One thing that has surprised me about the trans issue is the transparently manipulative tactics used to manufacture consent and the difficulty countering them. Media tends to treat such claims with credulity, of course, but for some reason people sympathetic to GC positions find it hard to articulate the very obvious ways in which these arguments are defective. I really admire the ease with which Forstater & co. at SM demolish these tropes, they make it look so easy.
Supporters of the trans-inclusive policy cite the positive vote to include trans women from members of the KLPA as a reason why Sex Matters should drop any case. But Sex Matters dismiss this.
“You can’t vote to discriminate and obviously if you’ve caused lots of women to self-exclude and then you take a vote amongst those who didn’t self-exclude, the answer will be: ‘We think it’s fine,’” says Forstater. “But it’s not up to them to vote, it’s up to the City of London to provide a service that is lawful.
“People still have freedom of association to vote to live their life in a particular way and if there is a group of women who want to swim with trans women then they are free to do that.
“But they need to do that in the mixed pond. What they can’t do is vote that a public service that is spending public money and is required to comply with the Equality Act doesn’t do that.”