Pink News of course is ecstatic.

Queer community celebrates Emily Bridges’ ‘sensational’ inclusion on influential British Vogue list

By “inclusion” of course they mean “inclusion” in the category “women.”

The “queer community” celebrates, they tell us – I wonder if the gay community does. Do gay men really want to have sex with trans men? Do they want to be bullied and called names and shunned if they decline to have sex with trans men? Is there a limit to their celebration of inclooosion?

Trans cyclist Emily Bridges has been included in a list of influential women by British Vogue magazine.

Which is stupid and insulting, because he’s a man. It also deprives one woman of a place on that … Read the rest

Victoria Smith explains why we have to resist this crap.

At risk of promoting another outburst, I’d suggest that Bridges doesn’t deserve to be on Vogue’s list, either. Much as I’m aware this will lead to charges of being “exclusionary” — indeed, trolling feminists was likely part of the point — I don’t think that we should let these things pass. If it matters that women have power, and that exceptional women are recognised, then it also matters to recognise how and why we need lists like this.

I’ve been thinking “trolling feminists was likely part of the point” myself. First I was thinking “Why do they keep doing this shit???” – “they” being all the news outlets and … Read the rest

Colin Montgomerie perpetuates the lie.

Vogue features Emily Bridges, the British trans cyclist who is fighting to end the ban on trans athletes https://t.co/fEKDX3M1Sz pic.twitter.com/r3ale21yzW

— Katy Montgomerie 🦗 (@KatyMontgomerie) August 22, 2023

There is no “ban on trans athletes.” Some sports have belatedly stopped letting men invade women’s sports.

And what the hell is a “trans cyclist”? Someone who drives a car in cycling races?… Read the rest

I’m so tired of the insults.

It is really is kind of amazing that the one athlete in Vogue's list of "25 Powerhouse Women" is – not a Lioness, not an Olympian, but… Emily Bridges https://t.co/2Lza3QCAto

— Hadley Freeman (@HadleyFreeman) August 23, 2023

Don’t include men who say they are women in lists of women. Stop doing that. Just stop.

Here’s the incorrect aka dishonest Vogue headline:

Cyclist Emily Bridges has been competitively racing since she was 10 years old, but now, due to new policies introduced by British Cycling, she’s been banned from competing in the women’s category. https://t.co/g8Q9IWAIo9

— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) August 22, 2023

He wasn’t “banned from competitive cycling,” and he wasn’t banned from women’s … Read the rest

Uh, no they can’t.

Cis men can also carry an implanted child to term ectopically. If you want to argue that the consequent C-section isn't "giving birth", then you're telling me that I wasn't born, and I may not take that terribly well.

— Ian Shuttleworth @ianshutters.bsky.social (@ianshutters) August 22, 2023

… Read the rest

Ah good, they’re all safe.

Pakistan’s interior ministry says the remaining three people have been rescued from the cable car, meaning the operation has now concluded.

Life is precarious in mountainous regions with weak infrastructure. Homemade cable cars are abundant in north-western Pakistan.… Read the rest

The National (Scotland) publishes a sack of drivel by one Emma Grae about Graham Linehan the Heretic:

After I tweeted in defence of trans women following the jailing of convicted trans rapist Isla Byrson earlier this year, stating that painting all trans women with the same brush as her is equivalent comparing all cisgender women to Myra Hindley, he called me a “vichy feminist” and challenged me to name “a few more Myra Hindleys”.

What the hell is a trans rapist? Bryson is a real rapist. He’s a trans woman but he’s not a trans rapist. And that comparison is ridiculous. All women=half the people on the planet; all trans women=a tiny fraction of people on the planet.

Also it’s … Read the rest

All the other Pythons went to the Imperial.… Read the rest

The sack of Rome – the Black Death – crossing the Atlantic – the Hindenburg – trans people were front and center on all occasions.

'A transwoman made the first hole in the Berlin Wall' is meant to be a piss-take. But Robin here – originally from Somerset, and around 24 at the time – really is claiming some of the credit for the collapse of the Eastern Bloc 👀 pic.twitter.com/yL3gGxWCpj

— Simon Edge (@simonjedge) August 22, 2023

… Read the rest

And at the same time everyone is pointing and laughing at the eleventy seventh idenniny crisis of Mx Knox.

His child and partner came out as transgender. Now @RowanJetteKnox writes on confronting trauma and the freedom of coming out as trans himself. His new memoir is out this September.

Until then, read his exclusive essay: https://t.co/U7zZXIX7wu

— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) August 21, 2023

Oooooooooooh does he? Despite having done so before, and before that, and…? How exciting!

The Star hastily closed comments, but not before one speedy responder had time to say “No one cares.”… Read the rest

This is so pathetically stupid and destructive.

I haven't talked about this much on twitter, because it's not all my story to tell, and also because I didn't want to until it was a done deal. It's important though.

Almost a year ago, my niece told us that she is trans. Today, she moved to Canada to get out of the UK.

— Dr Amanda Brunton (@Amandycat) August 21, 2023

That’s the first tweet of…I don’t know, forty? Fifty? Way too many. The point of it all, of course, is that terfs are evil and it’s all their fault.

Maybe they feel no hostility to trans people, but have been led to believe that there are 'reasonable concerns' to be

Trump uses racist tropes in his verbal attacks on prosecutors and similar.

Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.

The early Republican presidential front-runner has used terms such as “animal” and “rabid” to describe Black district attorneys. He has accused Black prosecutors of being “racist.” He has made unsupported claims about their personal lives. And on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump has deployed terms that rhyme with racial slurs as some of his supporters post racist screeds about the same targets.

But…

And the (very white middle class) chair of the Society of Authors jumps on the opportunistic racism bandwagon in the Letby case. How very unsurprising. pic.twitter.com/CYprI040rB

— Gill, womb haulier and gorgon 🐍 (@Gillian_Philip) August 21, 2023

But Joanne Harris is herself white middle-class. She’s also female, which I assume “vulnerable” is code for. She’s playing the Karen card, because……………I have no idea why she’s doing that.… Read the rest

Trump was trash-talking about Brian Kemp and Fani Willis just this morning.

Governor Kemp of Georgia is fighting hard against the Impeachment of the crooked, incompetent, & highly partisan D.A. of Fulton County, Fani Willis, who has allowed Murder and other Violent Crime to MASSIVELY ESCALATE. Crime in Atlanta is WORST IN NATION. She should be impeached for many reasons, not just the Witch Hunt (I did nothing wrong!). Willis should focus on out of control Murder, not “I will get TRUMP” over a Perfect Phone Call. Georgia does not deserve this GIANT MURDER WAVE!

He won’t stop just because he’s required to.… Read the rest

The BBC on Trump’s out on bailitude:

A judge in Georgia overseeing former US President Donald Trump’s election interference case has set a bail bond of $200,000 (£157,000).

Mr Trump and his 18 co-defendants have until midday Friday to surrender to a court in Atlanta.

The bail filing says Mr Trump can remain free pending trial so long as he does not attempt to threaten or intimidate witnesses.

But he will. He won’t be able to do otherwise. He doesn’t take orders from anyone.

Mr Trump is also banned from committing any crimes, and can only have contact with the other co-defendants in the case with lawyers present.

He’ll probably do both of those things too.… Read the rest

Out on bail.

Former President Donald J. Trump’s bail was set at $200,000 on Monday in a sprawling racketeering case charging Mr. Trump and 18 associates with election interference in Georgia.

The move came as it became clear that Mr. Trump and the other defendants will be required to pay cash upon being booked in Atlanta, unlike in the three other criminal cases involving the former president.

Under the conditions of his bond agreement, Mr. Trump cannot violate state or federal laws or communicate with any co-defendants in the case except through his lawyers. He was told not to intimidate witnesses or co-defendants, or “otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” by threatening them or 30 unindicted co-conspirators in the

No. Get out.

Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity.

Yasuni National Park is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in self-isolation. In 1989, it was designated a world biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO. Encompassing a surface area of over 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres), it boasts 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles. At least three species are endemic.

Rock on birds and amphibians … Read the rest

Big weekend for cheating!

Trans-identified male cyclists took home women's titles at races in Zurich, Switzerland and Richmond, Washington this week.

At one of the races, the male participant beat out two teenage girls for the women's championship.https://t.co/N2Vet9tFXy

— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 20, 2023

… Read the rest

The NY Times reports:

A federal judge in Georgia has temporarily blocked part of a state law that prohibits hormone replacement therapy for transgender minors. 

But is “hormone replacement” actually therapy? Or is it medical malpractice? Or something in between?

Calling it therapy puts a big thumb on the scale in this contested issue. What if it’s quackery rather than therapy? What if it’s the new thalidomide, driven by trendy but magical ideas about people “born in the wrong body”?

Judge Geraghty, who was appointed by President Biden, said in her ruling that the ban “is substantially likely to violate the Equal Protection Clause.”

But maybe the equal protection needed is protection from quack medicine sparked by wack ideas … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Mike Haubrich on From Joe Hill to Rich Men North of Richmond.

The Republicans of today are benefiting from the abortion and gay rights strategy of the Moral Majority. Before they embarked on that, most Catholics were Democrats due to the social justice aspect of being Catholic. It also picked up on many of the blue collar workers who didn’t want rampant gay sex and loose women getting welfare checks during the Reagan era. These are now Trump Republicans who sincerely believe that he is going to drain the swamp and end child trafficking.

Our Billy Bragg has written a responsorial to this song (I know, I know!) Rich Men North of Earning North of … Read the rest