Victor Madrigal-Borloz's (UN) verdict on the UK: 'Keep calm and respect diversity'

[ArabeIIaScott]

I'm going to give Mr Madrigal-Borloz the benefit of the doubt, and presume he was trying to make a gentle joke on UK culture with his 'Keep calm' headline, rather than deliberately offend women.

Anyway:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/uk-keep-calm-and-respect-diversity-says-un-expert

“I am deeply concerned about increased bias-motivated incidents of harassment, threats, and violence against LGBT people, including a rampant surge in hate crimes in the UK,” said Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, who visited the UK from 24 April to 5 May 2023. “All of this is attributed – by a wide range of stakeholders – to the toxic nature of the public debate surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said.
...

'toxic', eh?

'current initiatives risk erosion of achievements in comprehensive sex education,'

• presumably by this he means recent moves to question whether it's a good thing to teach children about fisting?

...

'The expert also took issue with recent advice by the UK Equalities and Human Rights Commission to the UK Government that promoted the reduction in human rights protections for trans persons with legal recognition of their gender. “These actions were admittedly with the objective of withdrawing trans women from legal protections to which they are entitled under the Equality Act,” Madrigal Borloz said.'

Well, that's a wilful misrepresentation if ever I read one.

'“Politicians must carry out evidence-based evaluations, free from stigma and preconception,” Madrigal-Borloz said.'

Cheeky fucker.

Meanwhile Victor, the UK is apparently so anti trans that a teacher is taking legal action against Nottinghamshire County Council because (she claims) it sacked her for refusing to use an 8-year-old's preferred pronouns.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/11/teacher-sacked-trans-pronouns-nottinghamshire/
Victor - you should get out more.

“Keep calm”? What next - telling women to Calm down, dear?

It’s misogynistic gaslighting - nothing to make a fuss over, stop upsetting yourself.

Most women interested in these issues manage to be perfectly calm while taking a different view from Victor Madrigal-Borloz. Whereas in his short report he misrepresents the law and traduces the EHRC. Perhaps he should take his own advice.

Keep calm yourself Victor, while you find yourself on the wrong side of history.

The Arcus Foundtion was founded and is directed by Jon Stryker, heir to the Stryker Foundation fortune.

'In 2000, Stryker founded the Arcus Foundation. 10 The Washington Blade identified The Arcus Foundation as the nation’s largest LGBT funder.'

The Stryker Foundation sells medical devices, equipment, and training.

https://www.stryker.com/us/en/index.html

From VMB's report:

'the Independent Expert previously testified twice before the Scottish Parliament in June and December 2022 in support of the Bill and, although he takes no stance in relation to the legal dispute between the UK and Scottish Governments, which relates to matters that are primarily constitutional in nature, he laments that this action has de facto deprived trans persons in Scotland of the benefits of a simplified process by which to obtain Gender Recognition Certificates. The Independent Expert heard direct testimony from over a dozen trans and gender diverse persons who were waiting for the simplified process, some of them because - out of principle and a perception of their own dignity - they reject the pathologization of their lives.'

Over a dozen, eh? Fuck me. I know VMB met with women's groups, but there's no mention of them for some reason.

I can't imagine how many hundreds of women might have wanted to discuss the threat to their rights, but never mind, they don't matter, do they, Victor?

For what it's worth, out of principle and a perception of my own dignity, I reject the utter trivialisation and dismissal of my sex.

“These actions were admittedly with the objective of withdrawing trans women from legal protections to which they are entitled under the Equality Act,” Madrigal Borloz said.'

But that is a straight-out lie, isn’t it? Surely
a UN ‘expert’ should
(a) check their reports are accurate,
and
(b) correct them if they have made a mistake.

Surely they’re not meant to just repeat pressure-group propaganda?

Info on the UN Sustainability Agenda on this video.

K Yang. Check out her research into all this.

Surely they’re not meant to just repeat pressure-group propaganda?

That's exactly what he has done. He's a useful idiot. He's so blatantly gullible and one sided he's a parody. A walking bingo card of twitter hot takes.

I wonder what he's off to "expert" on next?

Surely they’re not meant to just repeat pressure-group propaganda?

I'm also surprised that he seems to be so willing to get involved in what look a lot like party-political issues.

He isn't gullible, this is his job.

It's a feature not a bug as they say.

Yes, he's an experienced lawyer. He is presumably quite aware of what he's up to.

'A Welsh civil society representative remarked the negative environment created by the frequent posting of messages on Twitter by a prominent politician that appeared to be opposed to LGBT persons’ equal enjoyment of human rights'

Who is VMB talking about here?

Fuck off Victor.

If you make hurty feelz a hate crime, then of course "hate crime" is going to rise.

In which Victor concedes that other viewpoints exist, and if he has time, he will look at them and consider whether they are valid:

'The Independent Expert heard that the acrimonious nature of the discussion impacts persons holding very different points of view, and accusations of silencing and “cancellation” are also made by those who hold the point of view that gender identity is an ideology, or that systems of self-identification in legal recognition of gender identity raise unacceptable risks for others. Abundant work of the mandate has addressed those concerns. At the same time, the Independent Expert is thankful that some of those persons, including gay men and lesbians as well as other women, accepted invitations to hold conversations with the mandate and to present evidence, in sessions held in a respectful, constructive, and professional key. He remains committed to examine all submissions made to him, in the understanding that his mandate is to determine whether claims fall within the framework of international human rights law or not, under the guiding principle of evidence-based approaches.'

I like this 'abundant work' he refers to. All done and dusted, is it, Victor? I wonder if you're going to decide that the concerns of gay men and lesbians are 'within the framework', Victor? Two chances, I reckon.

There's already enough on this thread for a solid Mail on Sunday double page spread on the UN failing UK women, children, and gays & lesbians.

'46. The Independent Expert received consistent and concerning accounts of significant increases in the frequency of bias-motivated violence and hate speech directed at LGBT persons across all four nations of the UK. Official data on increases in rates – however dramatic in their rise – did not seem fully reliable, based on the high variability of those rates year-on-year, with large increases and decreases across rates of hate crimes based on various group characteristics.'

Bwhahahah. Not fully reliable, eh? No shit, Victor.

The Independent Expert heard direct testimony from over a dozen trans and gender diverse persons who were waiting for the simplified process, some of them because - out of principle and a perception of their own dignity - they reject the pathologization of their lives.'

Once again we get told that trans people don't want to be 'pathologised', but then that they are suffering from not having 'gender affirming healthcare' quickly enough:

Across the UK, the Independent Expert received information from a variety of actors about the difficulties and delays that trans persons face in seeking gender-affirming care, with negative consequences for their mental health and ability to move on with their lives. One LGBT human rights organization put it in blunt terms: “kids are killing themselves in response to lack of care and horrendous waitlists of young persons looking for gender-affirming care".

If they're not ill, why do they need this gender-affirming healthcare?

kids are killing themselves
Highly misleading.
See this related to Finnish study about young people.
https://twitter.com/LeorSapir/status/1620448081039994881

I presume the ‘abundant work’ includes the meeting he had with Kate Harris. She has published a description of what happened in that meeting, including how ill-informed VMB was. It’s not very complimentary. There is a separate thread about it.

There is a whole big section on education and schools.

'efforts to exclude transgender children from so-called “single-sex spaces”, from sports activities, and potentially from physical education programs in schools were also flagged as potentially damaging to trans children'

'The Independent Expert, along with other Special Procedures mandate holders, recently published a compendium of international standards on comprehensive sexuality education, which one NHRI in the UK informed the Independent Expert during his visit was very helpful to detoxify discourse in relation to RSE and health education in UK schools, which are self-governing on these issues'

👀

Healthcare section has no mention whatsoever of the Cass Report. Bit odd, that.

which one NHRI in the UK informed the Independent Expert during his visit was very helpful to detoxify discourse in relation to RSE and health education in UK schools, which are self-governing on these issues

I expect the so called toxicity is thought to come from only bigoted parents and teachers.

What is an NHRI please?

'National Human Rights Institution'

Absolutely NO " transitioning' treatments should be available on the NHS which has greater priorities than pandering to fetishists, confused children and munchausen's by proxy parents. Only exploratory therapy should be available

The influence of small lobbying groups is huge if this is now the UN.