Women & Equalities Committee 2.30pm Today, 9th June, Mary-Ann Stephenson Chair at EHRC giving oral evidence

[TheNoWord]

Work of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) 20026-27 - Oral evidence, Mary-Ann Stephenson, Chair at Equality and Human Rights Commission and John Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive Officer at Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Considering the absolute balloons on this committee, it will be well worth a watch. Only Rosie Duffield and Rebecca Paul have any sense.

You can watch live on Parliament TV from 2.30pm

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/27280/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the advice 😘

Ooo what filthy foot stomping.

It reminds me of the 'thank you for your service' poster.

Guess I touched a nerve earlier, huh?

For me, I would find that incredibly distressing because of how strongly I feel about not identifying with men.

You should put some effort into learning how to cope with everyday issues, then maybe you would get incredibly distressed. You're a man, it's not about identity, it's about reality, everyone else can see it, you should be able to do so as well.

This thread isn't about you, do you have anything to say about the OP.

I found the remark from Dennis Noel Kavanagh on X Other than that it was the slow kid's table. Hilarious, but not in a good way, none of those activists should be on that committee, there are 9 PC's not just 1, and as they are all 1 cause dingbats they should be shuffled off and replaced by MP's who can count to 9.

I'm a bit of a loner and would feel distress at having to share a ward with other human beings, even if they were the same sex as me. My distress would be alleviated by having a private room to myself, so that would be my preference.

However. if I was sick enough to need hospitalisation, I'd compromise and accept being in a single-sex ward with other women, knowing that there isn't enough money in the health service to provide a private room for everybody who'd like one, like me, toyl9876, and probably lots of other people.

Priorities, realism, pragmatism, proportionality, all have a part to play as well as personal preference.

That is a brilliant summary. I think my blood pressure has been saved by that as I don’t think I could have handled the full version.

Can we not report the WESC to Trading Standards or something (with the honourable exceptions of Rosie Duffield and Rebecca Paul) as they literally don’t give a stuff about women.

I cope with everyday issues perfect fine. I don’t see myself as a man so I’m never going to feel comfortable on a male ward. It’s inconvenient, I know, but it’s just how I am.

Did you get this exercised when men were put in women’s wards day and daily?

I’m guessing not. Nor have you offered a solution of your own.

I feel very strongly that side rooms should be allocated on a clinical need basis only.

I was in hospital with a life threatening infectious disease - meningitis, and for the safety of others I had to be in a side room. People could have died if I was not isolated.

I would suggest that anyone with such an aversion to sharing a space with members of their own sex that it causes distress to the point of refusing treatment, they should be advised to seek counselling to cope with this regrettable and obviously debilitating condition. I say regrettable because society has unfortunately contributed to this situation.

Meanwhile back to the thread do you have something to offer the discussion or is still all about you.

Is this when Jolyon Maugham (KC) pretended that he didn't know his daughter was one of the people camped outside the entrance when the GLP acted for the right of "persons unknown" to protest?
And this is his eldest climbing up the front of Wes Streeting's office

The thread is about W&E session earlier today. In that session wards and separate spaces came up, so a perspective on why separate spaces are needed seems pretty necessary.

He also said he felt awkward about girls in male rooms, but somehow adult women are supposed to be ok with adult males in their spaces. Perhaps if the girl under 10 wore trousers and had short hair he would be ok?

Yet you completely fail to acknowledge that your presence is “incredibly distressing” for women. You don’t care at all.
Me, me, me.

That Dennis Kavanagh thread was hilarious 😂

And very accurate. I agree with Dennis here:

"My abiding impression was that I leave Parliament with many more LOLs in my heart but many more fears about the standard of our MPs. This was silly student politics but it had a half hearted feel. They know they've lost this one and are now whinging on the kid's table".

The calibre of the TRA MPs arguments really hasn't improved much, has it? Some of the things they were saying were, quite frankly, embarrassing, and I think they know this. You could just see the exasperation on MAS's face.

I know we can't rest on our laurels, but I can't see this lot coming up with compelling and convincing arguments to change the Equality Act.

The thing is, that's your problem, not women's. If you're male, you belong on the male ward.

On the female ward (where I belong), I might feel uncomfortable by women with a large number of rowdy visitors, women who do video calls at 3am, women who have an obvious drug or alcohol problem. My choice is largely to put up with it or deny myself treatment.

Whether I feel 'comfortable' with the other occupants is irrelevant. That's the same for everyone so why do you think you're a special case?

I suggest you go back and read what I’ve actually said (and not said). I never suggest I should have access to female spaces.

Mere discomfort about someone being on the phone is not the same as gender dysphoria and the distress related to that.

Why can’t you accept transsexual people have protection under the law and forcing us onto a ward for our birth sex could be discrimination?

I thought MAS was magnificent, and the quality of many of our MPs depressing.

So many toddler level questions, so much focus on what trans identifying men want, so much wilful misunderstanding about who it is that relies on stereotypes of how male and female people look.

I particular liked MAS pointing out that under the previous interpretation of the law, a man could enter a woman’s space and say “I’m a transwoman” so claiming it is an issue that he could now say “I’m a transman” is not a good argument.

Why do women have to be interested?
We've had enough grief in recent years from the erosion of our rights and the erosion of child safeguarding by extreme transactivists.

I'm sure the well funded trans lobby groups are up to finding a solution if they could be persuaded to leave women and girls and our rights alone.

You don’t have to be interested. I’m just fed up of prejudice and ignorance.

I guess I'm in the minority here. I agree that no male should ever be on a women's ward, and the large majority of transwomen can just whip of the wig and clothes and will be perfectly fine on the men's ward. BUT ,there are a few who do look like real women, at least without paying close attention to details. I think such men would probably be as much at risk on a men's ward as women would be. In those cases I think it really is important to find ways to accommodate them. It isn't just an issue of comfort but of safety.

If it is good enough for women to have to have men on their ward, then it is good enough for trans identifying men to be on a male ward. The NHS is not there to pander to 'identities'.

Why would it be discrimination?