'Nicola Sturgeon and the vindication of the Terfs' by James Kirkup

[Rightsraptor]

Another excellent article by James K in The Spectator & MN moderators - please note I am citing JK's exact title here so I haven't used *

James has always written very clearly about this and has been bang on the money. He wrote nearly five years ago that accepting self-identified gender at face value could lead to policies and practices apt to be exploited by predatory men. And what did I read in the paper only today? That the Scottish Justice Minister Keith Brown (is that the name?) is still saying that they accept people's gender at face value.

But the real reason I wanted to start this thread was this, again James's words:
'... but the names of those women [who have been shouting long & loud about this] should be recorded as they are - sadly - vindicated . Nicola Williams of Fair Play for Women. Ruth Serwotka, Judith Green and many others from Woman's Place UK. Kate Coleman from Keep Prisons Single Sex. Journalists Janice Turner, Sarah Ditum, Helen Joyce, Helen Lewis and - all hail - Julie Bindel. MurrayBlackburnMackenzie. For Women Scotland. Some writer from south Edinburgh called Jo. Mumsnet.'

And amen to all of that. The best of women. 👏❤

Are you Helen Lewis? Because that's not the way it looks from the groundling position. I speak as a Radio 4 listener who's heard most of her work over the years and still couldn't tell you where she stands.

Me, too.

I am not Helen Lewis. Bloody wish I was, but I'm not. I just think she's excellent.

I've always liked her writing. But you do, as has been said many times, need to 'piss or get off the pot'.

No TWAW, no Trutrans.

Find your courage

There are a whole bunch of women he could have mentioned but didn’t. WPUK, however, did a lot of the groundwork in the early days when very few others were interested. In 2018 they had something like 18 public meetings around the country. I think along with Mumsnet, it was those meetings that helped mobilise the resistance and begin to shift public perception.

Great article. Of course he couldn't name check everyone.

I like it @Johnduttonsbuttocks !

Ah, in that case, I'll be over there --> in the corner, stood standing corrected then @mrshoho @inventinglouise
I just went by other posts on the thread without reading the article - that'll learn me! :-(

Owen Jones deserves a mention for peeking me 👏

If you listen to theNews Quiz from a couple of weeks ago, I think it is pretty clear where Helen Lewis is. As it is a comedy programme, she has to clearly check herself in order to prevent herself from tearing shaparak khorsandi (who is spoiling for a fight on it) to pieces, but very clearly clarifies that she is on the opposite side of the fight....

I’m not sure I agree. The title of the article is itself is a nod to the Harry Potter books. He’s perhaps suggesting that the current mood was written by JK Rowling.

He mentions Jo from South Edinburgh. Keep up.

Honestly, the South Edinburgh thing confused me because I thought she was in NW Edinburgh.

The more times the names of the brave women who dared to stand up and speak out are written down, the better the chance of those names making it into history. I think there's a risk that when this madness comes to an end and our great-grandchildren are learning history the credit for bringing the era of gender politics will not go to the grassroots female campaigners, it will be appropriated by or on behalf of politicians who have arrived late on the scene.

James Kirkup was one of the first journalists bringing awareness to this issue in 2017? I have the utmost respect for him in what he's done as NO ONE was talking about this then. I may not agree with him on other issues but on this he's shown huge integrity and for that I'll always be hugely grate ful.

I think he's getting his Jos muddled up. The south Edinburgh one's the KC? However, three cheers for both Edinburgh Jos, even if they live in opposite side of the city they're only a few miles apart 😁

She'd be West I think? But yes, three cheers for Edinburgh Jo's!

@EzzieM Already dealt with at 22:27, approx 25 minutes before your reply :-)

@pattihews I refer you to the reply to Ezzie above, a case of physic heal thy self, maybe? lol

In any case, as pointed out by Tallisker, the Jo referred to in the article might not have been JK Rowling but a different writer?

I agree. Helen Lewis is great (I'm not her either, sadly). Some people are being a bit No True Scotsman about this. Not everyone has to be a suffragette, suffragists of all kinds are vital. Not least because it's too easy to dismiss the movement as fringe if everyone within it says / does / thinks the same things. The broader it is, the harder it is to write off.

Probably Joanna Cherry, MP, whose constituency is the South West of Edinburgh.

@Waitwhat23 Thank you,yes, Jo Cherry, that would be the one, i just couldn't place a JC, d'oh!
That makes sense now.

I should have been clearer. I meant Jo Cherry, that marvellous woman who says "Twitter" so beautifully, and the other Jo, a writer, a philanthropist and another marvellous woman. One of the most famous in the world 🥰

Perfect approach!

Then I want to mention the merkin wearer of tales that will be told to children on their grannies knees...

of how Elaine Miller the First Minister of Scotland from 2025 -2043 on the passing of the GRR Bill, in December 2022, raised her skirt and flashed her merkin to the members of Parliament. And that was the day Nicola Sturgeon's fate was sealed.

Love it @Boiledbeetle . Do you think in a few hundred years we even have 'Merkin Night' to commemorate this remarkable heroine? I hope so.