Beautiful Thing - Sweet Dreams
Update 633. Universities Special. #BeMorePorcupine.
This is a long one, dear readers.
I hope you all enjoyed Terf Month😊
Now we are back with Dusty’s film series and the latest version of the list is here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/empire-of-light-dustys-film-series
Please let us have your suggestions for films but please check the list first to see if it is there already. I am updating the list as we go along. We are going through them alphabetically and had got to D but just picking up some pre-D additions at the moment that came in during Terf Month 😂
Next up is Beautiful Thing (1996). The story is set and filmed in Thamesmead, a working-class area of South East London dominated by post-war council estates with a key scene in a gay pub filmed at the Greenwich Tavern in nearby Greenwich.
I am going to interpose here. I had my 30th birthday party in the Greenwich Tavern 😊
Jamie (Glenn Barry) is a teenager who is in love with his classmate, Ste (Scott Neal). Jamie's single mother, Sandra (Linda Hendry), is preoccupied with ambitious plans to run her own pub.
Sandra finds herself at odds with Leah (Tameka Empson), a sassy and rude neighbour who has been expelled from school, takes a variety of drugs, and constantly listens and sings along to her mother's Cass Elliot records.
Spoiler Alert:
The clip is the dance scene at the end of the film …. but it is great!
Thanks to two wonderful readers for suggested pieces.
Some of the linked pieces below may be behind a paywall.
The Tide Is Turning
In the last update I reported on the decision by the University of Pennsylvania to strip Will ‘Lia’ Thomas of his titles, award them to the women who should have received them and apologise to all women affected. I think some compensation to all the women affected would also be in order. However this is one of those seismic moments in the Terf Resistance. If you had asked any Terf to give you an example of a larping, cheating man taking part in women’s sport, I bet the majority would have started off with Lia Thomas. All thoughts gratefully received. Let’s briefly re-live that Kellie-Jay moment!
Excellent piece on this by Jennifer Sey on her substack, Sey Everything.
University of Pennsylvania to apologize to female swimmers and restore stolen records from female athletes
The university has agreed to resolve its Title IX violations and uphold the law going forward
Jul 02, 2025
The world is finally catching up to what us sane people knew all along: men cannot become women and men must compete in the men’s category to retain the integrity of women’s sports.
In April, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ruled that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX by allowing Will Thomas to compete on the women's team.
For those who haven’t been paying attention, Will Thomas competed on the men’s swim team at University of Pennsylvania for 3 years. Then he decided he was a woman and he competed on the women’s team for his senior year. Almost worse than the school records he stole from female swimmers, and the NCAA medals he won at the 2022 NCAA Finals, the women on the University of Pennsylvania team were forced to undress in the locker room with a man calling himself a woman while parading around naked with his penis and balls on display.
Thomas seems to be a text book autogynephile. He is a man turned on by the thought of being a woman. He engages in behaviors that violate women’s boundaries in order to provoke their discomfort. It’s a fetishistic thrill. Yet for a time, Thomas was made into some sort of civil rights hero because the world went insane.
When Paula Scanlan — a swimmer on the women’s team and a sexual assault survivor — complained to the university, they told her to deal with it. To seek help. To get therapy. They told her to stay quiet, that she’d never get a job. That she was a bigot.
But today, the Department of Education announced that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to resolve Title IX violations in having Thomas compete on the women's team during the 2021-22 season.
The full piece is here:
https://jennifersey.substack.com/p/university-of-pennsylvania-to-apologize
John Mattrix on Black and White Sports is enjoying this news!😊
UK - The Met
I recently featured a piece by Sarah Phillimore about the case being taken by Lindsey (aka Linzi) Smith against Northumbria Constabulary.
Sarah now reports on a tribunal loss for Ms Newman in a case against the Metropolitan Police concerning a training session on ‘Trans Day Of Visibility’ and the things that were said especially by the trainer, larping man Eva Echo. Sarah explains why she feels this loss will not affect Linzi’s case.
UK - Universities
An important report from Professor Alice Sullivan has been released showing that universities have failed to protect gender critical staff. There’s a surprise!! Feminist Legal Clinic reports.
Universities ‘don’t protect academics from trans harassment’ | The Telegraph
Universities have failed to protect gender-critical academics from interference and harassment, a government-commissioned report has found.
A review led by Professor Alice Sullivan, a sociology expert at University College London (UCL), found that many academics had faced “barriers to research” as well as abuse and intimidation because of their gender-critical views.
The report, which was commissioned by the previous Conservative government and analysed submissions from 140 academics, claimed failure to support such individuals was “a stain on the higher education sector”.
Universities have failed to protect gender-critical academics from interference and harassment, a government-commissioned report has found.
It alleged that administrative bloat at UK universities in recent years and the growth of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) departments were interfering with academic freedom.
Source: Universities ‘don’t protect academics from trans harassment’
Maya Forstater of Sex Matters discusses this report on GB News.
Ireland - The Gender Recognition Act
MerrionStreet.ie
Ben Scallan in Gript News ( Politicians slammed for praise of Gender Recognition Act 30 June) reports:
Taoiseach [ Prime Minister] Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin have been criticised for re-affirming support for the Gender Recognition Act during this year’s Pride month.
Speaking at the Dublin Pride march over the weekend, the Taoiseach described the 2015 law as “an important step forward for legal recognition and inclusion for our trans community.”
“These developments exemplified how Ireland was changing,” he said. “How we were becoming a more understanding, compassionate, and equal society that all people could be a proud member of.”
He also referenced changes to the Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum, the hate offences law passed last year, funding for LGBT+ NGOs, and more widely available STI and HIV treatment options as evidence of progress for LGBT+ people.
“In our local communities, funding has been provided to LGBTIQ+ projects across the country to promote inclusion, protect rights, and improve quality of life and wellbeing for LGBTIQ+ people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s Equality Spokesperson Claire Kerrane was also asked during a media interview whether her party continued to support the legislation.
“Yes, absolutely,” she said.
“For trans people, it’s healthcare a lot of the time. I’ve met with groups. I’ve engaged with them. Healthcare is a major issue. And I think all of us actually as political parties can learn, can educate ourselves, can listen more.”
However, author and gender-critical campaigner Helen Joyce described the law as harmful to women and misleading in how it is framed by politicians.
“Calling a law that allows men to get paperwork saying they are to be counted as women in all interactions with the state is not ‘progress’,” she said.
“It’s a huge step backwards for women’s rights. To play a full part in public life women need to know that no man, no matter how he identifies and no matter whether the government has falsified his birth certificate, can come into women-only spaces that we need for our privacy, safety and dignity.”
She added: “Sweeping this horrible law under the heading of ‘LGBTQ rights’ is deceptive nonsense.”
Meanwhile, gender-critical campaigner Laoise De Brún, of the activist group The Countess, also criticised the law and the remarks by the Taoiseach and Sinn Féin.
“Michael Martin may well view the Gender Recognition Act as an important step forward for ‘our trans community’ but it has been a catastrophic step backwards for women’s rights and child safeguarding,” she said.
“The impact has been both dark and inchoate. Under this regime, men who say they are women are sent to female prison where they threaten to rape and torture female prison guards, men are sent to female homeless shelters where they beat up vulnerable women, and across Ireland women are losing their female-only toilets in the workplace and schoolgirls are being forced to share their changing rooms with teenage boys who say they are girls and the category of sex in sport is under threat.”
She said the law had tipped the balance of rights away from women.
“The rights of the 51% have been eroded to appease the 1%,” she said.
“I have drafted legislation to exclude prisons from the scope of the gender recognition certificates. Ten years on, the unintended consequences of the GRA are now clear and as a result it must be amended to exclude single sex spaces and sport.”
The Gender Recognition Act allows individuals in Ireland to change their legal gender based solely on self-declaration, without the need for medical or psychological assessment.
Under this legislation, individuals who were born male but identify as female can be legally recognised as women in all state documents, or vice versa. This legal recognition has previously resulted in biologically male offenders, such as Barbie Kardashian, being placed in women’s prisons.
The Act was passed by the Oireachtas [ Parliament] in 2015 with cross-party support. At the time, Ireland became one of the first countries in the world to adopt a self-ID model without requiring a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or any form of medical intervention.
The States - Banned From The Pool
Another excellent bit of news from the States!!
Matt Osborne reports in Distance Mag.
City Settles With 83-Year Old Woman It Smeared Over 'Trans' Pool Incident
Julie Jaman was libeled, attacked by a street mob for knowing what a man is
Jul 02, 2025
Julie Jaman, who was banned from her city pool and then mobbed in the street for expressing safeguarding concerns regarding a man who was in the female shower and toilet area, has reached a $65,000 settlement with Port Townsend, Washington.
According to the press release from the Center for American Liberty, which defended Jaman’s constitutional rights, the city “also agreed to remove certain information about Ms. Jaman from its website, further underscoring the baselessness of the actions taken against her.”
Jaman was showering after her lap swim in 2022 when she overheard a 19-year-old male, Clementine Adams, entering the city YMCA pool area reserved for females. Adams was supervising at least two little girls as they stripped off their swimsuits to urinate.
Protected only by a plastic curtain, Jaman challenged Adams and told him to leave. Instead of supporting Jaman, YMCA employee Rowen DeLuna called her speech “discriminatory” and banned her for life a few moments later. The Distance helped bring international attention to Jaman’s story.
Instead of listening to Jaman’s concerns, Port Townsend city Manager John Mauro and Olympic Peninsula YMCA CEO Wendy Bart smeared her with false claims of prior bad acts. In an official Q&A discussing the pool shower incident, they accused Jaman of a “documented previous pattern of disrespectful behavior.”
Jaman denies ever being counseled about any supposed misbehavior. The Center for American Liberty demanded documentation of this charge from the YMCA, which manages the Mountain View Pool, in March 2024. Neither the YMCA or the city has ever produced any evidence for this baseless smear of Jaman.
The full piece is here:
https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/city-settles-with-83-year-old-woman?publication_id=945289&r=1v403b
The Horrors Of Phalloplasty
An important piece by Lucy Leader about the horrors that arise from phalloplasties but be ready, this piece and the accompanying photos are gruesome!
Froggy Girl
Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, as she records on her substack, decided to counteract the ‘pro gender ideology’ children’s books that abound and wrote Froggy Girl.
Froggy Girl is coming in two weeks
How you can help
Jul 02, 2025
If you have been following me for a while, you probably know that I have a new children’s book coming called Froggy Girl. It’s a rhyming picture book about a little girl who wishes she was a frog and her parents, teacher, and friends support her wish. However, despite their support, the girl still struggles because she realizes she couldn’t do all the froggy things which left her feeling sad and lonely. She then goes on a walk and meets a wise turtle that helps her appreciate herself as the beautiful little girl that she is. Froggy Girl is illustrated by professional children’s book artist, Nicholas Blooms. He used vibrant colors and unique compositions to make a beautiful book. Plus, the little girl, the turtle and the frogs are all so cute. (Read review by review by Holly MathNerd here)
I was inspired to write Froggy Girl because I saw the countless number of books that lead children to believe that they were born wrong. Some books even teach kids that they are boring or invisible if they have a healthy relationship with their bodies.
Dusty - if you get a copy of Froggy Girl please let us have your review of it.
The full piece is here:
Endings
This piece on his substack from Andrew Doyle has nothing to do with gender ideology or free speech but, since we are always featuring films, I thought I would refer you all to it - and see above for an excellent ending BTW.
The trouble with endings
The closing scene of “28 Years Later” has irritated fans, and for good reason.
Jul 02, 2025
WARNING: This article contains plot spoilers
Movie endings are notoriously difficult. Perhaps this is because they are inherently artificial. In real life there are no neat conclusions; we simply blunder on as best we can from one moment to the next. Stories, however, demand resolution: the tying together of loose threads, the sense that the characters we’ve accompanied for the journey have reached their destination. That illusion is essential to narrative satisfaction. Without it, we’re left floundering, as though the storytellers themselves have abdicated their duty.
I was reflecting on this after watching 28 Years Later, the third instalment in the 28 Days Later franchise, written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. Like its predecessors, the film is a riff on the zombie genre, with infected human beings taking place for the undead. The reviews have been mixed, and the consensus among fans seems to be that this exhilarating and poignant film is ruined in its final moments.
The full piece is here:
https://www.andrewdoyle.org/p/the-trouble-with-endings
Endpieces
From Liz
From Tenaciously
#BeMorePorcupine
#LiesAreNotFreedom
#AdultHumanFemale
#LetWomenSpeak
#LGB✂️TQ
#JoinFreeSpeechUnion
#DontTransKids
#StaySane
#NeverSurrender
#NeverForget
#TruthWillTriumph
#WeWillWin
Excellent news about Julie Jaman. It was a disgrace the way she was vilified and set upon by the Council - but that is what our Councils have become in the name of gender ideology. They, and other like-minded institutions, have become a modern day Inquisition.
There’s a distinctly uplifting feel and fighting spirit about this update which includes some fantastic news. Is the tide slowly turning?
Well done Gript news and the Countess and well said Helen Joyce.
And of course, in the immortal words of the great KJK, altogether now- “He’s A Man”.
Love the Horse With No Name, thanks Liz and what a lovely film ending, thanks Dusty as ever. Thought you’d enjoy the Andrew Doyle piece.
#ThePorcupinesWillWin