J K Rowling has nailed it - re Starmer and the trans issue

Maybe Starmer has become a scapegoat for the many. He is the leader of our country so will be the person who is targeted most.
Because I feel he needs to take a share of the blame for this doesn't mean I don't think he is a better PM than we've had for a while.l

You are right Doodledog, some of my friends who voted labour criticise, labour especially KS & RR.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

James O’Brien. 😂 an annoying twerp, full of himself.

Absolutely 100%

That is incorrect Allira. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 allowed adults with gender dysphoria to change their legal gender (my emphasis); not their sex because ones sex cannot be changed.

That is why the act was called the Gender Recognition Act.

Wyllow Now he has made clear he will follow what has now come into law

It hasn't 'come into law'. As many KCs have stated the Supreme Court don't have the power to change or make laws they can only adjudicate and interpret the law. The Supreme Court has confirmed in the EA it has always been that sex means biological sex otherwise none of the protections made sense. Nothing has changed except we now all know this for a fact. Many organisations and businesses have been breaking the law because they, like too many politicians, let Stonewall indoctrinate them with Stonewall's preferred version. This goes across all parties.

PMQs this afternoon have been lively.

Does the prime minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong?"referencing the Labour leader's previous comments.

Starmer didn't directly answer the question, but said he welcomes the Supreme Court's ruling.

Still hedging his bets.

Smileless2012

That is incorrect Allira. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 allowed adults with gender dysphoria to change their legal gender (my emphasis); not their sex because ones sex cannot be changed.

That is why the act was called the Gender Recognition Act.

Apologies. I copied and pasted that from Wikipedia, Smileless which of course is not always factually correct. I wish now I'd added the link because, strangely, between then and now, it seems to have disappeared!

LizzieDrip

Why don't people feel "vindictive" towards Conservatives who failed to attempt to change that law.

To which people do you think Willow is referring, LizzieDrip?

Could you provide evidence that people were not enraged about the trans issues in the years before KS became prime minister?

Can you be certain that, had the Supreme Court ruling happened when BJ or RS were prime ministers, there wouldn’t have been the same vindictive outpourings addressed at them?

I know the answer.

Carlotta

PMQs this afternoon have been lively.

Does the prime minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong?"referencing the Labour leader's previous comments.

Starmer didn't directly answer the question, but said he welcomes the Supreme Court's ruling.

Still hedging his bets.

On a subject as contested as this maybe best to look at the whole quote ?

Here's the PMQ in full

Badenoch said

"Does the prime minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong"

Starmer replied

Let me be clear, I welcome the Supreme Court ruling on this issue. It brings clarity and it will give confidence to women and, of course, to service providers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission will now issue updated guidance, and it is important that that happens and that all service providers then act accordingly.

This government’s approach, and my approach, has been as follows: to support and implement the supreme court ruling, and we will, to continue to protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex, and we will, but also to ensure that trans people are treated with respect, and we will, and to ensure that everybody is given dignity in their everyday lives

I do think this is the time now to lower the temperature, to move forward, and to conduct this debate with the care and compassion that it deserves. And I think that should unite the whole house.

Allira

Smileless2012

That is incorrect Allira. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 allowed adults with gender dysphoria to change their legal gender (my emphasis); not their sex because ones sex cannot be changed.

That is why the act was called the Gender Recognition Act.

Apologies. I copied and pasted that from Wikipedia, Smileless which of course is not always factually correct. I wish now I'd added the link because, strangely, between then and now, it seems to have disappeared!

Smileless
It has been amended since I cut and pasted it earlier today.
I changed nothing in the wording, I can assure you.

I'd like to add my vote of thanks to JKR for her unwavering dedication to women's rights. Several other people who I believe deserve a mention are Sharon Davies, Julie Bindell, Maya Forstater, Kathleen Stock, Gil House, Justine Roberts, Graham Lineham, Roz Adams...... so many people who lost their jobs, had their their income, careers, families, personal safety impacted by threats of harm and death by men who cannot tolerate being told NO.

“It's the press as far as I can see that have made the stupid question on penis' the "key to it all". It’s much more about who can use which spaces, protection of safe spaces, protecting vulnerability whomever experiences it.” Wyllow

Ah yes the stupid question on penis. The stupidity of politicians believing that a small percentage of women have one - until last week!

So it’s all the fault of the press ( most of which didn’t believe it and said so) and we’re now to praise the Government for being so law abiding while the Law itself was being misinterpreted!

I’m glad I’m nowhere near as clever as they think they are!

No worries Allira

Exactly Rosie this needs to be reported for what it is, a clarification not a change or we're going to continue to have TRA's demonstrating that the law has been changed and they have 'lost their rights'; a right that they never had in the first place.

What reason would anyone have for feeling "vindictive" towards Conservatives who failed to attempt to change the law when the law hasn't been changed?

For all his faults and he had many, Boris Johnson was able to say what defines a woman. KS still appears to be unwilling or unable to do so because he wont admit to being wrong!!!

^It has been amended since I cut and pasted it earlier today.
I changed nothing in the wording, I can assure you.^

Don't worry about it Allira; Wiki has had loads of entries "amended" today. Oddly enough, the main entries altered are for people connected to being gender critical! Now who and why would anyone do that I wonder?

Aw thanks Wyllow; I only saw the headlines that popped up on my newsfeed; hence the summary version. I always smile when I hear any politician prefix a statement with Let me be clear; it almost always indicates that the very opposite is the case. Especially when they're in reverse gear!

Mt61

FriedGreenTomatoes2

James O’Brien. 😂 an annoying twerp, full of himself.

Absolutely 100%

Yes definitely full of himself and obnoxious with it, hence his comment "how did you end up on the same side as Trump?" towards the women who support the ruling.

I think the ruling has provoked such hatred. People don't change identity on a whim and if you are fortunate enough to be comfortable in the identity you were born in then do celebrate it. But don't do it at the expense of somebody who is not that lucky. What happens to people born with what used to be called a rosebud penis? There may not be placards sating hate trans people but the hatred can be seen in what happened to Brianna Ghey ( sorry if I've mis-spelt her name).

Carlotta 😀

As a source of reliable information take with a good pinch of Maldons.

Fair enough Mollygo.

If you “know the answer” you don’t require any further input from me.

kjmpde There may not be placards sating hate trans people

Have you managed to miss all those placards held by transactivists who may be trans or just allies, that say 'kill terfs' 'death to JK Rowling' 'choke on my girldick' and far far worse? Is that not hate proudly displayed?

I think one of the 'positives' that has come out of this issue is that it has shone a light on men who portray themselves as 'good guys' but whose misogyny bubbles under the surface, James O, Brien, Alister Campbell, Owen Jones. But there also have been some very brave men, one who often gets missed is James Dreyfus, he has had such abuse and lost work because of his strong support for womens rights.

Bridie22

I feel vindictive to all who allowed this carnage of biological womens rights, its been a disgrace, forcing people to accept lie after lie.

That's fair enough, but not what you said when you blamed KS for something that happened under the Tories.

I'm not a Starmer apologist, but blaming him for this just doesn't stand up.

Rosie51

kjmpde There may not be placards sating hate trans people

Have you managed to miss all those placards held by transactivists who may be trans or just allies, that say 'kill terfs' 'death to JK Rowling' 'choke on my girldick' and far far worse? Is that not hate proudly displayed?

These men have brought trouble down on genuine trans people who just want to live their lives. They are women haters not wanting to be women imo. And transwomen will suffer for it. And the hatred feeds into trans hate that existed already.

But Wyllow some of them do say they’re trans. 🤷‍♀️
Vicious bullies.
Yes they give the (probably) a majority a bad name but when they dress and act as they do, women cannot differentiate and so become vulnerable surely?

The TRAs are, indeed, misogynists, as are many so-called 'allies' who always foreground the rights of males over those of women, and yes, they have made things so much worse for those who were 'quietly' living as transwomen before.

It's all a mess, and I don't think we're out of it yet, as the practicalities still need to be sorted out.