The tide has turned in the lesbian capital of the UK

[littleripper]

I was shocked but delighted to see this on the HebWeb, Hebden Bridge's community website.
https://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/forum/2023/006.html
Sadly the letter by Dave Boardman (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11130491/Music-academy-lecturer-sacked-comments-drag-queens-femininity-takes-legal-action.html Cathy's dad) has been removed due to legal threats but the comments are still up

I moved to this town as a baby and grew up there throughout the 80s and 90s. My close family still live in the area. My mum flagged this article to me - I hadn't realised that it had been taken down. It's a great article and his anger shines through. My family have said that Dave is very well known in the area - particularly in the Trades. The Boardman family are moving out of the town which is such a shame. I've given to the crowd funder for Cathy.

The discussion on the Heb Web forum is reassuringly balanced. A lot of people are sick of it.

Yes, that's my dad, and yes he's very angry at what's happened. He has a strong sense of justice, instilled into his kids, and is appalled that women have been silenced / cancelled for no good reason, and has now experienced first hand the viscousness of reactions to people who want to talk about the issue.

It also yet again highlights the irony of trans activists who claim that there is no conflict between trans rights and womens rights, and then kick off at the thought of a women only party. I really don't think they do themselves any favours.

They'd have saved face if, when they found out there was a party planned with women they didn't like going, they just didn't go, rather than all of this fuss.

I believe it was women who got it cancelled btw, not trans people. It appears to have been orchestrated by a woman, who now doesn't want anyone to talk about it.

Hint : if you don't want to ever enter into discussions about what appears to be your favourite issue, you probably don't have as deep an understanding about it as you think.

Hi @CathyBoardman, I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope the fact that you now get to join the awesome ranks of JK Rowling, Maya Forstater, Kathleen Stock etc is some comfort to you.

I am absolutely gobsmacked about the ideological capture of the higher education and publishing sectors. If the gatekeepers of knowledge are censoring diversity of thought and freedom of speech, what hope is there for humanity?

I think the general public are very much on Team Women Don't Have Penises, and more and more people are getting frustrated and fed up with trans activists claiming that anything which doesn't put trans people front and centre at the expense of everyone and everything else is transphobic. We can all see they are far from a powerless, marginalised minority too.

Unfortunately, given that this luxury belief system seems to be most pervasive among academics who prefer theory to practice, and idealistic students who haven't been around long enough to really understand sex inequality, I think it will be a very long time before universities stop being in thrall to this ridiculous ideology.

Trans activists remind me of the children in Nineteen Eighty Four, turning their parents in to Big Brother for wrongthink.

@CathyBoardman - I hope your parents are OK in the face of this.

I would have gone to the party if I knew about it. Sad that it was a woman who got the party cancelled.

You have the support of me and my family.

Me too. A local here. And an adult human female with two daughters.@CathyBoardman you must be so proud of your dad, in the same way he clearly is of you? Your dad’s legendary community spirit will be a loss to our town. Good luck with your legal fight.

I was horrified to read on the comments one Councillor saying women were permitted to meet in private but not in public. A really disturbing, almost Taliban-esque view. Some of the comments have been censored too, they are archived here https://archive.ph/MG3WZ

Yes it's very silly. And pushes things underground, and fosters resentment.

There's no reason that feminists and trans people can't get on. We don't all have to believe the same things in order treat each other well.

There's also no reason that we can't have women only events, or trans only events, or gay men only events.

We could have a party for only people who like psy trance music. I wouldn't want to go, but I would never try to ban it. I also wouldn't assume that a party aimed at a demographic that I don't belong to is planned as a personal slight to me.

Women's discos have been a staple of the valley for years. The long running one isn't women only anymore, and now we are only allowed to gather with other women if we do it privately and in secret.

That's progress for you.

What's your experience? The jubilee? Pirate ships? Surrender?

I know I was quoted in that post as I got the mail notifying me, dread to think what was said since it was deleted so fast.

@CathyBoardman good luck

I've given to the crowd funder for Cathy.

Ditto. Cathy has reached 21,460 carrots out of a planned 27,000 veg with 15 days to go.

Cathy just emailed this update - gardening forks at the ready!I

Hi everyone,

I wanted to give an update on where the legal case is up to.

The parties met earlier this month for a judicial mediation. This is a settlement negotiation facilitated by an employment judge acting as a mediator - talking to the parties about their priorities and trying to help them to reach a resolution they can both live with.

My case is listed for hearing over 8 days in July 2024. That will cost a lot of money and work for everyone involved, so it is in everyone’s interests if we can agree to settle the case.

I was represented at the mediation by my barrister Naomi Cunningham, and the preparatory work has been done by my Solicitor Elizabeth McGlone. This has been made possible by your incredible generosity, and I am more grateful than I can say to every single person who has donated to my Crowd Justice fund.

If an agreement is reached, and the fund retains a surplus, it will be put towards a similar case. As all has been quiet, it is looking very likely that we will be going full steam ahead to a full hearing next July, and you will be hearing much more from me for another year and a half!

I will update either way when I have news.

In gratitude and solidarity,

Cathy

I will plant some carrots in Cathy’s garden come payday

The national front of my childhood REALLY loved flags

I’ve heard they were a little unsavoury

plus, yanno, actual Nazis. No personal experience admittedly, but I think we can trust the prevailing view there

plus every weird neighbour with a flag pole in his garden. It’s just a sign that he’s going to want to talk to you at length about potholes

Whenever someone starts going on about flags, I'm always reminded of this from a few years ago, on the subject of a certain Northern Ireland controversy:

Totally agree with this. I think it is also encouraging that more and more trans women are speaking up in defence of female sex based rights. Although I have seen trans activists label those trans women as being transphobic, which beggars belief. The misogynistic and sometimes violent protests by those activists at female only gatherings etc are making people wake up to the fact that sex and gender are separate things. Yes fight for trans people's rights, but don't take women's rights away in the process.

You are ridiculous.

Yeah those stickers are vile. Good to know it's only a few people doing that.

Let's hope such a lovely little town continues to be inclusive and accepting of its trans residents who helped make it what it is today.

Vile? It's a simple statement of fact.
But I agree that I hope it continues to be an inclusive and accepting place for all of it's residents.

Nobody can deny that this is a real issue in real towns and communities, even the Labour Party, who appear to be taking a typical authoritarian line, so women are the only group not permitted to organise separately. I hope friends I know there are the ones contributing to the web page, but sad they have to be anonymous. I will be digging for Cathy also.

Well done stickerwomen everywhere.

you REALLY love flags I take it?

'vile'

any other dictionary definitions that are vile?

Ardvark - a nocturnal badger-sized burrowing mammal of Africa, with long ears, a tubular snout, and a long extensible tongue, feeding on ants and termites.

how do you feel about that one?

Stickers saying that women are adult human females are "vile" apparently. Except, it's a statement of biological fact. And therein lies the beating heart of the problem. Women being told that they can no longer gather together in public - perfectly fine apparently. Males in women's prisons, sports, rape support services - all absolutely fine. Women afraid to say how they feel about this issue for fear of losing their jobs - fine. But a sticker stating reality is "vile". No wonder people are now getting tired of this gaslighting ideology.

Shouldn’t everyone feel included and accepted?