Starmer: Almost no-one is talking about trans issues

[SidewaysOtter]

To quote from the rolling news section of this morning's Times:

"Almost no Britons are “talking about trans issues,” Sir Keir Starmer has said as he questioned why such issues are a focus of political debate.

The Labour leader sought to win over gender critical campaigners and MPs at the weekend, telling The Sunday Times there would be “no rolling back” of women’s rights if the party formed a government.

Speaking to LBC this morning he repeated his position that “for the vast majority — let’s say 99.9 per cent — biology matters” in defining a woman. He said that Labour was trying to agree a “common sense, respectable and tolerant position”, but that it was “not prepared to ignore” the small number of people who identify as a different gender to the one they were born in.

He insisted it was a marginal issue for many voters, however. “As we go around the country campaigning, I talk to thousands and thousands and thousands of people. They want to talk to me about the cost of living crisis, about the fact they can’t pay their bills, they want to know what they’re going to do about their council tax,” he said.

“Almost nobody is talking about trans issues. I do sometimes just wonder why on earth we spend so much of our time discussing something which isn’t a feature of the dinner table or the kitchen table or the café table or the bar.”

Funny, because I think there's quite a lot of people talking about "trans issues". Whether it's the treatment of Posie Parker and the 72-year-old woman who were violently assaulted last weekend, male-bodied people in women's sports/changing rooms/hospital wards/prisons, the medicalisation/mutilation of young adults, or the vilification of those who speak The Terrible Heresy that you cannot change your biological sex. And yes, we're talking about it at the dinner table, the café bar or wherever.

"No rolling back of women's rights" doesn't mean shit if you count men as women, Mr Starmer. And you can wang on about "respect and tolerance" all you like but we know what you really mean by that is wanting us to be quiet and stop being awkward. That isn't going to happen.

👌

This

Starmer is trying to set the agenda because he knows that this is one issue where the Tories are ahead in popularity and messaging and they want the discourse to be on the economy/ housing/ nhs where they have the advantage he’s trying to avoid the fight- good luck with that.

He's getting desperate.

It's the one issue on which I'll be voting. Ditto several female relatives. And a male one is pretty pissed off too.

Same here.

It's a big issue in workplaces now, I freelance and I see a lot of issues.

And yet there's us women of Mumsnet at No. 2. in best selling poetry with our gender critical poems. Of course No 1 is identifying into the category, despite him being a crime novel!

And yes this is a shameless plug for the Mumsnet book

https://amzn.eu/d/8T3I62Y

Question for Kier-if "almost no one" is talking about this then why are you?

Your bang on, it’s on MN quite a bit. It’s the only place I see it as well.

This is just another way Keir is trying, to avoid properly engaging with the issues around trans and women's rights. First he tried "no debate" - nothing to see here, then he tried "I can't define what a woman is", then it was "99.9% think women don't have penises", then we move on to "trans rights can't override women's rights" and finally "few people are talking about this". Minimise the issue, pretned it's not important to voters and hope it will go away - an lo and behold we circle round to no debate - 'cos according to Keir, nobody cares.
Every, single time, he is glossing over the issues, dancing on the head of a pin as a previous poster says. I have seen nowhere that he grasps the real issues and how he plans to tackle conflicting rights. Come on Keir, what will you do when you are PM?
The splinters from that fence you're sitting on are so far up your arse, they're coming out of your mouth.

Actually, on second thoughts, this.

You'd have to be laptop class and never leaving the house to not see this in the real world now. Oh wait...!

PortiasBiscuit
I think he’s right, it’s only on MN that I’ve come across this issue really.

Your bang on, it’s on MN quite a bit. It’s the only place I see it as well.

@Snippit
There are multiple articles in the press every single day at the moment. There are books in the bestseller lists on this issue.

Are you really so out of touch? Or..

Was it even an option?

I can't see the survey details, but it looks to be a single-question online survey repeated on an annual basis where respondents choose from a small number of preselected answers.

"Which of the following do you think are the most important issues facing the country at this time?"

Potential answers: Brexit, Health, Education, Economy, Environment, Housing, Immigration, Crime, Defence, Tax, Pensions, Family life & childcare, Transport, Welfare benefits, None of these, Don't know*

*omitted from results due to getting less than 10% of the vote

Well quite.

So there might be. I'm aware of the media and what's published. Virtually no one in real life that I know has it as a priority topic of conversation.

Keir is talking rubbish.

At work it’s a constant Trans/Non binary/allies/training/awareness be kind type bollox. There is an almost secret teams chat for GC people although most are too scared to speak openly.

Every newspaper I read. Times & Telegraph & Irish times, there are stories everyday.

It’s all over social media.

Yes I see trans people every day. A trans colleague who glowers at my suffragette lanyard for example. My DD has a trans flatmate, non binary friends, friends with weird pronouns and genders.

I can’t go to restaurants or nearly every theatre or gallery in London without mixed sex toilets etc.

It’s very much a part of life. Wish we could go back and concentrate on the really important things but I fear it’s an existential threat to women.

They talk about just about everything on the list above though.

What a brilliant way to get people talking about something, by saying you’re not hearing people talking about it. What a brilliant way of shooting yourself in the foot.

99.9% of the time Starmer opens his mouth, he loses another Labour voter.

I was at a big international meet-up recently. Low trust, high stakes professional gathering. Two women from different EU countries brought it up with me independently. Gingerly at first, but really, really motivated to talk about it. It's a massive issue for feminists everywhere.

Small numbers, no one is talking about it, please talk about these pre-designated OK topics.

Sounds like someone at Labour HQ tried turning him off and on again.

Yes @nilsmousehammer same here. This single issue is not a single issue at all. It impacts everything. If you're willing to lie on this (where I can literally use my eyes to see the lies), what else are they bold-faced lying about? I now wouldn't trust Starmer to run a bath.

Those who think over 50% of the population should have their basic human rights upended because of a tiny percentage of loud, entitled men, need to take a good hard look at themselves.

@ilovesooty

"So there might be. I'm aware of the media and what's published. Virtually no one in real life that I know has it as a priority topic of conversation."

My betting is that people in real life just don't have these conversations with you. They're having them in hushed tones behind your back though. It's everywhere.

Everyone I know IS talking about it and I've written to my (Labour) MP. So sorry Keir but it's a massive issue for me and my family, friends and colleagues. I cannot vote Labour because of their ambivalence on this.

I very much doubt it.

ditto, why would I read something I’m not interested in. Who are these people, I don’t know them and I’m not bloody interested.