Whoa, this is going to be a bumper edition! Thanks to two wonderful readers and my wonderful wife for sending me some pieces ( my wife is very proud of the fact that Posie once described her as “a wonderful woman” 😎). If you see something interesting please do send me a link in case I haven’t spotted it. I do a daily trawl through the internet for news pieces and the like but I am never going to spot everything!
This is a long one! If you end up with a clipped version let me know. I may have to re-send in two parts.
In the 2022 film Living, Bill Nighy plays Mr Williams who has been a prim and proper , box ticking civil servant all his life. Faced with a diagnosis of terminal cancer, he decides to do a great thing albeit in a small way. I think all of us are doing a great thing (and, I appreciate, we may be doing other great things) in stepping out and supporting the gender critical campaign. In our small way we are also doing a great thing. Lovely film! Recommended.
Wedding Gown for a Woman to Marry Her Garden
Let’s start with some good news! Great news from Pearl Red Moon. Well done, Pearl. And what a beautiful piece of art.
Great news about the San Francisco exhibition! Talk about the belly of the beast! This is where, at the University, Riley Gaines was barricaded in a room for 3 hours after giving a speech! Several British artists including Birdy Rose are included in the exhibition.
The video above was made the day before I went to Queensland for the Wearable Art Festival. It shows a close up detailed look at the surface of the garment.
Immediately after getting back from Queensland I packed up Wedding Gown and sent it to the United States. During the 7 weeks I had been expelled from the Wearable Art Festival I had been contacted by an art collector who bought the dress to show in an art exhibition in San Francisco in September. Appropriately, the exhibition is called -
A Nasty Piece of Work: The Art of Dissident Feminists
The show opens on September 16th 2023 (runs until October 15th) in conjunction with the Women’s Declaration International conference. If you are interested to see it in reality check out the Saturday 16th schedule for the conference where the opening of the exhibition is advertised at 7.00pm. Entry to the opening night comes with paid registration to attend the conference and the venue for the exhibition is not currently being advertised due to concern for attracting anti women’s rights protestors. After the WDI conference the exhibition will remain open for a few more weeks with viewing available by appointment.
My work will be represented along with these other women artists from around world who have all been cancelled and vilified in various ways for attempting to speak out about how women’s rights and child safeguarding comes into conflict with trans gender ideology.
Laura Becker
candio.
Claudia Clare
Jess de Wahls
Melissa Gwyn
Laura Ichikawa
Rosie Kay
Sarah Vaci
Nina Paley
The Famous Artist Birdy Rose
Beverley Talbott
Still can’t shut me up….
Last month I spoke in Brisbane, Queensland at another Women’s Declaration International seminar with these other redoubtable women. The photo shows Liberal Party politician Moira Deeming to the left of me, psychiatrist Jillian Spencer first to the right and Hobart City Councillor Louise Elliot to the far right.
I'll publish a transcript of the talk I gave here on Substack in a few days time.
Here is more info on the exhibition: https://twitter.com/WomenAreReals/status/1691503177886310400
How To Answer The Gender Madness
I call Dr Miriam Grossman and The Enraged Mum 😎
Tha Tavistock still up to no good
Shocking that the Tavistock are still operating at all! I shall let Lord Goldsmith do the comments!
Martin Beckford in Mail Online (Anger flares at the controversial Tavistock Clinic over a sex change operation for a young person who cannot read or write and has 14 mental health conditions 23 August) reports:
Fresh questions were raised last night about a controversial NHS clinic after it emerged that a young person with 14 mental health conditions and who cannot read or write has been approved for gender surgery.
Conservative peer Lord Goldsmith branded medics at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 'utterly barbaric' and said they should be 'locked up' for carrying out procedures akin to 'lobotomies'.
The case of the troubled 22-year-old emerged in court papers as it was argued that 'misgendering' had contributed to the failure of their education. Known only as AI to protect their identity, the individual who is transitioning from female to male took Wandsworth Council to the High Court, through solicitors, for allegedly failing to cater for transgender young people with special educational needs.
The judgment in the case revealed that AI cannot read or write following a 'chaotic' childhood with a mother who was a 'recovering drug addict' whom he [ Dusty - that’s ‘she’, of course!] saw 'subjected to domestic violence'.
AI was looked after by his disabled grandmother, went into the care system as a teenager and had a 'long history of disrupted schooling'.
The judgment continued: 'He has a total of 14 diagnoses and continues to have complex needs. His difficulties have been medically described as Mild Mental Retardation, Attachment Disorder, Emotion Dysregulation, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder, dyslexia, severe anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and low self-esteem.
'In 2021, he was diagnosed with disturbance of activity and attention, minimal impairment of behaviour and reactive attachment disorder of childhood.' AI was referred to the Tavistock – whose gender clinic for young people was rated 'inadequate' by inspectors and earmarked for closure last year – aged 14 and has now been approved for body-changing surgery.
The judgment added he would need ongoing support.
Fears have been raised in recent years that vulnerable teenagers have been rushed into taking puberty-blocking drugs and undergoing irreversible surgery at the Tavistock. Lord Goldsmith wrote on social media: 'This young person has been diagnosed with 14 mental health disorders.
'The response from these ghouls is to chop up her body and fill her with hormones. How is this different to lobotomies? These professionals are utterly barbaric and need locking up.'
Free Speech Under Attack
Martin Beckford (again!) in Mail Online ( Free speech is under attack from trans rights activists attempting to shut down debate while stronger hate crime laws could lead to prosecutions for misgendering, report warns 23 August) reports:
Free speech is being undermined by trans rights activists attempting to shut down debate and dissent, a report warns today.
The study says that while the 'transgender ideology movement' has successfully got the public sector to adopt its own beliefs and language, it has also tried to suppress opposing viewpoints.
Campaigners have forced gender-critical people out of their jobs, had their public speaking engagements cancelled and even got police to record 'non-crime hate incidents' against them simply because they deny humans can change sex.
The report by the Institute of Economic Affairs warns hate crime laws could be strengthened further under a Labour government, leading to prosecutions for misgendering.
Author Marc Glendinning, head of cultural affairs at the think-tank, said: 'Many supporters of transgender ideology do not aim to win the debate but rather prevent debate from occurring.
Graham Stringer MP
'Maintaining free speech... is essential if we are to defend a liberal society based on rationality rather than coercion.'
His study was backed by Labour backbencher Graham Stringer, who likened gender ideology to the claim made by Humpty Dumpty in Alice In Wonderland that words mean whatever he chooses them to mean.
He said: 'There are many in the transgender debate who follow in the Humpty Dumpty tradition.
'Men become women and women become men via a simple declaration. If words can have any meaning debate becomes meaningless.
'You end up with authoritarianism, which is what transgender ideologues desire, with them in authority.'
Great report. Well done, Graham Stringer, joining the Rosie Duffield Team!
We really need to get rid of hate crime altogether and see EDI Jester below.
Steph Spyro in The Daily Express ( ‘Trans bigots trying to shut down free speech'- Labour could make misgendering a crime 22 August) also reports on this issue:
Rosie Duffield and Miriam Cates© Daily Express
Tory MP Nick Fletcher said: "Much of the gender ideology criticism has come from women who are rightly concerned about its impact on women's rights and child safeguarding. But the harms go much further.
"Ideologues seek to shut down free speech and to undermine basic science and even our understanding of reality.
"This IEA paper is a much-needed wake-up call to libertarians and conservatives who have not yet engaged with this subject."
The article concludes:
The Daily Express has highlighted the issue with our Protect Women's Rights crusade.
It is backed by Labour MP Rosie Duffield and Conservative Miriam Cates, who say extremist trans activists must not be allowed to wipe away a century of hard-won protections.
Protect Women’s Rights Crusade! Excellent!
Conversion Therapy
James Esses writes on his substack about this subject. Please do consider doing a paid subscription to James’ excellent substack.
'Conversion Therapy' Ban: A Dangerous U-Turn ( 23 August)
It appears as if a potentially dangerous U-Turn is afoot.
In the Queen’s Speech of May 2021, the government announced that it would be pressing ahead with a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for sexual orientation only. This was something supported by myself and colleagues. In the background briefing notes to the speech, it was expressly stated that ‘gender identity’ would not be included and that separate work would be undertaken to consider this issue “recognising the complexity of issues and need for further careful thought.”
This was welcome news, in light of the unintended consequences of such legislation.
However, in January 2023, it was announced that the government would indeed be pressing ahead with a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for both sexual orientation and ‘gender identity’.
This appeared, in part, to have been spurred on by an amendment to the Online Safety Bill by Alicia Kearns MP. This amendment sought to ensure the Bill captured content advertising or promoting ‘conversion therapy’. It is worth emphasising that Kearns is highly sympathetic to Mermaids, Stonewall and Pink News. Through this amendment she also sought to have the term ‘LGBTQ+’ recognised in legislation for the first time, which was extremely telling.
The government has stated that it will publish a draft Bill, which will then go through pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. To date, we have not seen the draft wording of such a Bill. However, there are significant concerns regarding the potential implications of such legislation:
1. Undermining Child Safeguarding
Gender dysphoria is a mental health condition. It can be hugely debilitating. In the UK, at present, in order to ‘transition’ legally or medically, you must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Research has shown that explorative therapy and counselling is extremely effective in treating gender dysphoria and enabling a child to settle into their bodies. Furthermore, Dr Hilary Cass in her Interim Report, has made it clear that proper therapeutic support must be at the forefront of any model to treat gender dysphoria.
Legislation risks criminalising ethical, explorative therapy, depriving children of an opportunity to resolve their dysphoria without having to go down a path of experimental hormones and surgery, which may cause them irreversible harm. We only need to hear the horrific stories of the growing numbers of ‘detransitioners’ to know this to be the case.
The government has previously proposed using the term ‘suppress gender identity’ in legislation. This ambiguous phrasing risks criminalising basic therapeutic techniques, such as pausing for thought and reflection, exploring contributing factors and exploring a range of options with a young person.
The government also previously proposed a focus on those who are questioning their ‘gender identity’, as opposed to those who are insistent about it. However, we know that swathes of children have spent many hours online self-diagnosing and being affirmed in online communities. These children are convinced they are ‘trans’ and such legislation may prevent therapists from adopting an exploratory approach with them. We know of many ‘detransitioners’ who were certain at the time of transitioning that they were trans and now have life-long regret.
2. Dangerously slippery slope
Serious concerns have been raised as to whether such legislation is necessary at all.
‘Conversion practices’ in the strict sense of the term (think ‘electric shock treatment’ and ‘corrective rape’) are undeniably abhorrent. Thankfully, these are already caught by existing legislation.
Proponents of gender ideology often say that by not banning ‘conversion therapy’ they are enabling the ‘torture’ of children and young people. The last time I checked, torture was already outlawed in this country.
The most frequently cited source to support legislation is the Government Equalities Office (GEO) 2018 LGBT survey. This was a non-random, online, self-report survey, which cannot be generalised. Its methodology has also widely been criticised as having serious flaws.
The term ‘conversion therapy’ itself is a misnomer. The government’s own author of their previous report on ‘conversion therapy’, Dr Adam Jowett, has himself said “the term conversion therapy is often misleading because it’s often not therapy”. It is almost always religious or family settings. To continue to use the term ‘conversion therapy’ is to mislead the public.
For reasons detailed above and below, it is near impossible to ensure that any legislation in space [ Dusty - I think this should be ‘place’?] will not have significant unintended consequences.
Victoria, Australia, which has passed similar legislation is often hailed by proponents of a ban as a major success story. However, the Victoria Human Rights Commission has stated that a parent who does not support their child taking puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones may be committing the offence of ‘conversion therapy’. If this is what potentially awaits us in the UK, we should be gravely concerned.
3. Such legislation may enable ‘conversion’ therapy
Therapists should never enter into the therapy room with a pre-determined outcome. However, such legislation may effectively mandate an ‘affirmation-only’ approach towards transitioning. This may force therapists to affirm children down a path towards transition, even if they are not suitable for it.
Surely, encouraging vulnerable children down a pathway of hormones and surgery without being offered explorative therapy and the opportunity to reconcile their distress with their bodies is a form of ‘conversion therapy’ in and of itself.
Crucially, there have been serious concerns raised within the LGB community that such a model may be a form of gay conversion therapy, especially when statistics show that many people with gender dysphoria will eventually come out as LGB. We have heard reports, both home and abroad, of certain cultures and families who would rather their child was ‘trapped in the wrong body and straight’, rather than gay
4. Chilling Effect on Therapists and Free Speech
In countries which have passed similar legislation, we have heard of therapists refusing to work with children with gender dysphoria, for fear of being erroneously accused of wrongdoing.
Mandating an affirmation-only approach and undermining exploration, may force therapists to have to choose between their ethics or their job.
My own ongoing litigation is proof that dialogue on this issue is already being shut down within this country. I was expelled from my Masters’ degree after starting a government petition asking for explorative therapy to be safeguarded as part of any ban on ‘conversion therapy’.
The ‘Coalition Against Conversion Therapy’ have briefed the government on numerous occasions regarding a potential ban on ‘conversion therapy’. The non-binary Chair of the Coalition, Dr Igi Moon, has previously stated that “if you believe in a two-sex model, you shouldn’t be seeing clients”. This is inherently discriminatory and suggests that we could find ourselves in a position in which therapists who believe in biology are unable to practice.
5. Impossible to legislate effectively
You cannot legislate for what you cannot define. Currently, we appear as a society to be wholly unable to agree on definitions of the most basic words that had been universally accepted until recently. If we are unable to define words such as sex, gender, trans or non-binary, it will be impossible to legislate properly and effectively. We have witnessed similar legislation passed abroad being incredibly ambiguous in language, as a result.
Furthermore, such legislation would completely conflate sexual orientation with gender dysphoria, the latter of which is a mental health condition.
It is crucial that any legislation the government seeks to bring forward in this regard must expressly and explicitly safeguard explorative therapy for children with gender dysphoria. It must protect and uphold the rights, freedoms and independence of clinicians. It must ensure that, unlike Australia, parents will never be criminalised for not allowing their children to receive experimental and irreversible medication or surgery.
I await the draft legislative wording with bated breath. However, given the serious concerns present, some of which may be impossible to mitigate, the best thing the government can do is drop the legislation altogether.
I fully concur with James that the whole idea of such legislation should be dropped.
Wonderful Feminist Legal Clinic also report on this subject but in New South Wales where a consultation is under way but a consultation by invite only!! FFS!!!
Secretive Consultation on Conversion Practices Bill – Respect Our Sex ( 23 August)
Department of Communities and Justice have released a consultation paper on “LGBTQ+” conversion practices.
The terms of the consultation conflates sexuality with gender identity.
The terms of the consultation does not give a definition of what it means to have a gender identity (or to be ‘converted’)
The consultation is being done behind closed doors.
The consultation is invitation-only. There is no public input sought.
The draft text of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill 2023 has not been made available for public scrutiny.
The consultation is between Department of Communities and Justice and the NSW Ministry of Health, who will decide whether to listen to members of the public. There is NO AVAILABLE PUBLIC INFORMATION published about the consultation.
Only 3 weeks is being given for the consultation submissions made to policy@justice.nsw.gov.au required before 25 August 2023.
The consultation documents indicate that this bill will be modelled on similar legislation introduced in Victoria.
Read the documents here:
Source: Secretive Consultation on Conversion Practices Bill – Respect Our Sex
Australian legal victory
In case you missed it, EDI Jester reports on a very important case where two ‘Drag Queens’ who sued Lyle Shelton because he criticised them reading ‘stories’ to children have lost their case ( hooray!)
Achill Film Festival
Achill is a beautiful small island off the west coast of Ireland.
There is an annual Achill Film Festival. The Festival put out a tweet in support of Graham Linehan and JK Rowling. They were duly piled on and felt obliged to apologise under the pressure of bullying. Shocking example of the quashing of free speech in Ireland.
Here is a tweet from the wonderful The Countess:
https://twitter.com/TheCountessIE/status/1692655087762415719
Times Round Up
My mate, Fingers has provided me with loads of Times press cutting as usual. Bear with me!
Jordan Peterson
Very bad news that Dr Peterson has lost his legal case. Hope he appeals!!
Tyler Griffin in Global News ( Ontario court rules against Jordan Peterson, upholds social media training order 23 August) reports:
An Ontario court has ruled against controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson, upholding a regulatory body’s order that he undergo social media training or potentially lose his licence to practice.
In a decision released Wednesday, three Ontario Divisional Court judges unanimously sided with the College of Psychologists in Ontario in a case stemming from some of Peterson’s contentious language and online statements.
Justice Paul Schabas wrote that the college’s order that Peterson undergo a program on professionalism in public statements balanced its mandate to regulate the profession, “is not disciplinary and does not prevent Dr. Peterson from expressing himself on controversial topics.”
Lia ‘The Liar’ Thomas
In case you missed it Mr Menno has done an excellent video on Lia Thomas finally being banned from women’s swimming. Well done to Riley Gaines, Paula Scanlan, Sharron Davies, Martina Navratilova, Kellie- Jay and all the other women who campaigned for this.
And finally…
Blimey, that was long! We need a break! For the oldies, and hopefully some of you youngsters will enjoy this too, here are the great precursors of Monty Python, The Goon Show. This is an animated clip featuring Peter Sellers as Bluebottle and Spike Milligan as Eccles. The question is ‘What is the time?’ The answer is a bit more complex than you might have expected 😂
Thank you for featuring “A Nasty Piece of Work” in your substack! Anyone interested in learning more or seeing the exhibit can send an email to info@femalesmatter.org
Congratulations to Pearl Red Moon and all the other artists in ‘A Nasty Piece of Work’. What a great title.
Very disappointing for Jordan Peterson.
Thanks Dusty, such a lot to get our teeth into.