Library talk equates single sex spaces with racism

[Mermoose]

Terenure Library in Dublin will be hosting a talk by Dr Gillian Frank (despite his name he's a man, not trans identified) which appears to be equating single sex spaces for women with racism. Dr Frank is an Assistant Professor in the History of the Modern United States and teaches the MA level class on Gender Theory for the Program in Gender and Women's Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

His view that women having single sex spaces should be compared with racist segregation is not uncommon, it's one of the ways in which Professor Jo Phoenix was bullied. An employment tribunal found Open University accountable for direct discrimination and harassment which included her being called racist. https://sex-matters.org/case-briefings/jo-phoenix-v-the-open-university/

Ireland's public discussion on the issue of women's rights and how they conflict with the demands of trans activists has been abysmal. Gender critical people hardly ever get a chance to be heard here. That a library is platforming such a fatuous smear against us is pretty galling. I think Dr Frank should be free to make his stupid arguments. I think that women who wish to defend our rights should be given at least the opportunity to make a counterargument.

Admission is free, no booking is necessary

Hopefully a few articulate GC women will attend

Hopefully a few articulate GC women will attend

Yes but given how completely toxic the Irish media has made this, I can't imagine standing up and saying what I'd like to say.

Hopefully the talk will be poorly attended and he'll end up pontificating his codswallop to an empty room.

During the Second World War era conservatives began employing the idea that social equality for African-Americans would lead to sexual danger for white women in public bathrooms.

I can’t help wondering what his evidence is for this claim. Because I cannot see how even the most hardcore racist would claim that white women in the women’s toilets could be in danger of being raped by black men in the men’s toilets.

I can’t help wondering what his evidence is for this claim.

No idea. But the whole thing is a mess - he's importing (his own take on) US history to Ireland, which is an entirely different country with an entirely different history. Meanwhile he's conveniently ignoring that even the likes of Amnesty were (until recently anyway) advocating sex segregated facilities as a necessity:

If this humanitarian crisis was unfolding anywhere else in the world we would expect immediate practical steps to be taken to protect groups most at risk of abuse, such as women travelling alone and female-headed families. At a minimum, this would include setting up single sex, well-lit toilet facilities and separate safe sleeping areas.

www.amnesty.ie/female-refugees-face-physical-assault-exploitation-and-sexual-harassment-on-their-journey-through-europe/

What a strange choice. Is or has the Library had any speaker support women's rights?

On one level looking at his college bio page he looks like a product of queer influenced education https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/gillian-frank.php except for his obsession with religion and faith.

https://faithandleadership.com/gillian-frank-abortion-was-legal-clergy-networks-provided-connections-reproductive-care

I think that women who wish to defend our rights should be given at least the opportunity to make a counterargument.

Is it worth emailing them or something to ask if they are going to give a voice to women talking about women's rights. ie not letting them think men telling women what they should think or behave is appropriate for a library.

Yes IWantToRetire, although I'm not hopeful I'll get a useful response.

Well I hope you do.

I mean it'd be lovely if they turned round and invited Colette Colfer to give a talk on the similarities between religion and transgenderism, which Dr Frank might find fascinating 😁

I wonder if he knows why we have sex segregated prisons.

This is what I posted about the synopsis of Dr Frank's talk, over on Craicnet:

That reads like a ChatGPT mishmash of groundless trans nonsense about what GC is really about. It even contains the trademark 'trans folk' and 'bathroom' instead of toilet🙄

What's striking about it is that it reflects the trans obsession with toilets. Where they want to pee. Why they should be allowed pee in the women's toilet. Where they are going to pee if we don't let them pee in the women's toilets. Why the UK Supreme Court are transphobic bigots for not legislating to allow the to pee in the women's toilets. (overlooking the fact that the SC only clarified existing law AND the case was about representation on boards, not about toilets.)

Dr Frank follows the TRA guidebook to the letter, and goes straight to the subject of sexual assaults in toilets. Bang, right there in the first sentence, under a huge photo of a toilet.
Nothing about the erasure women's rights in all the areas of society which do not take place in toilets.

Sometimes I wonder what the T in LGBT really stands for...😏

Thanks @MarieDeGournay !
It's all just so disingenuous isn't it. And for the library to bill this as part of the Dublin Festival of History rather than a fairly obvious political diatribe.

Marie can you tell me which thread that post is in on Craicnet?

Oh my. Another man telling women what we can and can’t have.

So I heard back and apparently it's "freedom of speech" for Dr Frank to give this talk. And of course it might conceivably be just that, if it were the case that women ever actually get a fair chance to respond.

Funny how men's freedom of speech all too often is at the expense of women's freedom of speech.

So depressing. I am a librarian (work in a very different role, in a university) & Irish libraries are unbelievably captured in this regard. The idea that one might voice a gender critical view would be madness. A colleague, who I consider a friend and like a lot, carried out a research project on public libraries & how they ‘fought’ against ‘censorship’ of LGBTQIA+ material. She’s GC, but in her professional capacity, put her name to a great pile of drivel, and has spoken to it at conferences.

Oh it is not just libraries the Civil and Public service is completely captured according to friends working in them.

For some reason this just really got to me. A while back, in my own house, a male neighbour of mine got drunk and started yelling at me that I didn't have a right to an opinion on this. The thing is that I know he doesn't believe TWAW, he actually told me ages ago that he thought it was just mental illness, but he thinks women shouldn't be allowed oppose them in our spaces. He's from Terenure. It's stupid but seeing that talk made me feel like I'm drowning in these misogynists.

presumably there will be questions though
and a liberal sprinkling of women, scattered throughout the audience, should stand a good chance of asking pertinent questions- the one that occurred to me has already been posted here.
I'm sure we could think of others
And I'm sure there are enough feminists in Dublin who could co ordinate this

sorry for the delay in replying
Page 10 | Gender Critical in Ireland Part 4 | Mumsnet

One of the complications re libraries is that groups of people ...how can I describe them - populist? they'd baulk at being called right wing - took it upon themselves to force their way into some libraries to remove age-inappropriate trans-related books from the children's section.

I have no first-hand knowledge of any of these incidents, but it was reported that force was used, staff pushed out of the way etc. So to a lot of people in Ireland, that's what the the opposition to genderwoo is - right wing thugs who are just one step up from Nazi bookburners.

And with such a small population, Ireland is unlikely to be able to produce an influential GC movement with groups like Sex Matters or FWS to take the battle to the courts.

The best hope is that what Myles na gCopaleen used to refer to as 'The Plain People of Ireland', who I believe never really bought into the whole TWAW/self-id thing, will gradually communicate their view to politicians, media, etc.

Indeed. All part of the same world - libraries are just a subsection.

it’s just more depressing, given what libraries (& librarians) are meant to stand for.

This is true. It’s an uncomfortable reality that those of us with GC views can find ourselves sharing some kind of Venn diagram with right-wing bigots, and certainly don’t want that association.

I have experience of the situations that took place in the Cork public libraries. They were totally wrong - pushing into libraries, aggressive to staff, shouting at children, using inappropriate language. No way would I align myself with them.

however, I’ve been at many a meeting (university) where behind closed doors there’s an eye roll about some ridiculous issue, but publicly, the Right Noises are made. I find it galling we can’t have some honesty.