tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17369826001574884572024-03-13T08:20:26.004+00:00roadlesstravellerGender Critter of Terf Island (thou, thee, thy, thine)Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.comBlogger349125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-76525853849221223192023-10-09T14:37:00.001+00:002023-10-09T14:37:13.063+00:00roadlesstraveller ... on the road to substack<p>I have moved up in the blogging
world to the platform du jour that is Substack.</p><p>From now on my posts will be at <a href="https://roadlesstraveller.substack.com/">https://roadlesstraveller.substack.com</a>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-86911393514739616122023-08-29T19:53:00.002+00:002023-08-29T19:54:44.409+00:00Green Party Women EGM on discrimination against gender-critical Greens<p>The Green Party suspended my
membership for two years, 2021 to 2023, for alleged transphobia and anti-semitism.
All the charges were dismissed in April 2023. (For more see <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/07/flimsy-evidence-in-my-green-party-case.html" target="_blank">flimsy-evidence</a>
and <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/vindicated-at-last-green-party.html" target="_blank">vindicated-at-last</a>
and <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/Cancel-culture-Green-Party.html" target="_blank">Cancel-culture-Green-Party</a>.)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">Green Party Women convened an EGM
on 1 August 2023, part of which was to hear stories from members about discrimination
for having gender-critical views.
Here is what I said to the EGM.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">I have been a member of the Green Party for nearly 20 years. Here are two
examples of how I have been discriminated against for having gender-critical
(GC) views.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">Deletion of my Gender Critical Green Space<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">I set up a ‘Gender Critical Green Space’ on
‘Green Spaces’ (GPEW’s internal discussion forum) in 2020. It was abruptly
deleted in January 2021 by staff at head office for alleged breaches of code of
conduct. When I asked what the breaches were, they could not tell me because
they had deleted the entire Green Space. As far as I know, no other Green Space
has been deleted in such a way (although something similar happened to the Women’s
Green Space in about 2021, when it was taken down for a while). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">My two years on ‘no-fault suspension’<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In February 2021 Green Party Regional Council
(GPRC) placed me on ‘no-fault suspension’ (NFS) for alleged transphobia.
Here is why I think this was discrimination for holding Gender Critical views.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Firstly, timing. It was imposed just before
Spring 2021 Conference, where I had put forward a motion opposing routine use
of puberty blockers on gender non-conforming children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Next is the fact that NFS is reserved for the
worst offences, but when it came to the hearing of my case in April 2023, the Disciplinary
Committee (DC) panel dismissed all the charges. There was no case to answer all
along.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Thirdly, there was GPRC’s refusal to consider my
defence to the no-fault suspension at any of its reviews of my case for two
years. If a judicial body does not listen to both sides, that is a breach of
the right to a fair trial under the Human Rights Act. Inasmuch as NFS is used
against GC members like me more than other members, this amounts to
discrimination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Last but not least, half way through my NFS, in
July 2022, Maya Forstater won her appeal that GC views were ‘protected beliefs’
under the Equality Act 2010. I pointed out to DC and GPRC that the ruling
applied to membership situations like the Green Party as well as employment
cases like Maya Forstater’s. But they ignored this and kept me on NFS for another nine
months until my hearing in April 2023. That amounts to discrimination for
holding ‘protected beliefs’ under the Equality Act.</span></p></blockquote><h2 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">Note: Green Declaration for Women’s Sex-Based Rights<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">The Green Declaration for
Women’s Sex-Based Rights was published on 4 August 2023 by members and
supporters of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) and I was a
co-signatory. You can follow Green Women’s Declaration on Twitter:
@GWDeclaration and read and sign the declaration here: <a href="https://greenwomensdeclaration.uk/">https://greenwomensdeclaration.uk</a>.
You don’t have to be a member of the Green Party to sign the declaration.</p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">The Declaration was initiated by GPEW members who believe
that the right of women to advocate for women as a biological sex, is being
eroded within GPEW, as elsewhere in society, and that the ‘No Debate’ mantra is
being used to curb freedom of speech.<o:p></o:p></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p style="background: white; line-height: 10.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-28106329282393772022023-07-26T00:00:00.003+00:002023-07-26T00:06:11.993+00:00the flimsy evidence in my Green Party case<p>The Green Party suspended my membership for two years, 2021
to 2023, for alleged transphobia and anti-semitism. All the charges were
dismissed in April 2023. I have blogged about this already: about the result at <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/vindicated-at-last-green-party.html" target="_blank">vindicated-at-last-green-party</a>
and about the process up to the hearing of the complaint at <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/Cancel-culture-Green-Party.html" target="_blank">Cancel-culture-Green-Party</a>.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The suspension was a ‘no-fault suspension’, which meant that
nobody ever substantiated any claim that I had broken any Green Party rule or code
of conduct. They did not have to. The complainant merely had to allege that I
was a danger to them or a risk to the party's reputation. The party accepted
the allegation without more This is because its central apparatus has been captured
by gender ideology extremists. In my case that is the Disciplinary Committee along
with Green Party Regional Council (GPRC), which decides ‘no-fault suspension’ cases.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My case illustrates what many gender-critical activists already know:
when gender ideology extremists have captured the organisation you are in, the
flimsiest reasons are all they need to punish critics and often, as here, the
process is the punishment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am posting this today to provide full details for the
first time of the flimsy charges against me. Here are the six screenshots that were
provided in evidence by the complainant. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The complaint was not just about transphobia. It also alleged anti-semitism, which was due to the fact that I had referred to <a href="http://www.the11thhourblog.com/post/constructing-the-legal-lie-of-the-transgender-child-part-ii" target="_blank">Jennifer Bilek who had written about the transgender policies of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation</a> (OSF):<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>‘Soros’ Open Society Foundation is working to construct, along with Arcus and TGEU, the idea that children being medicalized for life is just another way to be human. This new way to be human, for children being funneled into youth “gender clinics,” involves dangerous drugs and medical procedures that assist them in hiding the fact they are either biologically male or female.’ </blockquote><p style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -24px;">The first screenshot is about the way that allegations of anti-semitism are misused to target people for wrongthink. It was a delicious irony of the complaint that the complainant was doing the very thing that my post is drawing attention to.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9DUn337n09Pq1F3ZFtTugxJ7vkEh7DKjFc8rl746a_G7FTVivoi0RUsseSkRPWCI4OVbI-dfnm7r7m8mM6hP-JjJoCB9WbNRe22XvYe5M95GMzCfnVk0NhATKKz7UyGo4-GEPKg8_q757u_5_Grfq3KmtjEIi2oxZZZZ5PwELOrjsKSKa2TluEAtZbU/s1340/evidence-doc-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="1340" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9DUn337n09Pq1F3ZFtTugxJ7vkEh7DKjFc8rl746a_G7FTVivoi0RUsseSkRPWCI4OVbI-dfnm7r7m8mM6hP-JjJoCB9WbNRe22XvYe5M95GMzCfnVk0NhATKKz7UyGo4-GEPKg8_q757u_5_Grfq3KmtjEIi2oxZZZZ5PwELOrjsKSKa2TluEAtZbU/w400-h136/evidence-doc-1.png" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The second screenshot relates to a suggestion by Bilek in her </span><span style="color: #0563c1; text-indent: -18pt;"><a href="http://www.the11thhourblog.com">11thhourblog</a></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">
that there may be a cultural link between Judaism and transhumanism. I was
interested because I was trying to understand how, as a society, we seem to be moving along the 'natural/artificial' spectrum away from nature and towards technology. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">To digress on this point, I see the Green Party becoming more 'bright green', which means techno-fixes for environmental problems, rather than 'deep</span><span style="text-indent: -24px;"> green', which means back-to-nature solutions to those problems. But, back to the question of links between </span><span style="text-indent: -24px;">culture and transhumanism, where, I wondered, </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">did the belief come from that people can change sex or gender by taking cross-sex hormones for life? Was there a link between the concepts of the body and the soul within the Abrahamic faiths that could explain this new fixation on changing one's body in line with the concept of one's gendered soul. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">In the end, it seemed to me that the main thing linking the funders of transhumanism was that they were mega-rich white men with interests in pharmaceuticals and technology. Still, it had seemed worth discussing in Green Spaces, as that was what the discussion forum was for. Here is the</span><span style="text-indent: -24px;"> second screenshot:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-uacvU827ENzp0OZkZAjnGegrn8I-lLAyIMlrqJTYNls3cUFz7KNUrkV1vPfhNoPYt6DL4gOP0WNsEadWJN1TyB1-dGk8t8SlSE4RHkv0Ytg6g7M8Z9wJ_7a8ZgHf3AnzPUDgFQlnOb3OH6nEVjnCOhhhxwlzsTCNOCfXmQC90SeX6_LkohIfcxc3xY/s1314/evidence-doc-2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1314" data-original-width="680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-uacvU827ENzp0OZkZAjnGegrn8I-lLAyIMlrqJTYNls3cUFz7KNUrkV1vPfhNoPYt6DL4gOP0WNsEadWJN1TyB1-dGk8t8SlSE4RHkv0Ytg6g7M8Z9wJ_7a8ZgHf3AnzPUDgFQlnOb3OH6nEVjnCOhhhxwlzsTCNOCfXmQC90SeX6_LkohIfcxc3xY/w332-h640/evidence-doc-2.png" width="332" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">The next two screenshots were about my 'troll'. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxFg4uG-MHveX-cBplqzijRiURwgtGVCTGciQ54BNZ57dGMzSTXpGSBOdTbk8Lp04lu-wheEZ7OZmFQHb0rwH_Uc2F_pCemYwb_id6lEBmlHRLzU0TyjObcpCEDeA9XtUgFP01Xyzmli4rHLrL5gyapl5ZWC4J_HlpV9GltCuUqU55BGklpr8YzgIEis/s1306/evidence-doc-3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="1306" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxFg4uG-MHveX-cBplqzijRiURwgtGVCTGciQ54BNZ57dGMzSTXpGSBOdTbk8Lp04lu-wheEZ7OZmFQHb0rwH_Uc2F_pCemYwb_id6lEBmlHRLzU0TyjObcpCEDeA9XtUgFP01Xyzmli4rHLrL5gyapl5ZWC4J_HlpV9GltCuUqU55BGklpr8YzgIEis/w400-h94/evidence-doc-3.png" width="400" /></a></div>and<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF_uiVU1N4TtPoMZHwHvF0Pn9gOuqYiwWCRURumSYvFavi2abUNndsiqGxOjGrmZ4DK63i-tq4USeKc7329Sv2rEM254_CD6U5PAcs9MQbvI5XY_Drb9ZDXbOdBkPfIup9iz4py4pKr_HXbfpSZBtU-e39uq1wcuLjxamDgT1-5DpbAEWxq4SVaVI5Nw/s1304/evidence-doc-4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="1304" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF_uiVU1N4TtPoMZHwHvF0Pn9gOuqYiwWCRURumSYvFavi2abUNndsiqGxOjGrmZ4DK63i-tq4USeKc7329Sv2rEM254_CD6U5PAcs9MQbvI5XY_Drb9ZDXbOdBkPfIup9iz4py4pKr_HXbfpSZBtU-e39uq1wcuLjxamDgT1-5DpbAEWxq4SVaVI5Nw/w400-h73/evidence-doc-4.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;">This was someone who had been
making repeated, provocative, insulting responses to my posts and other
people’s. That is the common understanding on social media of the meaning of
the word ‘troll’. I did not name the troll.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;">Remember that the conditions for imposing a no-fault suspension are that a member's act poses a danger to someone in the party or a risk to the party's reputation. It is hard to see how any of the four
screenshots so far could pose a danger to anyone in the party or a risk to the
party's reputation. I had named no one and my comments were confined to a party
members’ forum that was closed to the outside world.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;">The final two screenshots
were of things I had done in the public domain, namely Twitter: </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwQQjGaW2vdSTyBHHM3bJaxiv3HzC_BUtZKyd31IkY8u0OjdiCUy8il3ZtUq8Kuety6FBrYPYOhmkfA1tXrTQcsaYtK3sGpQwV2g7xprOj83lMkIkuw-KQtXlQ-YraQ52XaZdNyHHQRU0hg6Zi3HhkQs2u-ZJKIESCVZk4X905edMviUO63AJ41icitk/s1230/evidence-doc-5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="1230" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwQQjGaW2vdSTyBHHM3bJaxiv3HzC_BUtZKyd31IkY8u0OjdiCUy8il3ZtUq8Kuety6FBrYPYOhmkfA1tXrTQcsaYtK3sGpQwV2g7xprOj83lMkIkuw-KQtXlQ-YraQ52XaZdNyHHQRU0hg6Zi3HhkQs2u-ZJKIESCVZk4X905edMviUO63AJ41icitk/w400-h135/evidence-doc-5.png" width="400" /></a></div>and<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRomoXALauqXI1MAXaZd1iSLrCrNoLiGQg8F9NWUscs-aE-hnCQ6JvwW226SmvNVl_bOl53t4IsLmXlQkX83pYj0lXR_bddHqrMj4BzrRwwQ3fIv9c_u9z43PoAOxv-mwZCzAHcOb0JYKh0KeseXPU2UIL_ueNOTCrH03FfEMP3U0Aur-OLUWV4v3deHs/s1224/evidence-doc-6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1224" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRomoXALauqXI1MAXaZd1iSLrCrNoLiGQg8F9NWUscs-aE-hnCQ6JvwW226SmvNVl_bOl53t4IsLmXlQkX83pYj0lXR_bddHqrMj4BzrRwwQ3fIv9c_u9z43PoAOxv-mwZCzAHcOb0JYKh0KeseXPU2UIL_ueNOTCrH03FfEMP3U0Aur-OLUWV4v3deHs/w400-h326/evidence-doc-6.png" width="400" /></a></div>They were retweets and not even my own tweets and they were fairly tame in
the context of the ‘debate’ that goes on in the twenty-first century’s ‘public square’,
namely Twitter. Those retweets and the four comments in Green Spaces were the sum total of the evidence
against me.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Normally the Disciplinary Committee (DC) appoints investigators
to interview the complainant and respondent and then submit a report to DC to
summarise their positions. In my case, however, DC dispensed with the usual investigation
process and heard my case based simply on the complaint form, the six
screenshots and my defence. </p><p class="MsoNormal">They had never really needed an investigation in
the first place because the complaint was so thin and flimsy. But by following the usual investigation process, they dragged out the case for two
years. This was mainly because my investigator took nearly a year to start his
investigation and then never finished it. Allegedly he went off sick
although that didn't stop him from participating in other DC cases during the
time when he was supposed to be too sick to finish my report.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">As I said in my blog in April about my hearing, it was a
frivolous and vexatious complaint. That could have been spotted from day one,
back in February 2021, by anyone with a common-sense approach to triaging
complaints. It should have been thrown out there and then because there was no
case to answer. But the Green Party Representative Council and DC played along
with the complainant’s narrative at every stage and conducted a protracted failure of an investigation. </p><p class="MsoNormal">At the risk of repeating myself, I suggest that the process is the punishment.<o:p></o:p></p></div>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-49246370181727838442023-07-13T21:07:00.002+00:002023-07-13T21:07:38.791+00:00Speech to Colchester Cabinet about Outhouse<p>This is my speech in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxhSUlxHSUU" target="_blank">HaveYourSay slot</a> to Colchester
City Council Cabinet Meeting on Wed 12 July 2023. It starts at 16:35 minutes and ends at 20:05 minutes. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>It is followed by a reply from Cllr David King in
the Chair and some pushback from Cllr Mark Cory at 22:15, then a
response from me at 25:38 to 26:37. </p><p>Having listened to it over again, I feel it
went well and I’m glad I took this opportunity to bring the matter before the
Cabinet. </p><p>There is more detail about Outhouse's finances at <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/07/outhouse-lgbtq-lobby-group.html">http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/07/outhouse-lgbtq-lobby-group.html</a> </p><p>Trigger warning: the case I referred to is the one on 30 June about sexual assaults in an Essex
school gender-neutral toilet for which a boy under the age of 16 has been arrested:
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-66052546">www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-66052546</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-53554378913246969382023-07-07T15:04:00.003+00:002023-07-07T16:19:07.570+00:00Outhouse LGBTQ+ lobby group based in Colchester<p>Outhouse, based in Colchester, has
total reserves of £911,511 and its income has risen by over 50% a
year from 2019 to 2022, as shown in this <a href="https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1006244/financial-history" target="_blank">Charity Commission graph</a>. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBLHW6S1yRuhhCjfTxmRKJSk1w1yhTudY2cxt9xyeIFe5lbGpkOoOOc12apMnYp0Ul5l5wYpiduYLn60dsOM1Cr_AuG4eun_oj3Mme7ZB8XrHaT-YepWr7S70LFmZ_xV5KMjL8MCfdbfWOver4ybNiLNuQncSacj7DTcLP2Y-8YReBY1tQztKoFOxxUk/s853/Outhouse%20financial%20history%20graph%202018-2022.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="853" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBLHW6S1yRuhhCjfTxmRKJSk1w1yhTudY2cxt9xyeIFe5lbGpkOoOOc12apMnYp0Ul5l5wYpiduYLn60dsOM1Cr_AuG4eun_oj3Mme7ZB8XrHaT-YepWr7S70LFmZ_xV5KMjL8MCfdbfWOver4ybNiLNuQncSacj7DTcLP2Y-8YReBY1tQztKoFOxxUk/w400-h235/Outhouse%20financial%20history%20graph%202018-2022.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKm4ylK7M2tJVmHZ-uhHmukzOt8hXM46CDHArXW4MP_ofzyHHNhGDZ_R-zPagPLCpveNKSGNsg4nP8LXnKoLVOCCBnS6e9v6CIZH7AhPzGJ3_k0SO-z8CEmWPItTo89XCzCpJEZovgJoi15wCUpW1Lsi37CWxgALGB8UMIlsbg7zq-HYcfpR82WkvHj0/s993/Outhouse%20financial%20history%20key%202018-2022.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="993" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKm4ylK7M2tJVmHZ-uhHmukzOt8hXM46CDHArXW4MP_ofzyHHNhGDZ_R-zPagPLCpveNKSGNsg4nP8LXnKoLVOCCBnS6e9v6CIZH7AhPzGJ3_k0SO-z8CEmWPItTo89XCzCpJEZovgJoi15wCUpW1Lsi37CWxgALGB8UMIlsbg7zq-HYcfpR82WkvHj0/w400-h326/Outhouse%20financial%20history%20key%202018-2022.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Who and what is Outhouse?</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">Outhouse - <a href="https://theouthouse.org.uk/" target="_blank">theouthouse.org.uk</a>
- is an unincorporated registered charity (number 1006244), formerly known as Outhouse
East and originally as Colchester Gay Switchboard. It lobbies for equality for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Essex and East Anglia.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Outhouse’s <a href="https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1006244/financial-history" target="_blank">Statement of Financial Activities for the Year ended 31 March 2022</a> (the latest on record) shows that the charity is wealthy and has acquired ever-increasing funds in the
last few years. It states as follows (with emphasis
added):</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote><b>Our funding has exceeded our objectives this year. … Our grant income within these accounts amounts to £627,438.</b></blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We recently secured <b>three year funding from the National
Lottery</b> to fund the posts of the back office staff including the Chief
Executive Officer, the Operations Manager, Media Officer, Finance Officer and
other administration staff. </li><li>We gained <b>thee year funding for therapeutic work from UK
Youth Fund Thriving Minds</b> to support our neurodiverse young people to
initiate change in enabling them to attend groups and activities. </li><li>We gained <b>two year funding from Lloyd’s Bank Foundation</b>
for additional development of the Counselling service. </li><li><b>A year’s funding grant through Make Some Noise</b> has
been gained to further support the health and well-being service. </li><li>We secured <b>three-year funding from Colchester Borough
Council</b> to employ a Counselling Co-ordinator to support the development and
delivery of the counselling service and to employ a clinical supervisor to
support our counsellors. </li><li>Our latest success has been through the <b>Essex PFCCE
(Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex),</b> one of whose priorities is
to respond to the needs of individuals and local communities who are vulnerable
to specific crime types such as hate crime, elder abuse, harassment, human
trafficking, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and honour-based
abuse (HBA). </li><li>We gained 2 years funding to support young people through a
variety of mediums, including therapeutic work.</li><li>It is important to note that we have physically received
£239,563 of this funding; the remaining £387,875 - funding from The National
Lottery Community Fund - had not been received by the Balance Sheet date but
has been recognised as accrued income as all income recognition criteria has
been met.</li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal">As an aside, one of the four current trustees is well-known
to local politics: Jordan Newell (@jordannewell on Twitter), also a trustee of
Colchester Citizens Advice, was a one-time Labour parliamentary candidate (2010
general election) and leader of Colchester
Labour Party, as reported in the local <a href="http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/13362120.jordan-newell-has-stepped-down-as-leader-of-the-colchester-labour-party/" target="_blank">gazette-news</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-87619471221489329512023-07-03T08:49:00.002+00:002023-07-03T08:50:01.757+00:00Don't throw Foucault out with the Judith Butler bathwater<p>While I like Helen Pluckrose and agree with much of <strike>Critical </strike>Cynical Theories, here is an antithesis from the Genspect Bigger Picture Conference last month. </p><p>Heather
Brunskell-Evans, a Quaker and a philosopher, explains why we shouldn’t throw
the Foucault baby out with the Judith Butler bathwater. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I335W-nxelA" target="_blank">The Confluence of
Philosophy, Feminism & Queer Theory</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also at Genspect Bigger Picture Conference: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHN4_1G0BE4&list=PLHd2NxEVHKMYhCvce5Z5Z7vILaFM9VaRA&index=2" target="_blank">Gender Ideology as a Religion with Colette Colfer</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-45864158727819750152023-07-01T19:02:00.002+00:002023-07-01T19:02:48.560+00:00Quakers in Britain Yearly Meeting 1 July 2023<p>I attended today’s late ‘supplementary’ session of Britain
Yearly Meeting (BYM) - <a href="http://www.quaker.org.uk/ym">www.quaker.org.uk/ym</a>
- which is effectively the AGM of Quakers in Britain. This year, BYM took place
as usual in April but - unusually - there was an extra day added on, which was
today.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h2>2022 audited accounts still not ready<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The main reason for holding today’s late supplementary
meeting was because fully audited accounts were not ready by the scheduled BYM date
in late April. With many apologies and a reassurance that nothing funny was
going on, the BYM trustees announced today that the accounts were still not
ready but they would be ready in time for the Charity Commission deadline on 31
October. The question arises, why wasn’t today’s supplementary meeting
scheduled for a date when fully audited accounts <b>would </b>be ready?<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<h2>Tabular statement of men and women and ‘other’<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other main item on today's agenda was the <a href="https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/patterns-of-membership-and-tabular-statement-yearly-meeting-2023">‘tabular
statement’</a>, which is Quakerspeak for the annual statistical report of how
many Quakers and attenders and children there currently are in Quaker meetings all
around the country. The headline is that membership sadly continues to decline,
as does membership of most other churches in Britain (evangelical Christian ones
being broadly the exception). Quaker membership in 2022 was 11,491 (a decrease of 337
from 11,828 in 2021), and the number of recorded adult attenders was 6,262 (a
decrease of 217 from 6,479 in 2021). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Following the presentation of the tabular statement by Paul
Parker, the Recording Clerk, I was able to ask a question. I referred to the
table on page 6, which is the one that breaks the totals down into categories of
age and sex and whether someone is a member or attender. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2015, a third category was added to the tabular statement
next to the columns for men and women, namely the ‘other’ column. Looking down
this column I noted that it is mainly populated by zeroes, ones, twos or threes,
which gives the impression that it is a rather arbitrary hit-and-miss affair. Only
in one instance is there a figure of 20 or more: Essex and Sussex Area has 20
‘other’ attenders (along with one ‘other’ member). I am, by the way, based in
Essex and I have no idea who they are. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I believe that the data in the 2022 tabular statement (and
the other seven since 2015) demonstrate that the experiment in recording people
in the ‘other’ category has led to misleading, incomplete and inaccurate data. I
suggested to the Britain Yearly Meeting session that gender and sex are two
different things and it is time to stop conflating them, and that BYM would do
well to go back to classifying people as men and women on the basis of their
sex and also include an extra new category of gender so that people can
categorise themselves as various different genders as well if they wish. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Paul Parker, the Recording Clerk, responded thus: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>“With respect to the ‘other’ column, we heard a very clear
call a few years ago that there were Friends who did not identify as either men
or women and, after some consultation, we decided that the best way to reflect
that was to have a column called ‘other’.
I know some membership clerks have found it difficult to gather the
information, as to what to put in there and I think at this sort of early stage
of it, it is to be expected those numbers will be both low and possibly not 100
per cent accurate. I think it is very
important also to stress that this Yearly Meeting made a minute in 2021, about
welcoming and affirming transgender and gender non-conforming people. I know
from talking to people about the tabular statement how important it is to them
that this column exists as a way for them to be seen in our statistics. There
is an explanation about that on page 4 of the document.”</blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then there was ministry from Anne Wade of London West Meeting
who said: “I hope we can include Robbie's point that it would be more truthful
to include both sex and gender in the tabular statements in future.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But nothing came of this, as I will now explain. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The ‘Quaker Business Method’ which is employed at BYM and
other Quaker Meetings for Business for Worship is that the matters are decided
(or ‘discerned’ in Quakerspeak) not by a vote but by the clerk (Quakerspeak for
the person who is chairing the meeting) recording the spirit of the meeting: this
is a kind of consensus that takes account of people’s views and especially the strength
of those views. So it's not one person : one vote. It is the spirit of the
meeting as guided by God and as interpreted by the clerk, based on what has
been said in ministry and how strongly those views have been expressed and
agreed or disagreed with. When the clerk feels that he or she has got the sense
of the meeting on an issue, he or she drafts and presents a Minute for approval
by the meeting on the spot. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In small Quaker Meetings for Business for Worship (like the
ones I have attended in Colchester with about a dozen other Quakers), I believe
it’s possible and likely that the clerk can indeed give everyone who wants to
speak the chance to be heard and then accurately discern the sense of the
meeting - without of course taking a vote. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But in a meeting like the BYM today, it's anyone’s guess whether
the clerk can truly discern any such thing. There were 240 Friends present on Zoom
and over 100 more in the large meeting room at Friends House in Euston Road. On
each matter for discernment there was only a limited time for a handful of
people to give their ‘ministry’ (Quakerspeak for arguments for or against). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The clerking and minuting at BYM today were in the hands of
the Clerk, Adwoa Burnley of East Scotland AM, and her Assistant Clerks, Fred
Langridge of Sheffield & Balby AM and Mary Aiston of Kingston &
Wandsworth AM. I think they - and probably all the other BYM clerks before them
- have an impossible task. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I never before been to such a big Quaker business meeting as BYM. What
I noticed was that sometimes when someone spoke in ministry on a point the
minute was amended in line with what they said and sometimes it wasn't. From my
perspective in the Zoom room, I could not tell if a particular ministry had the
support of the general multitude or not. Nobody on Zoom was using their Reaction
tools to express a view on a piece of ministry either way. I suspect that many
of them did not know how to use their Reaction tools. Or maybe Zoom Reaction tools
are Unquakerly. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I had even less idea about the feeling in the large meeting
room at Friends House. How the clerks could discern anything from the Zoom room
is beyond my understanding. So either they just based their reading on the large
meeting room or it was a lottery combined with their personal leaning on the
matter in hand. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, when it came to revising the Minute in the light of Anne
Wade’s comment and mine on sex and gender, Adwoa Burnley said: “We are not
minded to add the thoughts raised on gender as well as sex columns, in the
minute. We recognise that there's
ongoing work following our minute from last year and I hope that is good with
Friends.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I thought, oh well, let’s leave it at that – and I
thought everyone else had too … until the closing ministry for the entire day,
which came from Alison Braydon from Wirral in Cheshire who ministered thus: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>“I have tried really hard not to stand to say this … it just
feels really very important to me to challenge something that was said earlier
in our Meeting. We had a very clear Minute about inclusion and welcome for
trans and non-binary Friends. Some of the language that I heard earlier I think
just needs to be challenged openly. Trans and non-binary Friends are welcome:
you are not odd, you are not funny and the categories that make you feel safe
are not odd or funny either. …Thank you.”</blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) Sat 1 July 2023</h2><h1><o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Immediately following BYM there was an ‘open session’ of MfS.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/meeting-for-sufferings">MfS</a>
is effectively the steering group or executive committee of BYM. It has a quaint
old Quakerly name. In terms of power and responsibility, it has been somewhat
displaced by the <a href="https://www.quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/our-structures/britain-yearly-meeting-trustees-3">BYM
board of trustees</a>. That change was wrought by the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/25/contents">Charities Act 2011</a>,
which compelled all charities, including Quaker Meetings, to change their
governance and put boards of trustees in charge. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In their <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ents">Ent-like</a>
way, Quakers have not really got up to speed with this change yet, as you can
tell from viewing the page <a href="http://www.quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/our-structures">www.quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/our-structures</a>
which barely mentions the trustees. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back to today’s MfS, it was an open session, which is unusual,
as most sessions are closed. Like BYM it was blended: in person in the large
meeting room at Friends House and on Zoom. Here is the moment when I mentioned
Sex Matters to Quakers (SMtQ) in the MfS open session: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robert Card, Clerk: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">We are blessed in Yearly Meeting with a wide variety of
witness and work. Friends with common interests find ways to collaborate and
work together and where formal groups are set up, they can apply to be accepted
by the Yearly Meeting as a Quaker Recognised Body - informally a QRB. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That application process comes to us here at Meeting for
Sufferings for approval. We have two applications before us, as well as a
re-registration of three existing Quaker Recognised Bodies. That is paper 3,
pages 12 to 15 of your documents … I will offer you a Draft Minute on this. ‘We
agree to register the following two bodies as Quaker Recognised Bodies for
period of two years: Friends of Pardshaw Quaker Centre and Peaceworks Zimbabwe
PWZ. The following Quaker Recognised Bodies have been reviewed and we agree to
renew them: Quaker Bolivia Link, Quaker International Educational Trust and Quaker
Rainbow.’ Are those acceptable, Friends?</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robbie from Dorset and South Wilts AM: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>I’m concerned to see you will be renewing the Quaker Rainbow
QRB. I'm in a group called Sex Matters to Quakers that has been trying to get
onto the Meeting for Sufferings agenda for about two years but we have been
subject to a whole load of obstacles from people like Michael Booth in terms of
giving us ever such a lot of micro scrutiny of our application and I just want
to tell you that I find it quite deplorable that you have such double standards
for recognising or approving people's applications to be a Quaker Recognised
Body. </blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Robert Card, Clerk: </p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Friends, I don't think that it is
something we can resolve here. But I'm minded to say, if Friends are happy to
accept the registration of the bodies already put forward, that we go forward
with that and allow that that voice has been heard and we will continue to work
on that one outside of the meeting is that acceptable friends. <o:p></o:p></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meeting: Hope so. (Quakerspeak for 'Yes'.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Use of pronouns at BYM and MfS</h2><h1><o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were about 240 friends in the online BYM Zoom room. We
had all been asked to amend our names to include our local and/or area meeting
name. Many people did so. As far as I could see, only three people amended
their names to include their pronouns. Moreover, two of them were at Woodbrooke
and one of them was a Quaker Life Local Development Officer: in other words,
they all appeared to be paid staff, which suggests that it was office policy rather
than virtue-signalling that made them put their pronouns in. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the afternoon MfS open session, it was a similar story: roughly
200 in the Zoom room and only two with pronouns: one was a co-clerk of Young
Friends General Meeting and the other was on Quaker Life (another of the
central Quaker committees). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In other words, no-one among the ordinary grass-roots
Quakers was bothering to announce their pronouns.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h2>Annual report and financial statement to 31 December 2021<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the 2022 accounts were not ready, I had a look at the previous
year’s financial statement. Here are a couple of notes. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9b. The number of BYM (full-time equivalent) employees in
2021 was 140 and dropped in 2022 to 106.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9e. Remuneration and benefits received by key management
personnel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Recording Clerk acts as Chief Executive and earned a
salary of £89,056. Salaries for other key management personnel ranged between
£66,130 and £80,835. They are: Deputy Recording Clerk; Head of Witness and
Worship; Head of Operations; and Head of Finance and Resources. The total
remuneration received by the five key managers was £387k (an increase of £45k
from the 2020 total of £342k, or a thirteen per cent wage rise).<o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-37105956555424318592023-06-30T08:32:00.002+00:002023-06-30T08:46:14.298+00:00Parkrun records held by transgender male-to-female runners<p class="MsoNormal">Being an occasional Parkrunner (struggling to break my
personal 30-minute target), I was shocked to hear Olympian Sharron Davies
say that course records on Parkrun are now being set by male-to-transwomen. Timestamp
6:09 at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF8lXU_Ryp4&t=2273s">Fairness
in sports governance: A Sex Matters webinar 28 June 2023</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two transgender male-to-female runners, Siân Longthorpe and Lauren
Jeska, hold Parkrun records in the women's 45-49 age group category and the
women's overall category respectively.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Siân Longthorpe is the transgender male-to-female runner who
broke the record in the Porthcawl Parkrun on Sat 20 May 2023 in the women's 45-49 age group category by one minute and 13 seconds (18m 53s). She was a married
man until 2019.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12120333/Trans-athlete-smashed-womens-Parkrun-record-married-man-four-years-ago.html">www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12120333/Trans-athlete-smashed-womens-Parkrun-record-married-man-four-years-ago.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/article/parkrun-have-got-their-trans-policy-very-wrong">www.spectator.co.uk/article/parkrun-have-got-their-trans-policy-very-wrong</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The overall Parkrun women's record is held by Lauren Jeska, a
transgender male-to-female runner who is a convicted attempted murderer. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A report dated 24 May 2023 at <a href="http://www.lbc.co.uk/news/feminist-activists-outraged-as-womens-parkrun-record-holder-revealed-to-be-trans">www.lbc.co.uk/news/feminist-activists-outraged-as-womens-parkrun-record-holder-revealed-to-be-trans</a>
states: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lauren Jeska, 41, was jailed in 2017 after repeatedly
stabbing UK Athletics official Ralph Knibbs, 48, after he questioned her
eligibility to compete as a woman … the Parkrun website still shows Jeska has
the record for the Aberystwyth Parkrun, running the 5k in 17 minutes and 38
seconds.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See also <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12118371/Fury-Parkrun-womens-record-revealed-held-transgender-attempted-murderer.html">www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12118371/Fury-Parkrun-womens-record-revealed-held-transgender-attempted-murderer.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Action point </h2><p class="MsoNormal">At about the 53:45 mark in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF8lXU_Ryp4&t=2273s">Fairness in sports governance</a> discussion, Sharron suggests taking action by
emailing <a href="https://support.parkrun.com/hc/en-us/requests/new">https://support.parkrun.com/hc/en-us/requests/new</a>
to propose the administratively simple solution that they create new separate
categories for transmen and transwomen and non-binary people. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com09F228RM5+FC50.3337241 0.80860539999999992-20.02345353667009 -139.8163946 90 141.4336054tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-57345310066907348542023-06-05T18:59:00.004+00:002023-07-12T22:18:06.355+00:00Why did the Green Party do so badly in the May council elections in Brighton & Hove?<p>In the elections to <a href="https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/">Brighton & Hove City Council</a> on
4 May 2023, Labour won 38 seats, the Green Party won 7 and the Conservatives
won 6, with various independents winning the remaining 3 seats. For the Green
Party that was a loss of 12 seats compared to 2019.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why did the Green Party do so badly?<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before answering that, let’s recap the Green Party’s fortunes
since its breakthrough in 2010.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to <a href="https://jollyexplorer.com/is-brighton-council-green">jollyexplorer.com/is-brighton-council-green</a>,
the Green Party won 21 council seats in 2010, with the Conservatives winning 18
and Labour 14. In 2015, partly due to a
split within its ranks, the Green Party lost 10 seats. In 2019, alongside Caroline Lucas’ retaining her
seat as MP for Brighton & Hove, the local elections were a comeback for the
Green Party, as they won 19 seats, only one behind Labour’s 20.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nationwide, the 2023 local council elections saw the Green
Party make a record 200 gains: the highest-ever growth in the party’s 50 year
history, according to <a href="http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/05/05">www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2023/05/05</a>.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again, why did the Green Party do so badly in Brighton &
Hove when they did so well elsewhere? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you want answers, you need not look at <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/en/green-party-adam-ramsay-councillors-local-elections-2023">www.opendemocracy.net/en/green-party-adam-ramsay-councillors-local-elections-2023</a>.
While it mentions Brighton several times, it omits the elephant-in-the-room
question about why did Greens do so badly. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then there was a Green Talks Post-Election Special (on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDzcxMcRzeE&t=2s">GPEW YouTube channel</a>)
where Dr Sofía Collignon, a lecturer in Comparative Politics at Queen Mary
University of London, proposed an answer. She said that the Brighton losses were
due to the 'incumbent effect'. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It will be interesting to see how the 'incumbent effect' works
in two of the places where the 2023 elections saw great gains for the Greens:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://bright-green.org/2023/05/08/how-the-greens-became-the-largest-party-in-east-hertfordshire">East
Hertfordshire Council, where the Greens became the largest party</a>, and </li><li><a href="https://bright-green.org/2023/05/15/how-the-green-party-won-a-majority-on-mid-suffolk-council">Mid-Suffolk
Council, where the Green Party won a majority</a>.</li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anecdotal evidence about why the Green Party lost badly in Brighton
& Hove includes the following.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was concern about the proposal to close the public
toilets in Brighton for which the Green councillors were held most responsible
(according to Unison members in the town). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was concern that Brighton Greens were ignoring the council
estates and working-class people generally, while relying too much on the student
population for support. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was concern about the Brighton Women’s Refuge (which
was the first one ever in the UK) and how its funding was cut. Allegedly this
was because it wanted to remain a single-sex service but the Green Party wanted
it to be ‘inclusive’ of transwomen even though there was already an LGBT refuge
elsewhere in Brighton that was not subjected to funding cuts. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was general concern about the Greens not being
competent. They were still being largely blamed for mishandling a strike by
refuse collectors several years previously. There were also concerns about lowering
the speed limit on roads that weren't suitable. There was a scandal about
migrant children going missing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among the many factors involved, it is hard to know how far the
Greens’ loss was due to its rigid position on gender ideology. On the one hand,
Brighton is one of the places where such a position is likely to have the
greatest support of anywhere in the UK. But on the other hand, it's still only
a minority of people, even in Brighton, who actively and fervently support the position that transwomen
are women and transmen are men. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Certainly, gender ideology was not a highly publicised or
prominent feature of the Green Party’s successful campaigns in places like Herefordshire
and Suffolk. <o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-85341487493360746272023-04-26T11:07:00.003+00:002023-05-20T21:20:30.254+00:00Vindicated at last: Green Party dismisses complaint against me<p>Last week the Green Party Disciplinary Committee (DC) dismissed
a complaint made by a party member against me over two years ago, which had put
me on a ‘no-fault suspension’ (NFS), as described in my earlier blog: <a href="http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/Cancel-culture-Green-Party.html">roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/Cancel-culture-Green-Party.html<span></span></a></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A DC panel of four members heard my
case on 12 April and notified me a week later that they had dismissed all the
counts of the complaint against me, which included allegations of transphobia
and anti-Semitism. As I said at my hearing, it would be nonsensical for the
party to find someone guilty of transphobia, let alone anti-Semitism, when the
party has not adopted a clear definition of what either of these terms mean.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The complainant was a member of the Green LGBTQ+ group. They
was granted anonymity by DC because they alleged that they was so traumatised by my
conduct that they could not reveal their name. But I found out who it was last year when, due to a bureaucratic bungle, DC sent me an email intended for 'Joe'. I now know he is a Green Councillor and that I have never met him or heard of him before. Still, Joe demanded a no-fault suspension because of the alleged risk I posed
to them or the party – they never said which – and demanded that I be expelled. Joe was invited to attend the hearing (and appear anonymously) but they did not bother
to turn up. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a frivolous and vexatious complaint. That could have
been spotted from day one, back in February 2021, by anyone with a common-sense
approach to triaging complaints. It should have been thrown out there and then because
there was no case to answer. But the Green Party Representative Council (GPRC)
and DC played along with the complainant’s narrative at every stage. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Firstly, they put me on NFS, which is a draconian punishment that turns on its head the principle that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. It is no doubt a well-intentioned measure that has its place in extreme cases where an accused member poses such a risk to the party's reputation that the only remedy is to keep them out of the way until the Disciplinary Committee can deal with the complaint: it’s a bit like remanding a defendant in custody instead of granting them bail. It is open to abuse.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Secondly, they never
gave me a chance to put my case until the hearing on 12 April. Maybe the reason
for this is, as alleged in a new blog called <a href="https://thegreenlight.blog/2023/04/20/transactivists-take-control-of-the-disciplinary-committee">The
Green Light</a>, that gender identity ideologists have taken control of the
party’s key committees including GPRC and DC. For more, see <a href="https://thegreenlight.blog/2023/04/20/transactivists-take-control-of-the-disciplinary-committee">thegreenlight.blog/2023/04/20/transactivists-take-control-of-the-disciplinary-committee</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-19116567497492614202023-04-08T07:50:00.004+00:002023-04-08T11:40:07.560+00:00Art or porn in Paris exhibition"Ma Pensée Sérielle" by Miriam Cahn (17/02/2023 to 14/05/2023 at <a href="https://palaisdetokyo.com/en/exposition/ma-pensee-serielle">palaisdetokyo</a> in Paris) has been criticised for appearing to depict an act fellatio on children. But it’s intended by the artist as a critique of rape as a war crime.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><div><br /></div><div>See <a href="https://headtopics.com/us/a-judge-has-dismissed-far-right-efforts-to-remove-a-miriam-cahn-painting-of-russian-war-crimes-from-37266631">judge-has-dismissed-efforts-to-remove-a-miriam-cahn-painting-of-russian-war-crimes</a> <br />and <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/miriam-cahn-palais-de-tokyo-ukraine-painting-controversy-1234660110">www.artnews.com/.../miriam-cahn-palais-de-tokyo-ukraine-painting-controversy</a> <br /><br /> I fear that some of my gender-critter friends have got their knickers seriously back to front in this case by mixing up 'paedo porn' with a genuine feminist critique of, dare I call it, 'toxic masculinity'. </div><div><br /></div><div>As someone who is keen on creative arts, which are meant to be challenging, I support freedom of expression. As someone with a legal background too, I know that the question is always, where do you draw the line? This one is probably on the line: <a href="https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/artworks/lorigine-du-monde-69330" target="_blank"><i>L’Origine du monde</i>, 1866, by Gustave Courbet, at the Musee
d’Orsay</a>. </div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-74675059493745659872023-03-30T22:07:00.006+00:002023-04-09T17:27:52.703+00:00Quakers and Mermaids and me<p>Quakers have been slow to realise the dangers of the
transgender craze that has been gathering pace for about a decade now in the UK
and the West generally. It is mutilating and
sterilising physically healthy young people and putting them on cross-sex hormones
for life. It is a phenomenon that is as wanton and inhumane as it is unexpected and generally ignored. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While gender affirmation may be valuable for some rare
individuals, it is frightening how many children who do not really need surgery
and hormones are being pushed in that direction. The case of Keira Bell, the
Cass Report and <i>Time to Think</i> by Hannah Barnes indicate how bad the
problem has become. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been trying to raise awareness about this for a few
years. The blowback has been astonishing. I have had some support too, from one
Meeting in particular and from a group of Quakers nationwide who have been
trying – unsuccessfully so far – to set up a Quaker Recognised Body (QRB) to
advocate for the cause. (The QRB got blocked in bureaucracy and that is another
sorry tale for another time.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here follows, gentle readers, a summary of my efforts to
highlight the unhealthy relationship between Quakers and Mermaids, a charity allegedly
"supporting the families of children and young people who are experiencing
gender identity issues". <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I began corresponding with Sandra Berry, formerly of my Area
Meeting and now Woodbrooke director, and her colleagues in October 2022 about
the controversies surrounding Mermaids. I am glad to say that this resulted
in a message in October 2022 from Simon Best, Head of Learning & Research
at Woodbrooke College, that Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) staff had removed Mermaids from their list of
'useful organisations'. I also heard from BYM Clerk, Paul Parker (13 Oct 2022)
that: "As far as I am aware, we are not working with Mermaids at
present." <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My next objective was to see if <a href="https://www.transgendertrend.com/" target="_blank">Transgender Trend</a> could
be added to BYM’s list of useful organisations on gender identity issues. I
had little faith in Best’s suggestion that I should write to BYM to ask for
Transgender Trend to be included in the <i>Journeys in the Spirit</i> ‘Links to other
useful organisations’. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Instead, I wrote to the Quaker weekly magazine, <i>The Friend</i>,
and my letter was published on 9 December 2022. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Congratulations to BYM staff for
removing Mermaids from their list of 'useful
organisations' "supporting the families of children and young
people who are experiencing gender identity issues".<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">I expect
they have done so in light of this year’s controversies
surrounding Mermaids: their ex-trustee, Jacob Breslow, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63137873" target="_blank">his links to a
paedophile group</a>; being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/sep/30/transgender-charity-mermaids-investigated-breast-binders-given-to-children" target="_blank">investigated by the Charity Commission</a> for allegedly
sending ‘breast binders’ to young girls against their parents’ wishes; and
taking LGB Alliance to court, falsely alleging that its “<a href="https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/amplifying-your-voice/18638-2" target="_blank">real
purpose is the denigration of trans people</a>”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">I hope
that BYM staff will now add <a href="https://www.transgendertrend.com/" target="_blank">Transgender Trend</a> to
their list of useful organisations on gender identity issues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The only response was from Mark Russ, a staff member at
Woodbrooke to say, effectively that there should be no further discussion of
the matter in case his trans friends might read something that might seem
transphobic (<i>The Friend</i>, 16 Dec 2022). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am used to hearing that there should be no debate or
discussion about transgender issues. The reason for this, which has never made
sense to me, is that discussion amounts to a denial of trans people's lived
experience or even their very existence. I have never denied a trans person’s
lived experience or existence. I do assert that men cannot turn into women but
that's a different thing and it's also a protected belief under the Equality
Act, thanks to the Maya Forstater court ruling of 2021. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I wrote back to <i>The Friend</i> as follows: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">I do hope <i>The Friend</i> won’t
act on the suggestion from Mark Russ of Woodbrooke (letters, 16 Dec 2022) to
close down the discussion about the dangers of Mermaids (my letter, 9 Dec
2022). What is <i>The Friend</i> for if not freedom of speech?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Without evidence, Russ labels
Transgender Trend (and LGB Alliance) as “transphobic”; this deserves a right of
reply. Let us compare Transgender Trend’s and Mermaids’ concern about the
rising numbers of children identifying as the opposite sex over the last
decade.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Mermaids advocates the
‘affirmative’ approach towards these children, which generally means puberty
blockers, followed by cross-sex hormones and/or surgeries like mastectomy and
vaginoplasty. By contrast, Transgender Trend calls for caution and talking
therapies and ‘watchful waiting’ to minimise the number of children who become
sterilised and maimed medical patients for life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Where Mark Russ sees
“transphobia”, other people see a children’s champion. In July 2022, Stephanie
Davies-Arai, a long-standing feminist campaigner and the founder of Transgender
Trend, was awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to children.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As far as I know, <i>The Friend</i> did not publish my follow-up
letter. Shame on them for allowing an unsubstantiated slander to go unchecked.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately, my Area Meeting has its own monthly newsletter
and so I wrote up my account, titled <i>Quakers, Mermaids and me</i>, and it
was published in February. I signed it off with a request for any Friends who were as concerned
as I was to contact me direct. As yet, no-one has. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Strangely, two days after the newsletter came out, everyone
on the distribution list was sent a supplementary email:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Wed, 15 Feb, Dear Friend, I am
sending this out on behalf of SEAQM Elders and Pastoral Friends as part of the
February Newsletter.<…> Southern East Anglia Quaker
Meeting Newsletter of December 2022 was sent out on February 13, 2023. It
included an Article titled <i>Quakers, Mermaids and me</i>. Elders and Pastoral
Friends felt it would be useful to share Britain Yearly Meetings 2021 Minute
Welcoming Gender Diverse People. We are aware this is a sensitive issue and
would ask that anyone who would like to discuss this further to contact Elders
or Pastoral Friends <…></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I subsequently asked why the SEAQM Elders and Pastoral
Friends had felt it ‘useful’ to send out this email that, to me at any rate,
reads like a ‘trigger warning’ for those readers who cannot tolerate criticism
of Mermaids. I suspect that they don’t exist, but that does not stop SEAQM
Elders and Pastoral Friends from showing the same concern for them as Mark Russ
did in <i>The Friend. </i>It’s a shame that nobody in SEAQM, neither Elders nor
other Friends, seems willing to declare their concern for what I refer to above
as the crime of the century: mutilating and sterilising physically healthy
young people and putting them on cross-sex hormones for life. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This blogpost is another attempt to reach out to Friends in
my Area Meeting and elsewhere to ask for some support with this issue. Please
leave a comment if you care about what is happening to the gender
non-conforming children of our time. <o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-23939268293363879952023-03-15T16:57:00.000+00:002023-03-15T16:57:03.284+00:00Is Dr Adrian Harrop a secret Terf?<p>Dr Adrian Harrop is the GP who made a fuss to Liverpool Council about KJK's Adult Human Female poster. He won round 1 by getting the 'transphobic dog-whistle' removed, but lost the bout in that the surrounding publicity brought KJK's Adult Human Female message to many more people's attention than one poster in Liverpool could ever have done. Trans Central must be wondering if Dr Adrian is a secret Terf! <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Here is a short clip entitled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH22KZkmS9U" target="_blank">Posie Parker makes a fool of baby Shipman.... on Sky News</a></p><p>More on the good doctor here: this time it's his 2021 suspension from practising as a GP after posting ‘offensive’ tweets, as reported in <a href="https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/12/03/dr-adrian-harrop-suspended-trans-rights-twitter/" target="_blank">Pink Pravda</a>.</p><p>: </p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-57648324549210767692023-03-13T17:34:00.003+00:002023-03-31T21:51:31.574+00:00Detrans Awareness Day on 12 March but not on LGBT Calendar<p><b>#DetransAwarenessDay</b>, which is annually on 12 March, is omitted from the <a href="https://www.pinprick.shop/post/1105154182962/the-complete-2023-lgbt-calendar-a-list">pinprick.shop 2023-lgbt-calendar</a>. How odd. But hey, it's probably nothing compared to <b>International Pronoun Day </b>on the third Wednesday in October or <span></span><b>Gay Uncle Day</b> on second Sunday in August.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><p>Here are the LGBT+ Calendar of Pride, Awareness, Visibility and Remembrance Days in 2023. As they say, you can "Celebrate Pride all year in 2023!"</p><p>February: LGBT+ History Month 2023 (UK)</p><p>29-25 Feb | Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2023 (The week after Valentine's Day) </p><p>March: Bisexual Health Awareness Month 2023</p><p>1 Mar | Zero Discrimination Day 2023</p><p>31 Mar | International Transgender Day Of Visibility 2023</p><p>April</p><p>6 Apr | International Asexuality Day 2023</p><p>14 Apr | Day of Silence 2023 (The second Friday of April)</p><p>24 Apr - 30 Apr | Lesbian Visibility Week 2023</p><p>26 Apr | Lesbian Visibility Day 2023</p><p>May</p><p>17 May | International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia 2023</p><p>19 May | Agender Pride Day 2023</p><p>22 May | Harvey Milk Day 2023</p><p>24 May | Pansexual & Panromantic Visibility Day 2023 / Pansexual Awareness Day 2023 </p><p>June: <b>LGBT+ Pride Month 2023</b></p><p>12 Jun | Pulse Remembrance Day / Pulse Night of Remembrance</p><p>24 Jun | UpStairs Lounge Arson Attack Remembrance Day</p><p>28 Jun | Stonewall Riots Anniversary </p><p>July</p><p>6 Jul | Omnisexual and Omniromantic Pride and Visibility Day </p><p>10-16 Jul | Non-binary Awareness Week 2023 (The week surrounding 14th July, Sun-Sat)</p><p>14 Jul | International Non-Binary People's Day 2023</p><p>16 Jul | International Drag Day 2023 </p><p>August</p><p>13 Aug | Gay Uncle Day 2023 (Second Sunday in August)</p><p>25 Aug | Wear it Purple Day 2023 (Last Friday in August) </p><p>September</p><p>17-23 Sep | Bisexual Awareness Week 2023 / BiWeek 2023</p><p>23 Sep | Bisexual Visibility Day 2023 / Celebrate Bisexuality Day 2023</p><p>October (LGBT History Month in USA and Canada)</p><p>8 Oct | International Lesbian Day 2023</p><p>11 Oct | National Coming Out Day 2023</p><p>18 Oct | <b>International Pronoun Day 2023</b> (The third Wednesday in October)</p><p>19 Oct | Spirit Day 2023 (The third Thursday in October)</p><p>26 Oct | Intersex Awareness Day 2023</p><p>22-28 Oct | Asexual Awareness Week 2023 (The last full week in October)</p><p>November: <b>Trans Awareness Month</b></p><p>5 Nov | Trans Parent Day 2023 / Transgender Parent Day 2023 (The first Sunday in November)</p><p>8 Nov | Intersex Day Of Remembrance 2023 / Intersex Solidarity Day 2023</p><p>12-18 Nov | Trans Awareness Week 2023 / Transgender Awareness Week 2023</p><p>20 Nov | Transgender Day Of Remembrance 2023 </p><p>December</p><p>1 Dec | World AIDS Day 2023</p><p>8 Dec | Pansexual Pride Day 2023</p><p>10 Dec | Human Rights Day 2023 </p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-77274311759870094292023-03-03T20:10:00.002+00:002023-03-03T20:10:45.622+00:00LGB vs TQ+<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZEjx_m4ysO2Ies7nljxY1aMv032H8vLk8Sn2Go-Zt4ntia02pJQMPXOgoC3u_6Q_DgH8iSgDbIDKZ2B7rXWsXUNKPJ_eFTRbIfm8aO0ETlyqMCbemRfKRtUIlj-pjHCXZqQkV5S7exydGDeZQ_11pB6L3eyRrqicIjanwMZNPy2wMwul0dKIHBq-/s2074/LGB%20TQ+1MB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1556" data-original-width="2074" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZEjx_m4ysO2Ies7nljxY1aMv032H8vLk8Sn2Go-Zt4ntia02pJQMPXOgoC3u_6Q_DgH8iSgDbIDKZ2B7rXWsXUNKPJ_eFTRbIfm8aO0ETlyqMCbemRfKRtUIlj-pjHCXZqQkV5S7exydGDeZQ_11pB6L3eyRrqicIjanwMZNPy2wMwul0dKIHBq-/w400-h300/LGB%20TQ+1MB.jpg" width="400" /></a></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I posted this on my Fakebook this week and one of my FB
friends asked me to explain what it was about. Some artists eschew queries
about their work but they're the pretentious ones and I'm not one of
them.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">While being cishet myself, I am a huge fan of <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhYLXYFwilfkTHFoMxCDPKHLFAW2CANtt" target="_blank">Queen's Speech</a></i>
on YouTube with Clive Simpson and Dennis Kavanagh. Lately they've been arguing
that the reaction of gay men may well be the downfall of the LGBTQ+ umbrella.
This is because gay men have the balls to reject transmen as sexual partners.
They refuse to have any truck with the ‘sexual-racism’ canards that have been
thrown at lesbians for the last ten years or more.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It is deplorable how the Transactivists first of all
targeted the weakest community under the so-called LGBTQ+ umbrella, namely
lesbians. Following that they began targeting women as a whole. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The latest Transactivists' harassment of women was at Kellie-Jay Keen’s Standing for Women
event on Sunday 26 Feb 2023 at the Reformer’s Tree in Hyde Park. It's the first
time that I've seen Kellie-Jay look so shaken with fear at the threat of
violence from the balaclava blokes who pretend to be women. (See footnote below
for more about this.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, back to my picture, what I'm saying is that gay men
are not standing for this crap and maybe, as they dig their heels in (metaphorically speaking) to
the transmen, the tide will actually turn for good.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This is the tide that began turning with the formation of the LGB
Alliance a couple of year ago. That’s people standing up for the rights of
same-sex attracted people in face of the Bonewall Bollox about same-gender attraction,
which took off when they added the T to the LGB in 2014. I just hope to god
that LGB Alliance win their case against the disgusting paedophile-adjacent
so-called charity called Mermaids.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">So, the picture is meant to articulate all that.<o:p></o:p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">TQ+ propaganda</h3><p class="MsoNormal">Just to round this off, here are some Orwellian takes on the propaganda of the TQ+ brigade</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;">Pride is Shame</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;">Love is Hate <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;">All non-binary identities are valid but some are more valid than others.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Response to my FB explanation</h3><p class="MsoNormal">One of my FB friends then commented that they have noticed a
gay rebellion against “queer” coming for a while, above all from conservative
gay men like Douglas Murray (the free speech advocate and the author <i>The Madness
of Crowds</i> among other things). <o:p></o:p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Standing for Women on Sunday 26 Feb in Hyde Park</h3><p class="MsoNormal">[From Sex Matters Memo on 3 Mar 2023:] On Sunday, an angry mob of trans rights activists surrounded
a Standing for Women (SfW) meeting in Hyde Park. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Footage shows a large crowd of masked protesters chanting
“Smash a TERF, a fascist bleeds”. Some used amplification, which is banned in
the park. The small numbers of police meant that the job of protecting those
trying to speak was left to SfW stewards who linked arms. Despite the
threatening behaviour, there were no reports that any of the transactivists had
been arrested.</p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">The apparent failure to provide enough officers to protect
the SfW supporters comes just days after the group’s founder, Kellie-Jay Keen,
was interviewed under caution at Trowbridge police station. Two officers
travelled from Brighton to question Keen, following comments which were made in
public and in front of police officers at a rally last September. Keen was told
should she fail to attend the voluntary interview she would be arrested.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi06ALjBrrnYgrFjJLQEGU--eW7JTluIidHmGZ7CsK5rg67RO64xhww74w9DNR1US-pLJRxb94fWPbmOqwBMWarkVJGD7U6v30jjb3H13SUAZPFk-M3u5xjQx9NMrNGSsfnfhKIF0xdKbqrl_BYaAWtz4KsS-M_VLUowEjwzacfB6Q9tO5gshSourtP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi06ALjBrrnYgrFjJLQEGU--eW7JTluIidHmGZ7CsK5rg67RO64xhww74w9DNR1US-pLJRxb94fWPbmOqwBMWarkVJGD7U6v30jjb3H13SUAZPFk-M3u5xjQx9NMrNGSsfnfhKIF0xdKbqrl_BYaAWtz4KsS-M_VLUowEjwzacfB6Q9tO5gshSourtP=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-81005446141214175602023-02-20T00:00:00.004+00:002023-02-20T00:41:16.842+00:00Qwoke Youth and Wise Elders - the Quaker Gender War<p>This post starts with a long, negative criticism of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and, I’m glad to say, ends with a positive
affirmation of where we could be heading.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The bad old news is that many Quaker Meetings have taken
decisions over the last few years not to hire their meeting rooms to people who
wish to discuss gender issues.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I mean by gender issues is, firstly, the idea that men are not women. Secondly, in my view, the
greatest and most avoidable medical scandal in 21<sup>st</sup> Century Britain
is the maiming and sterilisation and lifelong medication of vulnerable children
and young adults by the transgender medico-pharmaceutical industry, aided and
abetted by Mermaids and Stonewall and others, including, in our own small way,
British Quakers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The fact that my views about sex, gender and the harming of
children are barely tolerated in Quaker Meeting Houses is, in my view, a
deplorable betrayal by Quakers of our widely acclaimed Testimony to Truth. I
believe we have also lost our widely acclaimed courage to Speak Truth to Power
(and Speak it to Transgender Ideology Bullies). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The problems started in 2017 when Woman’s Place UK (WPUK)
began trying to hire venues to hold meetings to raise awareness of the dangers
of transgender self-ID - which was the main plank of Theresa May’s government consultation about reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004. Self-ID caused consternation on mumsnet and grassroots women’s organisations sprang up to
challenge the the idea - amidst a deafening
silence from traditional women’s groups like the Fawcett Society. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WPUK was one such group and they sought to hire venues around
the country including Quaker Meeting Houses. Note: a Quaker Meeting House is
formally known as a Friends Meeting House (FMH for short).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The GRA reform was consulted on and eventually - largely
thanks to the efforts of WPUK and their allies - kicked into the long grass by
Liz Truss, when she was in charge of Women and Equalities. Compare and contrast
this GRA reform experience in England and Wales to the Nicola Sturgeon car-crash
– or rather, scuttling of car-ferries – in Scotland earlier this month. (Yes, I know Truss has gone too, but that is because she was an economic idiot. At least she knows what a woman is.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But WPUK’s experience since 2017 was that many of their meetings
that were scheduled to be held at FMHs were protested, threatened, disrupted or
cancelled entirely. WPUK has published a list at <a href="https://womansplaceuk.org/2021/10/27/record-womans-place-uk-meetings">womansplaceuk.org/2021/10/27/record-womans-place-uk-meetings</a>
and notable examples include:<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Cambridge FMH, 23 November 2017, went ahead despite threat<o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">First on the list is the threat to the WPUK meeting at
Cambridge FMH on 23 November 2017. It went ahead but attracted a message on
Facebook, “If Isis only blow up one event this Christmas…”<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Manchester FMH, 17 January 2018, protests<o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">The WPUK meeting went ahead despite protests.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Oxford FMH, 25 April 2018, protests and disruption<o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was the second attempt by Oxford women to organise a
meeting after the one at the University in January 2018 was cancelled under
pressure from trans activists. Disruptive protests were held outside the 25 April
meeting: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/26/quakers-caught-terf-war-oxford-university-protesters-hosting">www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/26/quakers-caught-terf-war-oxford-university-protesters-hosting</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Brighton FMH, 2018, cancelled<o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.gscene.com/news/quakers-cancel-anti-trans-group-meeting">www.gscene.com/news/quakers-cancel-anti-trans-group-meeting</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Norwich FMH, 2019, disrupted<o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.norwichquakers.org.uk/post/norwich-meeting-s-experience-of-conflict-around-transgender-issues-january-2019-january-2020">www.norwichquakers.org.uk/post/norwich-meeting-s-experience-of-conflict-around-transgender-issues-january-2019-january-2020</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3>Liverpool FMH, <o:p></o:p>cancelled at last minute</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meetings other than those by WPUK have been targeted in the
same way. Pre-Covid, Liverpool Resisters had booked a meeting at Liverpool FMH.
Under pressure from trans activists, Liverpool Quakers cancelled it at the last
minute.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h2>The Cancel Culture Problem with Quakers <o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The problem for Quakers was baked into the cake of our faith
by the <a href="https://yfgm.quaker.org.uk/trans-non-binary-statement">trans-non-binary-statement</a>
of Young Friends General Meeting (YFGM) in 2019. Their Minute of February 2019,
section
(a) <i>Trans and non-binary inclusion</i> states: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%; margin-left: 36pt;">“In
particular, we note our disagreement with the [Quaker Life & CC] position that “the
critique of transgender identities in the political sphere is not necessarily
transphobic”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">The double negative here is
unhelpful and confusing. In short, YFGM is saying that if anyone wants to talk
about transgender identities, he/she will be transphobic if YFGM thinks so.
This is a clear intent to shut down difference of opinion. And in the name of
tolerance and inclusivity. What chutzpah! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">Further, FYGM state at (b) YFGM
Value Statement on Trans and non-binary inclusion that <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%; margin-left: 36pt;">“As
Friends — both trans and cis, binary and non-binary — we affirm that there is
no conflict between trans inclusion, feminism, and liberation from gender roles
and stereotypes<b>. We do not support the use of meeting houses to host events
which claim otherwise, and we hope that Meetings will decide not to host these
events in future.</b>” (emphasis added)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">In other words, YFGM was urging
Quakers nationwide not to host events like the WPUK ones mentioned above.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">It has been apparent to me for
a few years that this conflict is largely (but not entirely) an
inter-generational one, both in society as a whole and in Quakerdom. I believe
that explains why the centres of Quaker power – Woodbrooke, BYM, Friends House
– won’t really grapple with the conflict: we are an ageing Society; if we are
to survive into the next generation, we need new, young members; we cannot
afford to alienate them by saying transphobic things like men are not women. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h2>The Good News (is the tide
turning?)<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">London Quakers have been
holding sessions on sex and gender for one or two years now - regardless of YFGM urging against this, please note. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 106%;">I was fortunate
to be invited to attend the London Quakers meeting at Friends House on Sat 18 Feb 2023.
It was the fourth in the series and, as far as I’m aware, it was the first to
happen in person and face-to-face. It was like a breath of fresh air. It makes
such a difference to meet in real life and do the things you never do on Zoom,
like sit down for lunch together.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For me, the day - 10.30am to 4pm - was a chance to get off
my chest all the queries and quibbles, niggles and complaints about Genderism
within Quakerdom that have been bothering me for over a year. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At last, here was a space where people were willing to talk
about the ideas rather than how or when to express them, including the ever-present
subtext to not express them at all. In other words, the meeting was able to
deal with matters of substance rather than matters of form. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I left feeling hopeful that, with the possibility of further
dialogue like this, Friends may yet find harmony within our own Society amidst a
wider society where the dialogue has turned so toxic that most people try to avoid
it entirely. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That still leaves the question of how to address the authoritarian
and censorious position of the Young Quakers, however. We are not out of the woods
yet. <o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-43821613988585055582023-02-16T23:04:00.006+00:002023-04-09T17:18:31.592+00:00Masculinity, toxic and otherwise<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p>This post compares two thinkers on the topic of masculinity
and whether it is, to coin a phrase, toxic or not. They are Will Storr and Richard Wrangham.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><i>The Status Game</i> is a 2021 book by Will Storr, wherein he
quotes the proverb: </p><blockquote><p>“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it
down to feel its warmth.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Storr describes the humiliated male as “the [status] game’s
most lethal player”. He gives an example at the individual level: Elliot
Rodger, the incel who did a spree killing in Santa Barbara County, USA. And he
gives an example at the national level: Hitler who channelled German (note Ger
Man!) humiliation after WWI into genocide of the European Jews. Here is one of many reviews of <i>The Status Game: </i><a href="https://www.vox.com/vox-conversations-podcast/22660648/vox-conversations-the-status-game-will-storr" target="_blank">vox-conversations-the-status-game-will-storr</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Richard Wrangham is a primatologist who once studied chimps
in the wild with Jane Goodall. Here on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAifu7lu8TU&t=16s">Jordan B Peterson’s
YouTube channel</a> Wrangham “Explains the 1% Difference Between Humans &
Apes”. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">He has a theory about proactive versus reactive aggression, which
is explained in his books, <i>The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship
Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution</i> and <i>Demonic Males: Apes
and the Origins of Human Violence</i>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Basically, proactive aggression is the kind practised by
groups acting together, whether it be bands of chimps raiding a neighbouring
band’s territory and killing them; or a group of Stone Age hunters who work as
a team to drive the woolly mammoth over the cliff edge to provide the tribe
with meat; or whether it be armies slaughtering each other in war. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Reactive aggression on the other hand is the ‘red mist’ of
the individual human (usually male) who goes berserk when provoked beyond his
limit, injuring or killing another creature, even his own partner. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wrangham argues that humans are high in proactive aggression
compared to other primates and low in reactive aggression. That is why it is
too simplistic to say, as many people have done down the years, that humans are
or aren’t innately violent. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Rather, his theory casts a new light on the old chestnut as
to whether Hobbes or Rousseau was right about human nature.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The tradition of Hobbes suggests that man is essentially an evil
barbarian and it is only the civilising force of the state that keeps him in
check and under control. The Rousseau tradition on the other hand suggests that
the noble savage is essentially good and it is only the corrupting force of
so-called civilisation that has turned him into a species that is uniquely destructive
of his environment and the people around him, whether by acts of genocide or preparation
for nuclear war. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">In other words, Wrangham’s answer to the question as to whether
man is innately peaceful and compassionate or innately violent and selfish is
that it is a bit of both. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">19feb2023. PS. Interesting feedback from a friend, who said:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/03/of-boys-and-men-why-the-modern-male-is-struggling-by-richard-reeves-review-the-descent-of-man"></a></p><blockquote><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/03/of-boys-and-men-why-the-modern-male-is-struggling-by-richard-reeves-review-the-descent-of-man">Of
Boys and Men by Richard Reeves</a> (published 2022) is a broader take on
masculinity than the toxic masculinity discourse which can end up being too focussed
on aggression and violence. Not that these are not important. But if we are
posing a question about what being a man is or could be, to focus on that
aspect (are we or aren’t we aggressive) is of limited value … it all depends
what question one is trying to answer.</blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">That set me off wondering more about why the question of
male violence is so important to me. The question as to whether men are violent
or nonviolent, and how much, has been an important one in at least two of my
walks of life, which are the Quaker faith and the nonviolent communication (NVC) faith,
if I can call it that! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">NVC’s founder, Marshall Rosenberg, grew up in Detroit and,
aged nine, witnessed violent race riots in 1943. This set him on a lifelong
path to answer the question: why do some people seem to enjoy and feel happy to
inflict violence and pain on other people, whereas other people seem to enjoy
and feel happy when they give love and compassion and care and support to
others? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wrangham’s book provided me with an answer to this: the race
rioters would be the proactive-aggressive ones, whereas Rosenberg’s uncle who devoted
himself to caring for Rosenberg’s disabled grandmother, seems to me to be an
example of low reactive aggression. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Thus, there is a potential new explanation here for the different
ways in which people are violent or nonviolent, and it has to do with more than
Rosenberg’s theory that everything we do is in the service of our needs,
whether our strategy to do so is a tragic (that is, violent) expression or a compassionate
(that is, nonviolent) expression of doing so. In other words, Wrangham's idea that there are two very different types of aggression, seems to me to be an improvement on NVC theory that violence is just one undifferentiated Bad Thing. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-76846362088264515332023-02-03T09:00:00.002+00:002023-02-03T21:46:53.537+00:00 Celebrating Colchester's City Status<h2 style="text-align: left;">Jumbo on the Hill</h2><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The people of Colchester are so proud of their one and only
hill that they have named it four times: from the south it is Headgate, from
the west, Balkerne Hill and, from the other two compass points, it is North
Hill and East Hill.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is the same hill and it is crowned with The Town Hall,
The Castle and ‘Jumbo’ the water tower, which is Colchester's answer to the
Eiffel Tower or London’s Telecom Tower – formerly known as the Post Office
Tower before Buzby Thatcher renamed it in the eighties.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Currently, Colchester is consulting the People about what to
do with Jumbo. It has been derelict for about 20 years and a grant has just
been awarded to refurbish it and put it back to good use – though not as a
water tower. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My suggestion would be a revolving restaurant at the top
like the one that the Post Office Tower used to have before the zealous and
jealous IRA put paid to it in the seventies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h2>Colchester’s city status<o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The good people of Colchester are proud of acquiring city
status after 20 or more years of trying. Status was granted in 2022, which was about
the time that the government pronounced that all cities would be getting ULEZed
by 2030. (Be careful what you wish for.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a Green and a cyclist, I’m in favour of the ULEZ (and I’m
pretty sure my 2017 car will pass). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remember, Colchester has more CO2 any other city in the
country and indeed Abbeyfield where Thine Truly lives has more CO2 than any
other part of Colchester.<o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-30830342714328877762023-01-20T08:20:00.007+00:002023-01-25T22:55:02.236+00:00Moonage Daydream of gender-bending David Bowie<p><i>Moonage Daydream</i> is a brilliant audio-visual collage of
David Bowie’s life and art, mainly his life as a performer from <i>Ziggy
Stardust</i> to <i>Let's Dance</i>: the 1970s to 1980s, that is. Directed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0605137/" target="_blank">Brett Morgen</a>, it showcases
Bowie's many talents besides being a singer-songwriter with mercurial and chameleon-like
charisma: his dancing and mime and painting skills and all-round creativity.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I should declare that my sister’s best school-friend’s mum
was good friends with David Bowie’s mum in Boring Beckenham where we grew up
together - not Cool Brixton, as Bowie claims (yet again) in this film - so I
practically knew the guy!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Moonage Daydream</i> does not tackle Bowie's drugtaking
in any way. A far better biopic - in terms of showing the personal-life
problems of The Artist – is <i>Rocket Man</i>, which does not shy away from Elton
John’s struggles with alcoholism, shopoholism and other addictions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to focus in this review on the way that Bowie played
with gender. There are some amazing scenes (which I've never seen before) of
him performing in a dress as well as many scenes (better-known, imo) of his flamboyant
experimentation with colourful clothes and makeup.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two things stand out (for me personally). One was Bowie’s
relationship with his mother, which seems to have been cold and distant and
lacking in affection. Related to this was a sense of how uncomfortable he was
in his own skin – which explains his constant search for alternative identities
up to the 1980s. It was only with <i>Let's Dance</i> that he seems to have
settled down to seeing himself as first and foremost an entertainer rather than
an Alter Ego making profound pronouncements on isolation and alienation. Once
he had ‘found himself’, as it were, his search for other personalities and
genders disappeared. He was still a rock-god: he just wasn't one who was
continually Making A Statement.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other thing - my conclusion to this piece and the reason why I've written it - is Bowie's androgynous gender. I can
remember conversations at school about whether he was actually a man or a woman
and then at university about whether he was gay or straight or bisexual. All of
that is a testament to his ability to create a myth around himself. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But what is most interesting - from the point of view of
this Gender Critter of Terf Island - is that he never pretended that he was actually
a woman. Nor does he seem to have been re-branded as a trans woman (yet!?) by
the revisionist Trans Cult. I think they may have missed a trick here. Surely he/she/zay/ziggy should be in
the trans pantheon by now along with Jesus and Joan of Arc and the woman in
ancient Greece who pretended to be a man in order to be able to practise
medicine, and all the others that we never knew about until the Trans Cult
captured history!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-42979759513390981312023-01-16T09:28:00.004+00:002023-01-16T09:33:41.405+00:00Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks<p><i>Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from
Rousseau to Foucault </i>by Stephen Hicks, Professor of Philosophy – recommended
by Jordan Peterson – is free to read as a PDF and listen on audio at <a href="http://www.stephenhicks.org/explaining-postmodernism">www.stephenhicks.org/explaining-postmodernism</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here are extracts from the Introduction about postmodern ‘Critical
Legal Theory’ and the postmodern view of education.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Critical Legal Theory</h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Critical Legal Theorists represent the race, class, and
sex version of legal postmodernism. According to the Crits, legal constitutions
and precedents are essentially indeterminate, and the so-called objectivity and
neutrality of legal reasoning are frauds. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All decisions are inherently subjective and driven by
preference and politics. The law is a weapon to be used in the social arena of
subjective conflict, an arena driven by competing wills and the coercive
assertion of one group’s interests over those of other groups. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the West, for too long the law has been a cover for the
assertion of white male interests. The only antidote to that poison is the
equally forceful assertion of the subjective interests of historically
oppressed groups. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Education</h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">In education, postmodernism rejects the notion that the purpose
of education is primarily to train a child’s cognitive capacity for reason in
order to produce an adult capable of functioning independently in the world.
That view of education is replaced with the view that education is to take an
essentially indeterminate being and give it a social identity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Education’s method of molding is linguistic, and so the
language to be used is that which will create a human being sensitive to its
racial, sexual, and class identity. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our current social context, however, is characterized by
oppression that benefits whites, males, and the rich at the expense of everyone
else. That oppression in turn leads to an educational system that reflects only
or primarily the interests of those in positions of power. To counteract that
bias, educational practice must be recast totally. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Postmodern education should emphasize works not in the
canon; it should focus on the achievements of non-whites, females, and the
poor; it should highlight the historical crimes of whites, males, and the rich;
and it should teach students that science’s method has no better claim to yielding
truth than any other method and, accordingly, that students should be equally
receptive to alternative ways of knowing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Contradictions at the heart of postmodernism</h3>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">There is *no* narrative but there *is* a postmodern narrative</h4><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">Across the board, we hear, on the one hand, abstract themes
of relativism and egalitarianism. Those themes come in both epistemological and
ethical forms. Objectivity is a myth; there is no Truth, no Right Way to read
nature or a text. All interpretations are equally valid. Values are socially
subjective products. Culturally, therefore, no group’s values have special
standing. All ways of life from Afghani to Zulu are legitimate. <o:p></o:p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Tolerance to all ... but intolerance to those who disagree</h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">Coexisting with these relativistic and egalitarian themes,
we hear, on the other hand, deep chords of cynicism. Principles of civility and
procedural justice simply serve as masks for hypocrisy and oppression born of
asymmetrical power relations, masks that must be ripped off by crude verbal and
physical weapons: ad hominem argument, in-your-face shock tactics, and equally
cynical power plays. Disagreements are met - not with argument, the benefit of
the doubt, and the expectation that reason can prevail - but with assertion,
animosity, and a willingness to resort to force. </p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-67130533891608166582023-01-15T07:54:00.013+00:002023-02-23T09:16:46.309+00:00Cancel culture and gender ideology in the Green Party<p style="text-align: left;">This is an extraordinary story of how an ordinary Green Party member was cancelled and suspended over alleged
transphobia and anti-semitism in 2021 - for trying to assert
women’s and children’s rights in a party that has been captured by gender
identity ideologues.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My story is not unprecedented. The trouble has been brewing
since at least 2016 (as I outline <a name="_Hlk123674349">in </a><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Hlk123674349'></span><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Hlk123674349'><i><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>REF _Ref123588949 \h <span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>\* MERGEFORMAT <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span></i></span><![endif]--><i>Gender identity politics in the Green
Party<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:data>08D0C9EA79F9BACE118C8200AA004BA90B02000000080000000E0000005F005200650066003100320033003500380038003900340039000000</w:data>
</xml><![endif]--></i><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Hlk123674349'></span><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> below<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:data>08D0C9EA79F9BACE118C8200AA004BA90B02000000080000000E0000005F005200650066003100320033003500380039003000310031000000</w:data>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-bookmark:_Hlk123674349'></span><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My cancellation started in January 2021 when my 'gender critical' <a href="https://spaces.greenparty.org.uk/user/auth/login" target="_blank">Green Space</a> discussion page was abruptly deleted by the party’s
chief exec. This was followed in February by complaints against me that led to
a ‘no-fault suspension’ (NFS) for 'transphobia' and 'anti-semitism'.</p><p class="MsoNormal">That, gentle readers, is the short read. Please
allow me to introduce myself and recount this sorry tale.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600466">My local Green Party</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">I joined the Green Party in
Colchester in about 2006. Colchester Green Party has about 150 members of whom
about ten per cent are fairly active campaigners. I was the election agent. We focused on typical bread-and-butter green issues: air pollution in the town centre,
recycling, and arguing the green case in planning applications. In 2019 we got <a href="https://colchestergreenparty.co.uk/get-involved-2/" target="_blank">Mark Goacher </a>elected as the first-ever Green on Colchester Borough Council.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600467">The national Green Party</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">The party has over 50,000 members, a
turnover of £2 million a year, a score of paid staff at its London
headquarters, telegenic leaders, one MP, the sainted Caroline Lucas, and lots
of local councillors. (At May 2022, the tally was <a href="file:///C:/Users/robbi/Downloads/447%20seats%20on%20141%20councils">447
seats on 141 councils</a>.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was confident that the party was in safe hands and that the supreme decision-maker - <a href="https://www.greenparty.org.uk/conference/" target="_blank">Conference</a> - was taking important
decisions with care and integrity and a truly one-member-one-vote democracy that was the envy of other parties. </p><p class="MsoNormal">In practice, local party members are generally too busy on local issues to get involved at the national level. Attendance at Conference is dismally low, usually about 500 members (one per cent of total membership). This means that a determined,
well-organised faction can control the conference agenda and capture important
central committees. This is what the gender ideologists have been doing since at
least 2016, when the ‘transwomen are women’ motion was passed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I knew there was controversy about the gender issue, but I reckoned it was a minor issue that would soon be resolved. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I was more attuned to it than most: I had a close family acquaintance with a gender non-conforming teenager. So I commented from a ‘gender
critical’ point of view. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600469">My Green Space about Keira Bell and GIDS</a> <o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Any Green Party member can set up a discussion page on the
party’s internal forum, known as Green Spaces, on virtually any topic. But the
gender critical Greens had not so far set one up. I did so in autumn
2020 and mainly posted about the case of <a href="https://capx.co/the-keira-bell-case-was-not-a-defeat-for-trans-people-but-a-victory-for-restraint/">Keira
Bell versus the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS)</a>, which in December 2020 effectively (if briefly) <a href="https://capx.co/the-keira-bell-case-was-not-a-defeat-for-trans-people-but-a-victory-for-restrain">stopped
the NHS from prescribing puberty blocking drugs to under-18s</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was labelled 'transphobic'. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I persisted anyway, asking why weren’t Greens speaking out about this?
Normally, we are wary of untested, new technology and we are naturally opposed
to consumerism. I argued that Greens, of all people, should understand how
corporate, consumer capitalism constantly strives to find new markets for
economic growth and profit; medical interventions for unhappy, trans-identified
children were the latest in a long line of fraudulent promises that there is a
new product that will finally make you live happily ever after.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I urged fellow Greens to “follow the money”. This was what had guided the journalists who uncovered the Watergate scandal
in 1972, which toppled President Nixon. It now guides Jennifer Bilek, whose
blog at <a href="http://www.the11thhourblog.com/">www.the11thhourblog.com</a>
focuses on medical interventions for transgender people and the profits to be
made from creating a market for lifelong, costly hormone treatment and for
sex-change surgeries on physically healthy individuals. It is a lucrative new
market that was almost non-existent last century.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600471">George Soros - an anti-semitic trope?</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I quoted Bilek’s blogpost at <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-lgbt-nonprofits-and-their-billionaire-patrons-are-reshaping-the-world">how-lgbt-nonprofits-and-their-billionaire-patrons-are-reshaping-the-world</a>
on my Gender Critical Green Space, I was asked why I had included mention of George
Soros: I was advised that this was an ‘anti-semitic trope’, that is a slur,
canard or myth. But it is a glib and lazy trick to say that <i>any</i> mention
of George Soros constitutes an ‘anti-semitic trope’. Anti-semitism is despicable, which is why the accusation of anti-semitism is often used nowadays as an easy way to vilify opponents.
<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45030552">This happened in the
Labour Party to Jeremy Corbyn</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> in 2020</span>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I reject the accusation of anti-semitism. I merely repeated
Bilek’s statement that George Soros and his Open Society Foundation have been
funding gender ideology. This happens to be true: Michael Biggs, Professor of
Sociology at Oxford University, corroborates this at <a href="https://4thwavenow.com/2018/05/25/the-open-society-foundations-the-transgender-movement">4thwavenow
… open-society-foundations-the-transgender-movement</a>. I think it is
fair to question why prominent, wealthy philanthropists, whatever their gender or race, are funding gender
ideology.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc123600472">Deletion of my Gender Critical Green Space</a></h3><h2><a name="_Hlk76815932"></a><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, I don’t know why my Gender Critical Green Space was
deleted - abruptly and without warning - on 27 January 2021 by the party’s chief exec, Mary Clegg. I suspect that my mention of George Soros had something to do with it. <o:p></o:p>All I was told was that my page had been </p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">“removed for numerous breaches of the Code of Conduct. This is in response to notifications from other users of Green Spaces.” </p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">But, as my page was deleted without trace, it’s impossible now to judge what the breaches of the Code of Conduct were, nor who had complained. Very convenient.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc67660501">‘No-fault suspension’ </a><o:p></o:p>complaint by anon LGBTIQA+ Green</h3><h2><a name="_Toc123600473"></a></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 24 February 2021 I was put on ‘no-fault suspension’(NFS), which has now lasted nearly two years and continues to prevent me having
any dealings with the party at local, regional and national level.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">NFS is reserved for the most serious complaints - the ones where there is “an immediate risk to the party or to bodies or individuals unless suspension is activated” according
to <i>Standing Orders for Party Discipline</i>, para 3.2. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The NFS decision is taken by the Green
Party Regional Council (GPRC), whose meetings every three months have continually renewed my NFS <i>without ever</i> looking at the defence I submitted as soon as it was imposed. (This is normal GPRC practice: only the case for the
prosecution is made out, never the defence.)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a breach of the rules of natural justice (and the Human
Rights Act 1998, Article 6, right to a fair trial), which require a body which
is carrying out a judicial role (GPRC in this case) to listen to both sides before
passing judgment. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No-fault suspension cannot be imposed in a vacuum. It normally
has to be harnessed to a complaint of a breach of the party’s code of conduct. Mine was imposed for a complaint by an anonymous member on
behalf of LGBTIQA+ Greens. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Anonymous complaints are allowed but only under <i>Standing
Orders for Party Discipline</i>, para 3.7, which states: “The name of the
complainant should be disclosed to the respondent unless the complainant has
requested anonymity, with reasons. The Referral group shall consider and
determine any request for anonymity.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Complaints Form provided no reasons for anonymity. Para
3.7 adds that: “On request from the respondent, the Referral Group shall review
a complainant's anonymity.” When I asked them to, they reviewed the case and upheld the complainant's anonymity. (Since then, maybe due to misaddressed emails or some other bureaucratic bungle, the Complaints Manager has revealed to me the complainant's identity!)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc123600475">Complaints of breach of code of conduct</a></h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2><p class="MsoNormal">Two complaints were made against me in the same week in February 2021 and, as explained above, the NFS was imposed for the first one, which alleged transphobia and anti-semitism. It was
supported by six screenshots: two retweets and four posts in Green
Spaces. <a name="_Toc67660500">The latter were part of the internal
members-only website, so could not conceivably have been bringing the party
into disrepute with <i>outsiders</i>. </a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Toc67660500">As for Twitter, one o</a>f my retweets
was <a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/they-got-her">#thestanilandquestion</a>, which is where @helenstaniland asks: “Do
you believe that male-sexed people should have the right to undress and shower
in a communal changing room with teenage girls?” </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other was
of a statement that Sian Berry supports the erasure of sex as a protected
characteristic. Well, I think she does. In a pluralist party, it should be fine
to say so, and to disagree with the leaders. After all, the party’s Code of
Conduct at para 8.1 states that: “Members’ right to freedom of thought,
conscience and belief should be respected.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPASxKgQ4ZuuLGctxpev7OwlpBnHXiTtfqSYO3NvI3OcXgPO-YJOpFwJP1HDFSNJRtCxUvG1Z-lQ2uRdwut5Zm8eEQ-QXEtTSW9sKhY9_htyT8NCRBQweYqxdchixvq1awqSbqcNhgsgs3OUtAMMLltwxXiaLnj4b90BGcnpjPNWsa69Twc0Kvl32b" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="940" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPASxKgQ4ZuuLGctxpev7OwlpBnHXiTtfqSYO3NvI3OcXgPO-YJOpFwJP1HDFSNJRtCxUvG1Z-lQ2uRdwut5Zm8eEQ-QXEtTSW9sKhY9_htyT8NCRBQweYqxdchixvq1awqSbqcNhgsgs3OUtAMMLltwxXiaLnj4b90BGcnpjPNWsa69Twc0Kvl32b=w400-h135" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">The second complaint was filed by Richard Firth of Leeds Green
Party. He is someone who knows the complaints system well. He is both a
serial complainant and someone who has been disciplined for his own breaches of
the code of conduct. In 2020 he was suspended for a year after he posted about
‘petrifying some terfs’ and how he would ‘rather be a pervert than a terf' - see
<a href="https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3872388-Richard-Firth-suspended-from-Green-Party?msgid=98412751">www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3872388-Richard-Firth-suspended-from-Green-Party</a>.
The suspension was lifted in January 2021, allegedly on a technicality, before
the year was up. This was just in time for him to make a complaint about me!</p><p class="MsoNormal">In November 2021 an ‘investigator’ was appointed to look into the first complaint. Thom Robinson (DC Member, North East region) interviewed me on or about Friday 18 February 2022 via Zoom. That was already a year after the NFS started. Unfortunately, Robinson has been on extended sick leave ever since and has never filed his investigation report, without which the case cannot proceed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I complained that justice delayed is justice denied and eventually, in summer 2022, the complaints manager assured me that an alternative investigator would be appointed. But as at January 2023, none has been.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The second complaint was heard on 28 May 2022. I was too stressed
to attend. In my absence I was given a slap on the wrist - about the
lowest level of sanction available. The disposal of the second complaint does not lift my NFS, because the NFS is attached to the first complaint.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc123600478">Gender identity politics in the Green Party</a></h2><h1><a name="_Ref123588949"></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my view, the divisive discourse on gender identity
politics is the most urgent issue in the Green Party today. It needs to be
resolved before we can move forward with our mission to mitigate the ecological
and environmental crisis and tackle other issues of social justice. Otherwise,
there will be more suspensions and expulsions, not to mention the departure of
members who have had enough. Here are some examples.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600479">Olivia Palmer (2018)</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://lgbtiqa.greenparty.org.uk/2018/05/10/action-taken-on-transphobic-abuse-during-channel-4-genderquake-programme">Olivia
Palmer was expelled for alleged ‘transphobic abuse’</a> directed at Munroe
Bergdorf, a male-to-constructed-female, on Channel 4’s Genderquake programme in
May 2018: see her blog at <a href="https://perspicats.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/the-genderquake-debate-fiasco-and-the-mccarthyism-that-followed/">perspicats…genderquake-debate-fiasco-and-the-mccarthyism-that-followed</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600480">Andy Healey (2019)</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-andy-healy">Andy
Healey was suspended for alleged transphobia</a> (from <a href="https://twitter.com/djandyhealey/status/1107717174251139080?lang=en">2019</a>
to 2021) in relation to safeguarding.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600481">Dee Searle and Bea Campbell (2020)</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two critiques that I read in 2020 that still stand out
as prescient and accurate were the resignations of Dee Searle (July 2020, <a href="http://londongreenleft.blogspot.com/2020/07/can-green-party-be-saved-from-its.html">‘Can
the Green Party be Saved from its Leadership Clique?’</a>) and <a href="http://www.beatrixcampbell.co.uk/bad-dreams-greens-and-gender/" target="_blank">BeaCampbell, whose July 2020 blog</a> describes bullying, authoritarianism and
narcissism among the gender ideology activists.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600482">Dom Armstrong (2021)</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Early in 2021, <a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/statement-by-dom-armstrong-ex-green">Dom
Armstrong</a>, the only Green Party councillor ever elected in Washington/
Sunderland, resigned over the issue. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600483">GPEW co-leaders, Jonathan Bartley and Siân Berry
(2021)</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">In summer 2021, in a move that was, in my view, caused by
their concerns about toxic gender ideology in the party, both co-leaders
resigned. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/05/green-party-co-leader-jonathan-bartley-steps-down-after-five-years">Jonathan
Bartley, co-leader for five years, resigned on 5 July</a>. On 14 July, Siân Berry, his joint co-leader,
resigned and gave as a reason an <a href="https://www.sianberry.london/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Statement_Sian_Berry_FINAL_July_2021.pdf">“inconsistency”
between the party’s promises and actions on trans rights</a>. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL_ISDSif8AMWAJ9AEYhg28ZInReGiGz_HtAOF_XCYyyQYoXFQiSZyl4TTEDikDPtVDbtztFyiWan5AmWlybM4NvuMT-1gTrZf3jBYCaxR-Qeg78PZl6ABci38eHzyoh0Kvh6L7eXBBvyBWwRc-cXJQYfTLf4dmA0vEMFE3AHwFa8f6SgHDzwElWe/s680/Sian%20Berry%20London%20Trans.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="680" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL_ISDSif8AMWAJ9AEYhg28ZInReGiGz_HtAOF_XCYyyQYoXFQiSZyl4TTEDikDPtVDbtztFyiWan5AmWlybM4NvuMT-1gTrZf3jBYCaxR-Qeg78PZl6ABci38eHzyoh0Kvh6L7eXBBvyBWwRc-cXJQYfTLf4dmA0vEMFE3AHwFa8f6SgHDzwElWe/w400-h225/Sian%20Berry%20London%20Trans.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3><a name="_Toc123600484">Court cases vs GPEW</a><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">As at January 2023, three party members are taking the Green
Party to court.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Shahrar Ali, former Deputy Leader, is “challenging
an unlawful discriminatory and oppressive campaign” to remove him as the Green
Party Spokesperson for Policing and Domestic Safety. Since 2018, he has been
subjected to abuse and harassment for expressing gender critical views and
trying to seek rational consensus about matters of sex and gender identity. See:
<a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/worthy-of-respect-in-a-political-party/">Worthy
of Respect in A Political Party</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Emma Bateman, who was co-chair of Green Party
Women, and would be still, but for yet another No-Fault Suspension, is
“challenging the Green Party to stand up for sense, science and our sex based
rights.” See: <a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/equality-act-investigation-aga">The
Green Party must respect our sex!</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l12 level1 lfo16; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Dawn Furness “devoted 8 years to a political
party that expelled [her] after whistleblowing on safeguarding & Women's
sex-based rights” and is taking the Green Party to court for institutional
sexism, and discrimination on the grounds of sex and on the basis of my Gender
Critical beliefs. See <a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/dawn-furness">Institutional
Sexism in the Green Party</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<h1 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc123600485">Conclusion</a></h1><h1><o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since waking up in 2020 to how the national Green Party has
been captured by gender identity politics, I have joined the gender critical
side: we believe we are speaking up for (what we perceive as) truth and women’s
and children’s rights. </p><p class="MsoNormal">On the other side are the gender ideologists, also
arguing for their perceived truth, which is unconditional acceptance for
everyone who identifies as 'LGBTIQA+'. (This is an evolving acronym that stands
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual
and more; the plus sign denotes many other terms such as non-binary and
pansexual.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve realised that most Greens (and most of the
general public) fall into a third category: people who are well-meaning but
bewildered and don’t want to upset anyone by using the wrong pronouns. Most
Greens don’t know that gender ideology continues to tear the party apart. Some
Greens know but ignore it because it is too toxic. They ought to know better.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know who will prevail, but it seems that there is
growing public awareness of how authoritarian and malicious the trans activists
are: whatever examples I could give here would doubtless soon be superseded by
yet more egregious events, so instead I’ll refer gentle readers to <a href="https://gendercriticalwoman.blog/">gendercriticalwoman.blog</a> and <a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/">grahamlinehan.substack</a> and <a href="https://substack.com/profile/91305008-julie-bindel">juliebindel.substack</a>
for more details.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I want to stress that nothing in what I have said
is about ‘transphobia’, defined as hating or fearing transgender men or women
as individuals. My problem is with the ideology, not the people. The slur that
gender-critical people like me are transphobic is rather like saying that
people who criticise the Pope’s cover-up of paedophile priests must hate all
Catholics, or like saying that people who criticise Israel over Palestine must be full of hatred of all Jews.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please let me know - in the comments below - if you support my case to lift the suspension
and reject the complaints against me.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">PS. 23 Feb 2023. </h2><p class="MsoNormal">Re being cancelled from your favourite political party, here is Heather Brunskell-Evans' sorry tale of losing her position as a
Spokeswoman for the Women’s Equality Party’s (WEP) policy on Violence Against
Women and Girls due to her alleged “prejudice against the transgender community” (which sounds like WEP-speak for what the Green Party calls "transphobia"):</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>As a result of my views expressed on the Moral Maze Radio 4
on November 15th, 2017 complaints were made by one or more party members, and I
became the subject of a 3-month investigation. The Executive Committee upheld
the complaints and on February 20th, 2018 my elected position was taken from
me. </blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Read on at <a href="http://www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/open-letter" target="_blank">www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/open-letter</a>. </p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-81727013656349216012023-01-11T15:26:00.052+00:002023-02-23T09:19:41.969+00:00Quaker bookshop suppresses books by Quaker philosopher<p style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Since 2018 the Quaker Centre Bookshop at Friends House in London has been suppressing gender-critical books by Heather Brunskell-Evans<span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 4 September 2018 the <a href="https://www.quaker.org.uk/resources/bookshop" target="_blank">Quaker Centre Bookshop</a> hosted an event. It was a <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-christine-burns-editor-of-trans-britain-tickets-48207762716" target="_blank">‘booklaunch’</a> for <i>Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows</i>, edited by Christine
Burns, who is a transwoman and activist but is not a Quaker.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Earlier that year, <a href="http://www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans</a> and
a colleague had published a book, <a href="https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-0398-4" target="_blank"><i>Transgender
Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body</i></a>. Heather Brunskell-Evans
(HBE for short, henceforth) is a social theorist and philosopher with a
particular interest in feminism and bio-politics. She is a Quaker.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Following the book launch for <i>Trans Britain</i>, HBE
asked the Quaker Centre Bookshop to hold an event to celebrate the publication
of her own book. Two significant differences were the authors’ status – HBE was
a Quaker and Burns was not – and the books’ different attitudes to gender
non-conforming children: HBE’s book advocates a cautious approach to children
who want to change gender, while Burns’ book advocates that they take ‘puberty blockers’
and cross-sex hormones; and it calls women who express concern about these
ideas ‘transphobes’ and ‘Terfs’. (This stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminists;
for more on this derogatory term, see <a href="http://www.terfisaslur.com/" target="_blank">www.terfisaslur.com</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, it has long been the custom and practice of the Bookshop
to promote books that are written by Quakers. This could be by hosting a book
launch or putting the book on prominent display or both. Neither was the case
for HBE’s book, however, and the obvious conclusion is that the point of view that
it describes is one that certain Quakers would rather suppress. HBE was informed
by Bookshop manager James Newman in December 2018 that her book launch 'cannot
take place in January [2019], or in the foreseeable future’.<span></span></p><!--more--> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One reason given was, as HBE put it in her letter to <i><a href="https://thefriend.org" target="_blank">The Friend</a></i>
in December 2020, that: </p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">‘The “safety of Friends House staff” (grown adults
frightened by my ideas about the wrong of medical intervention) was given
precedence over a book throwing light on practices which threaten the <i>actual
</i>safety of children and turns them into medical patients for life.’</p></blockquote><p>At the
opposite extreme, another reason given was the risk that the event would attract
violent protest by transactivists.</p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">Moving on, HBE then asked if her book could nevertheless be
put on display in the Bookshop. This request too was refused. While Burns' book
was at one time prominently placed at the till and at another time there was a
special display of books on Trans and Queer Theory, HBE reports that, to the
best of her knowledge, her book was never placed on public display. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By way of a postscript, this is what happened to two more
books published by HBE. In 2019 she and her colleague <a href="https://cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-3638-8" target="_blank">published a follow-up</a>
to <i>Transgender Children and Young People</i> but so demoralised was she that
she did not even ask the Bookshop to stock it. In 2020 she published <a href="https://bookshop.quaker.org.uk/Transgender-Body-Politics_9781925950229" target="_blank"><i>Transgender
Body Politics</i></a>. For some time
(around January 2022 at least) it was not available in the Bookshop’s online
catalogue. As at January 2023, a catalogue search for ‘transgender’ brings up
eight titles. The only one that seems to be authored by a Quaker and critical of trans
ideology is <i>Transgender Body Politics</i>; it is also the only one without a
thumbnail image of its cover and it is listed as ‘out of stock’! </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAXfkNAHUS5oM8ah25Q3STWJGriRZ7GsLHX_kyiplMPCJbfnDALdzfi1yptgIXCN2ZDXLNKL9ks_fmcaeF6crJmi_zzFaDdfrmzWvrJJOuLVHY5XhmSSTaHdOzW_ZTiPZneUHzg0JOuhsW_E-UsMISE1d3Zi_UxtTlTIQ3wD11TGwVTyPIc3ki27K/s1080/2023-01-06%20Quaker%20Bookshop%20search%20transgender.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="478" height="959" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAXfkNAHUS5oM8ah25Q3STWJGriRZ7GsLHX_kyiplMPCJbfnDALdzfi1yptgIXCN2ZDXLNKL9ks_fmcaeF6crJmi_zzFaDdfrmzWvrJJOuLVHY5XhmSSTaHdOzW_ZTiPZneUHzg0JOuhsW_E-UsMISE1d3Zi_UxtTlTIQ3wD11TGwVTyPIc3ki27K/w427-h959/2023-01-06%20Quaker%20Bookshop%20search%20transgender.png" width="427" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-indent: -24px;">Quaker Bookshop search transgender 6jan2023</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0klvctUVV6eVtJL12uzYA6M9VIqGZimrr44C3cf4vo5pUmrmPl5vjZ1fNRkF-7arRDaYpbMMAQ8gr6isWup_6rVUB-X061LljSNs7m6aCBW8DPO6ye2OKfgxyRR9zmFfnDiUoKgN0XjjFjgCag4_bBM1Ibk2aAVLp6RICu3wFiwGXixasFpauZvXC/s922/2023-01-06%20Quaker%20Bookshop%20Transgender%20Body%20Politics%20out%20of%20stock.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="670" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0klvctUVV6eVtJL12uzYA6M9VIqGZimrr44C3cf4vo5pUmrmPl5vjZ1fNRkF-7arRDaYpbMMAQ8gr6isWup_6rVUB-X061LljSNs7m6aCBW8DPO6ye2OKfgxyRR9zmFfnDiUoKgN0XjjFjgCag4_bBM1Ibk2aAVLp6RICu3wFiwGXixasFpauZvXC/w466-h640/2023-01-06%20Quaker%20Bookshop%20Transgender%20Body%20Politics%20out%20of%20stock.png" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Quaker Bookshop Transgender Body Politics out of stock 6jan2023</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>PS. </b>3 Feb 2023.</h2><p class="MsoNormal">Getting your book launch cancelled isn’t something that only
happens to HBE. It happens to other gender critical authors too. <o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Sarah Phillimore’s proposed book launch on 2 Dec 2022 for <i><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/author/sarah-phillimore/1787283">Transpositions:
Personal journeys into gender criticism</a></i> was cancelled for promoting
“hate, danger and violence” by the EventBrite ticketing site – as Sarah wrote
in <a href="https://thecritic.co.uk/why-is-eventbrite-obstructing-my-book-launch">The
Critic</a> on 27 Oct 2022. <o:p></o:p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">PPS. 23 Feb 2023. </h2><p class="MsoNormal">As well as being cancelled by the Quakers, Heather Brunskell-Evans has the distincton of also being cancelled from her political party. Here is the sorry tale of how she lost her position as a Spokeswoman for the Women’s Equality Party’s (WEP) policy on Violence Against Women and Girls due to her alleged “prejudice against the transgender community”:</p><blockquote>As a result of my views expressed on the Moral Maze Radio 4 on November 15th, 2017 complaints were made by one or more party members, and I became the subject of a 3-month investigation. The Executive Committee upheld the complaints and on February 20th, 2018 my elected position was taken from me.</blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Read on at <a href="http://www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/open-letter" target="_blank">www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/open-letter</a>. </p><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-24809939653493425492023-01-08T17:48:00.016+00:002023-01-08T18:06:46.198+00:00 trans day of remembrance for LGBT persons murdered by other LGBT persons<p>Just watched Maria MacLachlan’s YouTube entitled <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmQ3N4vweL8&t=184s">Handmaid's tale
#3: Scott McLaughlin</a></i> and noticed two comments:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jen Woo: I wonder if his name will be swelling the ranks for
'trans day of remembrance'</li><li>dragonfox 2.0: will he be in the trans day of remembrance?
god knows no trans "woman" should ever die</li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This sparked an idea, which is based on <i><a href="https://kareningalasmith.com/counting-dead-women">Counting Dead Women</a></i>,
the annual list published by Karen Ingala Smith, and which I’d like to outline
here and ask: what do people think?<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">By way of context, if you haven’t watched Maria’s report, Amber/Scott McLaughlin, is set to become the first transgender prisoner to
be executed in Missouri, USA. McLaughlin began transitioning while on death row
for the horrific rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther, in
2003.</p><p class="MsoNormal">First off, I’m opposed to the death penalty on principle and
I abhor its use in Missouri and other US states. That aside, I am astounded by
the historical revisionism – I won’t say ‘lies’ because that might get me in trouble
for defamation – of the tweeters quoted by Maria as saying that McLaughlin should not be executed because he committed no crime and/or was not
convicted of a crime!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here is my proposal. Next time there is a trans awareness or
remembrance day, I’d like to stand there and calmly read out Maria’s 'remembrance'
of Amber/Scott McLaughlin. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two questions for gentle readers. Would you join me? Who else
should be on the list of ‘remembrance’?<o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Trans day of remembrance and trans awareness week</h2><h1><o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">A 'trans day of remembrance' (Tdor) is held annually on 30
November and 'trans awareness week' takes place in the week leading up to it. See:
<a href="https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/trans-day-remembrance-what-it-and-why-it-needed">www.stonewall.org.uk</a>
and <a href="https://tdor.tgeu.org/">tdor.tgeu.org</a> and <a href="http://www.glaad.org/transweek">www.glaad.org/transweek</a> for details. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Other people who could be on the list of ‘remembrance’?</h2><h1><o:p></o:p></h1>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Dana Rivers</h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">I see parallels between Scott McLaughlin and the case of trans-identified
male, <a href="http://www.feministcurrent.com/2022/11/16/whats-current-trans-activist-dana-rivers-found-guilty-of-triple-murder">Dana
Rivers</a>, born David Chester Warfield in 1955: see <a href="http://www.karadansky.com/state-v-dana-rivers-updates">www.karadansky.com/state-v-dana-rivers-updates</a>.
Rivers is not facing a death penalty as California seems to have ceased capital
punishment; he is probably facing a life in prison, and the remembrance would
be more about the three people he brutally murdered: Patricia Wright and
Charlotte Reed, a married lesbian couple, and Toto Diambu (known as Benny
Diambu-Wright), their 19-year-old son.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">LGBT ‘hero’ Amy Griffiths brutally murdered in 2019</h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the names already on the Tdor list is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9351791/Convicted-armed-robber-jailed-life-murdering-hero-LGBT-community.html">Amy
Griffiths</a> who was brutally murdered at the age of 51 in her flat in Droitwich,
Worcestershire, in January 2019 by Martin Saberi. Griffiths was remembered as a
'hero' in the local LGBT community. But there seems to be more to her murder
than plain and simple transphobia.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The killer was aged 53 and of Wallington in south London and
was on licence after serving 16 years for robbery. He had met Griffiths on a transgender
dating website in the previous year. Only days before he killed Griffiths with
"extreme violence", he had <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/11/convicted-robber-martin-saberi-jailed-murdering-woman-dating-site-amy-griffiths">stabbed
a 59-year-old woman</a> in the neck outside a shop in London. Saberi was
convicted on 11 March 2021 for murder. Sending him to jail for life, the Judge commented:
“I accept that your mental illness was a factor in the killing. Whether it was
a significant factor is difficult to determine.” See <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9351791/Convicted-armed-robber-jailed-life-murdering-hero-LGBT-community.html" target="_blank">www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9351791...</a>
and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/11/convicted-robber-martin-saberi-jailed-murdering-woman-dating-site-amy-griffiths" target="_blank">www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/11...</a>
for details. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Comment</h4><h3><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a ghastly case. The reason why it’s on the Tdor list
is because the victim was a male-to-constructed female. There are, I suggest, three
other significant points. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Firstly, the perpetrator was a serially violent man, a
symbol, if you like, of male-pattern violence, and the sort of man who needs to
be locked up permanently for the safety of everyone else, whatever their gender.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Secondly, the killer was someone who seems to be under the
trans umbrella himself. I can’t find any details apart from the one about
meeting the victim on a transgender dating website. To the extent that Sabieri was
under the trans umbrella himself, this is a case of one trans person being murdered
by another trans person. Obviously, I might be wrong: maybe Sabieri saw himself
as a vigilante with a mission to deceive trans people and dispose of them for the
greater good, a true “transphobe” in other words. (This is like another vigilante,
the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’, who seems to have thought he was cleaning up the streets
by killing prostitutes and loose women.) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Or maybe Sabieri was deranged: the Judge did say his mental
illness was a factor. That is the third point that I believe is significant because
it comes up in other cases. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Club Q massacre in Colorado on 19 November 2022</h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">If Amy Griffiths’ murder was a crime of trans person upon trans
person, it would not be the first. Nor would it be the first time that there
was a cover-up of the fact that a murder of trans persons was committed by another
trans person. I refer to the massacre at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado
Springs just before midnight on 19 November 2022. Jumping to conclusions before
the evidence was in, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/23/the-massacre-at-club-q-didnt-happen-in-a-vacuum-there-has-been-a-dangerous-escalation-in-hateful-anti-lgbt-rhetoric">Guardian
journalist Arwa Mahdawi (commentisfree,</a> 23 Nov 2022) blamed this on an “escalation
in dangerously dehumanising anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric”. She wrote: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>“On the eve of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a gunman
opened fire in an LGBTQ+ nightclub, killing five people and injuring at least
25 in what is widely thought to have been a hate crime.” </blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other reports say <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/17/1143831958/club-q-shooting-suspect-judge-earlier-warning-colorado-springs">17
people were injured</a>, by the way: so much for ‘comment is free and facts are
sacred’, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainability/cp-scott-centenary-essay">as
someone at the Guardian once said</a>, and the Guardian, to its credit, did <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/06/colorado-springs-club-q-shooting-suspect-charged">correct
the fact later</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once again, this was a ghastly crime and seems to bear the same
three hallmarks as the case of Amy Griffiths. Firstly, the accused, one Anderson
Lee Aldrich, then aged 22, was a violent man, having been arrested over a year
beforehand for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/17/1143831958/club-q-shooting-suspect-judge-earlier-warning-colorado-springs">threatening
their own family with a homemade bomb, ammunition and multiple weapons</a> and being
booked into jail on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/06/colorado-springs-club-q-shooting-suspect-charged">suspicion
of felony menacing and kidnapping</a>. Secondly, the accused seems to be under
the trans umbrella. Their defence lawyers say Aldrich identifies as nonbinary and
uses they/them pronouns. Thirdly, they (Aldrich, that is, not the defence
lawyers!) say that they suffered repeated abuse as a young child by their
father and they struggle with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar
disorder.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mahdawi may be right or wrong that the murderer was motivated
by hate. It’s a nice legal distinction. But the murderer was, as far as we
know, not a Proud Boy or any of the other revolting people that Mahdawi is talking
about when she refers to an “escalation in dangerously dehumanising anti-LGBTQ+
rhetoric”. It is not the first time the Guardian has got the wrong end of the
stick. Their report on the Wi-Spa flasher was also famously back to front. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If there are other people who you think could be on my list
of ‘remembrance’ please say in the Comments below. <o:p></o:p></p>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-30021792606142349012023-01-06T23:11:00.002+00:002023-01-06T23:11:14.174+00:00autistic teenager's hate-crime of questioning transgender PCIn February 2020 in Mold, North Wales, Declan Armstrong, 19, was convicted of using abusive or insulting words to cause harassment. He had asked if a transgender police officer “was a boy or a girl”.
See <a href="www.womenarehuman.com/autistic-teen-found-guilty-of-hate-crime-for-asking-police-officers-sex-autism-group-condemns-prosecution" target="_blank">www.womenarehuman.com/autistic-teen-found-guilty-of-hate-crime-for-asking-police-officers-sex-autism-group-condemns-prosecution</a>Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736982600157488457.post-65587552221849572982022-12-30T10:04:00.002+00:002022-12-30T10:04:12.547+00:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1540503.Why_Freud_Was_Wrong" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1184927896l/1540503._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1540503.Why_Freud_Was_Wrong">Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2743739.Richard_Webster">Richard Webster</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5202850095">1 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Rarely have I read a book where the author tries so hard to impress upon his readers the breadth of his study and knowledge of his subject. It's hard to believe that Webster would have intended to make his readers feel small and ignorant. But if he truly intended to write for a lay audience, surely he should have fleshed out some of his vast generalisations and explained the background and context for people who haven't already read everything by and about Freud, as he seems to have done.<br /><br />Examples:<br />“The resemblances which Brown and Erikson found between Lutheran Protestantism and classical psychoanalysis can scarcely be disputed.” (Introduction, page 5: why )<br />“Sulloway’s book, like Roazen's, is a curious mixture of sceptical historicism and irrational piety.” (Prologue, page 21)<br /><br />I gave up at Chapter One, entitled “Caul and cocaine”, where Webster writes: “[Freud] had been born in a caul …” In a 500-page book, where “caul” is in the title of a chapter, Webster does not deign to explain what it is. A phrase like “the amniotic sack in which a baby is held in the womb” would have been helpful. But no, the implied message (in my humble opinion) seems to be that if you are that ignorant you shouldn’t be reading this book. <br /><br />I wish Webster could have explained in his Intro and Prologue why he thought Freud was wrong. What I got was mainly ‘Why Freud was Big-headed’ and ‘Why other people agreed with his high opinion of himself’. <br /><br />Webster was recommended to me by a good friend and the book has a gushing endorsement from Dervla Murphy on the cover, so I had high expectations of this book, but they were not fulfilled. I look forward to hearing about a book that explains why Freud was wrong!
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Robbie the Roadlesstravellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03297234365984897447noreply@blogger.com0