An update to the WI Announcement thread. My DH just got a reply to his application to join them.

[Another2Cats]

This is not a thread about a thread, but recently there was a thread about the Womens Institute announcement that they would not be implementing the SC ruling anytime soon.

I was reading the thread at the time and, entirely jokingly, I suggested to my DH that he should apply to join the WI and see what they say.

So he did just that (he totally gets the GC point of view) and I posted about this at the time:

Another2Cats · 08/05/2025 19:45

I just got my DH to send an email to them:

Hello,

My name is Xxxx (very obviously masculine name). I just read your transgender policy and understand that you accept men.

I am a man and would like to join the local WI group in [xxxx city] (the nearest branch for me is in yyyy [suburb of xxxx city]).

Should I just turn up next Wednesday evening and sign up?

I'm really waiting with bated breath to see what sort of response there is.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5330297-womens-institute-announcement?reply=144143149
.

Well, it turns out that they sent a response this lunchtime.

This is their reply (although with contact details redacted):

Good morning,

Thank you for your enquiry. Our policy states that “WI membership is open to all women who live as women, including transgender women.” If you fit within this statement, you will be more than welcome to attend. I am afraid the WI is not open to men.

Kind regards,

[Redacted]

[Name Redacted]
Federation Secretary
[Two cities - well, a city and a town - redacted] Federation of WIs CIO
[Address redacted]
[Telephone number redacted]
Office hours: Tues, Weds, Thurs 9am – 1pm

Please note the new email address – [Redacted]
.

I don't know, is this something that DH should take up with the EHRC now that he has it in writing?

We need a flowchart 😂

I am sure they would tell us that TW brains are different to cross dressers- wasn't there a study finding this bullshit recently?

If it's true, it can be used for diagnosis and remove any doubt. For some reason, there is no appetite for this.

Completely out of left field, and I'm sure many of you ladies much cleverer than me would know better, but since the member constitution bars men, and women pay membership based on that constitution then technically could that not constitute fraud? Or taking money under false pretences?

Oh, one of those consultations. Where they tell you what to think? The SNP are good at them.

This question has been raised before but I'm afraid I don't know the answer. It's something they're going to have to respond to though. Lots of women (I'd say most?) joined on the basis that it's a WOMEN's organisation and that's what they've paid for. If it's now not a women's organisation and members want to leave and want their money back I think they are entitled to it - it's false selling!

The whole thing is a massive mess of their own making.

This seems a sensible alternative if the WI decides to spaff its funds on a hopeless legal case. Independent Groups could set up arrangements to affiliate with each other and organically grow a new organisation.

Looking at the FAQs, if there was enough interest a whole Federation (Region) might break away:

NFWI stands for National Federation of Women’s Institutes and is responsible for running our charitable organisation as a whole. Its headquarters are located in Parsons Green, London.

There are 70 federations spread across the UK. Imagine them as regional offices, linking all the WI in its area with the NFWI in London.

Therefore, every single WI belongs to a federation. As an example: the "Guernsey Lilies" belong to the Guernsey federation, just like the Selby Swans belong to the North Yorkshire East federation and so on.

As a result, when a woman joins her local WI, she becomes a member of that particular WI and not her regional federation or the NFWI.

https://www.thewi.org.uk/faqs

Where is the Charity Comission in all this? Do they not have to ensure that charities are following the law of the land?

Busy investigating a bunny sanctuary for alleged 'transphobia'.

People have written to them and received the same mass generated “wait until the guidance” waffly email back . Hopeless!

Quoting my own post i wrote a week or so ago.

Found out on Friday from Audrey Lugwig , a barrister (who spoke to our WI on Friday evening) a little more about the legal basis of the WI statement of case particularly this concept of trans inclusive. The originator is Jason Coppel who was the KC acting for EHRC in FWS who were appearing as Intervenors . Apparently he surmised this in a podcast he did 8 May with Zoe Gannon and Ruth Kennedy from the same chambers. And reported on by Sex Matters link here
https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/why-are-lawyers-encouraging-confusion-about-the-law/

Jason Coppel has worked with the Good Law Project before though so there is a connection there and to Jolyon Maughan around the PPE scandal in 2022. Is he the “eminent KC” mentioned by JM in the article ? Perhaps?

Anyhow Audrey didn’t think much of the WI statement of case which i summarised for her. And pointed out the absurbity oc claiming or not a single sex exemption as if that is some group you sign up to . Either de facto you are or not depending on past actions. They are - end of.

Catches up on Fife posts after a marathon reading session. Congratulates self and turns to watched threads. Sees 158 new posts on this thread. Pours a large G&T and resigns self to another late night.

@Another2Cats - This thread is now at 962 posts. Please make a Thread#2 before it hits 1000 so that you can post here with a link to the new thread.

Thank you very much, that is a very good point. I have now done that and the link is here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5377946-dh-v-the-wi-thread-2

I really can't believe that a thread I started is going to a second thread!

To me multiple threads were things like (well, apart from threads like Peggie v NHS Fife etc) parking on the Isle of Wight or stacking goats for an MN festival.

Well done OP. Your hard work is appreciated.

I.ve commented on a sanctimonious thread about men being allowed into the WI on the insufferable Reddit According to the Women's Institute (probably one of the best organizations to decide who a woman is) have said on record that trans women are women, and are to be included in the Women's Institute. : r/transgenderUK which is a cesspit of misogynistic views and male supremacist wankery.

They hate that as they like to think they are so woke and inclusive.
All of it needs to be challenged.

Thanks OP for the reminder about the Parking bollard threads. That was probably my first experience of mumsnet. I'm chuckling at the memory.