Thread by @IanSMcNee

At the exuberant 2017 @UKLabour conference I was privileged to attend a meeting addressed by @ruthserwotka & @cwknews discussing proposed changes to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act that would effectively erase women's & girl's limited & hard-won legal protections. /1
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The mood of the meeting was in contrast to the rest of conference: the venue had to be kept secret until the last minute as other recent events where women had the temerity to meet with other women to discuss their political, legal & social rights had been harassed & attacked. /2

Not only that but this reactionary proposal from the Tory government, paralysed by the insurgent & radicalising #LabourParty under #JeremyCorbyn's leadership, was tacitly supported by large sections of the labour movement & many other public institutions. /3

From that meeting a small group of women from the Labour Party, trade unions & women's organisations formed @Womans_Place_UK - apparently a small & lone voice in a political landscape that seemed intent on silencing women's legitimate protest at the erosion of their rights. /4

Over the past three years the misogynist grip on political discourse (every major UK political party), the media, public institutions, sporting bodies & even many women's organisations seemed like a vice & the harassment of vocal feminists only increased. /5

But those driving this attack on women (and the cowards that cravenly went along with it for perceived narrow advantage) forgot an important thing: that women are the backbone of ALL our progressive movements & are steely in their determination to resist their oppression. /6

So while political parties & public bodies put fingers in their ears our sisters from @Womans_Place_UK, @LabWomenDec, @ForwomenScot, @fairplaywomen & others organised & gave voice to many thousands of women across the UK. This defeat of #SelfID has not come out of the blue. /7

This is the one of the biggest of a series of victories in rolling-back the attack on women's rights. Our sisters will lead us to further victories, not just in ensuring that women's sex-based rights are enforced & enhanced but victories for wider progressive movements. /8

Women will lead the way in re-uniting a left divided & crippled by misogyny, classism & racism - a goal that we now need to achieve more than ever under a rampantly elitist & racist Tory government & a fake opposition under #KeirStarmer. Here's to my sisters & comrades! ✊🏿✊🏼✊🏾 /9