Bad analogy Peter! Really really really bad analogy!

"Just because a very tiny minority of Muslims are terrorists, we don't place restrictions on the whole Muslim population."

Peter Tatchell says there are 'bad apples' in the transgender community but we shouldn't 'penalise' all transgender people@JaneGarvey1 | @FifiGlover pic.twitter.com/7c79fpW4u9

— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) January 25, 2023

Just because a very tiny minority of Muslims are terrorists, we don’t place restrictions on the whole Muslim population. And likewise with the trans community, just because there may be a few bad apples, in fact some horrendous bad apples, we don’t therefore penalize the whole trans community, most of whom deport themselves with responsibility and respect for women.

One, it’s not penalizing anyone … Read the rest

I still can’t believe that grown-up journalism does this. The Beeb:

A trans woman who raped two women before she changed gender will not serve her sentence in a female jail, Scotland’s first minister has said.

Isla Bryson was remanded to Cornton Vale women’s prison after being convicted of carrying out the rapes when she was a man called Adam Graham.

“When she was a man” ffs. He is still a man. He always will be. It’s only men who can rape women.

Even in their own terms – the terms that say we must refer to men who say they are trans as “she” – there are very obvious reasons for thinking this guy is not actually trans … Read the rest

They’re upping the pressure on Amy Mangano of Artifacts.

Signs noting that gender is a biological construct are posted onto a downtown Athens store’s front door, causing some citizens to reach out to City Council with complaints about the signs.

Complaints…about signs that say “humans can’t change sex” and “say no to men in women’s sports.” Hey listen City Council there’s this woman who doesn’t believe humans are magic and able to change sex at will. Have you ever????

During Tuesday’s Athens City Council meeting, At-Large Council Member Micah McCarey said he received several emails and verbal complaints about Artifacts’ signs from citizens asking that the city do more to promote diversity and LGBT inclusion, particularly in uptown

A useful question.

My answer was “It means do what you’re fucking told.” Many others answered the same way.

It's grammatically odd, because it looks like a statement, but it is, in fact, a command.

— Jon Pike (@runthinkwrite) January 25, 2023

https://twitter.com/rorybowman/status/1618325674279993344

It is not supposed to make sense or have an actual meaning. That is because it is a set of words you are to submit to, not agree with.

— Stuart Parker (@stuartlosaltos) January 25, 2023

It’s a shibboleth. A mantra
A phrase you repeat to swear allegiance to the gender cult

It doesn’t mean anything.

— SkankyGelato (@FindingDore) January 25, 2023

It means "Shut up and know your place, ladies".

— Jo – Time for

More nonsensical strutting and chest-puffing about the horrible crime of burning a single copy of a widely available religious book:

Sweden should not expect Turkey to back its Nato membership bid, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, days after a copy of the Quran was burned in a Stockholm protest.

…

“It is clear that those who caused such a disgrace in front of our country’s embassy can no longer expect any benevolence from us regarding their application.”

Erdogan is a dictator in all but name; that’s the real disgrace here.

Turkey, a majority Muslim country, denounced the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest as “completely unacceptable”.

“No one has the right to humiliate the saints,” said Mr

Oh get a grip.

Turkey has condemned the burning of a copy of the Quran during a protest in Sweden, describing it as a “vile act”.

Nonsense. It’s just a book. It’s just one copy of a book that’s available in many editions. There must be literally billions of copies of it. Burning one is a gesture; Turkey doesn’t like the gesture; Turkey should get a life.

It said the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest to go ahead was “completely unacceptable”.

Nonsense. Governments aren’t there to enforce theocratic etiquette toward holy books.

Turkey, which had appealed to Sweden to stop the protest, earlier called off a visit by Sweden’s Defence Minister, Pal Jonson, saying the trip had

A heart-warming tale:

A Scottish man who identifies as transgender has been found guilty of raping two women, and will be held in a women’s prison for up to a month while awaiting sentencing.

That’s nice. So sensitive, so compassionate, so generous – to the man who raped two women. It’s not so sensitive and compassionate and generous to the women in that prison, who aren’t there for raping women.

Adam Graham, 31, began identifying as a woman after he committed the sexual offenses and now goes by “Isla Bryson.” He has been referred to with feminine pronouns both in court and in UK media coverage, and court documents had charged Graham with raping the women with “her penis.”

Now there’s a headline –

Pompeo dismisses Khashoggi as ‘activist’ whose murder was overblown by media

Overblown. Really. It’s no big deal for state agents to murder an activist inside an embassy by carving him up like so much roast chicken. I did not know that.

In a new book, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo derides the idea that Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist who was brutally murdered in 2018, was a journalist. Pompeo sympathizes instead with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia who was found to have ordered Khashoggi’s assassination, and defends at length the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia.

In “Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I

But what if you identify as someone who doesn’t know when she might want to re-read or browse or look for something in this book and this one and this one?

Some people treat books like totemic, magical objects. I know, I was one. About 10 years ago, my (divorced) parents moved house at around the same time, and gifted me a number of books about which they presumed I might feel sentimental, but which became a sort of albatross in my relationship. When I moved in with my husband, he had very few books, not because he is not a reader, but because he grew up in a Buddhist household, prefers an uncluttered environment and places little value on

So easy for him to say.

The idea that a would-be male rapist is going to dress as a woman for 3 months to get a GRC is laughable. That's why Rape Crisis Scotland, Women’s AID Scotland & Zero Tolerance Scotland support the gender reform bill. They reject fiction & scaremongering! https://t.co/a3AnXPohfI

— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) January 23, 2023

… Read the rest

Fair?

Sometimes an argument is superfluous. Sometimes you just need to watch.
If you can watch this video – take the time, out of respect – and not see a problem, there isn't any amount number of words that can work.

However, I have 8.5k coming tomorrowhttps://t.co/FFWb75FhyY

— Jon Pike (@runthinkwrite) January 23, 2023

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? at Miscellany Room.

I had originally written this as a contribution to the comment thread responding to the story that Mike B mentioned here before discovering that you needed to be a paid member to post. Not wanting to pay to do that, I thought I’d post it here instead. Keep in mind this was intended for a different audience, so forgive me if it reiterates arguments and ideas I’ve made here already. But with fewer swears. The direct link to the story and its comment thread is here:

Why oppose this definition: Women are adult humans who identify as female. As I said above, is it simply an unflinching … Read the rest

Steven Gimbel and Gwydion Suilebhan at 3 Quarks Daily tell us how stooooooopid people who think women are adult human females are.

For the last several years, elected Republicans, full of anti-trans zeal, have challenged their opponents to define the word “woman.” They aren’t really curious. They’re setting a rhetorical trap. They’re taking a word that seems to have a simple meaning, because the majority of people who identify as women resemble each other in some ways, then refusing to consider any of the people who don’t.

Yes that’s an honest account. Most people “who identify as women” are alike “in some ways” and then there are other people “who identify as women” who are not alike in those … Read the rest

Where was I this afternoon you ask? Here.

Not in the creek, mind you, but on a trail that accompanies it downhill to a forest/wetlands/beach park on Puget Sound . It’s easier to get to by bus than I thought, so I got to it.

There are railroad tracks between the park and the beach so there is a pedestrian overpass. Looking south from the overpass:… Read the rest

Spot the difference.

1 in 4 black men will get prostate cancer.

That’s a dad, uncle, brother, partner or best mate.

Check your risk with @ProstateUK’s online risk checker. Early diagnosis saves lives. #MenWeAreWithYou https://t.co/4H6kPzL213 pic.twitter.com/88Uiad9hPC

— NHS England (@NHSEngland) January 22, 2023

'It didn’t hurt.’

Five million people received cervical screening invites last year, but almost a third of people eligible haven’t come forward. If you‘ve been invited, take Jodie’s advice and book an appointment — it could save your life. https://t.co/YxWxaD1fLJ pic.twitter.com/XIuSM6PeSD

— NHS England (@NHSEngland) January 23, 2023

… Read the rest

Pakistan makes its “blasphemy” laws even worse:

Pakistan has further tightened its strict blasphemy laws by extending the punishment to those who are convicted for insulting religious figures connected to prophet Muhammad.

Of course such figures can’t be “insulted” since they died many centuries ago.

The Pakistan National Assembly unanimously passed the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill which will not only widen the ambit of the law, but increase punishment and fines for those convicted under it.

Because more religious fanaticism and sadism is always better, yeah?

In Pakistan, an insult to the prophet Muhammad or Islam carries a potential death sentence. The laws have also been used to persecute and target minority faiths and sections in the Muslim-majority

Lloyd R-M explains that he didn’t move to sit in front of Miriam Cates to intimidate her, no no it’s all a big misunderstanding. Almost no one believes him.

He’s so firm in his conviction that he turned off replies. The quote tweets are…skeptical.

– What a load of absolute codswallop this is.

– Another disciple of the Boris Johnson School of Political Jackanory.

– Absolute BS, this man is a disgrace

– BULLSHIT

– If you want to read some bollocks, here’s some bollocks.

– What a liar!!!

Etc.… Read the rest

Nicola Sturgeon gave a press conference.

Despite the minuscule audience, the First Minister’s decision to answer her many, many, MANY critics on the SNP’s Gender Reform Recognition Bill by giving a Covid-style briefing to journalists only raised more questions.

Why did she do this? Could it be the avalanche of bad press that followed her MPs and MSPs posing in front of a violently misogynistic sign in Glasgow at the weekend? Very possibly.

Is the penny finally dropping? Are people at last noticing that violent misogyny is pervasive in “trans activism”?… Read the rest

The police are investigating.

POLICE Scotland has launched a probe after complaints about a sign at a pro-trans rally reading “Decapitate Terfs.”

The placard – which also included a drawing of a guillotine – came to prominence on social media yesterday after it featured in images and video of SNP politicians attending the rally, including MSP Kaukab Stewart, and MPs Stewart McDonald, Alison Thewliss and Kirsten Oswald. 

Especially after JK Rowling shared the image.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said he had reported the sign to the police, saying carrying it was “clearly a hate crime and a public order offence”. 

He added: “Good grief [Nicola Sturgeon], should your MP and MSP [Kirsten Oswald] and [Kaukab Stewart] really be standing

She really does say that – “to support our trans siblings” – like a deluded child.

SNP politicians are here at the Glasgow protest against the UK Government's gender bill block.

Kirsten Oswald and Kaukab Stewart told us why they felt it important to attend. pic.twitter.com/SLFeNjK9WG

— The National (@ScotNational) January 21, 2023

Why are trans people called “our siblings” when workers, migrants, people with disabilities are not? What is it about transness that makes trans people our “siblings”?

Anyway, the cuddly warm fuzzies the word is no doubt meant to invoke is pretty thoroughly canceled by the “behead” part.… Read the rest