Kew Gardens, yes, *Kew Gardens*, says plants have "gender" not "sex"

[MmePoppySeedDefage]

I have been a member of Kew Gardens for a while. Every so often I get a magazine from them, and this unscientific bilge was in the latest edition. I've written and from the swift reply, obviously others have too. They mutter about fungus:

Thank you for your email. As part of Queer Nature, we explore how queer people find themselves in nature, and how a closer look at nature through a queer lens can challenge many pre-existing ideas about what is ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’.

While we recognise that human sexual identities cannot be applied to nature, we want to celebrate the fact that, as in humans, there is huge diversity in the natural world. Many plants and fungi have characteristics that do not fit within traditional forms of categorisation. Some examples include:
• Avocado - is one example of many plants which is fertilised when its own pollen finds its way from the stamens into the ovule, meaning it can ‘self-pollinate’
• Ruizia Mauritiana - found in the Temperate House at Kew, this plant can change the flowers it produces based on temperature
• Some citrus and many other flowering plants produce seeds by apomixis, they reproduce without fertilisation and, in effect, are asexual.

• Liverworts – these can reproduce asexually by means of gemmae, which means a single cell, or a mass of cells, or a modified bud of tissue, that detaches from the parent and develops into a new individual
• Fungi - Fungi don’t have what we would refer to as biological sexes at all. In human terms, they are also the ultimate pansexuals, engaging in sexual reproduction with any compatible member of their own species.
• The Splitgill mushroom (Schizophyllum commune) has been found to have more than 23,000 mating types.

I always thought it would be useful to photosynthesise.

Years ago I worked on a gardening project with Rathbones - I assume that is the Elfrida Rathbone Society. I was a team leader on a Community Programme or whatever they're called now. Senior management struck me as well meaning spoofers. Plus ca change.

However I did get a HND in Horticulture out of it. We learnt all about plants that self pollinate and not a gender identity in sight!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyqCCCaMrrX/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

There's nothing that The Right Side of History won't appropriate.

This is all so sinister. It's not about pseudo inclusivity it's the beginnings of rewriting science, nibbling away at the edges

Yes. Science is about reality. Scientists should be holding the line, not playing along with harmful fantasies.

Yes, makes you wonder who was forced to write this crap because someone with $$$$$$ said so.

I love the idea of celebrating the huge diversity of human behaviour and imagination. But at a time when children are being led to believe that they can change sex, you have to be absolutely clear what is fact and what is fantasy.

The really stupid thing (or one of them) is that stuff just highlights how different plant/fungal sex or reproduction is from culturally defined “queerness” like being trans.

how do you know a plant is “bisexual” or a fungus “doesn't have a sex”? Because of how it literally, functionally reproduces. That is the only way you can tell. Not because it declares itself queer or adopts a stereotype associated with the opposite sex.

if any humans actually changed sex or had no sex or were both sexes at the same time, like some other things, then they would do it like other living things I.e. functionally. In fact humans are just pretending and the plants etc aren’t.

We know embarrassingly little about the world of fungi. But one thing is for sure- these organisms have fuck all to do with human sexuality.

Tsk, I'm expecting subclasses of fungi to be validated orientations/identities soon.

Oh no! 170 genders is bad enough, I couldn't take 30,000 odd!

Utterly demeaning for a scientific institution to indulge in anthropomorphic nonsense like this.

”ooh look how inspirational , plants that don’t reproduce on the basis of binary gametes…. let’s all live happy lives sustained by photosynthesis, too! Free ourselves from the metabolic system assigned at birth”

All those gay male couples needing babies just need to identify as avocados and then they can literally go and fuck themselves 'self pollinate'.

If anything, I find the idea that gay/queer people would somehow be validated by comparison to the reproductive qualities of a fungus somewhat homophobic.

Letting people do minimal science until 16 and then give it up altogether may not be the best plan for UK education. At least if you want to produce adults whose minds aren't blown when they realize that the diversity of nature includes diverse reproductive strategies. And then imagine this is because there's been some sort of conspiracy to make them believe that only sexual reproduction with two sexes is possible for any species, because that's how humans do it.

ChishiyaBat · Yesterday 19:30

There's nowt so queer as nature apparently😂

👏👏👏👏

Some plants are self pollinating, aren’t they? Where do they fall?

But to be fair the whole thing reeks of some corporate training guff having been brought in, or some a role as inclusivity advisor being created for reasons of wokeness and going to an ideology-soaked 23-year-old. Resulting in them being told they have to inclusify everything they're about and somehow make it all about LGBTQ+ even if it has nothing to do with it.

(Not other categories mind. Why aren't we also being told some plants are white, black, disabled or religious, like holy basil? Hmmmmm?)

I bet some poor actual scientists at Kew were approached to provide these examples of "queer", bisexual, pansexual etc organisms and rolled their eyes but had to do it for fear of being ostracised.

I ate a stir fry with mushrooms in it last week.

I would just like to apologise to the LGBT+ community and assure them I will not be eating any of them.

I'd love to see a self pollinating plant exhibition called Go Fuck Yourself!

😄😄😄

Trying to beat the TRAs at their own logic...

Did you know penicillin was discovered because a mould accidentally colonised a petri dish and killed off bacteria within it? Penicillin mould's need to have its own self contained petri dish is akin to women and girls need for single sex spaces and therefore my argument is valid because penicillin.

When you're on mushrooms there are no sex categories because I am you and you are me and we are all together.

Can you identify as "self-pollinating" if you are basically just a wanker?

Some animals breath underwater. If you chuck someone into the sea and they drown, I'm sure a defence would be that it is a surprise that some people can't do that too. After all, #people are animals too.

I thought the standard defence to that was that you needed to check whether they were a witch.

Good news! She wasn't a witch! Hooray! Bad news.... she's dead.