I think i encountered a fellow traveller at work today. We briefly mentioned Adam Tickell...

[BenCooperisaGod]

And looked at eachother a bit uncertainly.

If you are on here just say something dinosaur related the next time our paths cross.

It wasn't me. But I know what you mean - I think I spotted a fellow traveller too at a recent work thing, but there were other people about too, so it wasn't appropriate to start a conversation. Some sort of code word sounds useful.
Unless you're a paleontologist in which case dinosaurs might come up anyway.

Was it at Tickell's old workplace?

🦖🦕

His coming up was quite tangential. She mentioned him, said you might have heard he can be quite polarising, i said oh yes i am aware, we looked at eachother knowingly and then moved on.

Now just need to figure out what angle the knowingness comes from.

I think dropping slightly oblique references might be a helpful approach.

Adam Tickell was a good one. Only academics, TRAs and GC feminists will clock that. Then you just have to figure out which camp they are in.

We need a secret handshake.....

No idea who Adam Tickell is at all!

I find a casual reference to 'gender fluidity' accompanied by raised eyebrow/pursed lips/eyeroll has most often been the tip-off that someone else is on the wame wavelength.

Accompanied by, hear me out, a tut sound that has a close resemblance to a viper's hiss.

Or a dinosaur pocket square. The shadow of a dinosaur across a caricature of David Lammy.

Code phrase: Do 🦕 🦖 hoard their rights?

VC of Sussex Uni before he decamped to Brum this year. Kathleen Stock connection.

www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/56597

I've come across a few in the wild. My favourite was my (retired nurse) sports colleague who asked if it was OK to come into the small changing room when i was in. I said yes, she replied 'we're all women, sorry cervix havers' with a huge eye roll. It was lovely.

I am still bafflrd by the anxiety huge swathes of people who have no idea about any of this.

Was chatting to DSIL the other day who is head of governors at her local school and it hasn't come up there yet. I mentioned something about name changes without parents permission and she tells she thought it was illegal, certainly her school had a policy they will only call the child whatever is on the formal registration form unless parents request a change. Even a nickname needs a formal request.

She has never heard of admittedly primary school children changing gender / name and bring affirmed.

It makes me question everything I've read on here tbh! Only momentarily, but I do feel I inhabit two parallel universe on this topic- the one which exists with MN and has links and evidence and robust discussion, and the one i see with my oen eyes outside my front door where trans people barely exist and noone suffers any adverse consequences. Its very odd.

I thought that my new user name would indicate which camp I am in, being an adult human female, following the Allison Bailey employment tribunal!

My DH was seated next to a colleague's wife at a recent work jolly and said she seemed very clued up about 'the whole gender ID thing just like you'. I was so hoping to bump into her in the loos so we could do the equivalent of a secret handshake.

On the subject of dinosaurs, anyone else noticed how many TRAs have a dinosaur in their Twitter handle? I've seen loads of them!

When they started using AHF in Twitter bios I thought they were being provocative but seeing the adoption of GCs' jokey response to Lammy's insult I've decided instead that they are just plain stupid.

They felt women were appropriating dinosaurs, and they wanted to reclaim them.

I have a replica suffragette brooch that I wear a lot. If questioned by a youngling, I explain the history of suffragette jewellery and joke that one day I’ll be able to afford a real one. They know, but it’s very hard to challenge a senior woman about the history of women’s voting and democratic rights.
As for some of the older women at work, it’s like a bat signal. Ironically, we do most of our talking about it in the gender neutral khazi.

Link for anyone interested:
www.museumselection.co.uk/jewellery/suffragette-brooch/

JK Rowling is a good one. I've had a few 'ooo yes she's amazing isn't she' convos which ostensibly were about Lumos or Strike, accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

They felt women were appropriating dinosaurs, and they wanted to reclaim them.

They would do this and have done this with any symbol women had. Because many of these people are petty, childish and like online trolling. They also have think it's a "win", like they do when they sabotage feminist hashtags.

I wear a suffragette pin, never had anyone comment on it but I’d make someone argue to the death the reason it’s inappropriate.

Sadly I've never had an encounter of this type in my woke profession. I've resorted to thinking that anyone without pronouns in their signature is in the same camp...clutching at straws but you never know!

Plus I noticed a couple of professional connections who follow JKR - surely a sign?!?

In my immediate social circle, I know of three women who are now non-binary, another who is dressing up in male clothing and wearing a binder to do it; a distant family member by marriage is now identifying as a boy and I'm being criticised in a local feminist group by other women who think the few of us are openly gender critical are being mean. I live in one of the most rural parts of the UK so if gender ideology is here, it's everywhere.

I used to be on another forum years ago, before it died. There was an ongoing thread in there called something like “I saw you…”.

Basically, people saying they thought they’d spotted a like minded traveller (if you like) and giving the circumstances so the other person could see themselves being spotted (if they were on the forum).

I do like a bit of MI5, but I was never spotted, despite checking 😊

I also bring up JK as my test the waters piece. Work in academic policy so couldn't use Tickell as I have to say his name all the time

Ooh, I love this sort of thing. I hope the other person is on here and notices!

I sort of know of someone who is a friend of a friend who might be on here, but haven't had the chance to properly speak to them for a very long time. Hope that changes sometime.

Aren’t dinosaurs a sort of symbol? Specifically the t-Rex? I saw a t-Rex pendant on the Jo Malone website recently and am going to buy one