JKR calls Labour's Bluff - Offering Meeting leadership only on her terms

[fromorbit]

JKR is playing at a different level. After Starmer and Reeves offered to meet with her she gave them her conditions.

I'll be happy to meet after NoXYinXXprisons, Lesbian Labour, Womens Rights Network, WomansPlaceUK and Alliance LGB have been given in person meetings with the Labour leadership. I'd also like to know whether Angela Rayner still considers the last two organisations hate groups.

They are trapped either they now have to meet with gay and women's groups and listen to them something they are desperate not to do. It is not impossible then that Reeves at least can be made to see some sense. Even talking with these groups and JKR will also make TRAs go ballistic and many will leave the party. Chances are that Labour will promise a bunch of stuff to JKR which If Labour still follow gender nonsense after that they can be fully held to account for. If they promise single sex spaces are safe then every time that is breached Labour's credibility will be on the line

Or if they refuse to meet with the groups they prove EVERYTHING JKR said in her essay was right.

The media are now hyping the meeting further locking Labour in

BRING IT ON
Keir Starmer insists he WILL meet with JK Rowling to thrash out trans and gender rights & ‘respects’ her views
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28714134/keir-starmer-jk-rowling-trans/

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/24/labour-gender-transition-recognition-process-trans.

Go JKR!!!!
Awesome 💪

Although, less encouragingly, I seee Reeves is saying they won't change 'anything around biological sex' or the working of that in the Equality Act.

https://x.com/jkrowling/status/1805279881179316460?

Well, they can't change biology - that's not a legislatable matter - but this promise leaves them free to do what they like with 'legal sex' and the GRA.

Helen Joyce was interviewed re Labour and proposed policies for schools guidance:

Also, Fiona McAnena was interviewed regarding Labour's responses to JKR's public statements. Fiona made some great points re the women's rights issue always being reframed in terms of ''trans rights' by politicians:

Can we get them all in the room for a live televised debate please?

Conversation would be this.

Trans-person: Its hard for me to be in alot of discomfort all the time. That discomfort is amplified everytime that I am made to think of my sex.

JK: I do not doubt that. The changes you wish for society however, puts women and girls at risk. They are smaller physcially and have an increased likelihood of sexual assault. It is important that social safeguards are still in place to protect them.

TP: If you could only understand how uncomfortable it makes me to be seen as a sexual-predator just because I am trans.

JK: Yes, it must be hard that predators are using your condition to force changes to social structure that puts them in sexually advantageous positions. The priority continues to be the prevention the erosion to the safety of women and girls who have smaller bodies.

TP: I can't believe you are making this all about predators and not prioritising my intense discomfort.

JK: I am prioritising womens and girls safety.

and so on and so forth. Neither stance will change because there is evidence that both sides have equal percieved greivance. JK acknowldeged openly that gender dysphoria existed, but her priortiy is the safety of women and girls which is also important.

I'm going to add a line to mine to include her name and vote for her!

Thank you for that. The LGBA excluding the T makes TRAs so furious.

It wouldn't be so bad but TRAs don't even believe in homosexuality.

The utter hypocrisy of attempting to leverage homosexuality to in order to undermine it doesn't seem to occur to them.

What a totally illogically statement! Just like JKR has been smeared as transphobic when she’s actually concerned about women’s rights, the LGB Alliance has been smeared as anti-trans - hence the occasional nastiness towards its supporters.

By your logic, Stonewall itself is anti-trans because it only added the T around a decade ago.

Every gay, lesbian and bi person I know supports the LGBA. Some didn’t at first, thanks to the lies about them.but once it was explained, they then supported them.

Why waste your vote? Nobody gives a shit about what people write on the spoiled ballots. Do you know how fast we count the votes? Spoilt ballots are tossed in a box to be counted and disregarded. Occasionally one is borderline and is then decided by the Officer as to whether it counts or not. These are usually ones done by people who do things like circle a candidate or cross names out, or put their cross in a weird place rather than mark a cross in the box, etc.

”Ooh, but the candidates notice!” No, they really don’t. They only look to make sure they’re not missing a vote. They neither notice or care what you write.

Don’t forget there’s a Leadership head to head on the BBC tomorrow night hosted by Mishal Husain. Hopefully this might come up as a question, if the topic can stay near the top of the news cycle I can’t see how it can be ignored.

No, we'd hear about WOMEN all day, every day. About fucking time.

Because I have nobody to vote for. Obviously. Spoiling is a legitimate use of a vote, and I'm bored of people coming along to try to discourage it, frankly.

All spoilt ballots are logged by 'type' of spoil, actually. It was on another thread.

Sadly I have to agree with @BreatheAndFocus. No one cares about spoiled ballots and there's nothing to differentiate a "JKR for PM" protest vote from simply someone who doesn't read the instructions on how to fill in their ballot paper properly.

Obviously it's your right to do so, but it is pointless.

Let's hope this marvellous move by JKR will cause enough media attention for some debate before polling day.

Frankly I give no shits if randoms on the internet think it's a waste. There's no party to vote for, as I'm not giving any of them a mandate for my red line issues. And it's perfectly legitimate to do so.

To add, given I have cross posted with @NoWordForFluffy when I say there's nothing to differentiate, I mean at the end of the day in the headlines. Once the vote count has been done, i don't think anyone will give spoilt papers a second thought.

But I fully respect anyone's choice to do that, it's just my opinion.

Maybe they won't, @WookeyHole, but I have red lines (I appreciate not everybody does) which I won't vote / give a mandate for. I potentially have an indie to vote for, but as he's studiously ignoring my red line questions, he's currently not getting my vote either.

I want to vote (and for that vote to be for Labour), but currently it's a no from me! I have no 'least worst' option. And I hate it, to be honest. What a sad state of affairs.

Bloody love you JKR.

Providing the only glimmer of hope in this election.

I've been thinking this a lot recently. Wonder if she'd ever be tempted to go for it

It's finally made Labour listen and realise there is an issue outside of their bubble. They're so keen to dismiss the issue (and call concerned women bigots) on the doorstep, that they just weren't realising (caring?) how big it was.

If they still go off all gung ho now, then they're proving that they simply do not care about women. Wes Streeting doesn't seem to be having much influence, it seems. (And I'm not sure he fully gets it / is totally on board.)

So according to the scolders we are fascists, Tories, mean, haterz etc etc ...but we mustn't spoil our ballots and must VOTE LABOUR?

I've been present at many counts in the past as a Labour representative. It's perfectly clear to the candidates what has been written on a spoiled ballot.

Each one is scrutinised and agreed that it's spoiled. They aren't just chucked in the bin by a teller without that additional check. People writing that your candidate is a knobhead might make some snigger in bravado. However, when your majority is reduced, you definitely know the reason why some people were pissed off with your candidate. Sometimes it's the only way to get a message across at local level. Cries of no one pays attention are just untrue.

I'll be voting local Independent or spoiling, unless, a miracle happens,

I see nothing convincing from Labour about Women's Rights, Safeguarding, Disability Rights, Carers, and joined up Health and Social Care. It's all twee sounding waffle from them, with shouts of Toxic if you take issue with anything said.

They can bugger off.

Alastair Campbell was on GMB this morning, did anyone see it or know if he got questioned on this? I noted that yesterday he chose to retweet a “Trans Rights are Human Rights” post (featuring your “friend” and mine IW) rather than acknowledge the hole Labour have dug for themselves.

Do what you want, but writing specific messages on spoiled ballots is a waste of time. You might as well just scribble all over it.

I don’t want to vote for anybody but I’ll be voting tactically.

So according to the scolders we are fascists, Tories, mean, haterz etc etc ...but we mustn't spoil our ballots and must VOTE LABOUR?

And it won’t be for Labour.

Thinking again about Starmer's answer on Question Time; it's a lawyers' weasel worded response. Someone needs to cross examine him and ask him what exactly does he mean by "penis" and "vagina " and whether he includes in that created facsimiles of naturally occurring organs divergent from the individuals' genetic sex ( sure one of the scientists here could formulate this better to allow for indiidjals who have had to have surgery in response to DSDs ). If this is Starmer's definition it is clearly inadequate as it would not include individuals who have had male genitalia amputated due to cancer or traumatic injury . Definitions matter when we talk about law and Labour needs to be properly grilled on this

Also - and this is critical- the evaporation of the Conservative vote/ splitting of the anti Labour vote means that Labour candidates standing in hitherto safe Tory seats will get in. These are likely to be younger, inexperienced candidates with no real track record . We simply don't know what they will do and there is a real risk some ultra left wing woke MPs will be there and the Labour leadership cannot control them due to the size of the majority in Parliament. The Labour Leadership may say one thing ( which I don't believe for a moment) but can they control the party once in power ? I don't believe they can. So everything is a hollow promise. And we risk losing control of women's rights for ever. Just look at Afghanistan and Iran and the position of women in living memory to what the women face now .