The new WI equality, diversity and inclusion policy - it’s worse and includes the thought police

[Marmaladelover]

This is the new EDI policy all WIs have to sign and agree .

The last one was bad enough , the new one discriminates against anyone who doesn’t think Transwomen are women. Please note the sentence
We expect all those who engage in the WI movement to uphold the same values.

I am furious! So what to do about it ?

Main bits I disagree with copied below

Our inclusion of transgender women in activities outside of membership is based on our belief that being a woman is about biology and lived experience

One of the objectives

• Highlight and celebrate the diverse membership of the WI, and ensure that our wider movement offers support and fellowship to all women, including transgender women and others.

Aside from WI membership, we offer other ways to engage with the WI movement, locally, regionally and nationally, including being a WI Supporter and belonging to one
of our Sisterhood groups. We expect all those who engage in the WI movement to uphold the same values.

11. Transgender inclusion
The WI is an inclusive, supportive, and progressive organisation that offers different ways to engage in our movement for members and non-members. The WI provides
educational opportunities and the platform to campaign on important issues, whilst celebrating the WI’s long history of trans inclusion, and embracing the sisterhood and
solidarity of our movement.
Transgender women are welcomed to a range of local and national activities that are open to non-members, as well as our national Supporter scheme. Based on the WI’s
history of trans inclusion, we believe that including transgender women in these activities enriches our organisation to ensure we are a place for both biological women and transgender women to celebrate who they are and influence positive change in their communities.

You can exist how you like. You can experience what you want. You're still a man.

Trans = Not

Yes, this is a board that was specifically set up for women to discuss the conflict of rights inherent in trans ideology and its negative impacts, and at a time when discussion was effectively suppressed and banned elsewhere.

We've come a long way since then, though.....but the principle still remains, and so it provides a most valuable resource for many of us who are committed to upholding the reality of sex and what that means for women. I'm not sure you should feel at all surprised, as I imagine you knew all of this before you found your way here.

I agree that you can be expected to sign up for company values but they tend to be things like, do it right first time, report dangerous things, safety first (I work in construction), don’t be racist/sexist/homophobic.
I doubt many employers would expect alignment with ideological viewpoints.

The WI have lost the plot.

Males are not women. A woman is an adult human female. A transwoman is a man/male person who 'identifies as' a woman - whatever that means.

Who denies transpeoples' existence? Trans-sexual people have been around a while. We're aware - it's just that since Stonewall brought out their umbrella, the men who would have previously stayed at home with their proclivities are now out: in more ways than one.

The 'denying of existence' is a complete trope; there's absolutely no chance with the way we are constantly reminded- banners, posters, mumsnet posts, constant shouting from TRAs, the news, social media.

The mother of the TG/TW exhorting us to be kind can just stop. Being kind does nothing for womens' rights. It hasn't worked. How about you and the rest of the supporters and activists try to be kind if it's so easy? Not only that, but it's been said many times before. It never ceases to amaze me that women- actual women are so against the rights for their OWN SEX!

TRAs use threats, protests (pour wee on themselves!!!!!) shouts, loud-hailers, noises to drown women out. I don't think I've heard TW/TRAs (1 post, ATW, numbers, DJ et al) being kind, polite or even respectful as there's usually an insult thrown in in their replies. Please tell me if I'm wrong here.
You only have to look at transreddit to witness the vile (and often incorrect) things spouted

Women use the law- no threats, no violence. Sometimes they even meet up when it's allowed. But hey; might have to be in secret, which is absolutely ridiculous.

How about extending the same courtesy?

Unless they’re suffering from a psychiatric illness I don’t think that men who say they’re now women really believe that they are women like us.

This is partly based upon the utter contempt many of these men display towards women. I’m thinking of bare chested TRAs screaming at groups like Let Women Speak. The superiority and dismissive attitude shown by ‘transwomen’ on this site, towards actual women.

The disregard for any argument that women may not see men as women purely on the man’s say so.

When I was on X I had some bizarre conversations with men. One told me we all had an avatar and he was living as his female avatar. Most were just furious with me that I didn’t share their belief.

The overall feeling was that they felt they were superior at being women, as it was a carefully curated existence, with the only women acceptable to them being the ones who pretended they weren’t men.

Robin Moira White, the lawyer who often appears in the media talking about trans rights, said he ‘worked hard’ on his transition. It’s as though if you can look and sound right ‘being a woman’ is the prize. The fact that this is utterly offensive to women demonstrates it’s being said by a man.

It's almost like forcing people to be exclusionary against their will doesn't work!

Oh come off it. When activists targeted women's organisations they targeted the boards, the committees, the leadership, and women who dissented or argued back were pushed out. These groups are already hollowed out.

Your 'wahhhh let me in' is cry bullying. It is denying women having anything of their own regardless of how you need it. You are the exclusionary one and you're absolutely fine with organisations being exclusionary of women who cannot or will not centre and revolve around men.

If you want a group that excludes certain women, why don't you go from it yourself instead of trying to force other women to do what YOU want?

LOL

Yeah right. Having emptied women's resources out and colonised them for men, off you pop little women and set up your own stuff. Again. And then we'll bully you out of that too.

This place doesn't care how much it benefits your daughter to be the person she truly is, the people here only care about their existing ingrained prejudice against trans people's existence.

You're proving my point. You see the only purpose of women as being to benefit men with trans identities, to help them by being the stage on which the men can project themselves, and any woman who wants to care about other women and their needs, to put women first,, and points out that those women need space and focus too we're straight into the name calling and 'evil bitch' narrative.

These men have no interest or care in women, or their existence, beyond what they provide in terms of useful service.

Thankfully the law protects women from men like this, so they're allowed spaces where the entire world and conversation isn't about men.

It's almost like forcing people to be exclusionary against their will doesn't work!

What's the point in a women's group if it's not for women?

If you want to be inclusive just go to a mixed group.

Time travel is no more or less impossible than changing sex.

That would be if though your definition of 'inclusive' is 'centred around men with trans identities'.

If it's actually 'inclusive' then it cares too about the women who need single sex spaces to be able to access them, it's not a man-only or trans-only term. You cannot 'include' some men without 'excluding' some women. So the whole 'inclusion' word is just a figleaf to disguise the real issue. When something is for women, but men's access and ownership of it is the priority, what does that tell you about women?

'Men who feel like they're women don't belong in the WI, but that's got nothing to do with trans women who absolutely do belong in the WI.'

What is a 'trans woman''?

Oh the irony of a man telling women to scuttle off and make their own groups if they don’t want men who say they’re women in their groups.

That poster knows exactly that’s what women have been doing for decades. What a power trip to tell women to leave THEIR groups, which exist to provide male free spaces - because they’re being meanies and not letting the men with special feelings in.

Exactly what part of the WI draws these men in? Talks on being a mother, infertility, gynaecological issues, female puberty, menopause, the gender pay gap, maternity issues, misogyny (hm, maybe) female socialisation, male violence towards women, access to STEM, inequality in female health care? I mean these must be what these men mean by their lived experience as a woman?

Or is it the flower arranging and make up tips? Oh of course not, that’s such a gender stereotype.

It’s a women’s charity set up by women for women. Set up by women who were heavily involved in women’s suffrage.

It is not a charity for male people, however they identify or whatever bodily modifications they have made.

Trying the sleight of hand that ‘men who think they are women’ are different from ‘trans women’ doesn’t fly.

Come on WI leadership - what rubbish is this?

As a woman interested in meeting other women, why would I be interested in joining an organisation that centres men in this way?

So, to practicalities.
I've got a WI committee meeting next week and this policy is on the agenda for discussion.
I don't believe it's a lawful policy. I don't think they can compel my beliefs, and I'm GC. I also think they can't chuck me out for being GC (Forstater, but I'm not sure if this applies outside of employment).
I think including TIM in non-member events, but not other men is not legal. A lot of our group's non-member events are women-only, so would exclude TIM. Where they're not women-only then TIM would be welcome, but so would all other men. I think this is in line with the SC ruling.
I think the whole 'sisterhood groups' thing puts the WI on very dodgy ground as it would include TIM but not other men. I would not be happy with part of my membership fees being used to fund this activity that I believe to be unlawful.
I have to go out now but will check back later. I would really appreciate advice on whether I've got my facts / ideas straight, before I advocate for our group to challenge this policy.
I really don't want this stupid policy to be the hill that I have to die on, but I can't just sign up to it.

I believe you are correct.

Your child hasn’t transitioned into anything because it’s physically impossible. 🤔

Why are you feeding their delusions instead of helping him to accept himself as he is? Most likely he’s a gay young lad.

My teen son is gay and likes to wear make-up, long hair and he paints his nails but he knows he’s male and he doesn’t try to enter the girls toilets or pretend that biological sex is something that can be brushed aside.

You really aren’t doing your son any favours in the long run, because people are starting to wake up to this absolute nonsense and he’s going to find himself slowly ostracised by his peers eventually when the penny drops for the real girls and women who are sick to death if this nonsense.

I think you are quite clear. The WI subs are for WI business only, not adjacent activities.
The WI can support any number of other people in this world, why trans identifying men are more important than severely learning disabled men I have no idea. Can you put it forward to support all disadvantaged men however they are living without discrimination?

I think you are quite clear. The WI subs are for WI business only, not adjacent activities.
The WI can support any number of other people in this world, why trans identifying men are more important than severely learning disabled men I have no idea. Can you put it forward to support all disadvantaged men however they are living without discrimination?

You’re not a woman!!
You’re a man playing dress up and everyone around you knows this.

You can lop off bits and add bits and dress however you like, but you will never have the ‘lived experience’ of being a woman because that’s impossible.

Even if you transplanted a women’s brain inside your head, every cell in your body contains DNA that tells us you’re male.

Dress how you like but stay out of women’s safe spaces.

The WI settled with my DH (and paid his legal costs) back at the end of December.

The difference here is that the WI used to accept trans-identifying men as full members of the WI. They are now saying:

"Transgender women are welcomed to a range of local and national activities that are open to non-members" [emphasis added].

My take on that is that an event which accepts non-members allows men of any description to attend. If there are limits on what type of non-members may attend then that would be a different story.

Thanks @Coatsoff42 , it helps to know I'm making sense.
I don't think we could put it forward to support all disadvantaged men however they are living without discrimination, because that would go against the charitable purpose of the WI being about supporting and educating women.

Goodness - so many patronising posts from those only interested in promoting men's rights.

I'm a WI member. Had a fascinating discussion last week with some WI members who'd been unfortunate enough to attend a gaslighting session from the grim Petra - a powerful man claiming to be a woman closely involved with the WI

They're not political, would never describe themselves as feminists, but what came out was that they felt silenced and patronised. None of them (four women) believed he was a woman. They're lovely women and would never have challenged his pontificating presumptions. But on questioning, they stated that he was a man. And they thought he had no place in the WI (or in their changing rooms or toilets) but were far too intimidated to state that.

He and his mates are using the WI to trash yet another legacy women's organisation for their own ends. It's very sad to see but as others have stated - the privileged women running the WI need to be honest and self identify as the People's Institute and stop pretending that they give a fuck about women's rights and history.

We have some non-member events that are women-only. For example we have a book group that non-members can attend, but it's women-only. We made this decision when we set it up as we felt that allowing men to come would change the dynamic.