact that biological sex determines what sort of body we have which makes it important. He doesn't seem to have a clue what the feminist position is. It's gender ideology which says that personality has to 'match' the body.

I would agree they are often in very poor mental health

And that is part of the issue - the 'co-morbid' conditions - transitioning is sometimes latched onto as a solution to much deeper issues. And that's before we start on the links to autism (not that autists necessarily have poor mental health, of course)

I agree, OldCrone, he hasn’t actually listened to Kathleen Stock’s arguments, which makes him look somewhat ignorant, but at least he is arguing for her right to make them.