Thread by @MForstater

I'm still reflecting on what Judge Knowles said in Miller v College of Policing .... and the fact it has gone almost unnoticed by the human rights community & organised civil society @libertyhq @article19 @openDemocracy @OpenSociety @AmnestyUK @EquallyOurs @instituteforgov @NCVO

Either the judge was

A) massively overstepping the mark in his comparison w the Cheka, Gestapo & Stasi

Or

B) making a point, in fairly shocking terms, that needs understanding

judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…

Either way civil rights people just ignoring it seems weird, eerie....

Just as when I lost my job for saying that humans can't change sex & sex matters (... so transwomen are not women), this was either

A) awful bigoted, transphobic of me, and right that i should lose my job

Or

B) completely reasonable & unremarkable of me, and utterly unfair

Many, including those whose job it is to think, think it is safest not to pick A or B but to say nothing about the conflicts of rights created by state recognition of sex self identity.

...they've got the memo not to talk about this.

My ex-employer clearly got the same memo

As @rafaelbehr writes COVID-19 (and its economic aftermath) is going to test our institutions like nothing else - government, parliament, civil service, courts, media, civil society....

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

The UK is not Russia. "Laws and parliaments [..and a robust free media & civil society] are the scaffolding that support countless civic acts, each one affirming the faith that ours is a political system that exists for the benefit of the people, not a conspiracy against them."

This stuff: our institutions, and our trust in them, are important. We give them away at our peril.

(This is why sex-and-gender not just a storm in a teacup about 'bathrooms' or feminist infighting 🙄 @jonronson )

Where does the memo not to talk about this and not to think about it come from?

Follow the money...

I'm not a @georgesoros conspiracy theorist, but big philanthropy is in the influencing game and they (like everyone else) have lost their way on this

The @OpenSociety Foundations are about building vibrant and inclusive societies, grounded in respect for human rights, rule of law, accountable gov, free exchange of ideas and thought.

They should be able to illustrate their mission with a young woman waving a "Leave" flag, or an "Adult Human Female" or an an anti-abortion banner or wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat.

Because thats what open, inclusive societies with an array of voices look like

These are political movements. You can be for them or against them.

But when police forces, courts & civil service emblazon themselves w the banner of a political movement (any political movement) it is for civil society to shout against this, not join the parade

Because we need these institutions, above all to be open and accountable, and fair and to protect fundamental rights and to keep open the space for democracies to solve tough problems.