I was at Cardiff Filia and attended the 'elephant in the room' session with WPUK. That was the day I understood how the purity pissing contest was going to go. I went in a fan of WPUK and came out disillusioned. It's Puritanism, an authoritarian battle to establish who can be the most pious.
I managed to avoid much of the hoo-ha because I was away and not bothering with SM. Now I'm back and I'm sad to see women I know who've been caught in this nasty little 'Quick, sign here or you'll look like you support KJK/racism' trap. I can tell from my WA messages that I'm supposed to be congratulating them for signing. I haven't done it and I'll wait to see whether I'm to be shunned as a result. A couple of people I know were asked to sign but weren't given enough time to read the letter carefully so didn't and now feel they've dodged a bullet. I know others who signed in a hurry and now wish they hadn't.
I was due to book my ticket for the LGB Alliance conference in London. I can't really justify the £400+ it costs in travel, accommodation and ticket and as Simon Edge* is headlining I think I'll avoid. He used to make fun of the virtue-signallers, now he seems to be leading them.
The worst thing of it all is that I belong to a couple of GC women's groups that offer GC social events for women to talk and learn and build friendships. We also campaign locally — stalls in town centres, leaflets, attending Pride and handing out information on the dangers of puberty blockers, that kind of thing. It takes guts and commitment and I appreciate every women who puts herself on the line. The group is open to all GC women, regardless of political or religious affiliation and we have quite a few Let Women Speak supporters (including some Muslim women) who want to do something active in their local area. Some of them are politically more to the right than me, but they're team players and don't lecture the rest of us about their politics. We accept that we come from different positions and unite for the good of women. I've learned tolerance from them and some of them have changed their stance on a number of things, including racism, since being involved with us. Whether we can hold it all together now remains to be seen. I hope we're all sophisticated enough and nuanced enough to keep it working, despite the Puritans' desire that we disavow anyone who doesn't meet their purity standards.
*Simon Edge (author of the GC comic novel The End of the World is Flat) is the apparent author of and first signatory of the letter.