Ever find yourself thinkIng “Hmm, this trans debate is so complicated - I just don’t know who’s right”?
Well here’s a tip: the people sending death threats to a women who survived domestic abuse because she *said something* they didn’t like - those aren’t the good guys.
+ Never doubt that this abuse comes because JKR is female. Every man who enters this debate can tell the same story: we get a tiny fraction of the hostility and threats directed at women who make the same points.
++ No, this isn’t a “right-wing” thing. JKR, like many women who question transgenderism, is on the left.
What’s more likely? 1) left-wing women made a secret pact with the US Christian Right 2) these women are just genuinely concerned for their rights spectator.co.uk/article/jk-row…
+++ Read people questioning the provenance of the “pipe bomb” tweet? Fair enough. But bear in mind it is one of literally thousands.
I disagree very strongly with Owen Jones about several issues. But it seems we largely agree about part of the Brexit debate. I think this is worth highlighting because it shows something important that we often seem to forget these days... 1/
It is possible for two people to agree about some things and disagree about others. We don't have to seek the total defeat and discredit of those who disagree with us about something. We don't have to divide the world into our side and their side. 2/
Owen Jones and I have exchanged harsh words about sex and gender. I think he's wrong on that topic and has written things that are extremely regrettable. No doubt he'd say the same about me. But I don't think he's a bad person; if I did, how could I agree with him on Brexit? 3/
Based on many responses to this piece, I’m struck by the utter confidence some FBPE tweeters have in their own understanding of Conservatives & Leavers, groups they evidently dislike + see as “other”.
Numerous responses argue that wicked Tories always secretly wanted the hardest Brexit ergo there was never any point seeking Norway etc. The (accurate) idea that the Tory Leave position evolved (hardened) over time and in response to ...
circumstances does not exist in FBPE mythology. It’s a narrative that entirely overlooks the messier reality of a Tory Leaver position that was born of incomplete information and developed chaotically and quixotically *and reached an endpoint that was not inevitable*.
...
Liz Truss confirms to Parliament that the Government will not amend the Gender Recognition Act to allow people to chose their own legal gender without medical approval. gov.uk/government/spe…
"We have looked carefully at the issues raised in the consultation, including potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004. It is the Govt’s view that the balance struck in this legislation is correct..."
"We have also come to understand that gender recognition reform, though supported in the consultation undertaken by the last government, is not the top priority for transgender people. Perhaps their most important concern is the state of trans healthcare."
The @CareQualityComm, a non-departmental public body answerable to Parliament, has decided it is competent to interpret and apply legislation (the Equality Act 2010) as it sees fit.... 1/
The issue here is the "protected characteristics" set out in the Act. It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation 2/
Note that "sex" and "gender reasignment" are *different* characteristics. IE: Parliament has decided that a person's biological sex and gender expression are different. Yet the CQC says that "gender" can encompass both, because everyone with a gender also has a sex. 3/
But private capital alone won’t be enough to kickstart innovative projects. In some cases, the state will have to provide development capital directly. 3/