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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Why has WPUK gone quiet?

108 replies

CatsCatsCatsCatsCatsCat · 13/02/2026 02:16

WPUK used to be leading the gender critical cause in the UK, but they’ve been very quiet the past few years?

https://womansplaceuk.org/

On their website, their last blog post is from 2024?

Woman's Place UK

Violence against women and sex discrimination still exist. Women need reserved places, separate spaces and distinct services.

https://womansplaceuk.org/

OP posts:
FictionalCharacter · 14/02/2026 12:34

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 11:23

Yes, but I also think his voice, latterly, became more moderate and that has, at different stages, added a different perspective to the whole issue and opened up discussion for some who might not otherwise have engaged.

For me, it is not so much about 'us versus them' and I do think it has been educational to hear him be honest about what drove and motivated him. He's not so prominent these days. Haven't seen or heard from him in ages.

Edited

He's probably keeping his head down a bit, having seen the unfavorable reaction to him admitting he's an AGP and his "transition" was sexually motivated. To a lot of people he seems to have been the symbol of "unfortunate person born in the wrong body", preserving the illusion that it isn't a fetish. Those people were understandably horrified to hear that nice, moderate Debbie admits to a paraphilia.

Shedmistress · 14/02/2026 12:46

Unusualdog · 14/02/2026 12:33

I don’t think Hayton is sneaky. Just like very many people he has become progressively more and more anti trans. I wouldn’t be surprised if he detransitioned one day. He wrote that guide in 2017 - that’s nearly ten years ago and the landscape was very different. The way he has been vilified by Kellie Jay keen and her allies has been unacceptable. They kept calling Hayton a pervert etc when he was actually one of the very very few AGPs who was telling the truth about agp. This was an own goal because now he very rarely comments

He literally posed for his photo shoot in rubber gloves.

He was on with Julia Hartley Brewer last week.

He isn't hiding away anywhere.

What is it with this retelling of history?

CrossPurposes · 14/02/2026 12:50

Shedmistress · 14/02/2026 12:46

He literally posed for his photo shoot in rubber gloves.

He was on with Julia Hartley Brewer last week.

He isn't hiding away anywhere.

What is it with this retelling of history?

And he had an article in The Spectator yesterday.

GreenEyesIsBack · 14/02/2026 12:56

Unusualdog · 14/02/2026 12:33

I don’t think Hayton is sneaky. Just like very many people he has become progressively more and more anti trans. I wouldn’t be surprised if he detransitioned one day. He wrote that guide in 2017 - that’s nearly ten years ago and the landscape was very different. The way he has been vilified by Kellie Jay keen and her allies has been unacceptable. They kept calling Hayton a pervert etc when he was actually one of the very very few AGPs who was telling the truth about agp. This was an own goal because now he very rarely comments

He's an AGP, what's an AGP if not a pervert?
Admitting it doesn't make him any less of one.

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 13:55

GreenEyesIsBack · 14/02/2026 12:03

100% agree @Shedmistress
He's as much of a fetishy AGP as the rest, just is sneekier about to get closer to women.
I can't believe anyone falls for it.

It is not about " falling for" anything. There is no compulsion to feel automatic hostility towards anyone. It is more about political goals and pragmatism for me, rather than maintaining ideological purity.

Shedmistress · 14/02/2026 14:02

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 13:55

It is not about " falling for" anything. There is no compulsion to feel automatic hostility towards anyone. It is more about political goals and pragmatism for me, rather than maintaining ideological purity.

What political goals do you think the man that rewrote the rules in schools so that he could use female spaces has that in any way benefits women?

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 14:10

Shedmistress · 14/02/2026 14:02

What political goals do you think the man that rewrote the rules in schools so that he could use female spaces has that in any way benefits women?

There's no point in engaging with you any more on this issue. I don't see things as 'men versus women' and I'm not interested in angry exchanges.

GreenEyesIsBack · 14/02/2026 14:13

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 13:55

It is not about " falling for" anything. There is no compulsion to feel automatic hostility towards anyone. It is more about political goals and pragmatism for me, rather than maintaining ideological purity.

It's not about ideooglical purity, it's about not being around a creep getting off on women's discomfort and wedging himself and others like him into our single sex spaces.
We can fight against them without needing to appease them fgs.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/02/2026 14:16

Shortshriftandlethal · 14/02/2026 10:37

Personally very grateful that WPUK was around in my earliest days of consciousness on this issue. Their regional meetings were a blessing and really helped to solidify the movement for so many.

Whatever issues I have with them, they did have some excellent speakers.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/02/2026 14:18

SionnachRuadh · 14/02/2026 09:45

The first rule of WPUK is you don't talk about WPUK. But since they formally no longer exist, I'm going to break that.

There were lots of good people in WPUK, at least in its early iteration, but there were also a few weaknesses.

It's perfectly legitimate to be a socialist feminist org and think that it's only through socialist politics that women can properly be liberated. But there were a few bear traps for WPUK:

  1. Firstly, a sort of arrogance that led them to think that they were the leadership and their way of doing things was the only way of doing things, and anything outside their very precise set of politics was not feminism. This was less of a problem at the start, but it became more of a problem as women not sharing their ideology started to do things without permission from the leadership. Towards the end they were spending rather little time convincing us of the rightness of their approach, and rather a lot of time sniping at people doing unauthorised activism, often in a very teenage form of Voldemorting where they never named the person they were really obviously talking about.
  2. I'd argue - they would dispute this - that they were a left wing org more than they were a women's org, and more specifically that their allegiance to Labour would trump everything else. And indeed we saw this in the runup to the election. Rather than holding Starmer's feet to the fire, we started to hear that the leadership were having all these secret squirrel meetings with Labour bigwigs, and we couldn't know what was being discussed, but any criticism of Labour from GC sources might disrupt the conversations they were having. The important thing was to keep quiet, vote Labour and trust them that it was all going to be ok.
  3. They proved to be very prone to entryism by a small clique who don't seem to do anything except join groups that are actually doing work, kill them, gut them and wear them like a skin suit while using them as a vehicle to pursue mostly personal beefs. See also, FiLiA.

It's all a bit of a shame because they started out with great people making an important contribution. I think it's vital to have a socialist feminist org, to have people who know the labour movement, can do the policy work and have meetings with ministers. It's just as vital in its way as LWS type agitation - I think I can say that because I couldn't fully commit myself to either, for different reasons, but I see their respective value.

The lesson I take from this is that I don't trust any group that sets itself up as a sole leadership and tries to dictate what people who aren't in it can and can't do; and that there's a certain type of woman for whom the Labour Party is the dodgy husband who she has to believe is always just about to change for the better.

Great post.

IREALLYDONTCARE · 14/02/2026 14:35

Many in LWD say WPUK ceased because they had 'achieved their goals'.

IwantToRetire · 14/02/2026 22:17

As said up thread I think that on one level what happened with WPUK is very similar to other socialist feminist organisations, campaigns which were in fact made up of women with affilitations to Labour the the TU movement. As opposed to more radical socialist feminist groups, of which there used to be many.

Many had good political links, and equally important good experience of organising. And for many women it was a huge bonus to have well organised, on face value un-aligned meetings.

But when some women challenged from the floot the inclusion of DH etc., what was revealing was not some sort of political professional we are a broad church statement, but nasty personal sneers. (Sitting on chairs is just too OTT!) Or maybe this is how political rivals always behave? Or publicly canceling involvement in a meeting because KJK was to attend.

And this sort of sectarianims became obvious quite early on but at the same time there were 2 meetings (Bristol and Brighton - who else) where they stood up to the harrassment.

So I think overwhelmingly most wanted to only see the positive side of the work they were doing.

And then all that appropriation of what was basically KJK slogan and logo style be that documentary group who they promoted as though they had conceived all these ideas and KJK just didn't exist and shouldn't be acknowledged. Really nasty.

As I said up thread the facebook page showed that quite a few women had become disillusioned with them. And to given them their due, I think 99.9% of the time they didn't censor ie let stand some quite strongly critical posts.

Although for me any earlier doubts were totally crystalised by the gross misrepresentation of Women's Liberation in the Conference they organised.

An early fore runner of the dangers to handing over your critical thinking and letting an organising group decided who should or should not be the voice of feminism, as has happened with FiLia such as marginalising someone like Tinsel Angel in favour of one of their own.

The silly thing is, if what was WPUK organisation a socialist feminist event and were up front about it, I am sure many would attend, and there could be constructive discussion and even, after much showing of hands and calls for order, order motions passed!

ArabellaScott · 14/02/2026 22:25

Unusualdog · 14/02/2026 12:33

I don’t think Hayton is sneaky. Just like very many people he has become progressively more and more anti trans. I wouldn’t be surprised if he detransitioned one day. He wrote that guide in 2017 - that’s nearly ten years ago and the landscape was very different. The way he has been vilified by Kellie Jay keen and her allies has been unacceptable. They kept calling Hayton a pervert etc when he was actually one of the very very few AGPs who was telling the truth about agp. This was an own goal because now he very rarely comments

AGP literally is a perversion. A paraphilia, a fetish, a sexual fixation outwith the norm.

Anyway. Not to get sidetracked.

Kristina Harrison was also prominent in the early days of WPUK.

Times were very different. Tiny grassroots groups come and go - in many ways that's a strength. Your aim as an org set up to address a concern should be to make yourself defunct.

ArabellaScott · 14/02/2026 22:29

Shedmistress · 14/02/2026 14:02

What political goals do you think the man that rewrote the rules in schools so that he could use female spaces has that in any way benefits women?

In some ways, Hayton is a fantastic example of "Let them speak"

He's written a book on being a fetishist who is aroused by being seen as a woman.

It should be very instructive for anyone looking at, say, the guidance he wrote about allowing male teachers and boys to access girls' loos at school.

IwantToRetire · 14/02/2026 22:32

IREALLYDONTCARE · 14/02/2026 14:35

Many in LWD say WPUK ceased because they had 'achieved their goals'.

Their final facebook post implied they were ceasing to organise because Labour had got into power, and there wasn't any need to campaign anymore.

ie ignoring that at the point had their not been an election Kemi Badenoch as Minister for Women was drawing up new guidelines emphasising women's sex based rights, whilst Labour men (and some women) couldn't publicly say what a woman was, or even is!

ArabellaScott · 14/02/2026 22:39

Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/02/2026 14:18

Great post.

It is. Sionnach makes me nostalgic for a left I could believe in.

QuirkySquid · 15/02/2026 07:42

IwantToRetire · 13/02/2026 03:19

They closed down in despair because it turned out that even though they as committed socialist had run some very good events that we had been happy to attend, it didn't turn us all into toe the line socialists.

There was a thread about it at the time. Especially in relation to the last posting made on their facebook page.

I think they had their own internal splits, but in the end it was the entryism of Actual Gender Critical Left that meant even the founding members of WPUK were found wanting in terms of left alignment.

Luckily AGCL have found the not very on the mark FiLia lap dog feminism an easier group to infiltrate.

Just waiting to see how soon that becomes the Socialist Feminist Revolutionary Front.

Grin

"They closed down in despair because it turned out that even though they as committed socialist had run some very good events that we had been happy to attend, it didn't turn us all into toe the line socialists."

Oh dear. It is awful when a closed-ranks, closed-minded little group is so dominated by their ideology that they can't survive as a reputable body, isn't it?
I simply can't image any parallels to this awful state of affairs...

IREALLYDONTCARE · 15/02/2026 15:52

LWD still wont attend any events or protests where KJK is present which imo is just daft. You don't need to be besties to attend a woman's rights march.
They also really don't like Rosie Duffield behind the scenes.
LWD and WRN are just mad at the moment. I hear Conservative Women are actually 'nicer' and 'better organised' but I'm not a Tory so cannot confirm.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/02/2026 16:23

Why don’t they like Rosie?

Helleofabore · 15/02/2026 16:30

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/02/2026 16:23

Why don’t they like Rosie?

I’d like to know this too? Is it because she left the party?

GreenEyesIsBack · 15/02/2026 17:30

Rosie didn't leave as such, she was bullied out by KS.

womendeserveequalhumanrights · 15/02/2026 18:16

There are lots of problems with platforming men who like to pretend they're women. One is that it excludes their wives / ex wives and children, who, unlike the men, don't have loads of charities and public sector organisations falling over themselves to offer support.

I can't remember which high profile TIM it was that did a video with his wife where she looked like a hostage. It was one of them. You only have to read the transwidows thread to see there's a hell of a lot of abuse in these men's relationships with both their wives and children. Of course there is - denying reality, trying to convince someone their perceptions or memories aren't true, imposing a belief which always puts the controller in charge, getting his own way all the time and denying the reality and equal rights of his victims. Main character syndrome. It's classic coercive control and gaslighting.

Of course organisations don't have to be only about women, but we are also free to judge them on their choices and the impact that that has on women and children. And possibly question how truthful their statements about feminism may be based on actions.

IREALLYDONTCARE · 15/02/2026 19:38

Some activists allege she can be a bit of a bully towards other GC folk and her way is the only way. I think a lot of the dislike amongst the LWD activists does stem from the fact she left the party though. I personally don't mind her.

DworkinWasRight · 15/02/2026 19:55

womendeserveequalhumanrights · 15/02/2026 18:16

There are lots of problems with platforming men who like to pretend they're women. One is that it excludes their wives / ex wives and children, who, unlike the men, don't have loads of charities and public sector organisations falling over themselves to offer support.

I can't remember which high profile TIM it was that did a video with his wife where she looked like a hostage. It was one of them. You only have to read the transwidows thread to see there's a hell of a lot of abuse in these men's relationships with both their wives and children. Of course there is - denying reality, trying to convince someone their perceptions or memories aren't true, imposing a belief which always puts the controller in charge, getting his own way all the time and denying the reality and equal rights of his victims. Main character syndrome. It's classic coercive control and gaslighting.

Of course organisations don't have to be only about women, but we are also free to judge them on their choices and the impact that that has on women and children. And possibly question how truthful their statements about feminism may be based on actions.

That was Hayton and his wife Stephanie.

IwantToRetire · 15/02/2026 19:56

IREALLYDONTCARE · 15/02/2026 15:52

LWD still wont attend any events or protests where KJK is present which imo is just daft. You don't need to be besties to attend a woman's rights march.
They also really don't like Rosie Duffield behind the scenes.
LWD and WRN are just mad at the moment. I hear Conservative Women are actually 'nicer' and 'better organised' but I'm not a Tory so cannot confirm.

I am really sad to hear this.

This is another group that from the outside I sort of accepted as being well run along party and trade union organising methods.

But given what I have said about my experience of groups like this in the past, I should have been a bit less Alice in Wonderland.

And without wanting to say this is always the case, there is no doubt that in some groups, personality clashes can be a contributing factor.

Lets face it a lot of strong willed women working together can be quite combustible.

ie when it is about strongly held beliefs rather than say organising some work event and tasks just needing to be shared out.