AIBU to ask if you are aware of the petition on gender identity and women's rights?

Signed.

Signed.

Yes, I would agree that the Today programme interview today is worth a listen. Even having concerns which need to be listened to and debated can have you being labelled as transphobic!! I think Lucy Masood put her point across very lucidly indeed.

Thanks for alerting me to this petition NoSquirrels

It’s an extremely important issue and I feel Women’s rights are in danger of being sidelined in favour of p.c. transgender issues.

Thank you all. If you feel you can share with others, please do. We need as many voices as possible that law change that affects women’s rights cannot be brought in by the back door. It’s not transphobic to ask fur debate.

The petition is now over 7,500 signatures.

Many more signatures are needed, to show strength of feeling in the public.

If people are aware of these proposed changes and are happy with them, then fair enough.
I think most people are unaware of them, or believe that the 'person in the street' will not be affected.

The petition is heading towards 8,000 now, but it would really benefit from being discussed in a wider forum than MN.

If any Gransnetters are members of women’s groups - Mother’s Union, WI, Townswomen’s Guilds, book groups etc - then it would be wonderful if it became a discussion point.

I fear this is being portrayed in the media as a “middle-aged feminist” issue and it’s much much wider than that.

This segment on the Today show was interesting, with the female firefighter Lucy Masoud

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p061vb3g

Then there was this reaction in the press:

www.independent.co.uk/voices/lucy-masoud-fbu-lgbt-trans-london-fire-brigade-union-today-transphobic-a8267096.html

It’s really quite worrying how “transphobic” is being thrown around in the mainstream to discredit any discussion.

Signed

Surprised still need over 2,000 signstures just to get it brought to the MPs attention

Part of the problem Moocow is that politicians are aware it’s a hot topic issue, but it’s so difficult to discuss at all as there is a powerful lobby to liberalise the laws without wider discussion - so everyone is wary of wading in and getting it “wrong”.

Scotland have just passed a law which changes the definition of “female” almost by stealth.

Signed.

Yas Necati, the writer of that article in the Independent, feels that the ManFriday women who went for a swim were mocking transgender people.
And that Lucy Masoud is wrong to think that a man might one day wake up and decide to be a woman.

In fact, they are trying to draw attention to the fact that, if self-identification becomes law, it will be legal for anyone, of any gender and any appearance, to enter any space.

And it will be illegal to exclude anyone from anything, based on gender, if they claim to be the gender required eg Guide camps, girls' and women's sports.

Yas Necati wishes to be able to speak with the ManFriday women and I hope that happens.

^^ Possibly I should have used the word 'sex' instead of 'gender' in that post, as sex is a physical reality while gender is socially constructed.

Reading The Sunday Times this morning it seems that transgender activists have contacted advertisers on MN to say that they will boycott their products if they don't remove their advertising from MN. Realistically radical trans gender are a small minority as opposed to the female sex per se who make up 51% of the population. They appear to have an inflated sense of their numbers, I can't imagine their withdrawal of support would amount to much compared to a boycott of a large body of women angered by any advertiser's stance who acted on the whims of a few. Justine Roberts has said she has been approached by three significant advertisers who have been threatened by these groups she also said "What is worrying to me is the thought police action around speech and shutting down the right to be able to disagree and immediately labelling it as transphobic"

Last week, Tara Woolf, an aggressive trans woman in his 20s was convicted of assaulting a feminist (who I believe is a woman over 60) at a rally relating to issues around protected female spaces.

And MN have hidden their Feminism threads, for a trial period apparently. I think we here on GN should contact every advertiser on MN and say we're going to boycott them if they continue to be browbeaten by the TRAs. I'm going to anyway! Pleased to hear Tara Woolf has been convicted.

Getting on my high horse a bit too soon (not like me at all). Justin Roberts, the founder of Mumsnet, has made it clear that they're not going to be browbeaten. Also, no advertisers have pulled out yet, so hopefully this action is a storm in a teacup. But it is true that meetings to discuss the issues have been cancelled as a result of threats by the aggressive supporters of self ID, which is very worrying.

Yes good for Justine Roberts making a stand against this bullying, there is such an overt aggression with SOME of these activists, As you say minesaprosecco no advertisers have pulled out yet I rather suspect they know what a small minority these so called activists are as opposed to the wider pool that makes up the mainly female membership of MN.

Very happy to see that the petition has now hit the required 10,000 signatures it needs to be discussed in parliament.

That's good news, DameJudy.

I hope Justine stands fast, too.

She is. I read the comments beneath the Times article and an overwhelming majority were on her side. Very encouraging.

V good!

A lot of people are asking for a list of any companies that withdraw their advertising from Mumsnet so they can boycott them. Hopefully common (and Business) sense will prevail. We're the majority after all.

Sorry DameJudy, the petition needs to get 100,000 signatures before it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
It's great that it has now achieved 10,000 signatures but that only entitles the petitioner to a government response.

I believe the petition needs to get a lot more than 100,000 signatures in order to be taken seriously by politicians.

signed

Sorry. I got it arse about face. I'm just glad that it's out there. When I signed, there were only a few hundred signatures on it so I got a bit excited and carried away Hopefully some of the media will be a bit more critical of Self ID than they have been. If one more bloody reporter refers to us as Cis women....