Tag: children

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Healthcare Others

I was fortunate enough to attend the WPUK conference and was inspired by so many wonderful speakers and to be in a room with 1000 women who ‘get it’

I care because it’s the absolute injustice of it. It’s just not fair. If men and women were truly equal then swapping between wouldn’t be an issue, but we’re not and there are a few meagre provisions we’re allowed for our safety and progression and now we’re told we’re bigots if we won’t give them up to narcissistic men with a fetish. The gender stereotypes I fight against for myself and my daughters are now being pushed as intrinsic and deviation from these is seen as a reason for mutilation.

I have posted on Mumsnet, Twitter and my personal Facebook. I have had countless conversations with friends. I am also involved with Safe Schools Alliance.

In December I called a radio phone in and asked Jo Swinson what a woman is, she struggled with the answer and I was allowed to ask further follow up questions.

It was widely reported on (appeared in newspapers and on GMB) and seemed to show the crux of the argument – you can’t have women’s rights if you don’t know what a woman is. In February this year I was fortunate enough to attend the WPUK conference and was inspired by so many wonderful speakers and to be in a room with 1000 women who ‘get it’ and would actually like to get out of the ‘cul-de-sac of identity politics’ and back to the fight against everything else women are facing.

I have had some difficult conversations with friends who feel like I’m being unkind, gay friends especially. I’m at the age where about half my friends have children and that seems to be the dividing line. Pre-kids it’s easier to believe that equality of the sexes exists but once you go through pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, maternity leave, reduced employment opportunities, mental load – the full force of the patriarchy hits home, and men donning some lipstick and claiming womanhood feels incredibly offensive.

Anna, from Warwickshire

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Education Healthcare

I know what a social construction is and what material reality is

There are males on lesbian dating apps who reply with aggression when they are politely told that they don’t belong there (that’s happened to me twice).

A woman I know personally was banned from a lesbian dating app for telling a male person that they did not belong there.

I am concerned about the physical and emotion safety of female prisoners who are already very vulnerable, if male violent or sexual offenders are housed in female prisons.

I need to teach the small children in my care that they are correct to be wary of men and I cannot do that if the words we use to describe them are taken away.

We (women, females) cannot organise properly to defend our rights if the words we use are taken and redefined.

The children in the primary school I taught at were taught that you can be born in the wrong body, and it is not true and it’s harmful. A teenage lesbian I know has been convinced that she is a boy and is going to start undergoing serious medical interventions which will cause potentially permanent changes to her body, because of stereotypes. The idea that your personality tracks your sex or your sex tracks your personality are fundamentally regressive positions. I know what a social construction is and what material reality is and I wont pretend not to.

I have spoken to some friends in real life and I lost a couple. I have posted occasionally on social media but not under my real name as I am scared of professional consequences.

LD

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Healthcare

There is no justification for using unlicensed medications on children outside of a clinical trial.

I care because I have great concerns about the influence of political ideology on the medical treatment of vulnerable children

I have posted on medical forums about the inadequate evidence for puberty blockers being used in gender dysphoria clinics. There is no justification for using unlicensed medications on children outside of a clinical trial.

This shouldn’t be news but critical appraisal of evidence seems to be a skill that’s no longer taught in medical school.

I was called racist, a bigot, uneducated, ‘old fashioned’ and various other personal insults by fellow doctors. My questioning about the reliability of Stonewall’s publications about suicidality drew comments that I was freakish and ‘messy’ for questioning a deeply flawed methodology. I was then banned from the group for ‘spreading hatred’

Dr S Smith , MBChB

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Healthcare

I see patients who declare their sex to be female but turn out to be biologically male with male genitalia.

I care about this issue because the silencing of women/removal of women’s sex based rights to prioritise the feelings of a tiny number of men who decide they are women is unfair. I support trans people’s right, just like anyone else’s right, to be safe from harassment and abuse and to live their life in peace, but this should not be to the detriment of women and girls. I am also concerned about the erasure of lesbian women and girls and the transing of children.

As a medical professional I am increasingly concerned about the conflagration of sex to gender. On medical forms we increasingly now have to ask someone their gender not their sex and I have personally examined patients who declare their sex to be female but turn out to be biologically male with male genitalia.

Why are we afraid/unable to ask someone what their sex is?

I have raised this with my employer. I examine people intimately and I want to know whether they have male or female genitalia in advance. This affects my preparation for the examination and the equipment I need. The gender question on referral forms and medical forms does not tell me this. This is embarrassing and unacceptable for trans patients as well as medical staff so they are not getting best care. It also affects statistics if gender is used instead of sex to describe the patient in medical records.

I have been VERY careful to frame my concerns in terms of a lack of good care for trans patients rather than my wider gender critical views.

Adult Human Female , Gender Critical Medic

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Academics and researchers Healthcare

Feelings and opinions’ have trumped everything else

I care about the security and sex based rights of women and children and feel that they are being eroded, particularly in work (I work at a University). When our women’s network tried to publish a new menopause policy it was insisted that it contained a paragraph that stated that trans men/women non binary people also suffered with the effects of the menopause. Trans women apparently suffered with ‘psuedo’ symptoms (and this must be recognised within the policy) even when they were born male (and it stated that as fact). I didn’t agree with that. When I complained (during the drafting process) that I did not want to be called ‘cis’ (a female member of staff kept addressing me as that) I was listened to but frowned upon. I definately feel like I am the one that is looked at as ‘the bigot’ in the room when I challenge the way trans women are being slowly entered into policies and other rules that are meant to protect women.

The University /student union introduced a  non mandatory trans awareness training course but when I took a closer look at the details,  the trainer had blocked me on social media (maybe through a blocking app – many people use these now)  so I had no way of knowing any more about the company or the person who was delivering the training. Needless to say I did not attend. I didn’t feel that I could approach the Organisational Development team with my concerns.

I am the women’s officer on our Unison committee. I have tried to raise the issue of gender neutral toilets and how these facilities can be bad for women, nothing is said directly, but again I feel like I am considered ‘the bigot’ in the room for daring to address this. I am usually snapped at (usually by the women on the committee) when I dare to bring it up.  I share some articles on twitter (or more often ‘like’ things) but I know there is no way that I could portray my real feelings on any social media post.

I know I  would be reprimanded I work if I did this too often. 

My University uses Twitter a lot for communication and it would only be a matter of time before someone reported me for any tweets that were considered unsavoury or of having the ‘wrong’ opinion (this is the environment that has been created within the University by trans students).

I am thinking about setting up  an anonymous account so that I can be more open about my views.

I have spoken to one female senior member of staff in work about how I feel, she agrees with my view (that there are only 2 sexes)  but has also told me that she has to be very careful in her position as she would be reprimanded for not being ‘inclusive’.  

I have female friends who are still members of the Labour party and they have a real battle on their hands within the local branches. I left the party this year after my female MP signed the trans rights pledge denouncing A Woman’s Place and LGB Alliance (both of which I support). If you try to address these opinions with her she says trans rights are non negotiable and the conversation is shut down. This is a women with two teenage daughters.  I am in my  late 40’s and have voted Labour all my life – that will change going forward unless they drastically change their opinion on women’s rights. Being looked upon as a bigot or someone who is not progressive is very, very hurtful. I have stood by gay people all my life and was brought up to treat everyone with respect.

I believe there are women at work who do not approve of my opinions, they don’t say so publicly but my voice has been shut down in certain situations (Unison Committee meetings). It’s nothing in particular or you can put your finger on but I know by the way people react to me (mainly women)  I am considered ‘the bigot’.  I haven’t pushed issues any further other than Twitter and the Unison Committee but I know that I would be ostrocised at work if I pushed the subject further.Trans students have pushed for a trans policy over the past two years and it has just been introduced on campuses. In my opinion their ‘feelings and opinions’ have trumped everything else and arguing against it will automatically be closed down.

Nia, Wales

Categories
Parent

This has hit my family like a sledgehammer

This has hit my family like a sledgehammer where our vulnerable learning disabled daughter in her early 20s and away at college confessed to us that she had been on the Tavistock Hospital’s waiting list for a year to have a physical “sex change” with surgery and steroids, leading to medical dependency and worsened health.  Our daughter has been caught up in cultish behaviour with her college friends, one of the effects being that parents are regarded as “transphobic” if they voice any concern.

I have contacted and continue to contact my GP, my county councillor, my GP, my daughter’s GP, social services, myself and husband go to Tavistock Hospital trustees meetings, I write on twitter and facebook, I respond to blogs, I tried to get the “Woman” flag erected in my town for International Women’s Day, I have contributed towards the establishment of parents’ organisations and therapy groups. I have had friends criticise me on facebook, I have been suspended several times on twitter, I lie to my daughter about any involvement.

C, parent of GD daughter, feminist, ex-Labour

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Education Healthcare

A woman is a material reality

I know that women are punished for being women, not for pretending to be women. A woman is a material reality. Our oppression is sex-based and we need to be able to speak about it. I’m also extremely worried about the loss of single sex spaces and how that endangers women. I am disgusted that female sports are being overtaken by men and I worry a LOT about gender non-conforming children being told they’re in the wrong bodies. That is the very opposite of safeguarding. I have been terrified at the way women have been harassed, threatened, doxxed, taken to court, sacked, slandered and physically attacked for believing in the reality of biological sex, and that prevents me from saying more.

I have very occasionally tweeted about it and I have ‘liked’ tweets by others who have spoken out.

I have been roasted by acquaintances on social media. I’ve had to leave online groups. I’ve received abuse on Twitter from lots of people including a man holding a baseball bat who boasted he liked to kill TERFs.

Kath, Teacher

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Healthcare

My own personal opinion is at odds with NHS policy.

I am a health visitor with a caseload all under 5. Seeing children in this age category social transition concerns me greatly. I have not came across this professionally but it is possible in the future, my own personal opinion is at odds with NHS policy.

I’ve spoken with colleagues but we all feel unable to speak up due to fear of repercussions. I have only discussed with trusted colleagues after testing the water.

M

Categories
Parent

This is medicine’s next big scandal

My child identified as trans a few years ago. I wasn’t worried at first, but the more I learnt about the impacts for her and other transitioning young people, and the impact on women and girls generally, the more concerned I became.

I am now convinced that this is medicine’s next big scandal waiting to break, and that trans activism operates as a cult.

I have been to meetings and participated in sharing info on social media. I try to keep evidence on hand so I can counter misinformation.

My child stopped speaking to me – way before I became active. Anything other than full affirmation was not acceptable. I was not supposed to read gender critical sites, and not allowed to express concerns about the medical pathway, even though I offered (qualified) support.

J, Worried parent of older transitioner

Categories
Education Healthcare

This goes against all the safeguarding I have ever been taught

I care because I am a teacher, parent and Girlguiding leader and this goes against all the safe guarding I have ever been taught. This matters to me because the safeguarding and single sex spaces exist for a reason and they are trying to be removed with no proper debate. From single sex toilet, changing and sleeping provision to irreversible medical intervention to women and girls being pushed out of sport, I care and I object to women and children and lesbians and gay people being overridden like this.

I have written to my MP and MSPs. I have taken part in the Gender Recognition Act consultations in Scotland and the wider UK and shared them with friends. I have discussed this with friends. I came to it from the idea that it was like gay rights and we should all just be nice but then I read and learnt more and was horrified. Some people I really respect still post things like “Trans Women are Women” and I can only assume they haven’t yet educated themselves properly about it because I know they are not homophobic nor anti women and children’s rights. But it is very hard to persuade them.

Some I have persuaded, others we’ve agreed to disagree for now and some have stopped being friends on social media (those I knew least). As they have been told I am a bigot for thinking like this, it makes opening the conversation harder than it ought to be. There are also many people I have not dared discuss it with (I am a teacher and Girlguiding leader) as if I openly disagree with Girlguiding, I will be removed as a leader. I admire the courage of those who have stood up to them.

As a teacher I try to keep the pupils’ minds open if it comes up (it rarely does with my subject).

Saying “I think all gender stereotypes are bad” caused some discussion though and I thought that was a safe statement. I do not think young people should do anything irreversible and hormones and “puberty blockers” are just that.

We need far more support with mental health and the wider difficulties of being a teenager in general. It’s a hard age to be.

Only a couple have stopped following me on social media. As I have a protected account I have been limited use and had limited harm.

If I were to speak out within Girlguiding, I would have to stop volunteering.

I admire those who have spoken out but haven’t done it myself as I’m scared for the consequences.

EB, Teacher, parent, Girlguiding leader