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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

IPSO ruling in Molly v Sunday Times - the press can call men in dresses men

96 replies

fromorbit · Yesterday 09:12

Another win.

For Women Scotland

Very much enjoying the IPSO ruling in Molly v Sunday Times.

The press should note that columnists are at liberty to call Euan a "bloke", a "lunatic", and "Mr Molly".

00092-26 Molly v The Sunday Times - IPSO
Sophie Molly complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that The Sunday Times breached Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 3 (Harassment) and Clause 12 (Discrimination) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined “How the ex-Green stole Christmas”, published on 21 December 2025.
https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/00092-26/

Sparkles lost every single claim. This is a HUGE win for sexing blokes correctly in the Press. Thanks Sparkles we could not have done this without you being a lunatic. Your attempt to steal Christmas brought a gift to every boy and girl who knows their own sex.

NB The facts around Molly/Sparkles reliability and sex is a key focus in the upcoming libel trial for the Fox Botherer so If I was JM I would be panicking. If you winning anything legal depends on Sparkles you are doomed. Sarah has now issued her claim and it is heading for court.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5511121-glp-are-going-after-sarah-phillimore-and-are-going-to-lose-part-two?page=22

Page 22 | GLP are going after Sarah Phillimore and are going to lose - Part Two | Mumsnet

The Story so Far *Part 1 * The first thread [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5400132-glp-are-going-after-sarah-philmore-and-are-going-to...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5511121-glp-are-going-after-sarah-phillimore-and-are-going-to-lose-part-two?page=22

OP posts:
murasaki · Yesterday 13:50

Surely it should be Mr Sparkle which sounds even sillier.

Although both sound like characters Enid Blyton rejected as being too much.

Ereshkigalangcleg · Yesterday 14:22

Yes, but I actually think Mr Molly is funnier.

MyAmpleSheep · Yesterday 14:23

Zoonosis · Yesterday 13:19

I wouldn’t get over-confident about the Sarah Phillimore case, the grounds of the IPSO ruling are that the article was satirical and intended to be provocative and that as a one-off it couldn’t constitute harassment as it wasn’t a pattern of behaviour, SP has neither of these defenses in her favour. Also IPSO is a press regulator which neither contributes to rulings or sets precedent for libel cases.

I think most people contributing here are quietly confident that SP’s case is firm on its own grounds, and we’re enjoying this one for its entertainment value.

CornishDaughteroftheDawn · Yesterday 14:25

Zoonosis · Yesterday 13:19

I wouldn’t get over-confident about the Sarah Phillimore case, the grounds of the IPSO ruling are that the article was satirical and intended to be provocative and that as a one-off it couldn’t constitute harassment as it wasn’t a pattern of behaviour, SP has neither of these defenses in her favour. Also IPSO is a press regulator which neither contributes to rulings or sets precedent for libel cases.

I wouldn’t get over confident that she won’t win. If even previously captured IPSO can understand the SC ruling then I’m sure the courts are moving forward back to sanity.

The good thing about this being a satirical article is that it sets a basic standard for news articles as well. They need to be factual.

IPSO has recognised that the facts of someone’s sex override their self proclaimed ‘gender identity’ so it is now unlikely that a complaint against a paper reporting a ‘transwoman’ (gender identity) as a man (sex) would succeed.

Mmmnotsure · Yesterday 15:05

Ereshkigalangcleg · Yesterday 14:22

Yes, but I actually think Mr Molly is funnier.

Good golly, Mr Molly...

mrshoho · Yesterday 15:14

It is both satisfying and quite a relief every time common sense wins out in these legal battles. Everyone of these battles won is glorious in what has been/is still a very long, tiring war.

Helleofabore · Yesterday 15:22

So, the list of the situations when a male person can be treated as a female in the UK, if he claims to be female, has decreased again.

Male people are not female people for the purposes of rape crisis provisions , the Olympics, prison, court procedings where a judge agrees the language doesn’t have to be used, female single sex change rooms for NHS, sex balanced panels and boards, (what have I missed…)… and now, in news media.

Plus, a trans person cannot demand the government treat them as the opposite sex on their biological child’s birth certificate as the exceptions under Article 8 apply.

Seems the crumbling we started to see a few years ago is speeding up.

Also that demand from some people that it is ‘respectful’ to use demanded pronouns is looking like it is built on prioritising that person making the demand. And dismissing the equal respect deserved by those who have just as much right to have their decisions respected of choosing accuracy of language over supporting someone’s identity (when it is not based on material reality but on a subjectively built identity). Anyone remember the contortions and deletions, and bans, from not many years ago on MN for saying that transwomen are not women? And for using accurate language?

mrshoho · Yesterday 15:30

Oh the times they are a-changin 🎶🎵

Secretseverywhere · Yesterday 15:59

SwirlyGates · Yesterday 10:24

I started off from this position, but I've come to think that use of wrong-sex pronouns is deliberate and provocative*. They aren't saying, "Here is a man doing manly things like indecent exposure, rape and assault," they are saying, "Here is a woman (oops, sorry, we all know it's a man, just look at the ugly stubbly picture at the top), doing womanly (wait, manly) things like indecent exposure, rape and assault." (Subtext - just look how batshit this ideology is).

*Except for the BBC and the Guardian, of course...

I honestly think they do it to encourage viewer interactions. Calling a male sex offender, nappy stealer, hospital wanker she gets much more attention even if it’s done in a tongue in cheek look at this cock in pink leggings, she my arse sort of way.

murasaki · Yesterday 16:01

You could be right, it's pretty narcissistic, but then a lot of it seems to be.

GreyskySexRealistsky · Yesterday 16:12

Secretseverywhere · Yesterday 15:59

I honestly think they do it to encourage viewer interactions. Calling a male sex offender, nappy stealer, hospital wanker she gets much more attention even if it’s done in a tongue in cheek look at this cock in pink leggings, she my arse sort of way.

I think so too. It's quite an effective tactic. TRAs can't complain about the perp being 'misgendered'. Meanwhile all the readers think "that's a bloke!"

ItsCoolForCats · Yesterday 16:15

Helleofabore · Yesterday 15:22

So, the list of the situations when a male person can be treated as a female in the UK, if he claims to be female, has decreased again.

Male people are not female people for the purposes of rape crisis provisions , the Olympics, prison, court procedings where a judge agrees the language doesn’t have to be used, female single sex change rooms for NHS, sex balanced panels and boards, (what have I missed…)… and now, in news media.

Plus, a trans person cannot demand the government treat them as the opposite sex on their biological child’s birth certificate as the exceptions under Article 8 apply.

Seems the crumbling we started to see a few years ago is speeding up.

Also that demand from some people that it is ‘respectful’ to use demanded pronouns is looking like it is built on prioritising that person making the demand. And dismissing the equal respect deserved by those who have just as much right to have their decisions respected of choosing accuracy of language over supporting someone’s identity (when it is not based on material reality but on a subjectively built identity). Anyone remember the contortions and deletions, and bans, from not many years ago on MN for saying that transwomen are not women? And for using accurate language?

Exactly this. I was thinking earlier how much has changed in the last few years. All the court wins, with FWS being the pinnacle, but also that people aren't afraid anymore and refuse to be bullied.

Ereshkigalangcleg · Yesterday 16:39

Secretseverywhere · Yesterday 15:59

I honestly think they do it to encourage viewer interactions. Calling a male sex offender, nappy stealer, hospital wanker she gets much more attention even if it’s done in a tongue in cheek look at this cock in pink leggings, she my arse sort of way.

Exactly.

EasternStandard · Yesterday 16:59

mrshoho · Yesterday 15:14

It is both satisfying and quite a relief every time common sense wins out in these legal battles. Everyone of these battles won is glorious in what has been/is still a very long, tiring war.

It’s good but still that IPSO ruling uses she and her.

EdithStourton · Yesterday 17:05

Helleofabore · Yesterday 15:22

So, the list of the situations when a male person can be treated as a female in the UK, if he claims to be female, has decreased again.

Male people are not female people for the purposes of rape crisis provisions , the Olympics, prison, court procedings where a judge agrees the language doesn’t have to be used, female single sex change rooms for NHS, sex balanced panels and boards, (what have I missed…)… and now, in news media.

Plus, a trans person cannot demand the government treat them as the opposite sex on their biological child’s birth certificate as the exceptions under Article 8 apply.

Seems the crumbling we started to see a few years ago is speeding up.

Also that demand from some people that it is ‘respectful’ to use demanded pronouns is looking like it is built on prioritising that person making the demand. And dismissing the equal respect deserved by those who have just as much right to have their decisions respected of choosing accuracy of language over supporting someone’s identity (when it is not based on material reality but on a subjectively built identity). Anyone remember the contortions and deletions, and bans, from not many years ago on MN for saying that transwomen are not women? And for using accurate language?

The first deletion I ever got on MN was for correctly sexing an unidentified, and unidentifiable, young trans person, when talking of her parents' distress.

When the crumbling began, I worried that it was a just a blip and that the normal service we had come to expect, of completely raving irrationality, would maybe make a comeback. But so far, it looks as if sanity is slowly being reinstated.

Bonkers that it ever got to this stage.

EasternStandard · Yesterday 17:08

I think we’ll have arrived somewhere good when that IPSO link uses he and him.

HammyDown · Yesterday 17:10

It added that it was possible to be offensive without being discriminatory

Nice to see that in writing.

ErrolTheDragon · Yesterday 17:17

HammyDown · Yesterday 17:10

It added that it was possible to be offensive without being discriminatory

Nice to see that in writing.

It’s certainly one of Rod Liddle’s skills, he’s a prime proponent of equal opportunities offensiveness!😂

fromorbit · Yesterday 18:09

Zoonosis · Yesterday 13:19

I wouldn’t get over-confident about the Sarah Phillimore case, the grounds of the IPSO ruling are that the article was satirical and intended to be provocative and that as a one-off it couldn’t constitute harassment as it wasn’t a pattern of behaviour, SP has neither of these defenses in her favour. Also IPSO is a press regulator which neither contributes to rulings or sets precedent for libel cases.

I never argued any of that. What I said was this ruling exposes once again how deluded and unreliable and useless Mr Molly / Mr Sparkles is.

Sparkles lies a LOT about a LOT of things. He is a man with a long history of being vile on the internet. Sarah's case will rely on exposing him as being completely unreliable and thus the Fox Botherer being defamatory for believing the lies he tells. Remember the Bar Standards Board has already accepts the Mr Molly's abusive and deceitful nature was key in clearing Sarah from complaint against her. As Sarah explains:

"On 27 March 2026 the BSB rejected the Good Law Project complaint against me, on the basis that my publications either cumulatively or singly did not cross the threshold into harassment and I was protected by Article 10 ECHR. Interestingly, the BSB set out numerous examples of Weddell's abusive and threatening behaviour to women as relevant to his credibility. Predictably when the GLP published the BSB letter on its website, they redacted all of this on the basis that it was necessary to keep Weddell 'safe'.
The GLP announced their intention to review this decision, and finally did so on 9 May 2026, instructing their KC to produce something that in my view was pretty sparse and making it very clear that they considered the BSB should apply the much lower Equality Act test of 'harassment' rather than the test in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. In other words, the GLP are arguing that regulated professionals should not have any freedom of speech to discuss contentious political matters. The implications of this are obviously serious and I hope the BSB reject this review request.
However, the robust defence of my article 10 rights from the BSB and its recognition of Weddell's own poor behaviour, I hope is going to be useful support for my libel action. It also became clear in correspondence that Maugham did not have any evidence about Weddell's alleged suicide attempt until January 2026, i.e. five months AFTER he asserted this was my fault. I look forward to seeing what this 'evidence' actually entails.
And in other good news, I am delighted and very grateful to Roddy Dunlop KC for his offer to represent me on a No Win No Fee basis which will certainly make your money go further."

This is who is going be representing Sarah because he thinks her case is sound. I think Sarah's chances are good, she could lose of course.

Roddy Dunlop KC
Roddy is "generally held to be the most accomplished advocate in Scotland", and "is noted for the breadth of his practice, as well as his assertive and persuasive advocacy before the Bench".

Professional experience
Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC has a wide and varied practice. He is the only Scottish silk to be ranked in seven separate practice areas by Chambers UK, who place him as a “Star Individual” for commercial dispute resolution, and a Band 1 Silk in the areas of professional discipline, professional negligence, media law, product liability, clinical negligence and administrative and public law.

Zoonosis you might that that Mr Molly is a great representative of the "trans" community. The fact is he isn't 20 years go most "trans" people would not give him the time of day. He is a man with documented fetishes who clearly despises women and likes threatening them. It is men like him who are key in helping women getting their rights back. If you won't do safeguarding we are going to do it for you.

If Sarah wins in court it will be another nail in the coffin of the Trans movement. You can blame "nasty" women as much as you like, but it was you guys who decided to abandon any gatekeeping. You let any random bloke who likes wearing dresses call himself trans, no matter how awful he behaves, and now you are losing everything.

Male arrogance all over.

You underestimated women you thought they would put up with the worst men in the world in women's spaces. Big mistake!

Just because normal bl

OP posts:
Lovelyview · Yesterday 18:33

Zoonosis · Yesterday 13:19

I wouldn’t get over-confident about the Sarah Phillimore case, the grounds of the IPSO ruling are that the article was satirical and intended to be provocative and that as a one-off it couldn’t constitute harassment as it wasn’t a pattern of behaviour, SP has neither of these defenses in her favour. Also IPSO is a press regulator which neither contributes to rulings or sets precedent for libel cases.

We shall see.

mrshoho · Yesterday 18:39

fromorbit · Yesterday 18:09

I never argued any of that. What I said was this ruling exposes once again how deluded and unreliable and useless Mr Molly / Mr Sparkles is.

Sparkles lies a LOT about a LOT of things. He is a man with a long history of being vile on the internet. Sarah's case will rely on exposing him as being completely unreliable and thus the Fox Botherer being defamatory for believing the lies he tells. Remember the Bar Standards Board has already accepts the Mr Molly's abusive and deceitful nature was key in clearing Sarah from complaint against her. As Sarah explains:

"On 27 March 2026 the BSB rejected the Good Law Project complaint against me, on the basis that my publications either cumulatively or singly did not cross the threshold into harassment and I was protected by Article 10 ECHR. Interestingly, the BSB set out numerous examples of Weddell's abusive and threatening behaviour to women as relevant to his credibility. Predictably when the GLP published the BSB letter on its website, they redacted all of this on the basis that it was necessary to keep Weddell 'safe'.
The GLP announced their intention to review this decision, and finally did so on 9 May 2026, instructing their KC to produce something that in my view was pretty sparse and making it very clear that they considered the BSB should apply the much lower Equality Act test of 'harassment' rather than the test in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. In other words, the GLP are arguing that regulated professionals should not have any freedom of speech to discuss contentious political matters. The implications of this are obviously serious and I hope the BSB reject this review request.
However, the robust defence of my article 10 rights from the BSB and its recognition of Weddell's own poor behaviour, I hope is going to be useful support for my libel action. It also became clear in correspondence that Maugham did not have any evidence about Weddell's alleged suicide attempt until January 2026, i.e. five months AFTER he asserted this was my fault. I look forward to seeing what this 'evidence' actually entails.
And in other good news, I am delighted and very grateful to Roddy Dunlop KC for his offer to represent me on a No Win No Fee basis which will certainly make your money go further."

This is who is going be representing Sarah because he thinks her case is sound. I think Sarah's chances are good, she could lose of course.

Roddy Dunlop KC
Roddy is "generally held to be the most accomplished advocate in Scotland", and "is noted for the breadth of his practice, as well as his assertive and persuasive advocacy before the Bench".

Professional experience
Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC has a wide and varied practice. He is the only Scottish silk to be ranked in seven separate practice areas by Chambers UK, who place him as a “Star Individual” for commercial dispute resolution, and a Band 1 Silk in the areas of professional discipline, professional negligence, media law, product liability, clinical negligence and administrative and public law.

Zoonosis you might that that Mr Molly is a great representative of the "trans" community. The fact is he isn't 20 years go most "trans" people would not give him the time of day. He is a man with documented fetishes who clearly despises women and likes threatening them. It is men like him who are key in helping women getting their rights back. If you won't do safeguarding we are going to do it for you.

If Sarah wins in court it will be another nail in the coffin of the Trans movement. You can blame "nasty" women as much as you like, but it was you guys who decided to abandon any gatekeeping. You let any random bloke who likes wearing dresses call himself trans, no matter how awful he behaves, and now you are losing everything.

Male arrogance all over.

You underestimated women you thought they would put up with the worst men in the world in women's spaces. Big mistake!

Just because normal bl

Love this!

If Sarah wins in court it will be another nail in the coffin of the Trans movement. You can blame "nasty" women as much as you like, but it was you guys who decided to abandon any gatekeeping. You let any random bloke who likes wearing dresses call himself trans, no matter how awful he behaves, and now you are losing everything.
Male arrogance all over.

Sarah is going to win this.

Seriestwo · Yesterday 20:16

The polycule needs to orients into reality. It would be good for the lads

helderste · Yesterday 20:17

Just spotted this at the end of the ruling:

Independent Complaints Reviewer
The complainant complained to the Independent Complaints Reviewer about the process followed by IPSO in handling this complaint. The Independent Complaints Reviewer decided that the process was not flawed and did not uphold the request for review

A cherry on the top 🍒 - delicious

Waitwhat23 · Yesterday 20:20

Don't know who to credit but credit to them!

IPSO ruling in Molly v Sunday Times - the press can call men in dresses men
Datun · Yesterday 20:46

Win or lose, and I definitely think she's going to win, Sarah is on the correct train, going to the right destination. She's heading straight to the right side of history.