A shout out for this excellent novel by Simon Edge which I think any Terf will enjoy!
This is a satirical comedy featuring Christopher Columbus, a tech billionaire, and a global delusion. Mel Winterbourne is the founder of a small, single-issue charity in the obscure field of mapmaking. Its success in achieving modest aims attracts the attention of handsome tech billionaire Joey Talavera, who evicts Mel and hijacks her charity for his own to convince the world that the earth is flat. Although his chances of doing so seem slim, Flat Earthery is an idea whose time has come. With the historical reputation of Christopher Columbus in free-fall, old-style ‘globularism’ becomes heretical. Teachers, politicians, and celebrities face ruin if they refuse to sign up to the new orthodoxy. For Mel, something must be done. Teaming up with a pariah tabloid journalist and a faded writer of gross-out movie comedies, she sets out to challenge Talavera and his deranged beliefs.
Spot the analogy with the present day anyone? 😎
This, Simon’s fifth novel, has been described by novelist Jane Harris as ‘Animal Farm for the era of gender lunacy, with jokes’, and by Helen Joyce as ‘a satire that skewers the insanity of gender-identity ideology with the wit and brilliance of a modern-day Swift’.
Julie Bindel has said: ‘I laughed so hard I nearly fell in my cauldron. A masterpiece’
NB. No, I have not been paid by Simon I just thought it was the perfect read for a Terf 😎
Birmingham Let Women Speak
Aerial view of Centenary Square
To explain some of the dynamics of yesterday, since there have been ongoing discussions about the police role, the speeches were to take place in front of the statue of King Edward VII which you can see next to the tall building (Baskerville House) in the top left of the square in the photo above. To start with, the anti-women activists (AWAs) lined up between the small domed building (the Hall of Memory - a war memorial) and Baskerville House. There were no police by the time it got to 1pm though Posie had not yet arrived. I went around the other side of the Hall of Memory looking for police where I found just three officers and some LWS people talking to them. The officer I talked to (initially about Jesus and three fish - see last night’s update 😎) eventually said more police were on their way. A line of stewards and volunteers had set up in front of the AWA line.
However, when Posie arrived, the police were not yet there and the AWAs attempted to push forward and that is when some women were assaulted. Luckily police ( just about sufficient numbers) arrived shortly afterwards. They formed a line between the AWAs and the stewards and volunteers. However some AWAs tried to get around the police line and come from the other side of the Hall of Memory including the group that had the skull and crossbones banner. That is when my wife and myself joined with further stewards and other volunteers to set up a line going up to the walkway that you can see above the Hall of Memory. On a couple of occasions this break away group of AWAs looked like they were thinking of breaking through to get in on top of all the LWS folks who were gathered around the statue but eventually they thought better of it. Eventually a few police stood between us and the AWAs who were gathered in front of the left hand side ( as you look at the photo) of the Hall of Memory.
I don’t know whether the AWAs had a permit to counter protest but clearly they were acting unlawfully by playing music at very loud volume , letting off klaxons etc. However ( as usual) the police didn’t do anything to stop this happening. Unusually for these events a lot of the police were facing us which was totally illogical since it was clear that we were entirely peaceful and , if anything was going to happen, it would be initiated by the AWAs.
I am considering writing to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner ( especially because I happen to know him!) about: why the police weren’t there to begin with; why there were not more police; why they couldn’t stop the loud music and other excessive noise; why many of them were facing us…and why they, the West Midlands Police, are still Stonewall Diversity Champions! Watch this space!
My wife was right up the top of the line near the walkway where she got to speak to several passers by who asked what was going on. She said all of them were sympathetic to our side of the argument. She talked for a long while to a young man who was there with his Mum ( reminds me of one of our slogans ‘Your Mum’s A Terf!’😎) who had just left university and said he was very isolated there because so many of his year were trans rights supporters.
I mentioned last night that I talked to a poor woman whose son had cut her off and now called her a Nazi (!!). She got very upset when she thought she saw him with the AWAs (though in the end it turned out it wasn’t him). She got so upset that I called over a steward to comfort her. Poor woman!
I was down near the Hall of Memory facing the skull and cross bones so didn’t get to speak to any members of the public since they were having to skirt around the Hall of Memory. On a lighter note I did shout out to the AWAs asking if they had any Rolling Stones because I was getting fed up with the Beetles. They didn’t answer me. 😎
Here are a couple of my wife’s photos:
Posie (identifying as Elvis 😎)
Trans health care ( consisting of what exactly!?) - also note the ridiculous nails!!
Belfast Let Women Speak
Alice the Journalist has just posted a lovely and very moving compilation of this event interspersed with lovely Irish folk music
Policing Pronouns
An article in the Telegraph by Ewan Somerville ( alighted on by EDI Jester) reveals guidance to staff in the Houses of Parliament concerning ‘gender identity’. The House of Commons have now stated that this is to be replaced by new guidance. What is very disappointing ( to say the least) is that the Government are often making positive noises about dealing with this gender madness but, in the meantime, this kind of thing is going on under the radar. The article is here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/13/parliamentary-staff-police-pronouns-transphobia/
Barry’s take on it, where he talks about ‘toxic parenting’, is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Qmr7Q0ouk&t=1s
‘Sexuality education’
Excellent interview by Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk TV with Helen Joyce on this subject ( but also mentions the above parliamentary guidance):
Kathleen Stock
Interview on Talk TV about the cancellation of Kathleen Stock from speaking at the Oxford Union between the awful and frankly ridiculous (and lying) trans-identifying male, Freda Wallace and the wonderful Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend:
https://twitter.com/TalkTV/status/1650861747929247744
Higher Education ( Freedom of Speech) Act 2023
I have now caught up with yesterday’s excellent Queens Speech from Dennis and Clive and learnt about the above getting the Royal Assent on 11 May!! This could be the end of cancel culture in universities which would be amazing! I will be investigating this further!
Great to hear that Joanna Chery MP will now be giving her speech at The Stand in Edinburgh after her letter before action supported by another King’s Counsel.
I did also enjoy the fact that, in Spanish ( or in French), non-binary has to be either masculine or feminine - so you need to make a choice! 🤣