What do you think happened to all those copies of "Trans" that we sponsored?

[ArtemesiaK]

...because it seems that a lot of them have either not been read or just dismissed. Did Keir Starmer bother to open his copy? Were they intercepted by junior staff? Is there a cupboard full of them somewhere in the Houses of Parliament? Have the local charity shops been inundated?
Just wondering because so many MPs seem so ignorant on the subject :(

recycling, I would assume (bin in the less green minded MPs' offices).

Depends on your audience - always thought it was a daft idea to basically mass spam a book - you might get some people reading it, but a lot of people probably would have rolled their eyes and ignored it - - like I would have done - -
Its like the book equivalent of foisting religious leaflets on passers by who haven't even asked for the bloody thing in the first place.

Yoy can't make people read a book they don't want to read. Tbh if a TRA tried to 'educate' me by pointedly sending me a pro-gender ideology book, I would probably not read it, and even if I did read it it wouldn't change my mind. Also, I expect they are quite busy.

People who aren't interested were never going to read a whole book.

I expect MPs get sent books all the time, and the majority of them will ignore them. However, a few will probably pick it up and have a look at some point.

I read Trans for 99p on Kindle but wanted to support Helen Joyce (and her publisher) and sending a copy to my MP seemed like a good way of doing so, even if it never gets read.

When the house of cards comes tumbling down, they won't be able to say nobody told us.

@lazylinguist

Yoy can't make people read a book they don't want to read. Tbh if a TRA tried to 'educate' me by pointedly sending me a pro-gender ideology book, I would probably not read it, and even if I did read it it wouldn't change my mind. Also, I expect they are quite busy.

I would be delighted to read some of the TRA books, if someone sent me them for free. Unlikely to spend much money on them, tho.

I sent mine as a quick way of letting him know that the issue was important to me, as a constituent.

I suspect that the whole SNP MP contingent had a ceremonial bonfire of them.

Pretty sure I saw something the other day where either the group who set up the sponsoring project or the writer was talking with some MPs about it? Some have read it. Some, when they discovered other MPs talking about it and that they all should have received one, it was a useful realisation that someone in their office was indeed screening what reached their eyes and I saw a mention of working out who it was who binned it and dealing with them, and having another copy sent out.

Important for an MP in a responsible position to inform themselves fully on this.

GC people generally are keen to read and hear all voices. They've read and listened extensively to both sides. When you start hearing the 'I cannot read that for it will pollute me/it is the voice of evil and I cannot touch it' type responses, the person is actually telling you that they are afraid of what will happen to their beliefs if they read things that question them.

And really that confirms a whole lot of stuff that MPs ought to be fully conversant with. Nothing that cannot be vigorously debated and proven and based on objective fact with the needs of all people given equal weight should go into law. And quasi religious beliefs need managing in the same way as all other beliefs.

My MP read it. I asked them. Think they found it interesting, and commented it was well written.

When the house of cards comes tumbling down
What exactly do you mean there?

@TheHomeEdit

My MP read it. I asked them. Think they found it interesting, and commented it was well written.

if they didn't give specifics, they did not read it.

"Oh thank you, yes, I read this book. I found it very interesting and well written" could be said to any constituent on anything.

@NoNotMeNoSiree

When the house of cards comes tumbling down What exactly do you mean there?

I lobbied my MP on the trans issue. he spoke about having met some trans children, and I pointed out that the end of the road for those children was sterilisation and life long medication if they persist. you could see the 'oh fuck' going through his head in real time.

that house of cards

and I also think it's not the end of the world if all the copies weren't read. Inertia is real. If MPs see that enough people feel strongly enough to put their money where their mouth is and go to the trouble of sending a book, that alone will make an impression.

we know that genderism is not a grassroots movement, it's funded by NGOs and a small number of rich men. any crowd funding or attempt at grassroots fund raising by genderists tends to see a fairy derisory response.

the contrast with recent incredibly successful feminist fundraising is notable.

What exactly do you mean there?

The one where an idiot can declare in TV that anyone who says they know what a woman is, is a liar.
The one where people pretend that people born male aren't stronger, faster than people born female.
The one where people actually say that there are more than two sexes
That house of cards.

if they didn't give specifics, they did not read it.

They gave specifics, they had read it.

Important for an MP in a responsible position to inform themselves fully on this.

Yes, but I doubt they've got time to be reading whole books about every topic or social issue which an MP needs to be aware of. It is a massively important issue, and one I feel very strongly about. I just think it was a bit optimistic to think that sending a book was going to be that effective. What will be effective imo are the TRAs' many own-goals, and the growing realisation that the average voter is actually utterly incredulous at the idea that TWAW.

Some, when they discovered other MPs talking about it and that they all should have received one, it was a useful realisation that someone in their office was indeed screening what reached their eyes and I saw a mention of working out who it was who binned it and dealing with them, and having another copy sent out.

Yes Helen herself has also provided copies to those who realised they should have one and don’t.

@NoNotMeNoSiree

When the house of cards comes tumbling down What exactly do you mean there?

When the director of Stonewall starts to roll back on previous policies, such as suggesting organisations should remove the words 'mother' and 'father' from policies.

And as organisations quietly start to revert to the correct interpretations of the law as set out in the Equality Act, before Stonewall tried to make up its own version. And as more and more organisations start to leave, realising that Stonewall was nothing more than an expensive gravy train that offered bad advice and created division and mistrust.

That house of cards.

and I also think it's not the end of the world if all the copies weren't read. Inertia is real. If MPs see that enough people feel strongly enough to put their money where their mouth is and go to the trouble of sending a book, that alone will make an impression.

we know that genderism is not a grassroots movement, it's funded by NGOs and a small number of rich men. any crowd funding or attempt at grassroots fund raising by genderists tends to see a fairy derisory response.

the contrast with recent incredibly successful feminist fundraising is notable.

Exactly.

I got a very nice reply from my MP's office.

But he is on the GC side anyway.

@NoNotMeNoSiree

Depends on your audience - always thought it was a daft idea to basically mass spam a book - you might get some people reading it, but a lot of people probably would have rolled their eyes and ignored it - - like I would have done - - Its like the book equivalent of foisting religious leaflets on passers by who haven't even asked for the bloody thing in the first place.

These are MPs, MSPs, MSs/ASs, and MLAs, @NoNotMeNoSiree, not random private citizens/members of the public/12 year olds in Ohio with no knowledge of (but plenty of opinions about) UK politics ... as challenging as it may be sometimes, for some people, to tell the difference.

Anyway, I followed up with my MP and constituency MSP (neither is a misogynist or homophobe, as far as I've ever seen, so I didn't expect a negative reaction) to see if they'd received the book and to share some thoughts and ask what they think. The responses were thoughtful and polite (as I'd expect), including an invitation to come in and discuss in person. I'd recommend people who care about these issues follow up directly, if able.

I'm glad I sent one to my own (conservative) MP. He seems like a good person and I like to think, even if he didn't have time to read it, he might have passed it to his wife (unless she's one of us, of course, and already well informed!)
I would have thought that Keir Starmer and Whatshisface of the Libdems could have at least referred to it before making stupid statements about cervixes, etc......

Mark Jenkinson (Con, Workington), who is openly GC and incurred the wrath of India Willoughby recently, was offering to send copies of Trans to other people who might benefit from reading it.

Helen Joyce said something about it in this

We know that there's lots of copies have been sent out to influential people. Have you had any direct feedback?

Yeah, I have. I've been in and out a bit into the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and I have had people say to me "Oh my god, you know, I got it from Sex Matters and I've read it, and this is serious". And there have been some really, really important people I know have read it and are trying to decide what they need to do about it. So if anyone here funded one of those copies, I mean, you know, thank you very much. It was actually a very influential campaign.

I think there were people who perhaps didn't quite get their copy because, perhaps, the staff in their constituency office didn't quite understand what they were meant to be doing with it, but now people know they're meant to have received it.

I've also had MPs say to me, "I didn't get my copy, uh, somehow it didn't turn up and, you know, I've looked into it and I think I know who threw it out", and I've just given them another copy. So, you know, we're getting there. We're getting there one lawmaker at a time.