Woman's Hour on the ruling

[Pluvia]

I wondered how WH would cover yesterday's ruling on today's programme. They gave the job to a new presenter, one I don't think I've been aware of before: Nuala and Anita not appropriate or capable, I imagine. The programme opened by flagging up features about Roblox, a female author, a female musician and a hockey player who campaigned to wear shorts instead of a skirt.

And then: 'But first, the UK supreme court ruled that woman=biological sex. Six years of campaigning by FWS (which of course WH barely covered). FWS says it's grateful to the court for its ruling while campaigning group Scottish Trans urges transpeople not to panic.'

Joshua Rosenberg, BBC legal commentator, was then called in to explain the ruling. He says the EHRC read the law wrongly and advised the UK government wrongly. Lady Haldane's decision was wrong. Judges have ruled man/ woman = biological sex. Kishwar Falkner's interview on Today was quoted very briefly. Questions about toilets and changing rooms were dealt with in purely legal terms, though Rosenberg said he supposed men who pass as women will continue to use women's facilities. Transpeople still covered by the Equality Act, no need for transpeople to panic, still protected. The end.

They covered the minimum they had to in a purely legal way. Certainly no kudos to the three FWS women who took on the Scottish government and won. Nothing even remotely celebratory or a flicker of acknowledgement that women's rights, and lesbian rights in particular, were under serious attack.

I hate Woman's Hour with a vengeance.

There still seems to be an attitude in the news that trans women or interesting and new and women are boring and have been around forever.

Combined with this news organisations always want to emphasise the "who's suffering from this?" part if the storyline rather than talking to women who are happy with the verdict having campaigned for years.

As I said on another thread, it should just be framed as a win for women.

You'd think it would be a perfect Women's Hour story - grassroots women's groups working together funded only by small donations from other women all over the country to fight for women's rights over their kitchen tables. But no. Far too many women for Women's Hour.

She was saying but we can switch to gender neutral facilities
[so it will all be fine]. Also lots of talk on R4 about how TW may not want to use the men’s -no thought about whether women want THEM in their spaces of course 🙄

I've been catching up with some of the interviews/commentary and the mainstream focus is mostly on trans and what this means for trans people. Very little mention or proper discussion on women and women's rights, safety, privacy and dignity.

Maya Fostater was brilliant on the channel 4 news yesterday but they then followed that up with 2 men who identify as not men getting all huffy. Helen Joyce also brilliant on Five live. GMB had a man who said he would still use women's facilities alongside Daisy Mcandrew who did nothing to explain what this ruling means for women. Also, Loose Women focused on what this means for trans people with only Kaye Adams alluding to the brave women who have been fighting for years.

This was pretty much my reaction. Rosenberg's comment that if transwomen (sic) pass they can still use women's facilities was enraging. I thought, oh they might pass to you mate, who isn't remotely affected, so I suppose that's fine? Bizarre. And incorrect.

Cathy Newman was neutral not dismissive I thought- ideal for the headlines and Maya vs eejit lawyer. She (cathy) actually looked as though she had been crying- moved by the result? Then Krishnan was crap, but tbh the two transwomen came across unbelievably poorly even with such sympathy from the 'interviewer'. The contempt for women from the one on screen was palpable.

I am generally delighted with the level of coverage- the fact they simply can't ignore this!
But the BBC has been annoying in saying that all guidance to schools etc needs rewriting as if this is a new law- it isn't! Just a clarification of something that was already crystal bloody clear but a huge number of orgs have embarassingly misinterpreted. And Schoolchildren won't have had a GRC anyway! . They just need to provide the single sex spaces they should have been providing all along. acting as if they suddenly won't be 'allowed' to use preferred pronouns etc is nonsense.

That's one of the baffling things- every time a women's rights campaigner is interviewed she is clear, concise and factual. The trans activists usually sound at best wildly inappropriate (over the last 2 days I've heard I've heard one say he vomited back his breakfast and another refer cringingly to an intimate relationship where the other party never even knew he was trans) and at worst utterly incoherent. You'd think the media would prefer an interviewee who made sense.

You would think so- but to get those they'd have to actually stick with women.

They have bed pans on both.

My blood pressure was rising listening to The News Agents in the car today! “It only impacts a tiny majority of people”. “No one called into the radio show” “Voters don’t care”

My social media would suggest differently. Are these people in such a bubble that they have no idea what matters? I’m quite encouraged by my facebook - a lot of “common sense at last “ from people who have been very quiet on this. Couple of guys contributing “but what about the poor trans who have been victimised all their lives”

And then I remember the joy at hearing the verdict and that all fades into the background…..

Lots of dreadful coverage, but I did quite enjoy the Two Matt’s podcast on the judgement, which was pretty good I thought. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-two-matts/id1236139906?i=1000703897908

God it was rather glaringly awful wasn’t it. But then, I don’t trust the bbc to report on actual news anymore…

Gah, I thought it was just me getting enraged by the coverage of the verdict. Every single news item I've heard, seen or read since has been full of hand-wringing over "how trans people will cope" now that their "rights have been redefined". No bloody mention of how how the rights of women have been redefined for the last 10 years or so, or how we've been expected to put up and shut up about it! I've been shouting at the radio on more than one occasion. The battle may be won but the war certainly isn't. Depressing.

Just watched 2 men on GBN going on about bin strikes and immigration. One man telling the amazing Helen Joyce that she is comparing a trans woman and a rapist. She replied well they're both men one has a piece of paper the other doesn't.

I really wish there was more discussion on male violence and people would stop calling these men trans women.

I saw that and thought isn't that sex by coercion.

So infuriating. I nearly popped a vein.

I enjoyed that, but why have they been so silent on it up to this point?

TRIP will ignore the ruling, or say something dismissive. I went off Rory Stuart when he said that Afghanistan was a much better safer country now with the Taliban in charge.

The one everyone should listen to, for thoroughly righteous rants, and consistency (not the reverse ferret of so many others) is RedFem.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/redfem/id1574074250

Jen Isaakson & Hannah Berelli have been on this from the start.

PSA: I'm not related, I don't know them, but they make me laugh out loud and I love the energy of their rants. The youth are alright if they're an example of Gen Z or whatever.

@Alucard55 yes, it's sexual assault/rape in my view. The fact he can proudly state that on national TV as evidence of how well he passes goes to show exactly how much he understands about male violence.

Great recommendation - thank you - I love a good rant!

At least they allowed someone representing FWS point of view to be heard.

Michelle Dewberry’s show on Thursday gave the topic another airing with both guests in agreement that this was a vote for common sense.

I find it interesting and unsurprising that mainstream media find the whole subject distasteful and are clearly uncertain how best to handle it.

Not a peep on HIGNFY.