Punch
Trans people must not be used as political punchbag, says Phillipson
Eh? Who is using trans people as any kind of punchbag?
From where I sit it’s much more the other way around – women are constantly and relentlessly pushed around and told to shut up and deprived of our rights by the trans lobby.
Transgender people must not be used as a “political punchbag”, Bridget Phillipson has said, after she was accused of blocking guidance protecting safe spaces for women. The minister for women and equalities said the debate surrounding gender issues should be conducted more responsibly by those in public life.
Ms Phillipson made the remarks after it emerged she was blocking the publication of trans guidance that would force business and public bodies to protect women-only spaces.
In other words she’s using women as a punchbag.
Please define “responsibly”. Show us where women defending their rights have been irresponsible. Tell us which part of the decision you’re resisting is complicated, incorrect, or wrong.
This sounds very much like you would be quite happy with no debate at all, and leave things under Stonewall
“law.” Yet it was during the ascendancy of “NO DEBATE!” that the whole mess that the Supreme Court was called upon to adjudicate was foisted upon women, and the rest of society. Why do you refuse to do your job? Your side lost. Men can’t be women. You should know this. Your footdragging shows you do know this, and that releasing the guidance is going to piss off men who claim to be women, and their “allies”. Tough. Politics is about making hard decisions, but this decision shouldn’t be hard. No men in women’s spaces seems pretty straightforward. There’s not a lot of room for complexity or nuance, unless you try really hard, and go out of your way to create it. This is the only possible reason for refusing to follow the biological definition of sex stipulated by the Supreme Court. You are not helping women, you are serving men. That’s not your job, but you’ve made it your job.
“Women” is in the name of your goddamn CABINET POST. If you can’t or won’t say who is or is not a women, you can’t do your job properly. You should resign. Your refusal to comply with the law and reluctance to uphold it makes you a menace to women. Upholding the law and issuing the guidance will harm zero women. In fact, it won’t harm anyone. Your petulant delay actually hurts women, and insults them as well. You must know this, too. The only conclusion one can draw is that you are doing this because you want to.
YNNB, you may be assuming too much ministerial independence. Phillipson was a well-known trans cultist while Labour was in opposition, yet Starmer chose her to head up the women’s ministry. I assume she’s doing what she’s told while keeping the heat off Starmer – a man who thought women could have a penis until he was set straight by Tony Blair.