Zoe Williams in The Guardian on Girl Guides removing Trans Girls

[Arran2024]

Did she do any research for this article? If so, she should have discovered that it's not as easy as the Guides just "changing their name". It is all about their charitable aims. Anyway, typical pro trans girl inclusion article from ZW.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/girlguiding-trans-members-supreme-court?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

She's probably spontaneously combusted after men were excluded from women's Olympic sports yesterday.

Guides will break up for the summer in July I expect and restart sans trans in September.

What was "the other way?"

Changing their name

“Will volunteers be expected to carry out additional checks or ask for proof?” (The good news, folks, is that they won’t; the mind boggles at what those additional checks might be that didn’t breach at least some safeguarding protocols.)"
Zoe suggesting genital inspections! She's a full on transactivist and knows all the pathetic arguments! Idiot.

I'm genuinely embarrassed I used to read the guardian. And Zoe Williams. It's so cringey.

I feel the same about voting SNP, never again. Also embarrassed I was taken in by it all.

Imagine being a woman and spouting this shite. Way to hate on your own sex class, slow hand clap for Zoe...

She's painfully performatively stupid

I can't believe the editors let this stuff through.

There are all sorts of rules in place which some people circumvent if they think they can get away with it. Policing the rules is not always 100%. So people often speed or use a mobile at the wheel. People lie about their age etc etc. It doesn't mean we just throw our hands in the air and give upon boundaries. No, we set out what we expect and hope that people will abide by it. So single sex spaces do require people to stick to the rules just because, not because someone will be checking.

She really is such an absolute chump. The performative stupidity and desperation for woke cookies is just pathetic

The bit about how girls were never required to perform their 'femaleness' by dressing in fairy costumes is the most stupid thing I've read for some time. And is she the very last person left who is still describing biological sex as being 'assigned at birth'?

I thought their analysis piece on the IOC decision was surprisingly balanced though. Especially given the wailing in the main article. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/mar/26/why-olympics-u-turned-gender-rules-sex-testing

ZW doesn't do research. It's kind of her hallmark, regardless of subject matter. I guess well done her for making a living out of pulling biased opinions out of her Oxbridge educated arse*.

• Yes jealous, yes chip on shoulder.

Will /they print any letters about this? I suspect not. Boys who identify as trans can join the Scouts which is already mixed sex.

They have asked if people want to respond

Zoe is exactly the sort of woman who is letting the rest of us down by pandering performatively to this men’s rights movement. Embarrassed for her.

That's because it's by Sean Ingle who, unlike Zoe Williams, has consistently written in support of women's sport.

“…harking back to a time (it was named in 1987) when it was considered fun for children to be able to identify bugs and sew things without constantly being reminded how female they were…’

As opposed to more rosy recent times, Zoe, when they’re constantly reminded that if you, I dunno… like wearing pink dresses or playing with dolls or just ‘feel’ like it, you can be a girl,…that’s how meaningless and unserious it is, femaleness. Just a ‘feel’. And you can fuck off and die you bigoted ugly bitch if you don’t feel comfortable with adults with penises taking you on overnight trips or boys with penises sharing your toilet/changing room? Ah, such wonderful times we have been living in! 😵‍💫

Oh FUCK OFF, Zoe. Just fuck off.

I can’t believe I used to buy the Guardian just to read her stuff back in my youth. Urgh.

I wonder does she hang out with Little Owen Jones in the role of his ‘cool girl’ bestie? I can imagine them together, crying crocodile tears over the latest fashionable plight of Palestinian/Iranian/Afghan women while simultaneously shitting on women’s rights at every given opportunity.

@moggerhangerSean Ingle has always stood out as a sex realist journalist

Oh agreed - but it's the Guardian, hence my mild surprise.

He’s their chief sports reporter - so not all that surprising?

the mind boggles at what those additional checks might be that didn’t breach at least some safeguarding protocols..

Safeguarding - glad you brought that up, Zoe.....😏

Zoe Williams is one of the reasons I stopped reading the Guardian.

But hey, nice to train up girls from an early age that they shouldn't be allowed to defend their spaces or be able to say no eh Zoe? No need to find an alternative organisation or to set up a new one when you can just ask those pesky girls to change instead.

Chump is the word. Also a former guardian reader and embarrassed to be so

Yes, having just listened to Helen Joyce talking about this it seems pretty clear that you can't just change the name of your charity while completely ignoring the charitable objects that were the statement of your original purpose.

Also she says that it "changes the organisation's identity". Surely its identify is an organisation for girls?!

It does indeed seem embarrassingly woke and under-researched. Assigned at birth indeed. Give over.

Sean Ingle is reliably fairminded on this subject. I remember his articles during the Paris Olympic boxing furore being very clear, indeed trenchant at times. Given that he has the egregious Jonathan Liew as a colleague covering sport, I'm very glad he's still with the Guardian.

Setting aside whether Girl Guides could just change their name and their remit to serve both sexes (probably not), the fact is that that's not acceptable to TRAs - what they want is is single sex service that affirms their identities not access to the service itself. Anything less would have drawn just as much criticism from TRAs, and Zoe Williams would dutifully select some other angle to criticise them on.