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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Anarchists banned from London Anarchist Bookfair due to alleged transphobia

56 replies

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 11:23

Anyone interested in anarchist politics? Seems that one organisation (The Anarchist Communist Group (ACG)) has been banned from attending one of the main anarchist events of the year (The London Anarchist Bookfair). This was the event where Helen Steel was attacked by trans activists in 2017 for standing up for women handing out leaflets in relation to the intended GRA reforms. Seems that the ACG was formed when members split from another anarchist group (the Anarchist Federation (AF)) due to them (ACG) being critical of how Helen was treated. The AF had a presence at the Manchester Standing for Women event where masked activists harassed women and prevented them from meeting where they had originally planned.

Bookfair statement banning the ACG...
https://anarchistbookfair.london/regarding-acg-at-the-bookfair/

Links to Twitter...
https://twitter.com/BookfairLDN/status/1708579368170103019

Link to Manchester SFW event with AF flag...

Anarchists banned from London Anarchist Bookfair due to alleged transphobia
OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 11:53

'We do not wish anyone to feel excluded from the event and are sorry that people were hurt by the decision we made.'

Right, but you don't care about excluding women. Or hurting women. Got it.

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 11:56

Mind you, not sold on this ACG group, either.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/aims-and-principles/

'It is not possible to abolish Capitalism without a revolution, which will arise out of class conflict. The ruling class must be completely overthrown to achieve anarchist communism. Because the ruling class will not relinquish power without their use of armed force, this revolution will be a time of violence as well as liberation.'

Aims and Principles

PREAMBLE We are a revolutionary anarchist communist organisation made up of local groups and individuals who seek a complete transformation of society, and the creation of anarchist commu…

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/aims-and-principles

quantumbutterfly · 02/10/2023 11:59

I'm not sure they're doing anarchy right😂
I saw an anarchy tea towel for sale online, is that irony or satire?

StephanieSuperpowers · 02/10/2023 12:06

What do they mean by anarchy?

Helleofabore · 02/10/2023 12:08

That is a bit like Holly Lawford-smith’s interview with ‘The Dissenter’ YouTube Channel not being published.

https://x.com/aytchellesse/status/1708588982458782132?s=46&t=HTxp6zC_d4GZ2FFv4a-YeQ

being censored by a channel that calls itself "the dissenter"... that was definitely one of my more ironic #genderwars experiences 😂

I wonder if the hypocrisy actually ever registers with these activists?

https://x.com/aytchellesse/status/1708588982458782132?s=46&t=HTxp6zC_d4GZ2FFv4a-YeQ

OP posts:
Signalbox · 02/10/2023 12:51

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 11:56

Mind you, not sold on this ACG group, either.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/aims-and-principles/

'It is not possible to abolish Capitalism without a revolution, which will arise out of class conflict. The ruling class must be completely overthrown to achieve anarchist communism. Because the ruling class will not relinquish power without their use of armed force, this revolution will be a time of violence as well as liberation.'

Yes I'm not an anarchist either. But I'm interested in anarchism as a philosophy and also interested in how trans activism has apparently had a negative effect on it like all other leftist politics. Helen Steel was an anarchist (not so certain that she is now) and was treated horrendously despite everything she has gone through. I was just glad to see there is at least some resistance to trans ideology going on.

OP posts:
Signalbox · 02/10/2023 12:55

quantumbutterfly · 02/10/2023 11:59

I'm not sure they're doing anarchy right😂
I saw an anarchy tea towel for sale online, is that irony or satire?

Lol there's plenty of feminist tea towels for sale too.
I wonder what that says about us?

OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 12:58

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 12:51

Yes I'm not an anarchist either. But I'm interested in anarchism as a philosophy and also interested in how trans activism has apparently had a negative effect on it like all other leftist politics. Helen Steel was an anarchist (not so certain that she is now) and was treated horrendously despite everything she has gone through. I was just glad to see there is at least some resistance to trans ideology going on.

Definitely. I've had a poke about on anarchist groups before and it seemed opinion on the topic was very much divided.

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 13:06

Helleofabore · 02/10/2023 12:08

That is a bit like Holly Lawford-smith’s interview with ‘The Dissenter’ YouTube Channel not being published.

https://x.com/aytchellesse/status/1708588982458782132?s=46&t=HTxp6zC_d4GZ2FFv4a-YeQ

being censored by a channel that calls itself "the dissenter"... that was definitely one of my more ironic #genderwars experiences 😂

I wonder if the hypocrisy actually ever registers with these activists?

It's bizarre isn't it? There was a similar thing this week where Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert was invited to take part in a discussion on indoctrination in education in the Rethinking Education conference. She was asked to withdraw because some other speakers and delegates had threatened to pull out because Alka's views were "a threat to their psychological safety". The session was then cancelled by the organisers.

https://dontdivideus.com/2023/09/26/statement-from-the-director-of-ddu-on-the-rethinking-education-conference/

OP posts:
Illegallyblonder · 02/10/2023 13:16

Lol at "I'm not sure they're doing anarchy right"

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 13:24

Is that the 're-educating thinking' conference?

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 13:39

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 13:24

Is that the 're-educating thinking' conference?

Yes we’re deep in Orwellian territory now where everything means the precise opposite of what you think it means.

OP posts:
TeiTetua · 02/10/2023 13:46

I can see it now. A feminist tea towel is green, white and purple (of course) and it has printing on it which says "Not to be used by women".

Pinkglobelamp · 02/10/2023 13:47

I'm an anarchist of the opposite, non-violent, quiet faith in human nature and handy with a tea towel type (anarchism more an ideal to learn from and implement ideas from and work towards than something to enforce through revolution).

Anarchism as I see it would be inclusive and hope that all views could be respected and discussed, rather than "cancelled."

Yes, quite an irony, an anarchists convention banning types of anarchist...but also quite in keeping with history and Monty Python sketches, all those warring acronyms and bickering offshoots!!

PoseasRadicalActuallyMisogynistic · 02/10/2023 13:47

Anarchy with a rule book!!!!

TheGreatATuin · 02/10/2023 13:48

I'm involved in a number of anarchist groups and the one thing that always stands out is how strongly authoritarian most of them actually are. There are endless rules, often unwritten, that the unwary fall foul of and are ostracised.
So the fact that they're openly excluding women in the name of 'inclusion' doesn't surprise me at all.
They're very puritanical in a '"cast out the witch and repent for your sins" kind of way.
I don't directly engage with any of the groups anymore but I still watch and read up because the contradictions in what they claim and what they do is a fascinating psychological phenomenon.

TheGreatATuin · 02/10/2023 13:53

I also love the way they manage to imply a group called The Anarchist Communist Group is part of the conservative far right.
Because anarchy and communism is what conservatism is all about. 😆
Bit hard of thinking, these people.

fromorbit · 02/10/2023 14:35

It seems the ACG's position is trying to do the both sides thing see this statement from 2021:

The particular relationship between trans women and some other feminists has been fraught and has resulted in extreme polarisation, making it very difficult to unite against patriarchy, gender oppression and capitalism. Sensitivity and understanding of the oppression that different groups experience – those socialised as women, trans women, trans men, and non-binary people – is needed in order to move forward.
We believe that it is unhelpful to set up a false dichotomy, as has widely been done, between “feminism” and “trans rights”. These are not struggles inherently in opposition to each other, but which are worth fighting for together, while working towards a wider understanding of both the shared issues and the differences.
We must come together to end all oppression as well as to help create a united working class movement which can effectively challenge capitalism and hierarchical society.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/statements/

Here the ACG claim trans rights is a class issue on a thinly argued basis :
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/11/19/trans-rights-is-a-class-issue/

Of course it is not enough so they have been cancelled. Presumably they were seen talking to some women with opinions, reading Harry Potter or something outrageous.

However good to note not all anarchists are taken in by the sexist neoliberal genderist line. This is a great read originally put out in 2019 as a print anarchist zine by a bunch of anarchist men who knew sexist trash when they saw it and were ready to call it out.
Shit Wigs and Steroids : Anarchism’s (and the Left’s) Tolerance of Delusion

The booklet was put together by a collective of working class anarchists around the North West of England. All of us are men who are against the misogyny and homophobia of the bullshit liberal goons rallying around transgender ideology. We took the approach outlined in the booklet as we are not wankers from the university educated Left, so we are not tamed or muzzled by the adoption of an academic template to speak from. We have been very pleased to see the positive response the booklet has had around Europe and the wider world (especially America, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland).

This booklet was put together by working-class people amused and bemused by the transgender cult. It will be of interest to those not buying into all this “transgender/crossdressing” bullshit.

It is not written out of ignorance but as a result of considered critical thinking. It is a very sharp critique of the bogus transgender arguments. A hairy bollocked man is not a lesbian, regardless of anyone’s opinion. It’s a man with hairy bollocks preying on the tolerance and gullibility of others.

Being called “bigots,” “transphobes,” and “TERFs” is comical, and it is the best the phoney transgender brigade (and their enablers) can offer up against wider society’s scrutiny.

We make no apologies for our lack of charity towards these misogynistic men’s attempts at censoring considered opinion. To some, being offended is an identity in itself.

https://www.theturfwarzone.com/index.html

Statements

The following are statements by the Anarchist Communist Group since its formation in February 2018, 8 April 2021 (this statement supersedes the earlier statement of 11 August 2019) Trans Right…

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/statements

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 14:45

I mean looking at the statement it's quite hard to work out what the ACG are actually supposed to have done. All I can see is reference to a "previous position" and then a reference to some "new information which suggests there may still be dis-unity within ACG when it comes to trans solidarity".

It's all very cloak and dagger isn't it? I wonder why they don't just come out and say what they've done? I can't even see anything remotely anti-trans on their website. If anything they look like they've bought into the nonsense...

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2022/05/21/conversion-therapy-must-end/

Conversion Therapy Must End

The UK government recently reaffirmed, in the Queen’s Speech, given by proxy parasite-in-chief, Charles, its intention not to ban conversion therapy when performed on transgender people. And …

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2022/05/21/conversion-therapy-must-end/

OP posts:
Signalbox · 02/10/2023 14:53

fromorbit · 02/10/2023 14:35

It seems the ACG's position is trying to do the both sides thing see this statement from 2021:

The particular relationship between trans women and some other feminists has been fraught and has resulted in extreme polarisation, making it very difficult to unite against patriarchy, gender oppression and capitalism. Sensitivity and understanding of the oppression that different groups experience – those socialised as women, trans women, trans men, and non-binary people – is needed in order to move forward.
We believe that it is unhelpful to set up a false dichotomy, as has widely been done, between “feminism” and “trans rights”. These are not struggles inherently in opposition to each other, but which are worth fighting for together, while working towards a wider understanding of both the shared issues and the differences.
We must come together to end all oppression as well as to help create a united working class movement which can effectively challenge capitalism and hierarchical society.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/statements/

Here the ACG claim trans rights is a class issue on a thinly argued basis :
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/11/19/trans-rights-is-a-class-issue/

Of course it is not enough so they have been cancelled. Presumably they were seen talking to some women with opinions, reading Harry Potter or something outrageous.

However good to note not all anarchists are taken in by the sexist neoliberal genderist line. This is a great read originally put out in 2019 as a print anarchist zine by a bunch of anarchist men who knew sexist trash when they saw it and were ready to call it out.
Shit Wigs and Steroids : Anarchism’s (and the Left’s) Tolerance of Delusion

The booklet was put together by a collective of working class anarchists around the North West of England. All of us are men who are against the misogyny and homophobia of the bullshit liberal goons rallying around transgender ideology. We took the approach outlined in the booklet as we are not wankers from the university educated Left, so we are not tamed or muzzled by the adoption of an academic template to speak from. We have been very pleased to see the positive response the booklet has had around Europe and the wider world (especially America, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland).

This booklet was put together by working-class people amused and bemused by the transgender cult. It will be of interest to those not buying into all this “transgender/crossdressing” bullshit.

It is not written out of ignorance but as a result of considered critical thinking. It is a very sharp critique of the bogus transgender arguments. A hairy bollocked man is not a lesbian, regardless of anyone’s opinion. It’s a man with hairy bollocks preying on the tolerance and gullibility of others.

Being called “bigots,” “transphobes,” and “TERFs” is comical, and it is the best the phoney transgender brigade (and their enablers) can offer up against wider society’s scrutiny.

We make no apologies for our lack of charity towards these misogynistic men’s attempts at censoring considered opinion. To some, being offended is an identity in itself.

https://www.theturfwarzone.com/index.html

Ah OK that'll be it then.
Perhaps it will dawn on them that fence sitting = TERF in trans activist circles?

OP posts:
WomenShouldStillWinWomensSports · 02/10/2023 14:57

They should write to their MP........

I'll get my coat.

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 15:41

A hairy bollocked man is not a lesbian, regardless of anyone’s opinion.

I'll be honest, this is not something I had anticipated reading in a political manifesto.

DrSusanCalvin · 02/10/2023 16:00

Help ! I'm being repressed !

Signalbox · 02/10/2023 16:06

ArabellaScott · 02/10/2023 15:41

A hairy bollocked man is not a lesbian, regardless of anyone’s opinion.

I'll be honest, this is not something I had anticipated reading in a political manifesto.

Just reading that now. Pretty straightforwardly 100% TERF!

OP posts:
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