Female Newspaper Journalists Deliberately Breaking IPSO Trans Rules: A thread.

[TheClogLady]

Quick background (to be expanded in a subsequent post): Back in 2016 IPSO issued some ‘guidance’ regarding the reporting of stories involving transgender individuals. This guidance, like transgender guidance introduced elsewhere (eg The Equal Treatment Benchbook for the judiciary) was pretty much entirely written by trans activists and implemented without consulting anyone else or thinking through the inevitable consequences (the road to hell really IS paved with good intentions).

The effect of this guidance has been the weirdly Orwellian news stories featuring unforgettable phrases such as ‘her penis’ and words that say she/her/ladyname and pictures that show obviously manly men.

Clearly, loads of journalists and opinion writers have been doing whatever they can to either highlight the absurdity (via the text/picture juxtaposition) or by skilfully avoiding pronouns/using surnames* as much as possible (much like we’ve done here) but it must be a source of constant frustration for those in the profession who went into it with the intention of speaking truth and have instead found themselves carefully wriggling around as close to the truth as it’s possible to get without their publication being hit with a huge fine.

Yesterday, Janice Turner tweeted that her column in today’s Times would refer to Adam-Isla Graham-Bryson using he/him pronouns.

This is a deliberate breach of the transgender guidelines and this must’ve been discussed and preapproved by Janice’s bosses at the Times.

Today, Amanda Platell’s Mail column also uses correct sex pronouns to refer to Adam Graham.

So that’s two obvious and deliberate IPSO breaches published in one day, both by female columnists, Janice Turner in the Times, Amanda Platell in the Mail.

(I also found this Julie Bindell one from a couple of days ago but it’s likely an online only article, and Mail Online aren’t IPSO compulsory compliant)

I doubt very much that two deliberate IPSO breaches on a single day is pure accident, and I like to imagine that there is some sort of tervern female journos whatsapp group where this has been discussed…

… so, who is next? Suzanne Moore at the Telegraph? Hadley Freeman at Sunday Times? Sarah Vine at The Mail? I bet they’ve all protested this Orwellian madness to their bosses many times. Which newspaper editors will be ready and willing to back their female writers?

Yes and to keep hearing 'when she was a man' on news reports had me shouting at the radio.

It's such a ridiculous statement how can reporters say it without laughing (cynically).

off topic but just went to email IPSO - asking how to complain about IPSO - and notice the email is inquiries@ipso. Grammar peeps should that not be enquiries? wanted to check before I have a dig at them about it!

Basically that's an Americanism.

In British English, traditionally, an enquiry is a question and an inquiry is a formal inquest or investigation.

I find "inquiries" particularly jarring in the plural.

Yes an inquiry is like when there's one into something that's happened like Grenfell. An enquiry is like a query.

Unless IPSO is taking directions on its inquiries into the media via a general public email...

Justnot · Today 14:44

off topic but just went to email IPSO - asking how to complain about IPSO - and notice the email is inquiries@ipso. Grammar peeps should that not be enquiries?

I think it may be that they've accidentally outed themselves as needing a Public Inquiry.

I’ve just told them off…….

And not newspapers but telly

Important thread - thank you TheClogLady

Way back in December 2019 James Kirkup wrote about the incredible tactics of transactivists as laid out in the Denton's report. Capturing the media is essential if you are to force a harmful lie into public consciousness (as is capturing the legal profession and law enforcement if you are to coerce the public into ignoring what they know to be true - but that's for another thread) :

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/

Sarah decided after a debate with Robin Moira White, (there a thread on here with the interview ) who gets posts deleted here if Robin is correctly sexed so you can imagine the joy of her sentences that contained many many Robins.

That mixed with the fact Robin still refuses to explains Robin's comment that Robin made that women are mad. She has decided that people like Robin no longer deserve this courtesy from her and so is going to use the correct sex of the person she is talking about or to in interviews.

I'm sure Robin will be delighted to know what part Robin has played in this particular piece of liberating the language of women back from men it doesn't belong to.

Don't ever can us women witches again Robin.

We will never forget that.

We have long memories.

Sorry

don't ever call us witches again Robin

Witches? Well that's not a loaded insult at all, at all, is it?

I paraphrased I will return with Robin's actual words shortly.

See below

RobinMoiraWhite · 24/01/2023 17:49

It’s a paradox for me. Through my working life I have tried to treat everyone properly, equally and fairly, no matter what their protected characteristic.

But the worst of you here treat trans people just as you would complain about men treating women historically.

A little bit of self-reflection and self-awareness goes a long way.

But I’m sure you will just keep stirring your cauldrons.

’Bye for now.

Politely, Robin can jog on.

@TheClogLady - thanks for linking me to this thread.

Why should us women, any woman police our language to appease men like the one above who insults us and insists we indulge in their pretense that they are women whilst they insult us and use our spaces?

I'm quite sure Huw Edwards on beeb the other night was labouring the sentence deliberately complete with a puzzled "what a lot of fucking nonsense " expression

All About Trans are the fresh faces (Paris Lees, Fox and Owl etc) who took up the trans media baton from the older activists, chronologically it went:

Press for Change: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_for_Change

Celeb patron: Julie Hesmondhaigh, who played Hayley Cropper on coronation street from 1998- the character had various trans political story arcs including getting a GRC and thus being able to marry Roy.

uncommongroundmedia.com/hayley-cropper-coronation-streets-trojan-horse/

Press for Change were involved in the
writing of the Hayley character and Christine Burns of PFC introduced Annie Wallace to Julie (although some mainstream news stories say Wallace wrote to the Radio Times and the Wallace/Hesmondhaigh introduction came from that, the version told by Wallace and Burns is much more ‘deliberate intervention’ than ‘happy accident’).
Wallace was employed by Corrie as a part time advisor and directed Julie’s performance from behind the scenes.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayley_Cropper

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Wallace

www.lancs.live/news/local-news/watch-accringtons-julie-hesmondhalgh-teams-9933077

Trans Media Watch:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Media_Watch

TMW wrote the first sets of informal guidelines for the media in 2010, and in 2011, co founder of Trans Media Watch, Helen Belcher, gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, which was probably the biggest single event In the timeline that lead to the IPSO guidance:

www.discoverleveson.com/witness/Helen_Belcher/3809/

Weirdly, Belcher’s name is completely absent from the TMW Wikipedia page, yet TMW is prominent on Belcher’s own wiki page.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Belcher
I’m guessing that Belcher and the other cofounder, Josephine Shaw have had a falling out because Belcher is now director and chair of TransActual?

www.transactual.org.uk/press-release-obe-helen-belcher

All About Trans:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_About_Trans

All About Trans were originally called Trans Media Action because it was an offshoot of Trans Media Watch, in conjunction with a media company called ‘On The Road’

Paris Lees was the main player in bridging the gap between the sad old dusty middle aged activists and the glossy media world:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Lees

To circle this back to the beginning of my post, All About Trans were key facilitators in getting trans characters written into Hollyoaks, which resulted in Annie Wallace, supposedly ‘the real life Hayley Cropper’) being cast as Sally St Clair (see screenshot from 2014)

onroadmedia.org.uk/events/all-about-trans-interaction-with-hollyoaks/

Annie Wallace is a Mermaids patron.

I came across an extraordinary YouTube interview with Wallace a few days ago, the host is some random EDI person who does corporate Rainbow training:

The video goes through the whole Christine Burns/PFC/Hayley Cropper/All About Trans & Hollyoaks back story but at about 20 mins in Wallace goes a bit loopy re: terfs.

Wallace completely mixes up Maya Forstater and Allison Bailey and strays dangerously close to defamation territory towards Helen Joyce.

It’s only had 56 views. I’m going to back it up now before it gets memory holed - I’ll post the direct link when I’ve made the copy.

One of the other 55 viewers was Tish, and if you scroll towards the end of Tish’s blog on Wallace (which is mostly about Wallace’s chapter in
Christine Burns’ book, ‘Trans Britain’) you can read Tish’s comments on the video and see some screenshots:

gendercriticalwoman.blog/2022/11/13/annie-wallace-trans-britain-pt-14/

There is a weird chunk missing towards the end of the video (approx 44:00) where something has obviously been cut out.

Helen Belcher also has a chapter in Burns’ book, Tish discusses it here:

gendercriticalwoman.blog/2023/01/02/helen-belcher-trans-britain/

So, imo, the main characters in this sorry IPSO saga have been:

Christine Burns
Annie Wallace
Helen Belcher
Paris Lees

Which is pretty WTAF when you come to think about it.

Now off to watch the Sex Matters video you posted above, thanks!

(One of the screenshots is from the Hayley Cropper wiki and the other from Paris Lees’ wiki - both are long articles so I pulled out the most relevant bits to evidence my post).

Bonus post:

Here’s some randos MA thesis from 2014 - it’s about the first 5 years of Trans Media Watch, so basically the lead up to the IPSO guideline. I haven’t read it yet, but it might have some interesting bits and bobs that aren’t discussed in the mainstream articles:

’Transgendering the Media’

transreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021-12-30_61cde361e1f0f_TransgenderingthemediaTransMediaWatchandthestruggleoverrepresentationsoftransgenderintheBritishmediabySilvadeAssisCz-lib.org_.pdf

Sonia is a columnist for the Observer who aren’t signed up to IPSO.

Nonetheless, it would be great if her editor could support Sonia in allowing her to use sex based pronouns in her column (and I bet she desperately wants to!)

Hadley has retweeted Janice’s Times piece and presumably has her own column in tomorrow’s Sunday Times? Will Hadley be allowed to write about this man, freely and truthfully?

Two to watch, for deffo!

Thank you for this thread, it's really informative.

Boiledbeetle · Today 15:46

Why should us women, any woman police our language to appease men like the one above who insults us and insists we indulge in their pretense that they are women whilst they insult us and use our spaces?

Well, quite. Robin reminds me of those kids at school, who would insult you relentlessly and when you finally snapped, "Piss off, spotty!" would run crying to the teachers and tell on you.

TheClogLady · Today 16:02

Celeb patron: Julie Hesmondhaigh, who played Hayley Cropper on coronation street from 1998...

Have you got any ideas as to why they had a real woman play a trans character?

Presumably the new rules hadn't caught up? The ones that say that no man or woman may ever play a trans character but transwomen and men can play men or women whenever they fancy? 🤡

Ah yes, I see now. Still, most vulnerable etc etc ad infinitum.