The loss of freedom of speech, of sidelining women and biology

Oh, and the thinking behind it will be Stonewall-driven.

It's a university, so not just staff use them (we lost the private staff ones some time ago in the name of democracy?). In the building where I am based I guess about 50/50 male female.

Doodledog that’s absolutely awful! (Re ?)
What on earth is the thinking behind it?
What is the male / female ratio at your workplace?
(I won’t ask you how you are managing to not explode with rage ?)

Yes, at my work there are now GN toilets. Guess which ones were taken over? Clue: it wasn't the Gents'.

So now there are Gents' and GN, and no Ladies. And yes, the seats are left up, and there is pee on the floor.

Given that women always have to wait longer for a free loo, it seems 'inconsiderate' to allow men to add to the problem - almost as if we are second class citizens.

I do hope Julie Bindel gets the support she needs against Nottingham City Council. She’s a strong woman and I totally support her.

I saw that at Wimbledon they now have gender neutral toilets. One of my complaints is that men (in any form) tend to leave the seat up and then I have to put it down ?

Yup. And radio silence from the 'allies' on here, too ?. That’s been very noticeable.

DiamondLily

It seems that the biological men who wish to identify as another gender, consider their issues more important than domestic and other types of violence, aimed at biological women.?

Seems very misogynistic to me, and although I understand some males have always been that way, I don't really understand the women supporting this oppression of female rights.

Yup. And radio silence from the 'allies' on here, too ?

Yes, I hope she wins. It might wake up these other venues and organisations that cave in so easily to TW threats and harassment. ?.

Yes good luck to them with that.

I’ve followed Julie for years.
Nottingham council have picked on the wrong person here.
Go Julie ??

It’s the classic divide and rule approach.

All strength to Julie.

It would still be easy, tho, for venues to say they have cancelled, or not taken, a booking for fear of violence or disruption.
Thus caving in to bullies.

It’s a mystery to me as well DiamondLily. The article suggested some of those protesting had confused Bindel with Julie Birchill. Not that it really matters which Julie they planned to silence, it’s the silencing of women who refuse to be silenced that is so frightening.

It seems that the biological men who wish to identify as another gender, consider their issues more important than domestic and other types of violence, aimed at biological women.?

Seems very misogynistic to me, and although I understand some males have always been that way, I don't really understand the women supporting this oppression of female rights.

What is happening when Julie Bindel’s planned talk on domestic abuse/violence to women is cancelled because the council say her views are transphobic?!

We live in a democracy, or so I believed. Attacks on women’s rights are on the increase, alongside an increase in violence towards women. Attempts to silence women like Julie Bindel by a local council must raise our concerns. It’s feeling like the 60’s and 70’s when women’s liberation meant making more noise. How did those gains get dismissed

Julie Bindel has confirmed that she is suing Nottingham Council:

"Nottingham’s city councillors don’t realise what they have done. By illegally banning me from giving a talk at one of their libraries, they have started a fight I doubt they can win.

My planned talk was cancelled on the ludicrous grounds that my views on transgender rights are ‘at odds’ with civic policy. Without speaking to me, or bothering to discover what I actually believe, the council decided to deny me the right to speak on their premises.

So I am going to sue them. On behalf of every woman who is being told to shut up and stay quiet, during the worst misogynist backlash I have witnessed in my lifetime, I’m taking the council to court.

They’ll hear very soon from my lawyers. And there are a lot of us, because from the moment news began to spread on Saturday that I was barred from addressing the sold-out meeting at Aspley Library, my email inbox was pinging with messages of support and legal advice.

The Equality Act of 2010, articles 9 to 11 of the Human Rights Act and the recent ruling in the Maya Forstater case — where a woman who lost her job after saying transgender women are ‘not women’ won her appeal against an employment tribunal — were cited.

In layman’s terms, that all means Nottingham City Council doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

They have discriminated against my basic rights as a woman and as a lesbian. They have erased my freedom of speech and they have grossly libelled me. For this, they are going to be made to pay."

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10955299/JULIE-BINDEL-says-going-sue-council-banned-giving-talk-library.html

Regent Street

www.mylondon.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/pride-london-flags-regent-street-24300963

I'd chuck a few quid into a crowdfund for that, if there is one.

They do know Julie's history in relation to sueing dont they . Good luck to them if she decided to pursue legal options.

I read on twitter that Julie Bindel is going to sue Nottingham Council for discriminating against her on the basis of her belief in biological sex which is a legally protected belief 'worthy of respect in a democratic society' as decided in the Maya Forstater case.

The meeting did take place, I believe, outside the library.

It's a very sad story, and should make those who encourage others that they are 'transgender' think twice before doing so.

To return to the OP, Julie Bindel was scheduled to talk about male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) at a library in Nottingham yesterday. TRAs (AKA misogynists) threatened to disrupt the meeting, and the library cancelled it.

Bad enough, you might think; but it gets worse. This is a statement from Notts Council, which makes it clear that the fact that JB is known for her views on trans issues was behind the cancellation of the meeting.

Nottingham City Council has cancelled a booking to use a space at Aspley Library for a talk by author Julie Bindel today (Saturday 25 June). This is due to the speaker’s views on trans gender rights being at odds with aspects of the council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Nottingham City Council Deputy Leader Cllr Adele Williams and Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety & Inclusion Cllr Neghat Khan said: “This was a private booking at Aspley Library by the ‘Nottingham Women for Change’ group and all ticket sales and marketing of the event had been undertaken independently with no input from the council. While it was known that the event was going to be from a feminist perspective, no information around the speaker’s views on transgender rights was brought to the Library Service’s attention. Once we became aware of this, we took the decision to cancel the booking. Nottingham is an inclusive city and as a council we support our LGBT community and have committed to supporting trans rights as human rights through Stonewall. We did not want the use of one of our library buildings for this event, taking place during Pride month, to be seen as implicit support for views held by the speaker which fly in the face of our position on transgender rights.

If Notts Council had decided to postpone a talk about the negative impact of self-ID on women's rights until after Pride week, now that Stonewall has got the 'T' embedded in what used to be a celebration of gayness, I could understand, if not approve of, the logic; but that's not what's happening here.

What has happened is that a women wanting to talk about MVAWG has been prevented from doing so because she also has 'unacceptable' views about trans issues. So much for free speech.

Where is this going to stop?

Here's an article about the young man, TullipR, who was mentioned earlier in this thread.

"Not only had the NHS clinic failed to take into account his spiralling mental health crisis, he claims, but it had also failed to properly counsel him about the risks."

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10953157/Man-suing-NHS-trans-surgery-regrets-bravely-waived-anonymity-share-ordeal.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR00bJH6zRD9R6uVWs4lubEqrIZeF__NkiXcp12ikmrOEKrBCroTfUUfpxE

FarNorth

Very well said Stormystar and Doodledog.

Ditto!

Very well said Stormystar and Doodledog.

Well said, Stormystar

The very idea of 'ascribing' a 'gender' to a baby is idiotic. People may choose to live by norms which have been ascribed to the male or female sex. They may choose to refer to those as gender if they wish, and can say that they are 'living as' a member of the opposite sex if they like. I honestly wish them well - it won't always be easy.

The reality, however, is that however much they conform to so-called 'gender norms' that are, in our culture at this time, more usual for the opposite sex, they are still what their gametes dictate, and they would get a lot more support if they recognised that, and on the rare occasions where it matters that women and men are segregated they respected the rights of those who wish to to stick to the biological facts, and did the decent thing.