Helen Saxby on Rowling and truth:

Speaking the truth about sex is becoming more and more difficult because of accusations of transphobia, and yet much of the reaction to Rowling’s tweet was just angry that she had highlighted this fact. We’re not allowed to say sex is real, but we’re doubly not allowed to say that we’re not allowed to say it. Many people suggested that Rowling was deliberately misrepresenting the truth. ‘Nobody is saying sex isn’t real!’ was a common refrain, presumably because being caught out saying sex isn’t real would make you look stupid. Trans allies want to deny sex exists but to do it in a sort of secret way without the fact being brought out

This should be a thing.

A group of women MPs and charities are urging the government to treat misogyny as a hate crime within the government’s new domestic abuse laws.

Their amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill would require all police forces to record and track crimes motivated by misogyny.

Those two sentences say two different things. Tracking misogynist motivation for crimes is not the same as making misogyny itself a crime. That’s quite an important distinction, don’t you think? Sloppy wording not helpful.

A statement from Citizens UK and the coalition of campaigners – including Refuge and Women’s Aid – says this approach will “not create any new crimes but would provide critical data on the link between

We will never surrender!

Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker. #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/H3TXduhlY4

— Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state’s business. “Stoop” tweeting. https://t.co/O6i04qmZ9v

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) June 11, 2020

CNN has more information:

Hundreds of protesters marched into Seattle’s City Hall late Tuesday, calling for Durkan to step down after police continued to use chemical irritants to disperse crowds — despite the mayor’s 30-day ban on tear gas that she announced Friday.

Led by city council member Kshama Sawant, the protesters peacefully marched from Capitol Hill to City Hall, where Sawant allowed the protesters inside the building, CNN’s affiliate KOMO reported.

Now Trump is threatening to invade Seattle.

I look forward to the arrival of thousands of heavily armed troops from the Bureau of Prisons and ICE and the army and the marines to take over Seattle and put us all under martial law.

Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course. LAW & ORDER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020

I’m looking out the window. I’m not seeing the takeover.… Read the rest

Another actor who has fame and fortune entirely because of Joanne Rowling but chooses to turn her back on her in public anyway.

Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020

I donate to @Mermaids_Gender and @mamacash. If you can, perhaps you’ll feel inclined to do the same. ❤️

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020

And, again, the claim is a crock of shit. The formula “trans people are who they say they are” is true (but obvious) if she means trans people are trans people if they say they are, but … Read the rest

Trump is all worked up about the sacrilegious idea that we can rename military bases that were named after Confederate military “heroes.”

It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

…Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

The Great American Heritage of slavery and official, deliberate, detailed racial persecution and oppression – I … Read the rest

She’s angry, and rightly so.… Read the rest

Another Do it to Julia.

Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne has joined Harry Potter lead actor Daniel Radcliffe in criticising JK Rowling’s recent comments about trans people.

In a statement to Variety magazine, Redmayne said: “Respect for transgender people remains a cultural imperative, and over the years I have been trying to constantly educate myself.”

Why is it a cultural imperative? And what does he mean by “respect” anyway? And why is he implying that JK Rowling is disrespecting trans people?

Redmayne, who in 2015 starred in The Danish Girl, a biopic of Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery, added: “As someone who has worked with both JK Rowling and members

White privilege something something JK Rowling something tethered to something.

Yet, as the inequity of capitalism and its inextricable link to white privilege are brought into focus, JK Rowling instead devoted her enormous Twitter platform to discussing the use of gender-neutral terms last Saturday night.

She what? She chose her own subject to talk about at a particular moment? How shocking! Of course so did most people on Twitter, but, you know – any stick to beat a woman with.

The timing of her social media tirade is telling. In the context of a collective reckoning with how our economic, political and social systems have dehumanised black lives for centuries, it seemed the fantasy-writer turned billionaire had decided an equally

Sigh.… Read the rest

Rowling writes about her reasons, starting by explaining why she is interested in trans issues.

I mention all this only to explain that I knew perfectly well what was going to happen when I supported Maya. I must have been on my fourth or fifth cancellation by then. I expected the threats of violence, to be told I was literally killing trans people with my hate, to be called cunt and bitch and, of course, for my books to be burned, although one particularly abusive man told me he’d composted them.

What I didn’t expect in the aftermath of my cancellation was the avalanche of emails and letters that came showering down upon me, the overwhelming majority of

Good, Rebecca’s post collecting a sample of the abuse leveled against Rowling is getting attention.

Is it really that much to ask blue ticks to stand up against this kind of abuse directed at a prominent woman? What is wrong with everyone? Why are you all being such disgraceful cowards? pic.twitter.com/Id4oX2ypl6

— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) June 10, 2020

See all you privileged left/liberal leaning people with a voice that have so far kept your head down on this issue. Want to raise it now? If not, NEVER tell yourself you give a damn about women EVER again: https://t.co/Dpanv3JvPf

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) June 10, 2020

The children's book industry is witnessing the most horrific onslaught of abuse towards a much-loved,

The Washington Post:

Chinese authorities have been trying for three years to reverse the devastating imbalances of their one-child policy and coax couples to have more children.

Trying and failing. The birthrate remains low and – plot twist! – there are far more men than women.

Eh, what? Why’s that? A low birthrate doesn’t equal more men being…oh wait yes it does. If you can only have one it HAS to be a male, amirite? Nobody nobody NOBODY wants an only child who is a [retch gag puke] female. (Why not? Well, come on, I ask you – they’re so disgusting – they do all that gross pregnancy stuff and then milk-producing stuff. Ew. Men are clean and tidy.)… Read the rest

RR-C did some collecting – just a small sample, she says. It’s all screenshots, no text. It’s thematic – the themes are

1. shut the fuck up
2. cunt
3. hag
4. suck my dick
5. slag / whore / tart
6. disgust – stink, dried up, stench
7. smack, punch, piss in her cold dead eyes

Do they do this to, say, Graham Linehan? Not that I’ve seen.… Read the rest

There was also this:

Thank you for saying this. I have been told not to speak out about female genital mutilation because it's "transphobic ". How am I able to campaign for myself and millions of my sisters who have also suffered if I can't recognize sex?

— Jana Cornel (@RadfemJana) June 6, 2020

Dude tells Cornel she’s wrong, in fact he says she’s lying.

There are literally dozens and dozens of responses that are doing just that and proving my point. They're trying to censor the language that FGM survivors use because they claim it's transphobic and not inclusive. pic.twitter.com/lY9sYol4L2

— Jana Cornel (@RadfemJana) June 8, 2020

Like this one:

“Other genders” that have labia. Hi, please be quiet … Read the rest

Trump’s evil tweet about Martin Gugino is being widely disputed.

#MartinGugino is a peace activist and volunteer with the Catholic Worker movement. Why spread rumors about someone who embodies the Beatitudes? In case you've forgotten what's in the Bible you were carrying, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers," not the rumormongers. https://t.co/LMEAO16LvQ

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) June 9, 2020

Martin Gugino is a a longtime peace activist who has worked with the Plowshares and Catholic Workers, the movement started by Dorothy Day https://t.co/UJsmyBwGid

— Daniel Burke (@burkedaniel13) June 9, 2020

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, the City of Buffalo is laser focused on healing, taking action against racial injustice and building a good future for our residents. We pray

Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020

Chris Cillizza at CNN comments:

In a country on high alert for incidents of unnecessary use of force by police against those protesting in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the video sparked outrage. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the episode “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.” The two officers involved in the incident were suspended.

But on Tuesday morning, the

Daniel Radcliffe’s Do it to Julia don’t do it to me:

I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.

Translation: Yes, I know, nobody would give a rat’s ass what I think about anything if it weren’t for Jo Rowling but I’m going to … Read the rest

More tendentious naming and framing.

Radcliffe “voices his support for the transgender community” – and voices his hostility to the feminist community, but of course the headline doesn’t say that, because We Have Chosen Our Side, and it ain’t women.

“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe said. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”

No it doesn’t. It’s kind of the opposite, really. Humoring people this way doesn’t really promote their dignity. It’s not promoting the dignity of people to pretend they are furries or Star Wars characters or Cleopatra, so why is it promoting their dignity to pretend they are women when in fact they are men? If adults want dignity, they have to … Read the rest

A comedian named Sarah Keyworth writes a letter to JK Rowling and asks everyone to share it.

From that letter:

There is no attack on what it means to be a woman, or a lesbian. There is simply a movement to expand what those words mean.

But that is an “attack” on what those words mean, isn’t it. It is a campaign to change the meaning of a word that picks out…well, what does it pick out. Let’s see.

1. Half or rather more than half of all humans
2. The sex that gives birth to all humans
3. The sex that has historically been dominated by the other half
4. The “weaker” sex – the sex that in a dimorphic species is overall