Thread by @RoisinMichaux

Laoise de Brun is talking about @TheCountessIE' strategy for challenging gender identity ideology which is deeply embedded in Irish institutions and culture. @genspect #GenspectBiggerPicture 1/

There are two court cases that started Ireland's journey to becoming one of the most captured "little countries" in this saga. Lydia Foy and Goodwin v UK. Back then it was all about names and markers on documents. Nothing to do with female-only spaces. 2/

It's very typically Irish: do nothing and then over-correct, says Laoise. New legislation was needed after the legal cases. An advisory group was set up and they advised going with the medical model (you can be trans if you've had your sex "reassigned".) 3/

But last minute they switched to the self-ID model, without consultation. This is how we got self-ID in Ireland 8 years ago. And it didn't stop there. "The activists used this law like a flag in the sand." 4/
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There's been an aggressive crusade since then by activists, culminating in complete institutional capture. Hate speech law goes to Senate now, for example. Our police service are being politicised, as laws target gender critical people. 5/

The power of the self-ID law comes from a suite of subsequent bills that make dissent unlawful. There was an immediate push to expand downwards (self-ID for children) and outwards (getting rid of gender ground in other law), says @anliathluachra. 6/
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But none of these things are fully settled in law, so there's no certainty and this certainty creates opportunities for activists to exploit. The activist politicians (esp @rodericogorman are the worst, because they "true believers". 7/

(Read about @TheCountessIE succesful campaign "These words belong to us") 8/
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"These are our words. We are proud to be called by them. They are our birthright. We have paid a high price for them. Generations before us were punished for them. They do not belong to the State, they belong to us." 9/ @TheCountessIE
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Self-ID is an all-access pass for predators and transgressors. It emboldens bad men. It has nothing to do with being "anti-trans". 10/ #GenspectBiggerPicture

@anliathluachra was recently in a department store in Dublin that happily still has a women's changing room. When she found a man in there, she reported it and a member of staff said it happens every day. 10/
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Gets into Enoch Burke, a real nightmare of a test case for challenging the law in Ireland because the guy is a thoroughly unsympathetic character. Won't get into the weeds here, but it got the pronouns issue into the news. 11/ #GenspectBiggerPicture

Self-ID was "snuck in under the radar", in the words of a prominent transactivist. Laoise concludes: public opinion is on our side, and everyone is now talking about it. And as the famous Denton's document suggested, self-ID deeply unpopular. 12/

We want to amend the GRA in Ireland, says @anliathluachra. Of course I want to repeal it but we have to be realistic. The activists chipped away at this, and they were strategic. And that's what we will do. 13/
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