Taking a government to court is brave. Doing it three times is very brave. Doing it when you are not a lawyer, civil servant or independently wealthy is a Boadica level of brave. @ForWomenScot have done something remarkable which will, regardless of win/lose, create change. Provocateurs matter, grabbing public attention is vital, but it’s paperwork which creates change. @ForWomenScot, @mbmpolicy, all the women’s groups in workplaces, communities, sports and political parties all keeping the receipts deserve respect and thanks. I couldn’t do it.

Mr Smith patronises clinicians by saying the “toxic debate” is the cause of workforce issues at gender clinics. It’s simple, clinicians are reluctant to risk doing harm. Without guidelines, or evidence, staffing is going to be a problem. The good ones > scotsman.com/news/politics/… < find #DoNoHarm a hard habit to break. The solution? Restore the basics - quality research, critical thinking, differential diagnosis, excellence in care, follow up ans record keeping. Cass said that this would happen (Cass isn’t even short for Cassandra, it’s just OBVIOUS)

The question is “why *aren’t* we finding out whether small amounts of naturally occurring testosterone might help manage symptoms of menopause or whether large, unnatural amounts of testosterone might alleviate mental distress in young women?”
thetimes.com/uk/scotland/ar… Ovaries produce testosterone so why does HRT only replace oestrogen? You *can* get testosterone if low levels are affecting your libido. Medicine doesn’t want male partners of middle aged women to have homeless erections, but her fatigue or low mood doesn’t warrant treatment.

I’m back to thinking about who is missing at the women’s health plinths. A few years ago I realised I had never seen a woman with a learning disability in clinic - so either those women did not get vaginal prolapse, in which case we need to study that, or we were failing them. This is a large population, often with comorbidities which increase their risk of constipation, which is not good for pelvic floors. A colleague and I planned a bowel education plan for these people and their carers, and we nearly got funding, but it collapsed at last minute.

It was not a pleasure to be in Holyrood yesterday, watching the death throes of the #GRRBill and displays of incompetence, delusion and dishonesty from elected representatives - but there were flashes of brilliance. Thank you, #WomenDidnaeWheesht. What a difference a year makes Thank you, @mbmpolicy, @ForWomenScot, @Scot_Feminists, @WRNScotland and *all* the people who wrote, petitioned, funded, organised, turned up, spoke and refused to accept bad legislation. It has been sent away, like a hyperbolic baddie in a low budget pantomime.

I keep thinking that there is hope that my government will listen to women’s concerns about gender reform. I sat in the committee room while my Cabinet Secretary did her admin (drawing squares round her notes, and underlining text which was already highlighted) instead of > attending to the submissions of her colleagues. I cannot bear the contempt that @scotgov is demonstrating towards this act. I could not tolerate the rude display and asked @JoeFitzSNP if he could encourage @ShonaRobison to heed the important points and democratic process>

Those looking for the paper about harm done to women because if the loss of sex based language in health and maternity services - here you go: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33… And here is the lead author, @DrKarleenG, speaking about it @VoteWithOurFeet

https://twitter.com/VoteWithOurFeet/status/1575915814808522752?s=20&t=EmNSH15txGNYwfIodqUYmgy

Interesting. “Threat” is the exact word used to describe me by people who knew me and had not taken the time to see my show at the fringe. This is not an easy video, @SVPhillimore and @andrewdoyle_com have both been through the sex/gender mill. > It is striking that the language and process that I experienced in the last few weeks is exactly the same as @SVPhillimore describes. Mine was not in the glorious technicolour that these people have experienced, and I’m glad of that >

There are still some tickets for the last show tonight. 7:15pm, Gilded Balloon Patterhoose, chambers st. Link below. tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/viva-…

It would be fine to have a male@person in this role if we had addressed the health issues which surround menstruation. Women usually suffer for about a decade before being diagnosed with endometriosis and then there is a bit of a “nae luck” outcome as the treatment is not great

https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1559778516421541888

So, it’s quite hard to accept that my government, who say they want to establish Scotland as global leaders in womens health, have appointed a male person who has no background in womens health or womens issues to sort out the taboos and stigma which surround our female functions