Thank you! What do you think of this?
My argument would be that TWAW / GI is a belief that is WORIADS but that the way it has been manifesting in the UK over the past 10-15 years is not. On the basis that:
Political legitimacy based on appeals to emotion and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat "easily recognizable societal problems, such as underdevelopment or insurgency.
GI views are based on emotive appeals for “the most vulnerable” without objective evidence to back up the vulnerability claims. Stats on violence and suicide rates haven’t been unpicked from other coexisting issues such as childhood trauma, autism and history of sexual abuse. The claims that self harm is high because of harassment from society for being trans haven’t been separated from harassment or abuse, say, for presenting as autistic. Support for trans people seems to be based on appeals for kindness, inclusivity and equality due to past oppression. Stonewall has particularly been able to use their track record/reputation on gay rights - even though the GI belief system interferes with gay rights.
Limited political pluralism, which is achieved with constraints on the legislature, political parties and interest groups.
TWAW cannot claim to sit within pluralism which requires peaceful coexistence between different groups. The beliefs interfere with protected characteristics and rights of sex and sexual orientation. The TWAW and GI values require the subjugation of women’s and gay rights in order to have full expression. Female related words must be removed for full “inclusion” of trans people without any acceptance or acknowledgement that this is exclusionary for females. Control of language ensures confusion and redefining normal words as hate speech is discombobulating for average people. With speech controlled opposing points of view and counter arguments cannot be made. The language control required by GI prevents clear understanding of what is happening in society. Redefinition of a male as female co-opts heuristics regarding safety, strength, privacy and social behaviours. This effect creates a dissonance which has been seen to interfere with freedom of speech, the press and the judiciary in the UK & elsewhere. No Debate as a default position and accusations of bigotry and right wing hate suppress discussion.
Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, used to extend the power of the executive.
The TWAW belief system can be seen in the policy documents of almost all public bodies, political parties, the bench book, NHS, police etc etc so these beliefs are perpetuated by the state on a massive scale. Both in the Uk and internationally. These policies were put in place by behind the scenes activities which differ from public facing websites. Extensive staff education given on pronouns, inclusion, men as women etc. None of these schemes are transparent and public bodies obfuscate when asked Freedom of Information requests. Shifting rankings on a nebulous ranking scheme with no transparency and seemingly arbitrary scoring (WEI and Champions or Rainbow Badges) which “matured” policies over time via multiple updates - like the frog in boiling water analogy - to gain Stonewall points with hundreds of organisations competing to be named on their top100 employer lists.
Minimal political mobilization, and suppression of anti-regime activities.
Those who have tried to protest have lost their jobs. Platforms such as mumsnet and other women’s organisations have been targeted for “re education” or cancellation to prevent organised dissent. The scale & vociferousness of GI /TWAW beliefs and their manifestation has made it almost impossible to posit counter arguments. The BBC and other media do not cover the stories without fear or favour. Our politicians don’t speak basic biological truths. The movement was so confident in its capture of the Scottish Government that no trans organisations applied to be intervenors. It seems they expected the Supreme Court to agree blindly because of the sheer numbers of believers/institutions on their side. Post judgement politicians have been unable to express any support GC views, programs on the BBC omitted to mention it. Silence as censorship? Nothing to see here?
Internationally it seems that many countries have accepted this as an orthodoxy. The UK is apparently unique internationally in how grassroots feminists have pushed back on these ideas.
Lay it on me - why is this not a Totalitarian movement?