let's remember Mumsnet banned us all for transphobia all those years ago!

[dontforgetnow]

I have seen a lot of well deserved shout outs to the brilliant Magdalen Berns today ❤️. let's not forget that she brought a bunch of us together after we were banned from Mumsnet for transphobia back in the bad old days. and her videos were born from those disturbing days and furtive chats. So thanks Mumsnet, I guess 😁. let's raise a glass to MB 🍺🍷🥃❤️

Agree MN has been instrumental in achieving this huge win . Although the censorship was v frustrating at times, I'm grateful that women were able to discuss the issues on here. I was definitely one of the women 'radicalized by Mumsnet'! I found a real life women's group through here, and also met up with real women the first time I went to a Women's Place meeting.

I also want to thank Elon Musk. Before he bought Twitter, many pp had been banned, including Posie Parker and Glinner. I'd been suspended previously for 'hate speech' for calling Aimee Challenor a man. His commitment to free speech made it a very different place afterwards.

So are we allowed go say "trans identified man" (TIM) instead of "trans woman" again?

I have learnt so much from mumsnet on the issue. Got support from Fair Play for Women via mumsnet. And as someone up thread, mumsnet, with its titanium ovaries, didn’t double down the way the Stella Creasys of this world do when presented with facts, they owned it and learnt.

The UK general public would never have known about Sandie Peggie, for example, if it hadn’t been discussed at length by mumsnet and picked up by the national press.
Without mumsnet, England would probably be where Ireland is today. Complete with male sex offenders (looking at you, Barbie K) in women’s prisons and the only people talking sense on the matter are nutters/zealots (yep, you Enoch).
I for one am very grateful for mumsnet.

I agree. They were placed in an impossible situation but still managed to find a workaround that allowed women to continue to speak, educate and organise.

Not ideal, of course, but workarounds rarely are, and I for one found such comfort and relief in being able to come here and talk (fairly) openly about my worries and feelings when almost everywhere else I felt like a pariah.

no that wasn't my intention. I don't blame MN for it at all. I genuinely am looking back on the origin/catalyst for yesterday's outcome. it's interesting don't you think

I can’t pinpoint it but noticed an interesting sea-change about eighteen months ago when, rather than being confined to FWR, discussion of the topic suddenly seemed much more prevalent on AIBU and in all sorts of ordinary places. It was like people had suddenly realised that this wasn’t a theoretical feminist-debate, it was a real life issue…

I was also frustrated by the moderation policy sometimes but it really was the only space to discuss these things. And the thing is, I also started off thinking there wasn’t an issue and why couldn’t everyone just be kind etc so it would be unfair of me to expect MN to get things instantly from the off when it took me awhile to get my head around things!

it really wasn't at the start. it didn't take them long to stand up for women. but there was a period of time when hundreds of us were banned for gently questioning what is a women. everyone was just confused at that point, with solidified thoughts and opinions on the issue. MB collected us together. we spent years discussing and arguing, clarifying the logic, researching both sides etc etc it was how MB videos came about. and Fair play for Women. probably was the catalyst for FWS. MB collected all those banned women together

I think a lot of organisations were placed in impossible positions. Even teachers suspended for not using the right pronouns. Or teaching what the word woman means. Now at least we know. In this country anyway.

yes, I agree MN have done a brilliant job and let us speak freely about this when we couldn't elsewhere

it is obvious that their initial banning approach was due to confusion and panic and wanting to protect the vulnerable etc. once they understood and processed they reversed that decision. unlike most social media platforms

and the silver, no golden, lining of their initial position was the rise of Magdalen

I hold no I'll will, do you? I think MN quickly understood where other platforms never have

yes Posie is another one who rose from that collective of women banned from MN! 😁

I also joined a secret Facebook group that was created by MNers who wanted to talk but couldn’t speak freely on MN. This would have been in around 2016. It grew amazingly, you would all recognise many of the names in that group, and some well known campaign groups also came from it. It had to change names a few times as it kept being infiltrated by TRAs.

no people were banned for questioning the definition of women

I expect MN would have no problem confirming that.

but my point really wasn't to criticise. as I have now hopefully clarified

after being banned from MN, we collected in secret FB groups 🤣. it's hard to believe how far we have come. it seemed impossible at the time

I'm glad someone understood what I meant

When you join MN you're allowed to post on all the boards straight away. Except for FWR where you have to wait 24 hours.
I only realised when I rejoined on Wednesday to follow the SC ruling and discovered I was able to read the threads but unable to post or comment.
Can anyone tell me why that is?

Re the above. The only reason I can think of is that FWR links are often shared to reddit inviting people to pile on. So if hundreds comes over to spam and realise they have to wait a day, they'll forget all about it and not bother to come back

Im also having mixed feelings about this. I remember many of my posts being deleted for apparent transphobia. Alongside silencing from other places. I’m now watching people seeing what I saw and connecting the dots, and I feel I’m left watching just feeling a little confused and angry. I suffered immensely in two main areas of my life because of this and there’s this need for recompense which I know I’m never going to get. This of course is sadly not a new realisation as I (being a woman) have found myself having to recover and regain some semblance of sanity following a negative experience about my biological reality.

Well, there are still limits 😂 I was clearly over-optimistic about the effects of legal permission to state a fact! (No, I wasn't rude about anybody.)

This Cultural Revolution will take some persistent undoing, still.

@GarlicSmile why on earth was that deleted.? Since Wednesday it's been clarified as not only fact but the law

Because so many trolls tried to break in and disrupt discussions.

No idea! Didn't bother querying it - I reckoned whoever reported it would be spoiling for a fight if the thread was reinstated, and that fight's going on everywhere already. It's quite wearing, isn't it?!

@mathanxiety I guessed that would be the reason. I guess when they realise they have to wait 24 hours they'd just go back to where they came from.

@GarlicSmile indeed it is. There aren't enough hours in the day to read all the articles or keep up with the threads already out there