PhD Scientist. Allowing insults to silence you cedes your right to free speech to anybody who wants to take it. Banner Rawls. Chair
@LibVoice4Women
|Views my own
โThe witch was in reality the profoundest thinker, the most advanced scientist of those ages. The persecution which for ages waged against witches was in reality an attack upon science at the hands of the church. As knowledge has ever been power, the church feared its use in
Woman of the Day pioneering suffragist and abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage of Cicero, New York, died OTD 1878, aged 71. The Matilda Effect - when the achievements of women scientists are attributed to their male colleagues - is named for her because she first identified the
I believe in womenโs rights, plus I am a scientist. It is inevitable I wouldnโt support gender ideology. I hear often that gender ideology wonโt win because they came for the children. But I think thereโs something more fundamental than that. ๐งต
Gender ideology requires people to disbelieve the evidence of their own eyes. It is based on telling people what to do, what to say, what to think. It is not based on developing consensus, on gaining consent. It is authoritarian. Necessarily so.
โThe thing is, those appalled by my position often fail to grasp how truly despicable I find theirs. Iโve watched โno debateโ become the slogan of those who once posed as defenders of free speech.โ
@jk_rowling
speaks out (again) for women & free speech
I know of several women - including from the STEM sector where youโre supposed to use the scientific method and critical thinking - who lost their jobs on this issue. What did these women say? Maybe they said they liked JK Rowlingโs work, perhaps they expressed praise for a
@SloaneFragment
People do understand that, but there is a very real issues around the impact of puberty blockers on long term health. But the point I was making is that it is, and always has been possible to debate these things and those saying there was no debate are wrong.
Thank you
@bhcitynews
for your accurate reporting of the shocking events when women gathered to speak. "The event was organised by Let Women Speak, a free speech movement that aims to create spaces where women can speak about issues that affect them...She said that the police had
Many people have been following the Roz Adams Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre trial. Let's not forget what the male who runs the centre said in an interview regarding TW in women's spaces inc. rape crisis centres: "sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well...But these spaces
I have heard a lot this week about people being upset by โright wing rhetoricโ from the Tory party conference but I find myself thinking โwhat do people expect if the Liberals and the Left have vacated entire areas of human rights issues?โ Take the example of sex and gender ๐งต
During the general election campaign, I went canvassing in a whole variety of areas and spoke on the doorstep to about half a dozen Reform voters who often wanted to tell me why they were voting the way they were. ๐งต 1/
Thought provoking piece from a schoolgirl on the consequences of ideology in school "My generation prides itself on being the most welcoming, liberal, and tolerant one yet โ but the pretence of tolerance is instantly dropped when alternate viewpoints are brought to the table."1/3
I find it fascinating speaking to GC young women. I wasn't indoctrinated into this ideology growing up and I always want to know how they saw through this movement (and I always secretly wonder if I would've been able to at their age). Maybe they tell me about trans influencers
For how otherwise can you convince people to put their own needs, and e.g., the needs of their children and their elderly mothers aside for the new elite? The 0.1%. How else can you tell them they must ignore what they see, what their instincts are telling them?
Keir Starmer reiterates Labour's commitment to single-sex spaces. I wonder if he will be pilloried the same way
@ToniaAntoniazzi
was a few days ago for defending women's right to single-sex spaces?
This is why we don't tell people in the LDs about the councillors & MPs who speak to us, who come to our dinners, who attend our training, who privately say they don't like how we're treated, who privately confirm they agree with us. Being in a photo meant this for
@libdemdaisy
Instead, they went to the CEOs and told them this is what they had to tell their employees to gain a few points on an index they created. They went to Governments and told them to tie self-ID in with more popular policies and avoid press scrutiny.
The Dentonโs playbook lays out their strategy. They decided not to build support from the ground up and engage with the public and the press openly. How could they? They were asking people to put their needs aside for the 0.1%
โA group of women from Hull say they are avoiding mixed gender gyms because of sexual harassment from men. They said many women now avoid exercising and the problem was so widespread it needed "calling out". ๐ข (but
@BBCNews
sexโ gender)
@IanSollom
Ian I think you would agree that it is important there is a robust evidence base behind the efficacy and safety of any medical treatment that is recommended to an individual, especially those treatments with the potential for irreversible life-long harm, especially on children.
#NoDebate
was their mantra.
#OperationLetThemSpeak
! Take Stonewallโs Chair speaking on sky news. I had family round when we watched. By the end they could not help laughing at his inability to say anything coherent or answer the most basic questions.
#NoDebate
was never a sustainable strategy. If you canโt take the people with you, then you certainly canโt impose an ideology on people from above permanently โ not in a democracy. The same goes for free-thinking institutions.
Excellent letter in the BMJ "I urge major medical institutions to treat the Cass review as a significant event, and consider what they have contributed, both negative and positive, to the damning conclusions. Was speaking up in their organisation possible, and welcomed? Did
Imagine โMisogynistic behaviour may include (i) attempting directly or through advocacy to remove womenโs rights, (ii) misrepresenting women, (iii) abuse of women and (iv) systematically excluding women from discussions about issues that directly affect them.โ Instead of ๐
โFemale boxer (Dr. Katia Bissonnette) withdraws from Canadian tournament after being told her rival was transgender with an HOUR'S notice, leaving her fearing for her safetyโฆWalmsley was declared the winner by default.โ
Until we can speak about issues listening to all sides respectfully, we cannot find good solutions. Women's rights are a human rights issue and it is time the
@LibDems
engaged properly in the sex/gender debate.
#NotACultureWar
Join liberals here: (End)
"Iโve heard threats of violence being spewed by my own classmates...Students who disagree with gender ideology, including me, simply donโt speak out about their views due to the fear of ostracisation by peers..."3/3
@pippaheylings
I think it's really important to read Wes' words and the Cass report carefully. After the systematic reviews in Cass we now know there is weak evidence for any benefit of prescribing puberty blockers and increasing evidence of irreversible harm of children. Wes has said that
If you care about our beating liberal heart, are fed up with being told what you can do, say, think. If you sit silently on forums watching the toxicity but worry about speaking out then join us here; we are committed to the freedoms in our preamble:
Every time ideologues show their authoritarian stripes, people join us. No wonder they wanted
#NoDebate
. However, our MPs do not get to say what questions they will be asked by journalists, nor what comes up on the doorstep. Our MPs cannot choose
#NoDebate
Thank you to all the women including those from the
@WomensRightsNet
for going to their local hustings and raising questions about women's rights and the Cass Review, and for all those women ringing into radio shows. This has been an unbelievable exercise in grassroots democracy
This is the liberal way. However, I am in a so-called liberal Party that is not applying such principles to women in the sex/gender debate. We raise legitimate concerns and a small vocal faction immediately abuse us to shut us down. 9/
The same is also true for the Liberal Democrat party. There is a running joke that you put 5 Lib Dems in a room to discuss land tax reform and you end up with 6 opinions. Every time we find a platform to speak on people join us.
were some of the first to raise alarm bells. Professionals working in prisons and in psychology also raised the alarm about the actuality of sex-offending men identifying as women in order to get access to vulnerable women in prison:
So, if the Tories were the only ones willing to listen to women, to hear & understand the validity of their concerns, the only ones willing to have debate, to allow gender-critical stalls from womenโs groups at their conference, is it any wonder they are driving the narrative?
We hear constantly the debate about trans rights and womenโs rights is โtoo toxicโ, thereโs โtoo much heatโ and that everyone was happy until it was made into a โculture warโ by the Tories. This is an extreme rewriting of history. Left wing feminists such as
@bindelj
(note 2007!)
Women thought once they began to show what harm such trans activism was doing to their rights, to their dignity and safety that politicians and heads of organisations would listen. However, we have been proved wrong. Many turned away and refused to engage.
#NoDebate
in action.
I've been thinking a lot recently about single-sex care. Both men & women may want single-sex care for reasons of dignity & privacy - in addition women may have safety concerns. I went back to the GRR evidence sessions where wanting single-sex care was likened to
All of these calls, from mainly young males, using the usual tactics associated with shaming and silencing women. We see you. This isn't 'winning'; what you're enforcing on the party, on a liberal party, is 'obedience.' Making it too 'expensive' to push back against the extremism
โLike me, the members of the group were what's now known as 'gender-critical'. In other words, theyโฆagree that you cannot change your sex and want to ensure that women and girls retain their rights to single-sex spaces, toilets, changing rooms and sport.โ
Great article by Prof. Baxendale inc. following lines: "As an ideology became embedded into a medical service, the ethos of clinical enquiry, or even a cautionary approach, was effectively crushed via accusations of bigotry" plus this on the cognitive dissonance we see on Cass๐
โCruelty Cloaked in Compassionโ โGirls possessing the natural modesty to want to shield their bodies from the male gaze were bluntly told by one Illinois judge that they have no right to โvisual bodily privacy.โย
#BeKind
#WomensRightsAreHumanRights
These conversations have stuck with me. It is all too easy (and very lazy), instead of engaging with the substance of someoneโs point, to label people & dismiss them. I can imagine the illiberal left calling this person โracist,โ saying his point is a โracist dogwhistleโ 3/
This vacuum of awareness was entirely intentional. There was a strategy, discussed in โDentonโs playbookโ to drive the promotion of gender identity over sex throughout policy from the top-down, in secrecy to purposely avoid scrutiny from the general public
The Dentonโs playbook lays out their strategy. They decided not to build support from the ground up and engage with the public and the press openly. How could they? They were asking people to put their needs aside for the 0.1%
Some went further still. They abused and tried to shame women, accusing them of being โbigotsโ; โdinosaursโ; โshrillโ for wanting to discuss these issues. Is it any wonder this discussion has become heated given the silencing & defamation women have been subjected to?
"Iโve seen this culture of political fanaticism proliferate, where even teachers are afraid to speak against the dogma of the students. The online culture of no-debate seems to have leaked from internet forums into school..." 2/3
The standard names are โbigotโ, โtransphobeโ, โtransphobic dogwhistleโ to the points we raise; some are worse e.g., calling us a โpubic lice infestationโ; and what we say is so 'intolerable' to some they tell us to leave. 10/
It took high profile cases eg Karen White, a male rapist placed in a womenโs prison to highlight the issues. Once more women on the left and the right became aware of the issue they began to organise and mobilise, including grassroots apolitical organisations like
@fairplaywomen
Hello. Thanks to all the new followers (I may take a while to catch up!). Thank you
@treesey
for posting my F15 speech. I only had 2 minutes to put forward the case for debate rather than the 5 minutes to put forward the case for the amendment ๐งต
It seems the
@LibDems
and
@EdwardJDavey
have a serious problem giving women fair representation in their party.
Listen to these men heckle and jeer as she speaks:
But people have freedom of association and freedom of belief in our country. Eventually that call to be 'obedient' will not be heeded; eventually the cost of what you're asking will be greater than the cost of rebelling. Everyone has a breaking point.
#LetWomenSpeak
I recall in one of my first interactions with Lib Dem trans activists, for saying I agreed with the single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act, they told me I was a bigot that belonged in UKIP. I showed this exchange to my local party and they were horrified. At the activists 11/
What about the Lib Dems, whose liberal foundations are built on the teachings of J. S Mill who advocates for free speech? Well, it seems we walked off the pitch. It feels like we have vacated this entire debate to the Tories and now we shout โculture warโ from the sidelines.
(For example should schools with a certain % of children with English as a second/third language get some sort of financial support to hire more staff, get new tech etc, to support pupils.) Ignoring issues causes them to fester, become toxic, esp. if they become 'unspeakable' 7/
Within the Lib Dems
#NoDebate
continues. Some in the Party say it has to be a โsafe space.โ For whom? It doesnโt seem a โsafe spaceโ for women who want to have a measured debate about how we can balance these rights and make good policy decisions. Examples of the abuse we receive
โFive mums have died after family courts allowed fathers accused of abuse to apply for contact with their children, a BBC investigation has found.
Some took their own lives, another had a heart attack outside court.โ 1/2
If people can engage though in good faith with the points that people are raising on the doorstep, without attributing โmaliceโ to such points, but rather create a space to listen and understand there is of course an alternative. 5/
At last weekโs
@StandingforXX
event the first speaker said: โA famous feminist once said to meโฆthe trans activists have taken over your institutions. Who the flip do you think is going to give them back to you? Theyโre not.โ She is now Chair of N. London Fawcett Society.๐๐งต
So I was looking at the constitution of the
@NHSEngland
and
@SteveBarclay
I noticed they do not accurately use the correct terms for the protected characteristics in the EqA. Guess which one is changed?
It is not an issue that for decades ppl in all parties have been happy with, rather it is an issue most people were entirely unaware of. There was not a cross-party consensus, there was a cross-party vacuum without discussion of alternative perspectives.
For example, one man said, โI am worried about my grandkids who go to a school where half the children donโt speak English as their first language and the teacher has to give all her attention to them and my grandkids lose out.โ 2/
@judgejules75
That poor poor girl. Raping a 13 year old and getting a community sentence. She must have already been through a huge amount to get the case through the system. ๐ข
โFor many people, this is about how discrimination against women functions. It is not just done by one person; it is done by a system. This is the Spanish MeToo momentโฆan opportunity to focus everybody's attention on the treatment of women in football.โ
Both the illiberal left and the populist right are divisive. One looks to point to perceived โmoral failingsโ of the individual. The other looks to point the finger at some โotherโ group of people. It is through discussing in good faith though that we can resolve issues. 8/
When I look at the movement that has been created by GC women I am humbled by the courageous giants that walk amongst us. I will never forget the women who chose to stand up, despite the consequences, nor those that were able to, but chose to hide in the shadows saying nothing.
But the name calling is easy, it is lazy (and it is certainly illiberal). However, it discourages others from speaking out, it makes it almost impossible to have any reasonable discussion on this topic in the Party. Exactly what illiberal activists want. 13/
โPoliceย have arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in female genital mutilation at an unregistered school in Birmingham.โ Awful that FGM could be happening to girls anywhere, including in the UK where it has been outlawed since 1985.
Some had swallowed lobby groupโs misinformation and not only ignored women but actively silenced them and cancelled women trying to speak about these issues to prevent wider awareness raising at their organisations.
Also
@TimesRadio
can you explain just now why you spoke about a woman killing a cat and a man on the 5 o clock news? This was male on male violence as Bob discusses below using a similar BBC report. Your report was highly misleading. Does the truth not matter?
#NotOurCrimes
Here's the moment
@BBCNews
journalists falsely portrayed the male murderer Scarlet Blake (also known as Fangze Wangย and later Alice Wang) as a woman, to millions of UK viewers.
Remarkably, their previous story reached out to fact checkers BBC Verify..but were somehow not deemed
So, whatever the human rights issue you care about, if as Liberals we're refusing to engage because we say it's too โtoxicโ, we have no right to complain if we donโt like subsequent policies made by the Tories. If we want to shape the debate then we have to actually engage in it.
@Paul_Ilett
@Keir_Starmer
Womenโs rights are not a right wing culture war. Womenโs rights are human rights. This issue has been turned toxic bc for years women have been shunned, silenced and abused for defending their rights. The fact the tories are listening to women and some parties are not is telling
Some in the Libs Dems have declared the whole issue โtoo toxicโ, โtoo fraughtโ to even discuss our policy around puberty blockers (which needs updating in our view due to emerging evidence).
Being concerned about his grandchildrenโs education seems eminently reasonable. Is the concern borne out in real life on doing some research? Having determined if there is a legitimate concern, we could then tackle the concern. 6/
I am running for Lib Dem Federal Council and asking Lib Dems for their 1st Preference Vote. There's never been a more important time for a strong liberal party to counter the post-truth right and identity-driven left. I will champion free speech & hold the board to account ๐
"Cass: โthe toxicity of the debate is exceptional,โ she writes. Indeed. I know many senior medics who were concerned about the lack of evidence for interventions, but felt their reputation and job would be under threat if they spoke up."
They assured me I was welcome in the Party and actually I now know quite a few agree with me. As is the case in many local parties, the grassroots has no idea how toxic this debate is - also most LD voters agree with the position of
@libvoice4women
12/
Liberal Democrat voters were very much in line with those opinions too regarding how many thought males who hadnโt undergone genital surgery should use womenโs changing rooms and toilets (see below)
Within the Lib Dems there have been two mantras pushed by trans activists that fall easily from the lips of those they're successfully lobbied to dismiss any concerns we put forth around child safeguarding & evidence. They are the mantras at the beating heart of activism in LD๐งต
Equally I can imagine the populist, authoritarian right not engaging in fixing the issue raise but making it someone elseโs fault, making certain people โbogeymenโ and having a populist slogan promising to fix everything, but actually dividing us. 4/
Being able to raise concerns, criticisms and whistleblow is vital to ensure organisations can function well, take corrective action and avoid ideological capture and group think. This is as relevant in medicine as it is in other organisations. The toxicity came from
#NoDebate
A debate to discuss fairer womenโs quotas on internal committees at LD Spring Conf was not even allowed. There was a vote to โmove to next businessโ during which there was intimidating heckling from the floor as I spoke in favour of allowing the debate:
As the above screenshots make clear, complaints were put in but these were dismissed. Note what the EHRC guidance says around complaints, the Equality Act and political parties. I for one feel this dehumanisation amounts to victimisation and harassment.
Engaging in debate means speaking to all sides. The debate around sex & gender has drastically moved on without us, serving neither trans ppl nor women well. Liberals have a proud tradition in human rights and finding balance.
@LibVoice4Women
we want to continue that tradition
@EVC201
Her words are so powerful. It must be very difficult for children at school who disagree with this ideology. Speak up and be castigated or keep quiet and the anxiety that comes form not being able to speak what you know to be true.
@richarddflowers
Plenty of things are banned that don't harm others Richard but do harm individuals. Remember the use of vaginal mesh where use was halted as harms became apparent? An absolute scandal in women's health with many women not being listened to. It was important to do the work to see
@lucy_thevegan
@bhcitynews
Why don't the protestors ask to speak on the platform? Put forward their views? Tell us why women wanting same-sex intimate care is not ok? Tell us why trans ppl (just bc ID as trans) should take precedence over transplant patients in side rooms?...No wonder you wanted
#NoDebate
70 3 & 4 year olds referred to GIDS. โA new consultation by NHS also acknowledges that little boys showing an interest in girls' clothes or toys, or vice versa, is 'reasonably common' and 'usually not indicative of gender incongruence'โ
#ThisIsNotADrill
Powerful words from
@jk_rowling
who discusses the so-called 'toxic debate' - a phrase used to sanitise the extreme violence of the transgenderism movement and simultaneously silence women speaking up about their rights.
#WomensRightsAreHumanRights
I have posted a comment to this article that I doubt will be allowed through moderation so posting here instead. "I disagree with Chris' assessment of The Cass Review here. There are a number of areas to choose from but for example take the 'it's GC people's fault that data
@English_YL
"His actions...will directly lead to the deaths of trans kids." This is an abhorrent, unfounded and irresponsible thing to say. The death of any child is an absolute tragedy. There is no good evidence that puberty blockers reduce the risk of suicidality in this vulnerable and
โFemale surgeons say they are being sexually harassed, assaulted and in some cases raped by colleaguesโฆWomen say they fear reporting incidents will damage their careers and they lack confidence the NHS will take action.โ