Hypothetical question for gardeners

[TheRozzers]

If you donated towards a woman’s legal fees for a GC tribunal but the claimant accepted a confidential settlement from the defendant would you feel disappointed?

If the desired outcome of the case was not reached or only partially reached by the settlement would you feel aggrieved?

As some pps have said, any donation I make is without strings and is to show my support as well as help with legal fees. I would not have a problem with anyone in one of these situations opting to take a settlement rather than carry on going through what must be a very difficult process. As I have read before on here - 'the process is the punishment' and if the person decides they can't take any more punishment then I respect and accept their choice.

Every time the other side wobbles in its confidence in its case and settles then that’s a win. It’s a win in the context of the individual case and the broader picture. It’s not that long that everyone was so convinced in the rightness of TWAW that challenge was virtually impossible. That’s no longer the case, and cases going to settlement are evidence of that.

Plus no matter how confidential, word will spread, and people will increasingly think twice about firing women for telling the truth.

I would be mildly disappointed, in the sense that I would like the claimant to achieve all that they were hoping to do by bringing the case, but there's no guarantee that taking it all the way to tribunal will do that anyway. If they've got to the stage where they feel unable to take it any further, especially if it's someone like Sarah in Brighton where the case has dragged on for YEARS then I can understand them settling and hope they are happy with the outcome rather than just wanting it over with. (NB I have no idea who the person involved is, just using Sarah as an example as she was the first person whose case sprang to mind as a particularly protracted one).

Like others, I donate when I can as a gesture of support for these amazing women who are walking such a difficult path, putting their head above the parapet.

I don’t feel disappointed; every chink in the armour is worth it as far as I’m concerned.

Also a no from me. The money is freely and gladly given.
A court case and ruling is obviously a wonderful thing in that there is publicity and precedent, but it also is very hard on the individual woman who has already been through enough that she has to start legal proceedings in the first place.
Besides a settlement sends a message too. Discrimination is costly.
I'm more than happy for the women in these cases to make the choice that's right for them.

Additionally, as has been mentioned, the process is the punishment. I can't imagine how stressful it must be in some of these cases, especially those where trans activists are gunning for them and their families, sometimes over years.
If she's filled with righteous feminist fury and wants to fight for the ruling, I'll cheer her on but if she's stressed and exhausted and wants it to end, I'll cheer her taking the settlement too.
I would absolutely hate to know a woman is struggling with that kind of pressure, really wants to settle so she can get on with her life but doesn't because she feels she can't let the side down.
It would be unfair of me or anyone else to ask her to pay that kind of price.

The only thing that disappoints me with crowdfunding is when the outcome is announced on twitter before a message is sent to donors. It ought to be at the same time or if the crowdfunding site introduces a delay before the announcement on twitter.

Can anyone provide a sidebar for those of us who don’t understand the use of the word gardener here please? I’ve done a Google search to find out and I’ve found a thread from Mumsnet from 2023 related to Sybil Ruth’s tribunal case which mentions gardening too but no germination of the term.

We can’t directly talk about nor link crowdfunding requests. So, FWR talks about people who need support for their allotments to deliver a good crop. So, we garden for them, sow a few seeds etc.

In the past (when we were very heavily moderated) we were warned that discussions of carrots, onions, seeds etc would not always be acceptable.

This is fantastic! Thank you for explaining @RethinkingLife 💐

"gardening" has been a recognised euphemism on this site for so long I cant even remember when it started - but before 2023.

I've always assumed it had evolved from a request for people to dig deep for someone.

No, I wouldn't care. My £10 is to show solidarity and appreciation for them speaking up.