Open letter by UK writers in solidarity (not with us obviously)

[CrossPurposes]

Prepare for some disappointing names.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18p-rvgNitRKYs9C2PoIBC86Fb2ZQnBd8PzEfgGfnsKo/edit?usp=drivesdk

Oh dammit, not Alasdair Beckett King, didn't think he'd be a gullible idiot. He is only one of about five people I actually recognize.

yes I was also thinking - with a few exceptions - who?

Sadly I DO recognise this name:
Nicola Coughlan raises over €130,000 for trans charity after UK ruling on gender
Nicola Coughlan raises over €130,000 for trans charity after UK ruling on gender

I can just see Sister Michael's [the character, not the actor playing her] epic eyeroll...

Is Philip Pulman on there, I haven't spotted his name?

What a bunch of misogynistic idiots.

Not surprised at all Nicola is on it, Sister Michael would roll her eyes but not convinced about the actress who plays her would too.

Wonder what they actually think the definition of being a man or a woman should be - a feeling, a preference for certain colours etc. Quick to shout out bioessentialism but I’d be interested to know how they define the alternative.

No real surprises on there. The usual intellectual lightweights and luvvies.

Fancy willingly adding your ‘Thicky McThick from Thick Town’ name on a list of flat earth idiocy. I guess there is no such thing as bad publicity.

There's a couple of female playwrights there who I'm disappointed in because I've enjoyed their work which focused on women.

I either don't recognise those names, don't care about them or already knew they had witchfinder tendencies.

Whatever. They wave their virtue flags, and the planet goes on being round.

Mostly random names. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Billy Bragg is identifying as a writer, now?

oh Hayley from Corrie is in, that’s me won over then.

I don’t really care about this random group’s opinion, but this is worrying: https://archive.ph/eoDSN

The younger generation has a different opinion…at leadt on the surface. When I read the article, it seems they have misunderstood a few things, and if this “constructive ambiguity” was exposed. They might feel differently, although some might find it too difficult to change their minds for tribal/social reasons.

This is far from over.

I suspect there's a lot of self identified "writers" on there amidst some of the well know names. Of the "I read a sentence from a book aloud on tiktok" variety .

A sad day for UK literature.

I haven’t read it. No interest except to say ‘How embarrassing’ for them. To demonstrate how particularly thick they are. Tragic.

I’d love to be a time traveller watching people discuss this peculiar episode in history. How they will laugh at the morons who couldn’t understand biological fact. Or even worse, the imbeciles who could, but chose not to.

I honestly don't think any of these people actually understand why the previous understanding and misuse of the law was a problem.
They don't seem to understand that not being able to define sex does cause serious problems for women.

They didn't even get the date of the judgement right!

All those women though, like turkeys voting for christmas.

' The signatories of this letter attest to the fact that writers with a bioessentialist view of womanhood and a binary view of sex and gender are in the minority.'

That's some assertion.

I think they do understand biological fact very well. They just want it to be irrelevant. For some privileged people maybe it can be. But in many crucial situations, it cannot be escaped.

Robin Ince

Robin Ince

The younger generation have not earned enough stripes to have a fully rounded opinion on this imo. Wait until ‘Melissa’ has a baby, and her daughter has to use toilets or be examined medically, or gets fitted for her first bra. Or maybe she has problems with labour or childbirth…And wait until Melissa experiences gynaecological or hormonal issues that only females experience or she herself experiences a lifetime of male entitlement and arrogance and dismissal. God forbid she ever experiences first hand male violence… I wonder if she’ll be so idealistic about it all then?

I am disappointed by Mark Haddon signing that

Exactly. That’s why I said ‘Or even worse, the imbeciles who could, but chose not to’.