Bloody Sunday
Update 452. Redcoats Special. #BeMorePorcupine
Another long one, dear readers. On that point, from the next update onwards, alongside the update I will be doing a separate ‘Short’ featuring the main article or one of the main articles that would have gone into the update for the benefit of those readers who might not have enough time to read the long piece (albeit I hope you will eventually have time to read the long piece😊). Do let me know if this is useful.
Next in our Irish Heroes season is Paul Greengrass’ amazing 2002 reconstruction of the events surrounding the civil rights march in Belfast on Sunday 30 January 1972. For me the central hero is the Social Democratic and Labour Party MP, Ivan Cooper ( played by James Nesbitt) albeit that his dream of a peaceful, velvet revolution came crashing down around him. You will also catch sight of Mary Moulds playing the firebrand MP, Bernadette Devlin. “They’re firing live rounds” she shouts in amazement. And, as they say, the rest is history!
Re-think that Butlin’s Holiday?
Let me just say, this is not going to go well for Butlins!
Tom Cotterill in The Mail Online ( JK Rowling slams Butlin's for taking security guards off duty after they forcibly ejected trans women from holiday camp toilets 11 October) reports:
JK Rowling has blasted Butlin's for suspending security guards after they forcibly ejected a group of transgender women [MEN!!] from the ladies' lavatories at one of its holiday camps.[ Dusty - HOORAY!!]
Security staff at the camp have been accused of 'violently' dragging five trans women [ MEN!!] from the single-sex loos during a music event at Butlin's Skegness last week.
Bosses at the seaside resort took the guards off duty following complaints against them - with Butlin's later issuing an apology, insisting it was an 'inclusive business'.
But the company's reaction has sparked a fierce debate online, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling, 59, slamming the holiday firm and demanding it clarified its stance on women-only spaces.
In a furious broadside on X, the trans-critical fantasy author wrote: 'Does Butlins think the desire of cross-dressing men to enter women-only spaces is more important than women's and girls' right to privacy and dignity?
Pictured is Jae Roberts, one of the transgender women [ Dusty - HE’S A MAN!]who claims to have been forcibly removed by security staff at Butlin's Skegness on October 5
'Hopefully Butlins will explain their policy, so women and families can make an informed choice about where to go on holiday.'
The incident took place on Saturday. October 5, during the Bang Face Festival, which was hosted at the holiday camp.
The full article is here:
Free Speech
So this Labour Government have removed the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act and the next two reports below show precisely why that Act was required!
EHRC Consultation
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are looking to update their guidance with regard to the Equality Act especially Chapter 2 - Who has rights under Part 3 (services and public functions) and Part 7 (associations) of the Act?
With regard to the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’ they state:
2.41 There is no minimum age for the protected characteristic of gender reassignment which means that children and young people are protected if they are proposing to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone a process of gender reassignment.
Aside from the fact that I would prefer to ditch this protected characteristic completely, I do not believe that a child (ie. under 18) has the competence or capacity to make such a decision even in so called ‘Gillick competence’ terms ( Gillick competence is a term originating in England and Wales from a court case of that name and is used in medical law to decide whether a child is able to consent to their own medical treatment, without the need for parental permission or knowledge). All thoughts gratefully received.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm on 03 January 2025. I will be looking out for template responses from the main gender critical organisations which we might be able to use or adapt. Let me know if you see one.
Mermaids, Barclays Bank and Jeffrey Epstein
Another absolutely amazing piece of investigative journalism from Malcolm Clark! He refers back to when Barclays Bank were supporting and providing funds for Mermaids ( a fact that the Bank has recently been trying to erase - but Malcolm has the proof). Under pressure the Bank stopped providing funding to Mumsnet who did not meet their gender woo principles. The Bank’s CEO at the time, Jes Staley turns out to have been a great and close friend of one of the major paedophiles of all time, Jeffrey Epstein.
Malcolm concludes:
This has been a long piece, but I hope you agree it was useful to trace as fully as possible the links between Barclays’s onetime CEO and Jeffrey Epstein as well as the elaborate methods of subterfuge they and many of their connections in the global financial elite employed.
The truth is Epstein was only able to abuse, exploit, rape and humiliate hundreds of girls and young women because he had access to vast sums of money which he believed granted him a 21st Century equivalent of the medieval droit du seigneur. He was assisted in his acquisition of that wealth by executives across the financial system and giant corporations who benefited financially from their links with him.
Many of these executives were utterly amoral and continued doing business with Epstein long after his conviction and even after he was forced to register as a high-risk sex offender. Many guessed what he was up to. JP Morgan executives joked about the presence of young girls at his properties.
Some could surely not have failed to know exactly what he was doing.
Barclays confirmed Staley’s appointment as CEO after newspaper articles revealed his connection to Epstein. It’s hard not to wonder if the bank’s Board was effectively covering for him. They even expressed disappointment when he resigned after the regulator proved he had lied. All this would be disgraceful enough. What makes it even worse is the hypocrisy.
Every corporation that enabled Epstein’s crimes, ignored them or possibly employed senior executives that participated in them, was at the time lecturing their staff, the public and in the case of Barclays their own customers about the alleged ethical necessity to change their views, behaviour and their principles and align them with those of the Barclays Board.
They climbed on their moral high horses, looked us in the eye and declared they had found the way and the light. We were to do what the LGBT+ lobby told us to do and, as that video from Barclays Spectrum Network said, progress the LGBT+ agenda. These giant corporations were so convinced they were right they closed bank accounts of small businesses who disagreed or in the case of Mumsnet blacklisted it for not being sufficiently enthusiastic about harming children.
Yet these liars, shysters and fakes…had in fact fastened onto the LGBT+ movement as a cheap way to disguise their own moral failures. In the case of Barclays this began as a means to deflect from their industrial scale larceny. It then turned into a way to try to perfume the stench from their new CEO’s office.
Barclays claimed it wanted to be an example to the world. Well it is now. Though not in the way it had hoped. The bullying, self-righteous advocacy of Mermaids by a bank that protected, defended and paid vast sums of money to one of the closest associates of the world’s most notorious paedophile should be seen for what it is: a paradigm of the corrupt arrangement between amoral corporations and the LGBT+ rights movement. One in which a dangerous lobby gets its toxic agenda advanced by providing a smokescreen for immoral behaviour.
The full piece is here and is behind a paywall:
Uh Oh! The Office for Equality and Opportunity
Press release
Office for Equality and Opportunity to break down barriers to opportunity
People of all backgrounds will benefit from the government’s commitments to breaking down barriers, boosting opportunity and ensuring that equality is at the heart of every mission.
From:
Office for Equality and Opportunity, Women and Equalities Unit, Race Equality Unit, Disability Unit and Seema Malhotra MP
Published
9 October 2024
[ Dusty - the usual suspects, especially the one third from the right]
Equality Hub replaced by Office for Equality and Opportunity [ Dusty - note ‘equality and opportunity’ not ‘equality of opportunity’]
Equality and opportunity to run through the government’s missions and work
The Women and Equalities ministerial team to sit across key areas of equality
People of all backgrounds will benefit from the government’s commitments to breaking down barriers, boosting opportunity and ensuring that equality is at the heart of every mission.
The Office for Equality and Opportunity will cover the overall framework of equality legislation in the UK, including disability policy, ethnic disparities, gender equality and LGBT+ rights [ Dusty - alarm bells]
Although there is still progress to be made, the government is determined to dismantle any ceiling on people’s ambitions - ensuring women’s equality becomes a reality, tackling pay discrimination at work, and more.
Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson MP, said:
‘We know too many people across our country face unjust barriers, and that’s why we will ensure equality and opportunity are at the very heart of our all missions.
I am proud to stand alongside our strong Women and Equalities Ministerial team, working tirelessly to address the root causes of inequalities and socio-economic disadvantage.
Together, we will drive real, lasting change because background should never be a barrier to success.
Establishing the Office for Equality and Opportunity is just the first step as we ensure that every person has access to the opportunities that allow them to thrive.’
Some of the Office for Equality and Opportunity’s key immediate priorities will be:
strengthening the legal duty for employers to create and maintain working conditions free from harassment
enshrining in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minority people and disabled people [ Dusty - surely this is already enshrined in law!? For everyone I mean!]
delivering a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices [ don the armour, Terven!]
championing the rights of disabled people
focusing on socio-economic disparities
The formation of the Office for Equality and Opportunity accompanies new appointments to the Women and Equalities ministerial team which sits across key areas of equality, such as education, social security, children and young people as well as international development.
Notes to editors:
The full Women and Equalities ministerial team is as follows:
The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP Minister for Women and Equalities
The Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds MP Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP Minister of State (Minister for Social Security and Disability)
Seema Malhotra MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities)
Dame Nia Griffith DBE MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities)
Lord Collins of Highbury Government spokesperson for Equalities
The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern Government spokesperson for Equalities
Luckily I don’t need to go into enormous detail because I can just say ‘I agree with everything that the EDI Jester says’:
Irish Schools Scandal
More on the Irish schools scandal which I have been reporting on in recent updates.
Norma Foley
Niamh Uí Bhriain in Gript News (Fianna Fáil TD calls for Norma Foley to withdraw SPHE material “immediately” 09 October) reports:
A Fianna Fáil TD has called on his party colleague and Minister for Education, Norma Foley, to ensure that material being taught for SPHE – which he described as a “total disgrace” and “explicit” – was “immediately” withdrawn.
Deputy Seán Fleming said that “many people” had been in touch with him regarding the SPHE curriculum, and that he “shared their outrage and concerns”.
The new SPHE curriculum has been plagued with controversy, with parents claiming that their views had been ignored, and a series of controversies erupting around both the contents of newly-published SPHE schoolbooks, and graphic and sexualized material used in workshops presented in a DCU course for SPHE teachers – with teachers saying the material was clearly intended for classroom use.
A “whistleblower” video of the experience of SPHE teacher, Mary Creedon who attended the DCU course – and was shocked to find it included an animated video of a woman masturbating and an exercise featuring the terms “fisting” and “rimming” – was uploaded by the Natural Woman’s Council and has been watched an estimated 700,000 times on social media.
A Gript investigation into an academic brought by DCU as a “guest speaker and “workshop lead” for its course for SPHE teachers, found that she has written young children “do sexuality” – and believes “heteronormative” assumptions of “children’s presumed sexual innocence” should be challenged through sex education policy. Prof EJ Renold of Cardiff University has also written that presumptions of innocence in children were used to legitimate “whiteness”, “the family” and “hetronormativity” – and that thinking of childhood as being antithetical to sexuality was a “white, middle-class” concept.
The professor has stated that her research and writing has been designed to “encourage what could be described as a ‘queering’ of childhood” – and recently argued that children aged 0-5 years express sexuality through sexual behaviours. She has argued that parents must not have the right to remove their children from RSE/SPHE lessons – a recommendation accepted by the Welsh government.
Addressing Mary Creedon’s video, Deputy Fleming said “I personally viewed the video myself. I am totally against and appalled by the inclusion of some of the material contained in the teachers’ training course as part of the SPHE curriculum.”
“I have spoken directly with the Minister for Education, Norma Foley on this matter and I’ve asked her to withdraw all such material immediately,” he said.
“It’s a total disgrace and no material of this explicit nature should ever be shown or discussed in schools with young boys and girls. It is totally over the top and should never be considered as part of the SPH curriculum many people have been in touch with me about this matter and I shared their outrage and concerns”.
Other TDs and Senators have also spoken out on the revelations around the SPHE course in recent days – with some referring to the outrage which previously arose regarding the inclusion of ‘Family A’ in an Edco SPHE classbook, in which a GAA-loving, Irish-dancing, Fleadh-going family were portrayed as narrow-minded bigots.
Laois Offaly TD Carol Nolan said that it was now “absolutely certain that what I would term extremist voices are exerting a powerful sphere of influence on our children’s school curriculum.”
“This appears to be taking place within a de facto atmosphere of political approval at the Departmental level. From what is emerging it is terrifyingly clear that our schools are being approached as some kind of squalid ideological petri dish for a social engineering agenda that is abhorrent to the instincts and experiences of parents and educators alike,” she said.
In regard to the idea of challenging “children’s presumed sexual innocence”, the Independent TD also said that “very many parents” who contact her would “not accept this poison as the new normal”.
“Quite frankly the professional obsession with destroying the so called ‘myth’ of presumed childhood innocence runs contrary to every child safeguarding ethos of any value. What is driving this relentless determination to sexualise children or to prompt them toward the exploration of what, until 5 minutes ago, were adult only themes? That is the question we need to pursue through a forensic investigation into the pedagogical assumptions that are operating behind a veneer of an attitude which says, ‘this is how things are now, so get over it.’ Well I for one and the very many parents who contact me will not simply accept this poison as the new normal,” she said.
Leader of Aontú, Peadar Tóibín welcomed Seán Fleming’s comments and said that Aontú “has been the only party that has raised its head above the parapet on this issue and had the guts to challenge the material on this curriculum”.
“It is clearly not suitable and totally age inappropriate. One of the most disturbing aspects of this entire situation has been the apparent encouragement of pupils not to disclose to their parents what goes on in this curriculum, that to me is simply unconscionable and goes against everything young people are taught,” he said.
“Obviously children and young people need to be taught about sex education, they need to be taught about consent, they need to be taught about safety, but this material coupled with the videos was over-sexualized in the extreme. I’m glad that Deputy Fleming has seen fit to share our concerns in Aontú and come out and condemn it,” he said.
Tipperary Deputy Mattie McGrath said that parents had been “increasingly shocked and horrified” at the revelations around SPHE for schools – and added that Minister Norma Foley needed to answer questions about “how this situation had been allowed to arise.”
“The buck stops with the Minister,” he said, “there’s no escaping that. How did she allow SPHE to be taken over in this way. She needs to apologise and take action.”
That’s Norma Foley who had a great deal of difficulty in answering the question as to whether a child could ‘change their gender’. https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/mad-max?utm_source=publication-search
Ben Scallan in Gript News ( Irish CSPE book to students: Consider that you may have racist bias 10 October) reports:
First year CSPE [ Civic, Social and Political Education] students in Ireland are being taught to study “pansexual” and “genderqueer” sexual identities; to consider that they might hold racist prejudices, even if they don’t know it; and to consider the merits of extreme climate groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, which frequently engage in illegal vandalism as a form of protest.
These lessons and more are contained in the 6th Edition Folens CSPE book “Make a Difference!”, which was released earlier this year in 2024. The book is aimed at Junior Cycle students as young as 12.
STUDENTS TAUGHT ABOUT “GENDERQUEER” AND “PANSEXUAL” IDENTITIES
Lesson 26 of the book seeks to inform students about “LGBTQI+ Rights”, saying that “By the end of this lesson you will…be more aware of Pride events”.
It goes on to teach children about a variety of sexual and gender identities, including “bisexual”, “queer questioning”, “non-binary” (the idea that you can be a gender other than male or female), “gender fluid” (the idea that your gender can switch back and forth between male and female and fluctuate over time), “pansexual”, “asexual”, and more.
In addition to the standard gay pride rainbow flag, students are also taught to study other “Sexual Identity” flags, including “genderqueer,” “aromantic”, and others.
The book further informs students about the work of transgender YouTuber Jazz Jennings regarding “transgender children”.
Jennings is biologically male and was born as a boy, but was allowed to transition to identifying as a female when he was a 3-year-old toddler with the support of his parents because he said he felt like a girl. He is now a transgender activist and influencer.
YOUR CHILD SHOULD CONSIDER THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE RACIST BIASES
Lesson 18 is all about racism, and its self-stated goal is to have students “know about the Black Lives Matter movement” and “reflect on racism in Ireland,” latter adding that “racism is not unique to the USA”.
It says that racism is all about “power”, and that “many” people hold racist biases without knowing it – including, potentially, the students themselves, which is something it urges them to reflect on.
“Most of us would say ‘I’m not racist’ but many people have what is called ‘unconscious bias’,” the text reads.
“This means that almost without realising it, they do not have the same respect or equal view of all minority groups. Think about yourself for a moment…Have you got any unconscious biases?”
The text then goes on to make the claim that “racism” itself is an arrestable criminal offence.
“Racism is an offence – it’s a crime and it can be reported to the Gardaí,” it reads.
BLACK LIVES MATTER IS GREAT AND GEORGE FLOYD WAS KILLED BY RACISM
The book goes on to praise the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, claiming that it is a “global organisation whose aim is to end white supremacy” and “work for a world where black lives are no longer targeted.” It claims that “The BLM campaign is not over” in its struggle to fight against black “oppression”.
The chapter goes on to heavily imply that George Floyd was killed because of his skin colour:
“Following the shocking death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis in the USA in 2020, there was worldwide outrage at the way in which people of colour, especially black people, are still subject to discrimination, racism and abuse.”
It adds:
“This campaign is not over. Racism is not a thing of the past. It is a challenge for the future. For you.”
PROMOTING THE RADICAL “YELLOW FLAG” PROGRAM
The book further goes on to promote the “Yellow Flag” programme – a State-funded NGO award which is supposed to denote “anti-racism” at a school.
“Upon completion and assessment of its eight steps, a school is awarded a Yellow Flag in recognition of its work in becoming a diverse school,” the text reads, adding: “Might your school be interested?”
Notably, Gript previously highlighted how the NGO behind the Yellow Flag award circulated a document which encouraged teachers to oppose the entire concept of criminal justice and policing, and asked them to study militant “black power” organisations like the Black Panther Party. They also encouraged schools to teach children about “white privilege” – the idea that all white people have an unfair head-start in life because of their race, regardless of class, upbringing or income level.
IDEA THAT YOUNG MALE ASYLUM SEEKERS COMMIT CRIME IS “UNTRUE” AND “DISINFORMATION”
Lesson 19 of the book is about immigration, and the chapter offers favourable portrayals of asylum and immigration to students, describing very emotive stories from the perspective of children fleeing warzones.
“There is much disinformation around about refugees and asylum seekers,” the text reads, listing a number of claims which it says are “untrue”, including:
UNTRUE – refugees and asylum seekers are not vetted.
UNTRUE – refugees and asylum seekers are all given houses to live in for free.
UNTRUE – accounts of crimes committed by refugees and asylum seekers, especially young men.
STUDENTS TO STUDY CLIMATE RADICALS LIKE EXTINCTION REBELLION AND JUST STOP OIL
On the topic of climate change, Lesson 49 of the textbook introduces students to radical and climate organisations such as Extinction Rebellion and and Just Stop Oil, which routinely engage in illegal acts as a form of protest, such as criminal vandalism.
“In 2019 the biggest protest ever about climate change was held, as huge demonstrations led mostly by young people took place all around the world,” the chapter reads.
“…Protests led by thousands of young people called on governments and businesses around the world to change. They said that the impact of climate change is going to affect the future of today’s young people and they were demanding action.”
They added: “Extinction Rebellion was another global movement, set up in 2018. It aims to avoid tipping points in the climate system and biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and environmental collapse.”
The book then includes infamous images of Just Stop Oil activists throwing soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s priceless famous ‘Sunflowers’, and releasing paint on the table at the World Snooker Championship in 2023.
Directly below these images, a question box asks students to consider: “Why were these protests so powerful? What did they achieve?”
The page same page also features a quote from climate activist George Monbiot, who is described as a “key thinker”. Students are asked to consider the merits of Monbiot’s assertion that “Police say climate groups such as Extinction Rebellion are a ‘threat’. They’d have done the same for the suffragettes and Martin Luther King.’”
The book also praises climate activist Greta Thunberg, holding her up as a role model, and urging students to watch her speeches on YouTube.
“When we started to write our first CSPE book, young people did not have a voice in the way they do today,” the book reads.
“Now teenagers are regularly heard on the news. They are blogging, connecting, protesting, leading and making a difference all around the world. Just look at Greta Thunberg in Sweden and her Skolstrejk För Klimatet (‘School Strike for Climate’)”
One entire comicbook-style page is dedicated to celebrating Thunberg’s achievements and activism.
CHILDREN URGED TO LEARN ABOUT “THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER QUOTAS”
Lesson 73, which is about “Gender, Representation and Elections”, seeks to ensure that students have “discussed the importance gender quotas.” Students are encouraged to do maths to work out the exact proportion of the Dáil which should be female based on the number of women in society.
“We actually have 36 female TDs in the 33rd Dáil. There should be 88 female TDs in the 34th Dáil. How many are there?” the chapter reads.
It also says that there should be less male TDs in order for there to be “true representation”.
“We actually have 124 male TDs in the 33rd Dáil. There should be 86 male TDs in the 34th Dáil. How many are there?” it says.
More Irish Gender Woo
Sorry, dear readers, I couldn’t get any of the images for this piece. If anyone can send me any of the images I’d appreciate it 😊
Fatima Gunning in Gript News ( Who’s afraid of the big bad “gender identity groups”? Irish Rail apparently 10 October) reports:
If you’ve ever been on a train, one thing you will have noticed is that your fellow passengers are all without exception either male or female.
That’s just the way humanity is really. This will have been one of the first truths you became acquainted with almost from infancy.
You may then find it a bit bizarre to learn that Irish Rail spent a week trying to design a character for an info poster about the use of bins that was neither too male nor too female, for fear of attracting the ire of “gender identity groups”.
I kid you not. …
As reported by the Irish Mirror “a graphic designer prepared a number of drafts for the semi-state company, one of which featured a cartoon representation of a man reaching into a bin, and one which featured a woman doing the same thing.”
“These raised concerns, however, and one Irish Rail official involved in the process suggested that there could be “uproar” if either of the two traditional genders were used on the posters,” it reported.
…
While it’s not easy to wrap one’s head around why a group of adults (in the absence of evidence that Irish rail uses child labour) would ever get to the stage where they were afraid to represent humans in our biologically accurate forms, this case is a reminder of how far we have fallen from a society that can take itself seriously.
…
You’d think that after a full week they might have done what the Japanese often do on public transport etiquette posters and use a cartoon of a badger or something.
If you’ve been to Tokyo you may have seen a cartoon of a hippo on the subway telling you that it’s good manners to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough. Why a hippo, you ask? Well, because the Japanese word for hippo ‘kaba’ sounds a bit like how the English word ‘cover’ is pronounced by Japanese speakers. It makes sense when you know.
…
You might even be wondering why Irish Rail even felt the need to produce such an ad campaign. Not rummaging in bins is, of course, something that you probably wouldn’t need to be told not to do in the first place.
Well, since the advent of the deposit scheme which saw the geniuses in government charge people extra on beverage containers that can only be retrieved by bringing the container to one of those vending machine things that often stink of cider, a number of people have been rifling through bins in order to get the money from returning bottles and cans that have been discarded by their planet destroying owners.
If you’ve been in Dublin you may have seen this happening throughout the day. Apparently it’s a bit of a scourge at Heuston, Cork, Connolly and Limerick stations as well, which prompted Irish Rail to take action.
The Mirror reported that: “Unable to create a satisfactory gender-neutral figure for the warning signs, Irish Rail ultimately decided on a basic black pictogram, with one official remarking that “sometimes communication with the public is a bit of a political minefield, taking account of all and not causing offence to anyone”.
Apparently they didn’t think depicting a person going through a bin as a ‘black’ figure was problematic at all.
In fairness to Irish Rail, perhaps the fact that our government buildings at Leinster House have what appear to be permanent year-round inclusion flags made into some of the windows and doors contributed to their fears of causing upset.
It is rather difficult to believe that dart [ a Dublin rail link] users, the bulk of whom are probably hurrying to work in the morning or languidly gazing out the window on their way home after a long day would give an ant’s snot (as the Koreans say) about whether a man or a woman was depicted on a sign that doesn’t even relate to them anyway.
The fact that Irish Rail spent an entire week bending over backwards to cater to the whims of a group that probably represents 1% of the population – and are always outraged about something somewhere – doesn’t speak well of their business strategy skills. If they’d just made the damn poster the likelihood of it’s having caused “uproar” doesn’t even seem that high to begin with.
Even if it had – they could have earned the respect of the remaining 99% by simply ignoring the loons or telling they/them to feck off.
Whoever wasted a week shaking in their boots about the ire of an unhinged minority – and those who went along with the charade – need to cop on.
Police Scotland - Off With The Woo!
More bonkers news regarding Police Scotland!
James Saunders in GB News ( Police Scotland allows 'transitioning' cross-dressers in women's spaces 09 October) reports:
Police Scotland allows 'transitioning' cross-dressers in women's spaces© GB News
Police Scotland has been put on blast for allowing cross-dressers in women's spaces under rules for employees "transitioning at work".
The force had let cross-dressers and androgynous people - defined as possessing both male and female characteristics - use toilets and changing facilities, regardless of whether they had undergone either surgery or a "social" transition by changing their name or look.
Its rules, put in place in 2019 while the SNP was preparing to change the law to let Scots "self-declare" their gender, have come under fire for "riding roughshod over the interests and safety of its female staff and officers".
In Police Scotland policies, cross-dressers are defined as "people who dress, either occasionally or more regularly, in clothes associated with the opposite gender, as defined by socially accepted norms".
Gender neutral toilet sign© GB News
Further documents state that cross-dressers come under the workplace trans policy and are "entitled to use toilet and changing facilities appropriate to the sex in which they are currently living".
In effect, men would be able to enter women-only spaces by simply identifying as female or by cross-dressing.
And now, gender-critical policy analysis group Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) - which has criticised the force in the past - has lambasted Police Scotland for handing cross-dressers a so-called "access all areas pass" to women's spaces.
Kath Murray, from the group, said: "In aligning its policy with the ambitions of government and activists, Police Scotland managers rode roughshod over the interests and safety of its female staff and officers.
New Zealand - Women’s Sport
Thanks to Garwhoungle on her excellent substack, The Ministry has fallen…for bringing us some good news from New Zealand.
Winning on #XXDay
Why yesterday's instruction to Sports NZ regarding transgender inclusion guidelines is a big deal that we should celebrate
Oct 10, 2024
What’s happened?
Sports Minister, Chris Bishop, just sent Sport NZ back to rewrite its 2022 Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People. Good job.
What are the Guiding Principles?
The Principles document, as it stands, is not really about ensuring transgender people are included in sports at all. It is a step-by-step propaganda manual compelling members of sports clubs and groups around the country to adopt a reality-defying set of ideas, to overwrite women’s safety, fairness and consent, to deny freedom of thought and speech, and to punish dissent.
The Principles do say that trans people must be included in sports. That’s fine in itself. No one decent opposes that, but wait! The Principles explain, in painstaking pseudo-diversity speak, that the only way to be inclusive of trans people is if community sports clubs and groups put the following things in place.
Males who identify as girls or women must be accepted by everyone in the club as female
Male athletes who identify as female must be allowed onto female sports teams.
Male athletes who identify as female must be welcomed into female showers, changing rooms, toilets and, when teams travel, into female dorms and bunk rooms.
If anyone complains about any of this, then, that’s not to be acknowledged as stemming from legitimate concern for or by girls and women, Rather, it is to be labelled harassment or bullying with the alleged perpetrator facing appropriate consequences.
Clubs and groups must hold re-education sessions to rid any club members of lingering faith in the ideas of biological reality, freedom of thought, and safety or fairness to women and girls.
Enough, I’ve written about this nonsensical document before. For now, we can be pleased that Chris Bishop has instructed Sports NZ to rewrite the guidelines with a view to fairness and safety as well as to inclusion and diversity.
Bishop says “I have come to the view that the Guiding Principles do not reflect legitimate community expectations that sport at a community level should not just be focused on diversity, inclusion and equity – but also prioritise fairness and safety.”
How did we get here?
The move comes after many years of campaigning by Save Women’s Sports Australasia and a NZ First election promise. Bishop will also be heeding last week’s letter signed by 59 prominent NZ sportspeople including many Olympians, urging the rethink of the Sport NZ guidelines. The letter said, “Male-bodied athletes are undeniably advantaged when matched against females.”
He’ll also be aware that public support for biological males who identify as women competing in women’s sports is dropping. A Curia poll in March 2022 showed 27% of New Zealanders thought males should be able to compete as females. The same question asked in March 2023 reaped only 16% support. A 2023 Talbot Mills poll showed only 14% support.
Bishop may or may not also be aware of the report on women and girls in sports presented to the UN General Assembly this week by Reem Alsalem, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. Alsalem says '“When eligibility norms are deliberately violated and when the risk of injury to athletes is knowingly increased, the physical harms sustained can be characterized as ‘violence’.“
Alsalem also talks of the barriers to female participation in sports and the risks to women when male athletes are included in their teams. She documents the ways that girls and women are losing out on opportunities when male athletes claim to be female. Alsalem calls for a reintroduction of sex testing, which can be achieved with a simple cheek swab test, for female athletes. If such a policy had been in place before the Olympics, the women’s boxing debacle would never have happened.
Why should we celebrate?
It’s not over til it’s over, and we’ll all be keeping a close eye on Sport NZ’s interpretation of the instructions. But there are already some big wins in Chris Bishop even making the announcement.
I’m thinking of these wins in light of Helen Joyce’s excellent speech at the recent Genspect conference. Relevant to this conversation. Joyce discusses focus groups run by Sex Matters which revealed the issues where most members of the public already agree with sex realist campaigners. Those issues are child gender medicine and sports. Joyce shows how public common sense and clear-sightedness on these two issues are stepping stones that will help us dismantle the entire gender regime.
Inspired by that, I want to point out how Bishop’s instructions represent a win for women and for reality-based campaigners. It’s worth celebrating! We can work with these:
The issue is being covered in the media. Albeit with predictable biases, it’s at least an open-ish conversation.
On this issue, the government (via Bishop’s statement), the public and the 50+ prominent athletes all recognise that women and girls are part of a distinct biological class (females). If it’s true in sports, it’s true everywhere.
The government, the 50+ prominent athletes, and the public recognise that trans rights activists’ demands for inclusion and diversity sometimes directly conflict with women’s and girls’ rights. Again, if it’s true for sports, we can show it’s true elsewhere.
The public will be able to see the consistent, insistent and persistent misogyny of those opposed to a rewrite. What kind of people are opposed to protecting women and girls and actively slander those who campaign for fairness and safety?
Finally, a huge shout out to Save Women’s Sports Australasia and all of those who have been relentlessly campaigning for this. Scandalous that you’ve received the blunt end of the bullshit. Onward. XX
Thanks also to Garwhoungle for this great video she has posted:
The States - Girls’ Sport
Some bad news from the States. Thanks as ever to Feminist Legal Clinic.
Judge declines bid by New Hampshire parents to protest transgender players at school soccer games (10 October)
A federal judge on Tuesday declined to grant an immediate order sought by some New Hampshire parents to allow them to wear pink wristbands with “XX” on them at girls high school soccer games to protest transgender girls playing.
Judge Steven McAuliffe said the notion of whether parents should be allowed to passively protest transgender players at student sports events was legally nuanced and complex [ Dusty - isn’t this the land of the First Amendment? The first word begins with ‘F’ and the second word begins with ‘O’] , and he wanted to hear more detailed arguments presented by both the parents and the school district at the next hearing, which is likely to be held in late November.
The case arose after three parents and a grandparent of soccer players at Bow High School sued the school district, saying their rights were violated when they were barred from school grounds for wearing the wristbands, which represent the female chromosome pair.
Source: Judge declines bid by New Hampshire parents to protest transgender players at school soccer games
JKR
The Queen sent a message to the LGB Alliance conference 😊
What Is A Therian?
Thanks again to Feminist Legal Clinic. I really don’t know what to make of this! All thoughts gratefully received. I do think that some kids are fighting back against the gender madness and I claim to have invented the term Rapid Onset Terfing 😎
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/rapid-onset-terfing?utm_source=publication-search
All thoughts gratefully received. Woof! Miaow!
What is a Therian? And why do children identify as animals? (11 October)
When Emma’s daughter told her she identified as an animal, the mum was understandably surprised.
“I wondered if it was just a passing fad — something she had seen on social media and connected with,” she told Mamamia.
But it was more than that. Emma’s daughter explained to her mum that she’s a Therian — and she’s just one of a growing number of children identifying this way.
If you haven’t heard the term Therian, you’re not the only one. Therians are a community of people who identify as a non-human animals, either spiritually or psychologically.
And while you might be thinking, “Oh yep, I’ve heard of them — Furries’ — no, you haven’t. Because they are two different things.
While Furries have a strong interest in fictional animal characters with human traits and often dress up as animals as an outlet for creativity, fandom, and social expression, Therians view their animal identity (also known as their ‘Theriotype’) as part of their self-identity.
[Ed: Will this mother support her daughter’s identity by giving her a litter box and surgery to attach a prosthetic tail? Just to be clear this article is from Mamamia – not the Betoota Advocate.] [ For those outside Australia, that’s a fictional Aussie newspaper]
Source: What is a Therian? And why do children identify as animals?
Billboard Chris
Interesting interview at the Lisbon Conference by Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad with Billboard Chris:
Endpiece by Liz
Obviously a lot of readers of this substack do identify as Porcupines 😎
#BeMorePorcupine
#LetWomenSpeak
#GrassrootsArmy
#RepealThe GRA
A comprehensive roundup of sex matters from around the world, Dusty. Thank you. Will share as usual. ##PorcupinesAreUs
OMG!!! Am just half way through the Billboard Chris interview. I’m not sure I can say anything else today, it’s too upsetting. Everyone please listen at 25 minutes.