Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Ask the Expert.

Isn’t it funny how some media outlets, for some stories, are quick to get spokespeople from “both sides” of an issue, but not this particular issue? Having both sides generates buzz, debate and controversy. Doesn’t that help generate viewers, listeners and clicks? I remember when feathered dinosaurs became a thing. Long after the time when the vast majority of paleontologists had come to understand that yes, birds are dinosaurs, many stories about new fossil finds would include a quote or two from one of the few holdouts who did not agree. His papers continuing to argue the point did not cite more recent research or literature, which … Read the rest

Evan Davis on the Radio 4 program PM had a 5 minute discussion of “trans participation” (always the generic “trans” instead of “trans women” of course – must obscure the issue whenever possible) just now. He talked to one person. A woman who is good at a sport? Nah, don’t be silly. He talked to Joanna Harper, a runner who transitioned at age 47.

In case you want to listen it starts at 48:40.… Read the rest

The Supreme Court v voting rights:

This time around, the state’s Republican legislature was challenging the state legislative districts that the Wisconsin supreme court picked for the state. Even though Republicans would still hold their majority under the new map, lawmakers took issue with the creation of an additional Black-majority district near Milwaukee. They said there wasn’t adequate justification for creating it, and made an emergency request to the supreme court to block the maps.

In a seven-page unsigned opinion, the supreme court accepted that request last week. But it went further, using the case as an opportunity to interpret the Voting Rights Act in a narrow way without full briefing or oral argument in the case.

… Read the rest

But we’re told trans people are so very marginalized.

Fox News hires ‘trailblazer’ Caitlyn Jenner as contributor

How many other Olympians have commentator gigs at Fox News?

Fox News says it has hired Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor, with her first appearance set for Thursday on Sean Hannity’s program.

Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete, ran an unsuccessful campaign for California governor last year. The network said she will offer commentary and analysis across various Fox News platforms.

“Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all,” said Suzanne Scott, Fox News Media chief executive. “She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”

Does … Read the rest

Hilarity ensued.

Tory MP Jamie Wallis bravely comes out as trans after rape & blackmail plot. Bravo! I hope his stand will prompt the Government to rethink its block on reform of the Gender Recognition Act https://t.co/jTONbHuGPb

— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) March 30, 2022

Bravo! No wait, not bravo, that other thing.

Would-be trans MP Jamie Wallis is no hero: sacked as local councillor for not attending council meetings, director of 10+ companies that had 800 complaints, voted against against climate action & crackdown on tax avoidance. Supports harsh laws on refugees https://t.co/9cyBwMESH1

— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) March 30, 2022

Unbravo? Negbravo? Debravo? Transbravo?

H/t

Sorry. I’m confused here, Peter. Your previous tweet stated he was trans & your sentiments

… Read the rest

Hmm. Define “friendly.”

Russia has told “unfriendly” foreign countries they must start paying for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies.

See this is odd because I would say Russia is pretty much out in front on the “unfriendly” scoreboard. Bombing the bejeezus out of the country next door (the one where millions of people were deliberately starved to death by Russia in the 1930s) is on the face of it not very friendly at all.

It’s a funny thing how bullies manage to frame themselves as the bullied. We see it in disputes over gender and we see it in disputes over entire huge countries with 44 million people.… Read the rest

Life is so unfair. Sometimes, when you bully someone, onlookers call you a bully! Can you believe that?

https://twitter.com/NoisyBits/status/1509455693388075016

It’s hilarious that he includes his own bullying in his screenshot. “Look, I tried to get Kathleen Stock dogpiled and people responded by dogpiling me!!! Did you ever?!?!”… Read the rest

We applaud.

We applaud the athletes who have spoken up for fairness today! @EllieBaker1998 @BethDobbin @KyleLangford_96 @LongJumpChris @andyturner110h @Daley_thompson @PersKarlstrom @EmilyDiamond11@mara_yamauchi @sharrond62 (and any more we missed!). Keep it going. #SexMatters https://t.co/Q29pmKg8ag

— Sex Matters (@SexMattersOrg) March 30, 2022

You already know this, because I’ve spelled it out to some of you:

Your policy is inadequate to provide fairness for female athletes.

Happy to spell it out in person. You’ve got my number. https://t.co/yTpPmZgSAL

— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) March 30, 2022

Fairness to women is not less important than “inclusion” of men who identify as women. It’s a great deal more important.

Emily Bridges’ female competitors were distressed yet afraid to go public:
“Former Olympic medal-winning swimmer @sharrond62 says

… Read the rest

I was out doing things for a few hours and this happened –

BREAKING NEWS: Statement from British Cycling. Bridges will not be competing this weekend.

"We have now been informed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that under their current guidelines Emily is not eligible to participate in this event" /1https://t.co/L0PIhA9ipT pic.twitter.com/uiltpKEbeG

— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) March 30, 2022

It’s time for British Cycling to create a trans policy that doesn’t harm female cyclists.

Today, British female cyclists said #NoThankYou https://t.co/9FTfqbBE9X

— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) March 30, 2022

Be inclusive, let them find a home, yadda yadda, but not at the expense of women.

https://twitter.com/mara_yamauchi/status/1509287607141904394

Now they don’t have to boycott the race.

https://twitter.com/coachblade/status/1509246666959818756… Read the rest

Another crack in the edifice.

How this has been allowed to happen is just ridiculous. I would refuse to race and hope that the other women would stand with me on this too. This is totally unfair. The advantages a trans women has had from going through puberty as a boy to a man can never been undone. https://t.co/2ALBTXozx8

— Ellie Baker (@EllieBaker1998) March 30, 2022

Create Trans gender competitions. Unfortunately in sport you can’t have blurred lines. You have to be male or female. I get you still want to compete as you feel comfortable but there has to be a separate category then or we may as well just say goodbye to Womens sport now. https://t.co/NpxXd4xWnm

— Ellie

… Read the rest

pic.twitter.com/7S4vTwAABt

— Ma_at (@WB4justice) March 30, 2022

I happen to have seen the origin of the punchline before seeing the above.… Read the rest

The Times also appears to take the Tory MP’s claim at face value.

A Conservative MP has announced that he is transgender and has been the victim of rape and blackmail.

Jamie Wallis, the MP for Bridgend, said he was transgender, “or to be more accurate, I want to be”, and had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Maybe he just has shlub dysphoria. Has anyone looked into that? He appears to be a shlub, and dysphoria seems likely in such cases, so maybe it’s nothing to do with gender at all.

Wallis rapidly received public support from fellow MPs. Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “This is a very brave statement.” Andrew

… Read the rest

Ah good it’s helpful to have this cleared up by an expert.

https://twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1509127933750882305

So he gets to use all the toilets, right?

More from the expert:

https://twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1509185039178899458

Men who claim to be women must be allowed into all spaces set aside for women on pain of being called unambiguously transphobic by this Montgomerie dude.… Read the rest

So there is a motion before my union Congress to "oppose gender critics".
Do they mean they want to oppose my legally held belief?
Would they say the same if I was Catholic or Muslim?
(It's long and tedious but EQ7-9)https://t.co/OFicMsp4Oc

— Dr Katie Alcock (@wontsomeonethi2) March 29, 2022

Behold EQ7-9:

EQ7  Defend trans and non-binary people’s rights   North West regional committee

Congress notes:

1.  Government hostility towards Stonewall for its support for trans rights, including disaffiliations by the BBC and government bodies;

2.  Government’s refusal to implement Self-ID in the Gender Recognition Act;

3.  Government’s failure to recognise non-binary as a legitimate identity;

4.  The EHRC’s attempts to delay anti-conversion therapy legislation for trans people and undermine the 

… Read the rest

Solidarity forever! Except with you, of course.

Yes it is really true! @UCU are ready to vote on whether to harass members for their legally protected beliefs (that there are two sexes and sexism is a problem) #WORIAD Any UCU member thinking of legal action for belief discrimination has just been provided with strong evidence. https://t.co/MMS4RxWT3k

— Holly Smith (@hollysmithhere) March 30, 2022

And the icing on the cake is the motions cheer-leading for the strike-breaking FGEN. Feels like UCU has abandoned basic principles of solidarity between workers by going for an extreme position on a very divisive political issue. Employers must be delighted #DivideAndRule

— Holly Smith (@hollysmithhere) March 30, 2022

And wait, there’s even more.

https://twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1509158382892105741… Read the rest

Julie Bindel on male violence dressed up as “protection” of women:

Sexism is a funny thing, because it presents as its own opposite. Describing women as vulnerable and in need of male protection is actually about male dominance and attempts at ownership.

…

Has [Will] Smith ever spoken out publicly and passionately against sexism? Would he have kicked off if [Chris] Rock had made similar remarks about another woman? Of course not: only his property gets protected. I make no distinction here between Smith and any other posturing, macho male.

Unlike, she adds, commentators who call that racist.

TeenVogue magazine, for example, continued its valiant tradition of promoting anything harmful to young women by publishing a piece that describes

… Read the rest

It seems this is not a parody.

It's time. https://t.co/cbt0tKQZuN pic.twitter.com/IUaCjm9PtE

— Jamie Wallis MP (@JamieWallisMP) March 30, 2022

It sure as hell looks like a parody, wouldn’t you say? But it seems it’s not. The BBC is treating it as not-parody.

Mr Wallis was arrested last year on suspicion of driving while unfit, following an incident where a car hit a lamppost at Church Road in Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan.

What car? Driven by whom? What does the incident have to do with Mr Wallis?

“When I crashed my car on the 28th November I fled the scene. I did so because I was terrified,” he wrote.

Oh, so it was his car, and he was driving? Then why … Read the rest

The NY Times also obscures the issue in the same old way.

Utah Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto of Transgender Athlete Bill

No, not transgender athlete, male transgender athlete. Generic “transgender” makes it sound like random cruelty, but preventing the sabotage of girls’ athletics is not random cruelty…unless of course you think girls just don’t matter, or don’t matter as much as the feelings of boys.

The Utah State Legislature voted on Friday to override the governor’s veto and enacted a bill that would bar young transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports, making the state the 12th in the country to enact such legislation.

That would bar young male transgender athletes.

Most Republicans in the Legislature who voted for the

… Read the rest

Look! Over there! Or there! Or how about over there?!

Trump’s 47 millionth frivolous lawsuit:

Former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Thursday against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others, alleging that they “maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative” that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race.

He’s a funny guy. He can’t open his yap or move his thick fingers without uttering a false narrative.

Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, responded to the lawsuit with a one-word statement: “Nonsense.”

Let me add a second one-word statement. “Horseshit.”… Read the rest

Hmm. Sometimes sniffing out concealed hatred or “bigotry” can accidentally reveal one’s own.

“We do not condone violence.” “Assault is never the answer.” These words have echoed through all of my social media accounts since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for making a poor-taste joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Most people agree the slap shouldn’t have happened. But there’s something that feels precious at best, and downright racist at worst, about white people’s reaction to the now-infamous smack.

I don’t think I understand the continuum here – from precious to racist? Maybe “petty” was the idea? At any rate, “something that feels” itself “feels” like a reach. That whole sentence “feels” like someone struggling to beef up … Read the rest