I just came to find this having read Janet Murray's piece about it on Facebook which is very good.
All I can say regarding this whole thing is WTAF. However I have pasted Janet's post below which is a lot more eloquent!
Dear friend (who thinks I'm being 'unkind' to men who say they're women),
We're both in mid-life now. But remember how much we loved women's magazines in our 20s: Cosmo, Marie Claire, Glamour ...?
Well nine men have just been named as Glamour UK's “Women of the Year.” A magazine aimed at women aged 25–35.
Now we have both daughters around the same age. Young women just starting their adult lives. And I don’t think you fully see what’s happening here.
Because this isn’t just about the cheek (or the absurdity) of giving men women’s awards - though that’s bad enough.
It’s about something much deeper.
It’s about conditioning (I'd call it 'grooming') our daughters to believe they must accept men in their single-sex spaces.
To believe they can’t say “no” to a man in the ladies’ toilets or changing rooms - even if he gives them the creeps, or his behaviour is off (like “Rose” in the Darlington Nurses case).
And that saying “no” makes them unkind or intolerant.
It's teaching them to override their instincts.
To silence that small voice that says: “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Hopefully your daughter will never need a rape crisis centre, a domestic violence shelter or a prison cell.
But if she does, she’s being taught that she can’t say no to men there either.
And if you’re not telling your daughter that it's okay to say “no” to men in single-sex spaces - or if you’re too afraid to say it yourself - then I hope you never need hospital care or a nursing home.
Because your daughter will have been conditioned to believe there’s nothing wrong with a man providing your intimate care - as long as he says he’s a woman.
I know you want to be kind.
So do I.
But real kindness means protecting women and girls - not surrendering their safety, privacy and dignity in the name of politeness.
With love,
Janet