I want to meet other GC women in person

[elbowhammer]

I've joined LWS
I've joined the WRN
I'm active in GC FB groups

But I've never been to any meet ups - possibly because I'm not in a city and the small towns near me don't seem to have any GC activity that I know of.

I'm not an activist but I would just like to hang out with other sex realists. How does one do this?!!

Do any of you meet people in real life?

I couldn’t attend a vigil. It would cause too many problems with my family. I think I would be worried to go to a LWS event too, for the same reason. I could get to Birmingham though. I sound timid but I’m not, usually.

That's brilliant. I had the impression Leeds (I used to live there but moved away about 20 years ago) was something of a hotbed of mad genderism. Mermaids etc.

I am lucky enough I’ve never met anyone in real life who isn’t GC. I’m quite prone to making a joke of it with other women, occasionally strangers in light conversation “I’m identifying as a [insert whatever ridiculous notion]” and they laugh and say “god, don’t get me started..” or words to that effect.

I’ve had friends who have children in school now who are outraged by Andrew becoming Annabel at 6 and using the disabled loos as directed and are informed by teachers in an email “but I don’t know if anyone else minds”. THEY DO!!

I’m in east Anglia. Also with small kids but I’m a member of my local WRN and find the WhatsApp and national WRN zooms good if only to see that there are lots of us out there!

What?!? Every single person I know is GC. Everyone. My neighbours, my colleagues, my fronds, my children. I'm off to read the thread now to find out where you live, as it must be a very different location to mine!

I booked my ticket for FiLIA 2025 yesterday & there are still tickets. I also bought a solidarity ticket, so if you're really broke, there's at least one of those!

See a lot of you in Brighton (although as we're all anonymous here, I won't know it's you

Wow, is it in Brighton this year?

Ok. I've read the thread now. It's not so much that there's no GC people in your area, just that you don't talk about it. Because if you did, unless you're in cult areas like Brighton, parts of Manchester, parts of London - you'll discover that most people are GC and if they aren't, we are now 'allowed' (unbelievable that we ever weren't) to say sex matters.

So. I wear my 'adult human female' top round town and have done for years. Only ever received positive responses. My work lanyard is the suffragette colours - this work is in a school. My boss knows I'm gender critical and that I absolutely will not be calling any male child 'she' nor female child 'he'. Rather, they egg shell round me rather than the other way round.

I had a convo the other day with the teacher of a new child in to my swim class
'They're trans and called P'
'Ok. What sex actually are they.'
'Male'
'Well, he has to change in the males then.'
'Ok'

Commiserations.

I'm in a university department where many of the younger staff have drunk the Koolaid. I had to sit through a seminar paper which used the term "self-identifying radical feminist TERFS' as if it were an official term.

But I raised some issues in the informal discussion afterwards, and challenged the speaker over the TERF term, by saying that as far as I knew, radical feminists didn't exclude transmen, so the term "TERF" is inaccurate. THe speaker got rather heated & upset, but I just asked questions and stayed pleasant. Another colleague who kept on telling me that "Transwomen are women' and said that it wasn't up for discussion, so I said - "Are telling me there are things we can't talk about in a university?" She said we'd have to agree to disagree, and told me (I'm an historian) that there were indeed times in history where patriarchy didn't exist. I asked her for her evidence ....

I don't think I would have been brave enough to say all this before Maya Forstater won her case.

But I had to sit through a whole paper being called a terf. I'm wondering if there'll be a complaint, at which point I will point out that "TERF" is a slur and a term that is connected with the threat of violence against women.

The irony is that the speaker is a gay woman. Talk about Koolaid

Yup. It's a brave choice, but why not? Loads of feminists in Brighton, and easy access from the rest of the country, given how London-centric most public transport is.

It is, I don't have any issue with the location, just surprised!

Also, I echo others' recommendations for finding a WRN meet up. I've never been able to make the ones set up in my WRN (SW) because work, travel etc, but the long-suffering organisers try to have about 3 or 4 meet ups each year. It's not easy finding convenient dates or places, but they do, as they are sterling women!

I have a section of suffragette badges - one on every coat and jacket. Never had an adverse comment.

Same here, and my scarf, gloves and t shirts, all positive so far (fingers crossed)😃

I’m so sorry to hear your story, it sounds like you’ve had a tough time, especially from people you would expect to be able to rely on.

After reading this thread I have just filled in the form on the WRN website and hope to meet some like minded women, have you tried that?

I completed the WRN form several weeks ago but not heard back yet - pleased they are busy though!

@LadyBracknellsHandbagg you have hit the nail on the head. It's not about being an activist or even wanting to discuss GC issues particularly. Just about feeling relaxed in the company of others knowing you are on the same page about what I believe to be a fundamental issue.
I spent most of my 20s/30s stepping on eggshells and I'm not doing it anymore.

So sorry to hear about what you have been through with your child. How is she doing now? Apologies if it's the wrong place to discuss that.

Secret 👋

😄👋

I wear my WRN pin on a purple jumper!

But if someone objects to the suffragette colours, I’d be asking them if they oppose women’s suffrage and other rights we’ve won since? Are they against women’s suffrage as full citizens?

They do check people out quite carefully. In my group they ask if any of us know new members IRL - in the flesh so to speak.

Lovely idea to wear suffragette badges. Where do you get them from?

Mine were presents from my mum and my partner, so I don't know exactly where they came from - but these are the same designs as some of them: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/593352470/votes-for-women-enamel-pin-set-feminist?

I get all my stuff from

letwomenspeak.org

The pins are a great idea - I think that unless you know what they mean, they’d go over most people’s heads?