Nearly one third of MSPs and staff don't know which toilet to use at Hollyrood

[Arran2024]

Article itself is behind Paywall but the headline is astonishing and I'm linking tovthe discussion on X x.com/Mike_Blackley/status/2069888195127287862?s=20

You view sex as meaning that you produce large or small gametes - have the body type to have a baby or don't. I don't think these people agree with that definition. They might say that if you have a penis and produce small gametes, but have a "female brain", then your sex is female. Regardless of you then being female, if someone with a uterus wanted to have a baby, she (or he?) would choose you over another person with a uterus.

What utter bull

They all know what sex they are.

They are lying.

The concept of a female brain relies completely on deeply regressive stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, @Toffeefudgecaramel. Liking things which were thought typically feminine - pink, skirts, frills, make up, long hair etc etc - must mean you have a female brain. And someone who has short hair, wears trousers, eschews make up and enjoys sports. must be a man.

These are toxic stereotypes that we have fought for decades to escape - and I thought we had achieved it - women could play rugby, wear nothing but jeans, never use a lick of make up, and no-one doubted that they were female - until the TRAs started saying that not only do these rigid gender stereotypes exist, but anyone not conforming to the stereotype for their sex must be trans.

I firmly believe that a woman is someone with female biology and any personality/character, not someone with any biology and a ‘feminine’ personality/character.

The notion that a male sexed individual can have a female brain, is nonsense. His brain, like every other cell in his body, is male.

😂😂😂 yeah I've got no words 😂😂😂

They are really been to advertise their stupidity aren’t they?

Maybe this indicates the need for intelligence testing before you can stand for election?

I mean, the bar doesn’t need to be very high and they have still failed.

Firstly, a large majority agree on a biological definition of sex that does not include invisible nonsense such as "female brain"

Secondly, we are talking about how people classify themselves, not other people. Surely only a tiny minority at Holyrood claim to be anything other than their biological sex (let's say 2 MSPs, Mannivan and Duane, plus maybe some staff), not nearly 1/3.

But they can’t make up their own definitions of words willy nilly.

Well they can make up whatever nonsense they like but it doesn’t give them an excuse to ignore basic life facts and rules.

I’m guessing there is a chance that Maggie ManChap has got befuddled by her own name and put herself down as confused?

This level of performativeness is up there with MNers who proclaim they are completely bamboozled as to the meaning of a word if it has a single spelling mistake despite a clear context (e.g. "salaad" for "salad" on a thread about bbqs); or who do that completely fake-innocent thing (e.g. "Oh my goodness, you take small goats to the sea?" when someone mentions their kids went to the beach).

It's so embarrassing to watch.

they’d be objectively wrong. The words ‘male’ and ‘female’ have a defined, necessary meaning in relation to the two sexes needed for sexual reproduction. That’s it - the same meaning across all organisms which reproduce sexually. Nothing whatever to do with how you may think - the words apply to holly trees.

Some claim not to know what sex they are. Whereas they know what gender they "identify as".

Do you honestly think that any adult does not know what sex they are (outside of the tiny number with DSDs), @Toffeefudgecaramel? And if they are genuinely this stupid, they should not be in charge of a lemonade stand, never mind the government of our country!

I asked Chatgpt how you can tell what someone's sex is. Here is the response:

The answer depends on what you mean by "sex," because that term can refer to different things in different contexts.
If you're asking about biological sex, there isn't a single characteristic that always determines it. Biological sex is typically described using several factors, including:
Chromosomes (such as XX, XY, or other variations)
Reproductive anatomy (internal and external)
Hormone levels
Gonads (ovaries, testes, or variations in development)
Secondary sex characteristics (such as facial hair, breast development, voice pitch)
For most people, these characteristics align in ways that are classified as male or female. However, some people have intersex traits, where one or more of these characteristics don't fit typical definitions of male or female.
If you're asking how you can tell another person's sex just by looking at them, the answer is that you usually can't know for certain. People may have physical features, clothing, hairstyles, or voices that lead others to make assumptions, but those assumptions can be wrong. Appearance alone does not reliably reveal a person's biological sex.
In everyday social situations, if it's important to know how someone identifies or wishes to be addressed, the most reliable approach is to ask respectfully or follow the name and pronouns they use.
If your question is about a specific context—such as medicine, sports, legal documents, or identifying someone's sex in a scientific setting—I can explain how it's handled in that context.

Seriously? If people cannot tell what sex they are or other people are, without recourse to AI, how in the hell has the human race lasted this long?

So if you look at that definition, and you take a transwoman who is on hormones, has grown breasts and has had penis and testicles removed, may even have a fake vagina, has long hair in a typically female hairstyle, has raised the pitch of their voice, has feminised their face and shaved their Adam's apple and had hair removed, as well as in their view being mentally / psychologically a woman. That person might argue that their sex has now moved over some borderline into female.

I don't agree with this, but that's where some people are coming from.

As I've said, them not knowing what sex they are doesn't mean they don't understand who to have intercourse with and that it may result in a baby.

For the hard of thinking who don't know what sex they are a sight of their original birth certificate or simply asking their mother will provide the answer.

I thought in the Independence referendum simply being a resident entitled you to vote? Which suggests otherwise.

They do know what sex they are - they just pretend they don't know, just as they pretend they are the opposite sex. There isn't a checklist on which a man must score 80 or above to be classed as a woman - simply by claiming they are suffices.

@Toffeefudgecaramel
I asked Chatgpt how you can tell what someone's sex is.

Anyone who asks ChatGPT to tell they themselves what sex they are, never mind other people, has no business being in charge of a country.

So in fact they do understand what sex is and which sex they are, they just pretend not to understand the meanings of words such as ‘sex’, ‘male’ and ‘female’.

Sure they can argue this.

However, that is them philosophising the definition of the female sex category. It doesn’t reflect material reality and not one other person has to act as if they believe that person’s philosophical belief about human sex categorisation.

Quite. The philosophising and wondering if x and y have changed their sex in any way is all irrelevant.

The SCJ is very clear. It's what sex you were identified as at birth. And if you have any doubt, then there's the mixed sex provision. Everyone catered for. No wangling, no philosophising.

I know! I'm one of the lucky ones I suppose - turns out my husband/wife must be the opposite sex to whatever I am because we've been blessed with a lovely son/daughter.

Phew that was lucky😶

On the other hand, the world is overpopulated with humanity so perhaps this sex blindness malarkey is a form of negative feedback.