Category: Healthcare

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Healthcare Self employed / entrepreneurs

It really is a men’s sexual rights and privilege movement

I care because I am a woman, and trans ideology and legislation is eroding women’s rights. Once you take a proper look, it becomes very clear that transgenderism is not only a backlash to feminism, and the women’s liberation movement, but that it really is a men’s sexual rights and privilege movement. I also feel sad for the many traumatised people – particularly, gender non-nonconforming, lesbians, gay men, autism spectrum and mentally vulnerable, who are being told they need to have surgeries and take harmful hormones. Any system that tells people, particularly children that their bodies are wrong is abusive

I’m better at visuals than writing, and to shine a light on the insane dogma and gas lighting in mainstream media I started comically editing, trans and queer media propaganda, and creating hilarious gender critical memes – to share on social media, eventually publishing them on a Facebook page. Unfortunately due to too much hilarity and truth, the page kept getting suspended and finally got permanently unpublished by Facebook last month.

I have lost work. I wrote a comment on a Facebook advert about how many trans identified males are autogynephilic, stating that we have over 40 years of peer reviewed science supporting the theory, with links to Blanchardrence etc. Trans activists wrote to my studio. (I’m a yoga teacher) and they said I hate trans people and I got fired by the studio, they also wrote to a teacher I trained with and she took me off her list of trained teachers. Obviously I don’t hate anyone, I just don’t believe the insane dogma.

, Free speech; if I genuinely believe that men cannot become women (etc.) this opinion should not be suppressed. This is not a “phobia”, but an empirical belief.

AB, bloominanna

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Healthcare Self employed / entrepreneurs

People stay silent; they won’t engage

I care about the protection of women’s spaces, services and sports. I am worried about an ideology that teaches children that if they do not conform to narrow gender stereotypes they were born in the wrong body. I am horrified by irreversible harms done to these children/young people through puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. I believe in freedom of speech and find it incredible that stating biological fact can cost someone their job. I think gender identity ideology is nonsense; but people should have the right to believe it or not believe it as with any idea. I am horrified by the bullying tactics of trans activists who try to stifle debate and punish dissent — it’s authoritarian and that has no place in a democratic society. Good policy and law should be a) evidence based and b) discussed fully and openly.

I have started to talk to friends, written to my MP, attended WPUK meetings and posted about these on social media. I am very open on twitter, more careful on Facebook

I am self-employed so no repercussions at work. But I feel huge stress when talking to people or posting on Facebook because of the fear of being misunderstood and being thought bigoted.But what actually happens is that people stay silent; they won’t engage.

Jan S, humanist, dog lover, adult human female

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Healthcare Public Sector

I quickly realised it was largely abuse survivors and women worried about their children speaking up

It was, in the first instance a bullying issue for me. I was a Labour Party officer, responsible for membership in our CLP and was appalled at the way a small local group were being allowed to mistreat and slander women.

When I started talking to people, I very quickly realised that it was largely abuse survivors and women worried about their children who were speaking up and in both cases, they seriously needed back up. I was a ‘known terf’ by then and thought ‘oh well, I’m out there – may as well get on with it.’

I have written blog posts, and articles for newspapers.

 I have attended planning groups for women’s organisations, and spoken at a WPUK meeting.

I spent as much time as I could spare visiting women’s groups in different areas, and having one-to-one meetings with people I felt could use more support and/or had something to teach me about the issues involved.

I did try to put a motion through my local Labour Party but, after my branch passed it almost unanimously, the LP withdrew it as ‘controversial’ after a man had a tantrum in another branch.

I have been extensively slandered on social media and in my home town – bizarrely, this has had positive consequences as well as negative ones – a colleague and I organised a WPUK meeting in my town which was an enormous positive overall, but led to members of the local Pride group sending slanderous letters about us to the council and to any venue in town they could think of so, I’m self-employed, and have probably lost business through being ‘controversial’ and have certainly suffered a lot of stress.

I was turned down by the local Labour Party as a council candidate. The stated reason was that there was a complaint about me in process but, when I went to an appeal hearing, the reason given was they didn’t like my blog.

Did I lose friends? Not really – losing false friends leads to finding new and more interesting ones.

Kay Green, socialist feminist, former Labour Party officer

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Healthcare Others

I feel excluded from forums that previously welcomed me

As an old rad feminist I’m genuinely frightened by what’s happening. This is the biggest attack on women’s rights since we first gained them; it’s a huge safeguarding issue; it’s directly linked to the rise of misogyny, to the pornification of society.

I’ve joined public and private GC women’s groups, supported others through crowdfunders, with advice and on line, written to my (Labour) MP and met with them (to no avail), made FoI requests of our devolved government about a lack of an EA in their trans policy (no joy), leafleted the Welsh Labour Party conference, talked to friends and family to try to raise awareness.

I became a member of our Children’s Commissioner’s advisory group but have yet to find a way to have the necessary face-to-face discussions. Mainly personal stress/distress at the lack of political concern/interest (at best) and outright hostility at worst. I am involved in social justice / community-building initiatives and had an excellent relationship with local politicians. This has come to an end, undermining my capacity to make a positive difference. I feel excluded from forums that previously welcomed me.

Vanessa, old, tired, disenfranchised but still fighting

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Healthcare Men

I saw women being attacked at the Anarchist Bookfair in 2017

Initially, I cared because I saw women being attacked at the Anarchist Bookfair in 2017 and the annual bookfair ending as a result. Since, I have been profoundly shocked by the misogyny of transactivists and the othering of their critics. As an affluent straight middle-aged white male, it all tends to be rather abstract, but I just can’t get past transactivists denying gender is a social-power construct within capitalism and the fact they vociferously accuse lesbians of being vagina fetishists but don’t apply that logic to straight men. The whole area of gender reassignment for children is very disturbing.

I used the fact that our radical publishers had a bookstall at the 2018 Radical Bookfair at Goldsmiths to help Jeni Harvey publish a pamphlet to be displayed their. This resulted in a very public confrontation with trans-activists and our ejection from the fair.

We, Chronos Publications, are now effectively banned from the remaining Anarchist bookfairs and the Radical bookfair. For example, the T&Cs for the latest ‘Anarchist Festival’ encourages attendees to take direct action against hate-speech. That’ll be us then based previous experience. We can’t get books placed in Freedom and their are some issues with Housmans. Other radical booksellers have secretly shown support but can’t say anything publicly.

Bryn Bazzard, Bryn, not seeking authority through one liner bio

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Healthcare Others

I also care about ‘the wrong type of trans’

I care about this issue because this affects all of us.  From women being allowed single sex spaces and the fight against misogyny for that, to children being medically transed by woke parents.  Child safeguarding is a massive concern within this agenda.  I also care about ‘the wrong type of trans’, these people just want to get on with things and contribute to society in a normal way.

I have lost several twitter accounts due to speaking out about women’s rights.  I have supported small independent rad fem businesses.  I have donated to crowd funders and spread awareness of the issues we face.

I’ve experienced TRA pile ons, dealt with furries, MAPs and a whole load of inbetweens, trying to normalise their behaviour. 

V, Terf

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Healthcare Others

I have four nieces whose rights to their boundaries I will defend to the death

This matters to me because women’s rights have been hard fought for over a long period of time and have only been legally recognised for a very short period of time. Sex-based rights are crucial if women are to overcome the systemic barriers to equity that still exist in UK society and are particularly important for girls and young women who need single-sex spaces for reasons of safety, privacy and dignity. #

I don’t have children, but I have four nieces whose rights to their boundaries I will defend to the death. I also care about this issue because I am a lesbian, a same-sex attracted women. I object strongly to the idea that any male can self-identify as a woman and simply announce they are now a lesbian because of their heterosexual attraction to females. I am also infuriated by the deliberate conflation of sex and gender in official documents and by public bodies and organisations, in particular the Blood Transfusion Service and the NHS where an individual’s sex matters more than any specious idea of masculine or feminine.

I have signed a number of petitions; completed consultations on gender self-identification and reform of the Gender Recognition Act; donated to campaigns for women’s rights; and attended meetings organised by pro-women’s rights groups. I have written to my MP asking that she take account of women’s voices before committing to any vote on reform of the GRA. I have also written to my MSPs asking that they too take account of dissenting voices when it comes to the proposed introduction of gender self-identification in Scotland and followed up on their responses. I have also shared links to consultations on social media, asking people to take part in the consultation to get as wide a range of voices heard as possible.

I have been the subject of some anger and negative responses from friends on Facebook in particular and been accused of homophobia, transphobia and bigotry from people I considered good friends. That led me to make a conscious decision not to discuss the subject on Facebook, which I have stuck to now for around a year. However, the revelation this week that the Scottish Government is sticking to its redefinition of the word woman in the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act is making me rethink that decision, which I now consider a bit cowardly.

Frances Traynor, still believes that language matters and that words have meaning

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Healthcare Self employed / entrepreneurs

There can be no equality; there can be no ‘MeToo’ movement, if we cannot talk about sex

I care about this issue because I know how much women have had to fight for the rights they currently hold and I can see how easily they are being eroded. Single sex spaces and the ability to define women as a sex class are both integral to being able to fight against and record male violence.

There can be no equality; there can be no ‘MeToo’ movement, if we cannot talk about sex and protect single sex spaces. As a parent, I also care about this issue because equating biological sex with gender stereotypes is regressive and endangers all our children. Children should be able to play with and wear what they want, without being told their age appropriate child development means they are ‘trans’. Further, I am appalled that an untested medical pathway is being promoted as a solution to ever younger people, despite having poor outcomes.

I have written to organisations that have elided sex and gender. I have contacted groups that have jeopardised safeguarding including the NSPCC and Girlguiding. I have completed the GRA consultations. I have contributed to crowd funders and signed petitions. I have joined feminist groups and attended events. I have leafleted. I have also discussed this issue with family, friends and colleagues. I have changed our household purchasing habits in response to companies’ capitulating to trans rights activists and sacrificing women’s rights to placate bullying campaigns.

I have had some awkward conversations with friends and received some hectoring on social media. However, generally, in real life, I find most people agree with the need to maintain the definition of woman and to protect single sex spaces.

MM, Writer, Editor, Feminist

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Healthcare Others

I see it as child abuse

I care because I see it as child abuse- telling children they are born in the wrong body is wrong  and committing them to a life of medication and ill health to promote an ideology based on fantasy, queer theory and profit is hideously wrong!

I also see an erosion of women’s sex based rights that have been hard fought for over time – if a man can simply declare himself a woman it undermines us essentially;  be it in sport, in refuges or any single sex space that is segregated and held for the safety of girls and women . I am aghast that this ideology has taken such hold. Largely autogynephils who are essentially fetishests proclaiming themselves as women. The entire trans umbrella is now a wide apron allowing far too many to stand under in the name of progressive gender politics but is nothing of the kind- it is instead regressive, abusive  and based mostly on narcissist fantasy fuelled by big pharma and bodies with vested interest.

I have written, joined groups, attempted to bring it up at local labour meetings and more.

Yes. I have been shunned by local Labour largely and treated like a pariah for my views.

Shernaz D, Concerned grandmother and woman

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Healthcare Others

I have a niece who insists everyone refer to them as “they” and they want to get a double mastectomy- they are 17

I care about this issue because gender ideology seems so obviously harmful, with more children and young adults wishing to become permanently medicalized and feeling they have to change their name simply because they don’t want to confirm to rigid sexist stereotypes.

I have a niece who insists everyone refer to them as “they” and they want to get a double mastectomy – they are 17. Other than that, they remind me so much of virtually all of my friends when I was 17. Edgy, into the latest cool look, playing around with image, being provocative in all sorts of ways. The most we did was tattoos, piercings and food-colouring hair.

Double mastectomy?? New name?? Abusing people for using normal pronouns? It’s like a generation has no new ways left to be shocking and this is it.

Ultimately, I care about protecting women’s spaces from this absurdity.

I’ve donated a lot to crowdfunders who aim to protect women’s spaces. Donated to to eg yours Maya, Posie Parker’s, Jennifer James… Many more, but I mentioned JJ because I remember the Labour keep All Women Shortlists female Only campaign was a turning point for me.

Women are excluded from politics, not because they stick some lippy on, but because they are of the sex who fall pregnant, and everything that comes with that.

Unfortunately the JJ campaign seems to be completely stuck in the mud, but that’s where trying to come up against the Labour Party will get you I suppose.

I have replied to more petitions than I can list here.

I have tentatively raised concerns (WRT women’s spaces) with friends and have, to my relief, found many agree with me. My brother is too woke at the moment, but my Dad has been diamond.

Well, my brother said I was “like a racist” because I thought Transwomen shouldn’t be in women’s sports or prisons, and appears to have typecasted me as a bigot, despite myself being very lefty and liberal, so our relationship has soured a bit.

I got “ghosted” by a Canadian friend who works at the BBC, after I stated I wasn’t 101% supportive of R McKinnon (winning women’s world records). I actually thought they might be different.

I haven’t raised the issue with my child’s school or at work at all. I know how risky it can be.

Ophelia Forte, Mum, feminist, gender free