Prof. Stephen Whittle OBE, PhD, DLaws, FAcSS, Profile picture
🏳️‍⚧️💪🏼🏳️‍🌈 Professor, Woke, anti-growth, lefty lawyer, Proud out trans guy, transitioned 1975, he/him. Only responds to anonymous accts to show them up
4 subscribers
Sep 7 4 tweets 1 min read
1. Oh dear - Pure 1980s homophobia as well as being transphobia now

That is an awful lot of teaching staff, scout leaders, football club volunteers, ministers, choir masters, and Dads etc who will
“need to be able to explain the nature of their relationship”.,, 2. … And once explained just tell me how that will prevent any abuse of any child

Total bonkers overreach assuming all men are predatory … but wait, something like 10% of c-is heterosexual men will admit to having not properly gained a woman or girl’s consent at some time ..,
Sep 7 5 tweets 1 min read
1. Neither gender nor sex trumps the other, each case stands on its own merit

The law is an empathic instrument & is designed to re-balance the scales, not to create unwarranted burdens

When revisited it will become clear that they manner in which the SCt judgment was … 2. … presented, not its central decision, has allowed a level of
- unwarranted triumphalism,
- gross over-misinterpretation &
- the spreading of a great deal of misinformation.

It will be revisited as soon as with a Gender recognition certificate challenges ..
Sep 5 5 tweets 2 min read
1. Might be worth considering what Helena Kennedy said of the FWS decision in debate in the House of Lords on Thursday 1 May 2025
You can search in in Hansard under
NHS: Single-sex Spaces for Staff, Vol 845 … Quote: Dame Helena Kennedy KC in the House of Lords; “The judgment makes it clear that the decision was limited to the question of statutory interpretation and that it was not involved in making policy—so the difficult business of policy follows. But the judgment also made it clear, and it was emphasised - although unfortunately this has been lost in some of the utterances by people who should have known better-that its conclusion "does not remove or diminish the important protections" that there have to be for trans people and which are available to them under our own legislative... 2. Look at the next para in the decision in P v S & CCC [1996] ECJ

“22 To tolerate such discrimination would be tantamount, as regards such a person, to a failure to respect the dignity and freedom to which he or she is entitled, and which the Court has a duty to safeguard.” …
Aug 28 12 tweets 3 min read
1. Indeed, in 1990 I sat down & read 201 ‘trans’ related papers by a lawyer/legal academic, or another discipline when they purported to discuss TP & law

Every paper stated TP wanted to change their birth registration & ‘disappear’ into the anonymity of successful passing. 2. Notably, not 1 of the lawyers/legal academics/ philosophers or sociologists had spoken to a TP when doing their ‘research’. Few in medical disciplines had

These academic papers were not based on research but would be better described as ‘sexy’ one offs, reviewing …
Aug 27 20 tweets 4 min read
1. Andrew @AusPsychReview I have no desire to get into long but pointless conversations

I believe your starting point - your fundamental assumption - is incorrect

The question then becomes should I waste my time trying to explain why to someone who is not open to listening. … 2. But I will give you some benefit, not of doubt, but of hope.

Can we agree that Mental ill health refers to a range of conditions that affect a person's thinking, feeling, or behavior, causing distress & impairing their ability to function in daily life? …
Aug 25 6 tweets 2 min read
1. All law is a response of those in governance to a social concern

In any society those who live within it, agree to abide by the rules created by those we have voted for - that’s democracy

In contemporary society it is usual to consult society’s members. … 2. Legal gender recognition came about as a result numerous court cases, & several consultative processes, which ultimately led to the GRAct 2004.

Theresa May’s proposed reform of the GRA had so many - a national consultation found 70% of 140k people favoured the reforms. …
Aug 24 7 tweets 2 min read
The Trans / autism correlation has been known since the 1970s

Originally hypothesised that the autism form of neurodivergence gave TP the ability to single mindedly focus (eg obsess as in train spotting) on transition & getting treatment
Now the view is more complex. 2. Consideration should be given to the impact on young females of the fashion/social media/film & tv focus on hyper-feminisation as the aspiration for girls growing up

Despite the success of new role models such as the Lionesses, many autistic youngsters feel very ..
Aug 22 7 tweets 2 min read
1. @anisogamyrules The message below is typical of the gender critical activist nebulous transphobia I get daily

Our 4 kids were not compelled to call us (their parents) anything. For many years they used our first names

They ultimately chose to call us Dad & Mum, but we .,, 2. … allowed their personal choice to develop.

I expect they chose to use the words their friends used to refer to whoever had parental responsibility in their family unit.

As we had determined to always tell our children the truth (using age appropriate language) …
Aug 13 15 tweets 3 min read
1. You will find it difficult without really getting to know a few T people & listening to them

The only story I can tell is mine, but this is not about me. I could disappear into anonymity & never explain myself to anyone ever again.

But I outed myself a… 2. … a long time ago, in an effort to prevent any other kid or young adult having to go through what I went through.

I recognise I had a safe job, & a pension now I am retired. I am articulate & able. I have an educated wife of 47 yrs who has never doubted who she met. …
Aug 11 5 tweets 2 min read
1. @jenni65714 I think the EqAct has worked extremely well

The EqAct exemptions can be used by genuine single or separate sex services as a defence, if a TP who is not employed, or refused a service, then brings litigation over those matters
- & they have worked 2. No S/SS service has been threatened with litigation over an exclusion as no TP has sought to bring a case to court

The Court cases have been brought by women & relate to their right to hold a belief

This is a manufactured moral panic. How often do women come across …
Jul 31 5 tweets 2 min read
1. Peggi has brought this case in an employment tribunal & so it can only be brought against an employer

Remember Allison Bailey’s claim against. Her chambers 3 Garden Court & Stonewall

Bailey did not win any award from Stonewall - because they were not her employer … 2. Dr Upton was not Peggi’s employer

Peggi would have to sue Dr Upton in the sessional courts & show Dr Upton directly caused detriment to Peggi by discriminating against her because she had a protected characteristic.

Dr Upton did nothing except report harassment by Peggi …
Jul 22 4 tweets 1 min read
1. Everyone has heard of detransitioners - most you see online were not assessed, never started transition, or took pbs or x-sex hormones

Worldwide thousands have taken the step of permanently living in their affirmed gender

98.3%+ are overall satisfied with their decision. 1/4 2. L Of the 1.7% who are not satisfied, reasons given include stigma, family oppression, prejudice, discrimination, harassment, disappointment in effect of hormone therapies, or poor surgery results

Under 3% of the 1.7% detransition

Reasons given include …
Jul 20 7 tweets 2 min read
1. For the record I took the hit for agreeing to Schedule 3, paragraph 28 etc of the EqAct 2010

I accepted Rape Crisis’s argument that there could be some circumstances where it might be appropriate to exclude TM&W from a Single/Seperate Sex service if legitimate & proportionate 2. But the Schedules are about vulnerable women in certain settings - hence the legitimate & proportionate basis

It was never about toilet stalls, changing rooms or showers with separate cubicles

There was no assumption that TP were predators. The assumption was that …
Jul 19 7 tweets 2 min read
1. Brains are part of our biology which
- maintain our life form,
- are the basis our sentience ie, our consciousness,
- contribute to structuring our thoughts, &
- ultimately our sense of self

Without a brain we would not exist

As for brain sex differences;- 1/6🧵 2. There are 64 sex dimorphic (ie different in each sex) nuclei; groups of cells, in human brains

What SDNs do, is not yet known

Limited research into 1 SDN: the BST, has shown cells do not change
- post-birth
- w/ hormone therapy

But a BST in TW resembles that in non-T women
Jul 11 12 tweets 3 min read
1. In this thread @MForstater believes the HCtEW is wrong to afford anonymity to 2 Trans & 1 intersex applicants in the case the @GoodLawProject is bringing in relation to the @EHRC interim statement which suggests barring Trans people from all loos if not unisex.
Clearly… 2. @MForstater has little direct knowledge about Trans & intersex lives, & the increased prejudice, discrimination & hate crime levels we face

By 2015 those issues still existed, but for most TP they had become manageable. We were able to get jobs & go about daily life in a …
Jul 6 15 tweets 3 min read
1. I am a 70yr old trans(sexual) man. I transitioned 50yrs ago

1975 I read academic literature (eg DJ West) which claimed 4% to 10% of boys/men enjoy crossdressing for sexual pleasure

The same literature claimed approx 1% of people born male bodied will be transgender … 2. … or what was referred to as transsexual in 1975

There is a general confusion today around where the line lies between crossdresser & a person who is trans (& who will transition)

I understand that confusion then calls into question which people ‘have the right’…
Jul 5 9 tweets 2 min read
1. This case shows (as have others such as Phoenix v the OU) how few businesses & orgs go properly through due process with employers & clients they no longer wish to employ or serve

Being fair & Being seen to be fair must both be fully documented … 2. I am not going to comment on the Applicant (AB), their issues or their actions

But on reading what is clear is that
a) some staff had come across AB outside of the business relationship

b) those staff did not disclose to the business & document that when discussing AB …
Jun 30 5 tweets 2 min read
The UK’s welfare state struggles to provide enough welfare - whether from the NHS to get well or to manage being ill/disabled or the cost of decent standard of living - to support yourself, & get an education or skill, to retrain, or simply to get a cab to the theatre …/2 2. Those fortunate enough to be in the top 10% of earners need to pay more tax l

PIP enables some of that, combined with Access to Work, it can enable a lot of that

But ATW isn’t designed for those in lower skilled / physical jobs - an ability to retrain & have workplaces …
Jun 26 6 tweets 2 min read
1. Thank you for this great thread.

As a trans man who transitioned 50 yrs ago, I remember my feelings of trepidation & fear, then the pure joy of ‘coming home’ when in late 1973 I plucked up the courage to walk into the Union Pub in Manchester

It was packed with ‘queers’… 2. … men in chiffon scarves, women in bus driver uniforms, & an ancient drag queen ‘mother’ lip synching to Diana Ross on a small stage.

Shortly after I joined GLF who met at the Turks Head on Shude Hill & the CHE Lesbian group who met in the Quaker Meeting house.
Jun 20 17 tweets 3 min read
@_lliesl_ @sharrond62 @cajardineMP
1. The clinical treatment of children & adolescents is not relevant to the need to reduce the growing harassment, discrimination & hate crime targeted at individuals trans people.

A key tenet of GC theory & ideology is… 2. … that Trans people should not face discrimination

@Docstockk & @MForstater of @SexMattersOrg have both reiterated that point

A call by @cajardineMP for action on growing anti-trans hate crime should therefore be welcomed by GC activists as well as by Trans people. …
Jun 17 9 tweets 2 min read
1. Let me be clear -

I abhor all predatory sexual behaviours, & violence, whoever it victimises.

The grooming gangs saga & the failure of the state to recognise girls as victims has become a deep stain on our criminal justice system

But despite her real work experience … 2. … of pimped girls in care, @suzanne_moore can’t resist the temptation to imply certain groups are more predatory

As the week heats up it’s
as if she has set out to provoke the right wing led riots & assaults, we saw this summer in Ballymena & numerous cities last summer…