Durham Miners Gala - Women's Rights are Human Rights

[POWNewcastleEastWallsend]

There was an even bigger turn out at the Durham Miners' Gala this year for women's sex-based rights campaigning groups! Thirty women and twenty banners. Every year there are more women and more banners but this year they outdid themselves and it really feels like a "tipping point".

What did the local and national mainstream media cover: the first "Pride Parade" at the Gala, consisting of one (yes, just one) organisation.

Did they cover the women's rights campaigners? The banners celebrating the Darlington Nurses? Jeremy Corbyn turning his back on the women when they shouted up to him on the balcony of the County Hotel, "‘Do you support women’s right to single-sex spaces?’

Of course they didn't.

I suppose we will just have to go to and read what wonderful Jo Bartosh wrote in Spiked:

The Durham Miners’ Gala has become a woke farce
The sight of feminists being abused by trans activists confirmed that the left has abandoned women’s rights.
14 July 2025 Spiked - Jo Bartosch

You shouldn’t need physical courage to remind the comrades of today’s Labour movement that women have rights. But in 2025, it seems that stating the obvious can get you assaulted, heckled and even left in need of police protection. This was the experience of over 30 women from grassroots feminist groups at the Durham Miners’ Gala on Saturday. And all because they joined the 200,000-strong crowd with a message the modern left would rather not hear. That message was, as one banner put it: ‘Women are born, not worn.’

To the beard-stroking union bosses and their student activist hangers-on, this message and the women who shared it were about as welcome as a Pride parade in Gaza. Just how unwelcome was soon made clear: one woman was allegedly headbutted by a trans activist, while others were shoved and jeered until police were forced to intervene. Solidarity, it seems, only applies to those who toe the ideological line.

Rose Reeve, from the Northern RadFem Network, explained why she showed up despite the risks:

‘Women should be as much a part of [the labour movement] as everyone else. But the unions have let women down big time. They’ve failed to support their female members who’ve been victimised, harassed and disciplined – in some cases, even losing their jobs – simply for stating that men can’t change sex.’

Full article:

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/07/14/the-durham-miners-gala-has-become-a-woke-farce/

Yes, as usual, women campaigning for women's rights were subjected to verbal abuse and were physically attacked. This time by a "Folk Against Fascism" female foaming at the mouth and by another woman who was with the Unison delegation.

Women doing the dirty work for men's rights activists.

Durham police bizarrely let the Unison perp go after having a "quiet chat" with her. So the victim had to go the police station to report the assault. With video evidence of the unprovoked head butting. Is the Unison mascot a Nanny Goat?

🐐

WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

The link in the article above is to the 30 women with 20 Banners singing "Women's Rights are Human Rights" as they reach and then stop outside the County Hotel, as is traditional to receive the "blessing" of the big wigs on the Balcony.

Who was up there this year? The currency luvvy of the UK Left, Grandpappy Corbyn.

As Ellie notes in her post on X:

"For women's rights are human rights 🎶🎵🎶"

Women march at Durham Miners Gala 2025

@jeremycorbyn refused to applaud women and then ran away

https://x.com/eille_sselt/status/1944158296468074897

Screenshots of Ellie's post are attached.

The lady in white is an 87 year old woman who was not intending to march in the procession. However, she got talking to some of the women and asked if she could march with "the Modern Suffragettes". 💚🤍💜

DARLINGTON NURSING UNION

One of the highlights of the women's rights procession at the Gala this year was a group of women from Let Women Speak North East carrying the banners they had made celebrating the Darlington Nurses.

As well as a Darlington Nursing Union banner there was a named banner for each of the nurses who lodged a Grievance against Co Durham and Darlington NHS Trust.

Their Grievance was about being forced to share a changing room with "Rose", an intact male nurse.

"Rose" allegedly sexually harassed one of the nurses, loitering only in underpants that exposed his genitals while demanding to know when she was going to get undressed in front of him. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, she was severely traumatised.

‘We were forced to change in front of a man’
Darlington nurse Bethany Hutchison on the NHS’s capitulation to trans ideology.
15 June 2025 Spiked - Bethany Hutchison interviewed by Georgina Mumford.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/06/15/we-were-forced-to-change-in-front-of-a-man/

If you thought that was bad, it gets worse.

EXCLUSIVEI begged my bosses not to let the trans nurse who invaded our changing room take part in my intimate operation. They refused - as they didn't want to hurt HIS feelings
11 May 2025 - Mail on Sunday
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14698557/I-begged-bosses-not-let-trans-nurse-invaded-changing-room-intimate-operation-refused-didnt-want-hurt-feelings.html

I will post photos of the Darlington Nurses banners and other banners in separate posts below later on.

You can find them on X by searching for the hashtag #DurhamMinersGala
https://x.com/hashtag/DurhamMinersGala

Well done those women. How does Corbyn look at himself in the mirror?

A great summary, thank you!

Brilliant photos too. So good to see!

Really interesting, thank you for posting!

Quite. He must know about the Darlington nurses.

How the fuck can he support men walking into women's spaces, stripping down to their pants and demanding women get undressed.

It's disgusting

Thanks for the links, Liz. It's shocking, but tragically unsurprising to read that a woman was assaulted by a TRA loon, I'm just glad that the Police intervened - it's probably too much to hope that he was arrested.

Well done to you and all the other women who attended and marched.

That's inspiring! Well done to those women, they really made a big statement.

No wonder they were attacked by TRAs - I mean, what did women ever do for the mining communities? Doesn't everyone know that the first lumps of coal in the miners' strike were thrown by transwomen?🙄

Well done to those women! Shame on Corbyn and the unhinged TRAs.

These people play at activism these days. Shameful bunch of union and labour grifters.
Unlike the many women who were involved in the Miners strikes. It blooming well was a struggle. Good for those women speaking up. Brava!

I was at the Gala and I altogether missed the Darlington nurses and the Declaration on Women's Sex-based rights marchers

I did however see Filia at the event (they had a stall). And I noticed a banner that said "Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners". I don't know if that was simply a replication of 1984 banners (because of course there were lots of banners with that phrasing at the time - before we celebrated the fact that it was a transwoman who threw the first piece of coal etc), or whether it was an assertion of the right for LGB to exist without the T.

I didn't view any hostility from TRAs to Fila, and in fact I had a sense that trans flags and (actual) women's voices were generally present alongside one another peaceably.

But of course the union presence made the event most certainly not one in which women's sex-based rights would be acknowledged other than in grassroots pockets.

In fact the union element was, as usual, depressingly backwards-looking to the point of almost deliberate self-created obsolescence. Romanticising old battles. No wonder the unions are so hollowed out that TRAs can thrive in the cavities created by the decay of genuine mass involvement.

I remember a few years ago when I was in the crowd at the Gala and one of the Durham union bigwigs, speaking of the glories of industrial action, made a 'special effort' to acknowledge women by praising them for 'being there, in the background, making tea' (yes, those were his words). The gen sec of the TUC at the time was a woman, sitting right behind him. But the absurdity of his sexism passed by without mass heckles (or a punch in the face).

Their stance currently on trans issues is just the opportunity for younger male trades unionists to keep up the proud history of misogyny while feeling good about themselves.

Because he is a classic leftie "not now, love:after the revolution. Now make me a sandwich".

I remember a few years ago when I was in the crowd at the Gala and one of the Durham union bigwigs, speaking of the glories of industrial action, made a 'special effort' to acknowledge women by praising them for 'being there, in the background, making tea' (yes, those were his words). The gen sec of the TUC at the time was a woman, sitting right behind him. But the absurdity of his sexism passed by without mass heckles (or a punch in the face).

That was the last time I went to the Gala.

I knew and worked with Frances O'Grady as she worked her way up the TUC. She was very able in knowing what horse she should be riding politically.

When she said nothing that day, I knew she was on a promise of better things to come. Baroness now. No surprise there.

Thankfully the generally public were massively more supportive than the likes of the Unison delegation.

Did I mention the good news that Prison Officers Association Frankland Prison Branch were there and were all for the campaign to keep men out of women's prisons? 🥳

As for the rest 🙄

I look forward to reading the article, thanks for the post.

Well done to those that turned up, shame about the violence, but sadly not surprised, I love the banners, it's good to remind the Unions how misogynist they are.

Corbyn's a poster boy for all the loony tunes, he's an obnoxious and fake individual.

I was there! Marching and carrying a banner. There were 3 individuals that were aggressive at the start, I never saw the assault happen but the police stood near us after that. They approached us and started shouting in our faces. There were a few boos when we passed the balcony but they were soon shut down by the crowd. Lots of people cheering once they read our banners. There was another lady that joined us after the we passed the balcony. She packed up her camping chair that she had been sitting on and walked with us to the end. Had a tear in my eye what a man pointed to us and told his young daughter (about 5) that we were marching for her rights. I think the TRAs have underestimated the no nonsense approach from the ex-pit villages. The Darlington nurses really got the word out there and people were shocked about what was going on.

We had 20-30,000 people turn up in London with only a few days notice and the fact that someone wrote something in chalk on a statue got far more coverage than the mass of people protesting trans people having their rights taken from them

Bit weird of you to complain during a media moral panic when there's 100's of anti-trans articles a month, but ATAs be ATAs I guess

I really wished I'd stayed longer watching the bands (just past where the balcony is). I would have given you a massive cheer. Glad you had good support from the crowd.

And good news about the Frankland POA, @POWNewcastleEastWallsend

That’s wonderful to hear about the support from people there!

It’s a hard part of the world. Little tolerance for mardy attention seekers there, I would think.

Aah, bless.

The thing is @BeeSouriante no trans people have had any rights taken from them.

So that's good news.

It was a fantastic turn out and you were all wonderful and did the Darlington Nurses proud! 💚🤍💜

It's significant that members of the public were so supportive that they decided to march along with the banners, not just cheer from the sidelines.

It has been noticeable in previous years that the crowds were clapping other parts of the procession almost routinely but they started cheering when we went by. They know what we are marching for and they are so pleased to see us. ❤️

Shame your lot could not put on a better showing at the Durham Miners' Gala then, apart from attacking women that is:

• 300,000 people
• 30 women with 20 sex-based women's rights banners
• "Pride Parade" consisting of ONE banner from ONE organisation

I don't think you actually know what the Durham Miners' Gala is.

I'm inspired to go next year now. I think we should get an FWR posse up to support you all.

What a BRILLIANT idea!! ❤️

EDIT: Put the date in your Diary: Sat 11 July 2026

Well, sorry I missed it because of work. We've just passed between Coll and Rum and are heading home up the Minch. At least I got some good dolphin photos as a consolation prize...

I’m so fed up with people dragging Gaza into this constantly. What’s the need for Jo Bartosch’s snide remark there? It just seems really disrespectful to me to make an irrelevant joke about a people currently being subjected to genocide. I think the “joke” is supposed “haha Palestinians are Muslim and don’t like gays, lol”, something like that?

Helen thingy (sorry, can’t remember her surname) did something similar in an otherwise excellent article posted here a few weeks back - a snide comment about ridiculous TRAs protesting Gaza and Climate Change.

Surely it’s possible to think men are not women, trans ideology is misogyny, and also the genocide in Gaza and climate change are horrific.