An excellent piece from Glinner

[Tricyrtis2022]

I was invited to deliver a few words at the Battle of Ideas party being held tonight. here is the full text of what I hope is a short speech.

grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/my-speech-at-the-battle-of-ideas

Eloquent and concise! I was welling up by the end of it:

"If together we turn our full attention to this grave threat to enlightenment values, if together we break through the wall of silence and fear on this issue, to reject the taboos and speech codes to which we are all suddenly subject, then together, we may find ourselves better able to fight whatever unexpected, viral threat the Internet has in store for us next. Thank you."

I hope the party was fun too, @Glinner - you deserve a break from the constant battle and have paid such a high price for supporting women's rights and protecting children.

If you find that anyone filmed that speech, do come back and let us know.

ps. the "I thought it was obvious" refrain reminded me of this song by Au Pairs:

"It's Obvious"

Chorus You’re equal But different You’re equal But different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different You’re equal but different It’s obvious (it's obvious) It’s obvious (it's obvious) It’s obvious (it's obvious) So obvious (so obvious) It’s obvious (it's obvious) So obvious (so obvious) It’s obvious (it's obvious) So obvious (so obvious)

Wonderful, powerful speech. Thank you.

Love Glinner.

@Kucingsparkles cooties are fleas / bedbugs etc.

Here's a letter to the Guardian, regarding Nicola Sturgeon and her self ID idiocy. It's by transexual, Debbie Hayton:

www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2022/dec/04/observer-letters-nicola-sturgeon-trans-rights

Sonia Sodha is right to expose the ludicrous naivety at the heart of Nicola Sturgeon’s reforms to the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland (“Sturgeon’s plans to reform gender law could leave Tories as the champions of women’s rights”, Comment).

As a transsexual, I am astonished and appalled that a bill purporting to extend trans rights compromises the rights of women and undermines the safeguarding of children. When distinguishing men from women, it is neither progressive nor practical to replace biological sex with self-identified feelings of gender – whatever gender might mean.

Ah, thank you @XanaduKira ! I did think they had to be something like that.

(Enjoyed the irony of the fleas poster just afterwards.)

It's always the same playbook isn't it.

Glinner and his wife were fully supportive of Irish women in relation to abortion. When it was a subject that many were fearful of. I will never forget him for that alone.

His credentials as a supporter of women are impeccable. He has been a very brave defender of women. For which he has paid a heavy price. What is important is the content of his speech not whataboutery of where it was hosted.

Thank you Graham Linehan for all you do for us. Your speech was excellent. I would have loved to have heard you speak it.

He really has paid the highest price, hasn't he @Cailin66 - career and marriage ruined simply for speaking out on behalf of women. Unbelievable. He's done so well simply for continuing to carry on.

They appear to come from accounts which have been specially created to smear (by weasel words)

Interestingly, the etymology of right/left in many languages is such that ‘right’ is associated with good and correct, while left is associated with bad and wrong.

Yet, so often we use the moral hierarchy the other way around when talking about politics. You see it again here in the idea that it would be abhorrent to fraternise with the political right and we valorise the left.

Of course, that’s because the concept of a left/right political shift comes from where people sat in the French National Assembly during the revolution.

It does mean that in politics we quite often talk about the right when we mean the (people we think are) wrong.

Not necessarily useful or important, but interesting. It always strikes me as a bit linguistically absurd. @Glinner might appreciate that absurdity and have something more amusing to say about it than me. 😁

I suspect the best way of responding to people who crop up to berate anyone who considers speaking to or near ‘the right/wrong’ might be to simply appreciate the absurdity.

@Glinner Thank you Graham, from Canada. As you know from the very eloquent Arty, it’s dire here. I just heard from another close friend that their daughter is now “non-binary”. The whole ideology is absolutely rampant and entrenched here. Thank you for all you do.

That's a fascinating and wide-ranging interview, @ILikeDungs
Thanks for sharing.

"I suggest another reason is that this ideology benefits one group in particular across every level of society. Men."

Damn - this is perfect. In some ways, one of the most upsetting things to me about this battle for women's rights, is how so many men that I thought were good men are - and were - totally willing to throw women and girls under the bus for other men. Men they didn't even know. The confusion on their little males faces when challenged and asked to think of women and girls as whole human beings not support animals has made me so angry and depressed. It has really laid bare the deep-seated misogyny in the world.

On a more lighthearted note - I've been introducing DS to Father Ted and the IT Crowd. He loves the IT Crowd (we just watched the I thought you said you were from Iran one - its on Netflix), but he doesn't really get the Catholic jokes on Father Ted. And comfort scone from Count Arthur Strong is part of our family lexicon.

In some ways, one of the most upsetting things to me about this battle for women's rights, is how so many men that I thought were good men are - and were - totally willing to throw women and girls under the bus for other men.

Yes, me too.

And me. Its the way that so many men believe that our human rights are theirs to give and take away as they see fit.

And me. My relationship with my brother will never recover.

And it’s also incredibly transphobic as these men don’t see trans women as women, they see them as, possibly different or lesser, but still men who must be prioritised over actual biological women. If they saw them as women, they wouldn’t give a shiny shit about them. As always men’s feelings over women’s safety.
Men like @Glinner who stand up to this shit give me hope and I know not all men are like that 😃.