We need stirring speeches for Terf Month!
This is the famous speech delivered by Queen Elizabeth 1 to her troops at Tilbury on 7 August 1588 as they waited for the Spanish Armada. As to whether she delivered the speech, like Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, clad in armour and on horseback is another question. Great speech though:
‘When the day of battle is ended
We meet again in heaven
Or on the field of victory’.
Albeit that a game of bowls may be more famous than this speech! For those who don’t know, the head of the English Navy, Sir Francis Drake , famously said that he was going to finish his game of bowls first when told that the Armada were in sight!
Now who does Cate Blanchett look like? If you say Angela Rayner - shame on you!
‘I gorra fridge in me battle boos.’
Thanks as ever to two wonderful readers for suggested pieces.
As an aside, I am having to jettison some pieces this week that I might otherwise cover in order to concentrate on the manifestoes. However I will be covering other pieces still this week - just not so many. 😊
General Election Manifestoes
OK, dear readers, here are the third lot of manifestoes. Obviously I am just concentrating on gender ideology and related matters such as free speech. I leave you to look at the other policies of the parties.
I covered the Labour manifesto here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/stand-up-and-speak
I summarised the issues that the Party of Women will be concentrating on here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/rebellion
I covered Alba and The Tories and referred you all to an excellent summary about the Lib Dems and the Greens by Transgender Trend here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/the-magnificent-sixteen
I covered Reform and the Heritage Party here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/become-the-lawmakers
I am taking the various other UK parties in alphabetical order ( apart from I pulled Reform up the list at the request of a reader). In some cases the manifesto does not seem to have been published yet but I am relying on their existing statements of principles and policies. I start in each case with a link to the document I am working from.
I make some comments as I go through them. I will leave you, dear readers, to spot where a party fails to address an issue that is relevant to gender critical belief (eg strip searching of women by male officers larping as women) - failure to mention an issue might indicate that the party in question does not see a problem with what is happening.
If I have missed anything important, please let me know 😊
For those of you who are not lucky enough to have a PoW candidate in your constituency, I have drafted some questions you might like to send to the candidates - obviously please add, amend and delete as you see fit. You will find them here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/i-never-lose?utm_source=publication-search
I deal below with Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru. I am only covering the major parties, of course. To come:
The Social Democratic Party
The Workers’ Party
Manifestoes not yet available:
The Democratic Unionist Party
The Scottish National Party
If you feel I should look at any other parties please let me know. I am only looking at the two main parties in Northern Ireland, namely the DUP and Sinn Fein. If you think I should also look at the SDLP and the Alliance, once again please let me know.
And no - I am not going to be dealing with the Monster Raving Loony Party albeit that they may prove to be a better choice than the Labour Party!
SINN FEIN
https://vote.sinnfein.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sinn-Fein-Local-Election-Manifesto-2024.pdf
Well! That was easy! They don’t refer to any of the issues we are concerned with at all! Gobsmacking!
Makes it nice and easy for Northern Irish Terfs!
THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
As far as I can make out this has not been published yet but let me know if you spot it first!
PLAID CYMRU
The voting system and the House of Lords
At UK elections, we would support proportional representation so that a greater proportion of votes are used to elect representatives, rather than wasted. We prefer the Single Transferable Vote electoral system, and will again push for this in Wales after the Senedd 2026 election. Plaid Cymru does not support the House of Lords, and we will continue to make the case for its abolition. However, for the period in which that institution has legislative power over Wales, we will continue as a party to participate in debates there.
Dusty - personally I think that the House of Lords provides an important bulwark against the House of Commons which will be important to Terfs if Labour form the next government. We may be more likely to get some assistance from the House of Lords. In any event I think a two house system is essential to the balance of powers. As ever, please let us have your thoughts.
Gender
Recent years have seen the Conservative UK Government attempt to sow division within society by creating a series of so-called culture wars which uses real people and real people’s lived experiences against them. We believe that there should be the highest respect for all people and communities. We reaffirm our commitment to ensure that LGBTQ+ voices and experiences are heard and will continue to actively promote LGBTQ+ rights. We will promote LGBTQ+ inclusion throughout society, including all workplaces and participation in sport, as part of a broader effort towards healthier lifestyle. Plaid Cymru would end so-called conversion therapy practices related to sexuality and gender identity. We are concerned by the rise of hate crimes in recent years perpetrated against the LGBTQ+ community, in particular transphobia, and need to see this tackled by our Police forces. Similarly, as part of their community outreach efforts, we would expect the Police to be promoting positive, affirming and trust building links with all minority sections of societies e.g. attending local Pride events and community diversity events. We will continue to fight for equality for trans people. Having secured recurrent funding for a Wales Gender Identity Clinic so that people can receive support here in Wales, rather than traveling to London, we will work to improve the provision and ensure timely access to its services and support. Plaid Cymru will seek the powers to present the Senedd with a proposal for simplified, demedicalised gender self-identification system.
Dusty - I don’t think I really need to comment on this, do I? Off with the Woo!!
Terf Month
Why are we having Terf Month on this substack?
Here is Runawaysiren (not exactly on pride month but you’ll get the drift 😊):
Do you understand now? 😊
More General Election
Spiked examine Labour’s manifesto pledges on ‘gender issues’:
It’s Official - Only Men Have Penises!
David Wilcock in The Mail Online ( Keir Starmer FINALLY admits that only men can have penises as he hardens his stance on trans women and biological sex saying he agrees with predecessor Tony Blair 18 June) reports:
Keir Starmer appeared to harden [ Dusty - do you want to re-phrase that 🤣] Labour's position on gender and biological sex today as he said he agreed with predecessor Tony Blair that only a man can have a penis.
The Labour leader has faced pressure from gender rights campaigners after previously saying that '99.9 per cent of women' do not have the reproductive organ.
But he went further today on an election campaign visit to Basingstoke, which came after Sir Tony had offered a blunt assessment of his own position.
Speaking to Holyrood magazine recently the former PM said politics had got itself into a 'muddle' over gender identity.
'What is a woman? Well, it's not a very hard thing for me to answer really,' he said.
'I'm definitely of the school that says, biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis. I think we can say that quite clearly.'
Asked about the comments this afternoon Sir Keir said: 'Yes, Tony is right about that, he put it very well.
Mine is this long ( sorry, readers, I couldn’t resist that!)
Can you guess which one of us has a penis, Sir Keir?
'I saw it reported, I'm not quite sure when he said it, but I agree with him on that.'
Sir Keir has repeatedly faced questions about his views on transgender issues and has faced criticism for some of his previous remarks on the topic.
Last year, he said that '99.9 per cent of women' do not have a penis and in 2021 said it was 'not right' for Labour MP Rosie Duffield to state that 'only women have a cervix'.
But he has since said about Ms Duffield's statement that 'biologically, she of course is right about that'.
And yesterday his party suspended a Labour peer and LGBT rights campaigner who mocked her fears for her safety online.
The full article is here:
Fleeing California
Well known American fitness guru, Jillian Michaels has fled California. Thanks as ever to Feminist Legal Clinic.
Jillian Michaels says ‘mind-boggling’ laws led to move from California (18 June)
The fitness personality, who was born in Los Angeles, opened up about what inspired her to move from her home state during an interview on “The Sage Steele Show” released Wednesday.
Michaels told host Sage Steele that California “got too crazy for me,” citing recent legislation spanning the decriminalization of sex work and gender-affirming care for transgender children.
“I grew up here. I’m a woman. I’m a gay woman. My mom’s a Jew. My dad’s an Arab. I have a Black kid. And believe it or not, my son is half Latin, even though he doesn’t look like it,” Michaels said. “I hold a million cards in your game of woke victimology poker. And when I leave California, maybe you’ve lost your (expletive) mind. Just maybe. Like, when you have me running from home, maybe it’s gone way too far.”
“The Biggest Loser” trainer, who now resides in Miami, went on to criticize some of California’s “mind-boggling” laws.
“We’re decriminalizing everything, which arguably I would probably be OK with, but we’re not regulating any of it,” Michaels said. “So, it’s like, OK, you’re going to decriminalize sex work, but only so women can legally loiter on the streets, not to keep them safe, not to have them pay taxes, not to make them, you know, regularly check for STDs, not to take away the pimps out of the equation.”
Regarding gender-affirming care, Michaels condemned legislation that allows children to “irreparably change their bod(ies).”
“If my son came to me and said, ‘Mom’ — or my daughter — ‘I think I’m trans.’ I’d say OK, you know, like, you want to dress this way. You want me to call you whatever the heck you want, dress, fine. Explore it. I love you. I’m cool,” Michaels said. “Do you as long as we’re safe, but we’re not changing your body until it’s fully developed. I’m sorry. Conversation’s over.”
Michaels concluded: “It’s madness to me. I can go on and on and on.”
Source: Jillian Michaels says ‘mind-boggling’ laws led to move from California
Helpline
An excellent helpline has been set up for children and young people by LGB Alliance as reported by our favourite Head Warrior Teacher:
MEI!!
Maybe we are moving back to a sane position on the question of ‘meritocracy’?
Excellent piece from Andrew Doyle on his substack:
Is this the end for DEI?
“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” hiring policies are unprofitable, patronising and regressive. Some companies are finding a better way.
JUN 18, 2024
With the inexorable spread of DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – across the western world, it’s refreshing to see at least one major company resist the decrees of this new religion. This is precisely what happened this week when Scale, an Artificial Intelligence company based in San Francisco, launched a new policy to ensure that its employees were hired on the basis of – wait for it – being the most talented and best qualified for the job.
This innovation, which sees race, gender and sexuality as irrelevant when it comes to hiring practices, should hardly be considered revolutionary. And yet in a world in which the content of one’s character is less important than the colour of one’s skin, to treat everyone equally irrespective of these immutable characteristics is suddenly deemed radical.
Scale’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, explained that rather than adopt DEI policies, the company would henceforth favour MEI, which stands for Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence. He explained the thinking behind the new scheme in a post on X.
“There is a mistaken belief that meritocracy somehow conflicts with diversity. I strongly disagree. No group has a monopoly on excellence. A hiring process based on merit will naturally yield a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas. Achieving this requires casting a wide net for talent and then objectively selecting the best, without bias in any direction. We will not pick winners and losers based on someone being the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ race, gender, and so on. It should be needless to say, and yet it needs saying: doing so would be racist and sexist, not to mention illegal. Upholding meritocracy is good for business and is the right thing to do.”
One can already hear the likes of Robin DiAngelo and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez screaming in fury at this blatant implementation of good old-fashioned liberal values. Surely the only way to defeat racism and homophobia is to treat ethnic and sexual minorities as incapable of high achievement and in need of a leg up from their betters?
The full piece is here:
https://andrewdoyle.substack.com/p/is-this-the-end-for-dei
Endpiece
Alice meets Sir Keir Starmer:
Tonight I have been helped, in the background, by the man who I regard as the Daddy of Rock ‘N Roll, Fats Domino. Here he is:
#BeMorePorcupine
I’m afraid I don’t have the words to do justice to the disgust I feel towards Keir Starmer….the man with no shame. I can just picture him trotting behind Tony Blair and wailing ‘ Ive got the same opinions as you honest, please be my friend, I’ve got more opinions if you don’t like those ones.’ And to think how he’s behaved towards Rosie Duffield. The man is a snivelling, toadying creep. All I can think is that’s he’s suddenly discovered that there aren’t as many trans votes as he first thought. Not that it matters what he says now, the manifesto speaks for itself.
It’s a great speech from Cate Blanchett; can’t think who she reminds me of.🤔 Glenda Jackson?
It might not be in Sinn Fein’s manifesto but they’ve swallowed gender woo hook, line & sinker. Plaid Cymru are fully paid up members of la la land; I can scarcely believe how far down the rabbit hole they’ve gone. Labour’s Self ID & single-sex spaces is a contradiction in terms; you can have one or the other but you can’t have both.
Jillian Michaels must be the only sane person in California; from what I’ve seen & heard, it’s the absolute pits.
Loved Andrew Doyle’s piece; bring on MEI, I say, and let DEI DIE! 💀
Thanks very much for this, Dusty. Fats Waller, too! 😊