One of Mrs RR's evan friends sent us this link: Content warning for extreme anti-trans petition- L
https:// citizengo.org/en-gb/fm/17780-Stop-BBC-Trans-Indoctrination-of-Children?
[ link deliberately broken by host to keep far right content more than a single click away- if you want to see reconstruct link]
utm_content=B&utm_medium=shared&utm_campaign=tyemail&utm_source=wa
Does any shipmate know anything about this nonsense?
Ugh!!!!!
They seem to be an extremely nasty far-right group based in Spain - I think I might need to break that link as spoilering it still means we're linking to a far- right campaign
I trust there are no problems with this link. To put my own distresswith this lady in context, my daughter has just come out as gay and our middle grandaughter's long term partner is a lovely creative person who is transgender. And suffers for this.
Lord, have mercy.
So you're not supposed to challenge anyone based on their appearance unless your 'concerns' are 'legitimate'? Dear God. Here come the gender police. 🤬😭😱
So you're not supposed to challenge anyone based on their appearance unless your 'concerns' are 'legitimate'? Dear God. Here come the gender police. 🤬😭😱
No doubt based on the concept of the “reasonable man”!
This is horrible for trans folk and will result, among other things, in violent men barging into toilets because they think they've clocked someone trans going into the ladies loos.
And this happened under a Labour government! And Scotland and Wales which were offered this kind of hate by Tories, Labour and Reform and just rejected it at our elections cant legislate to stop it.
Coverage from trans writers tends to take a while to come out because they're generally with overstretched and shoestring funded organisations, but here's TransActual's current statement.
The newly published EHRC Code of Practice leaves trans people in the UK today with less rights than they had prior to last year’s Supreme Court ruling.
Not only does this new guidance fail to protect the rights and dignity of transgender people, but appears to have weakened protections for the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Rather than engage with our community with respect, the Government has instead withheld publishing its new Code of Practice until as late as possible.
TransActual will continue to fight for equal access to public life for all trans people, and will publish our full thoughts on the new Code once we have had the time to properly scrutinise it – something that the Government seems keen to avoid
( There was no shortage of stuff from well-funded hate organisations and their fellow travellers- which tells its own story)
As a trans person I think that disobeying the guidance where possible is important - I do think that some trans people have shot themselves in the foot by obeying in advance. I don't mean that as a criticism - especially with autistic people I understand the impulse to follow the rules - but civil disobedience is an important part of resistance. Organisations like churches and schools etc refusing to bar trans people from their correct bathrooms etc are part of that resistance too. You don't fight back by laying down and obeying.
I'm not willing to criticise trans people for their choices. I can recognise that not wanting to draw attention to themselves or make a fuss can be important drivers to how people act, or not having the time and energy to fight for rights at a particular time, and not wanting to face hostility.
But, heartily agree that those of us who are not having to face hostility should do more heavy lifting to help others. I know some places that de-gendered their toilet facilities just by changing the signs - goodbye "ladies" and "gents", hello "toilets with urinals" and "toilets without urinals", describe facilities by what's there rather than the expectation of who would use them. A lot cheaper than refitting all the toilets into individual use facilities. I was recently at an event where it was announced at the beginning that as we had exclusive use of the entire floor of the building that people should use whatever facilities were appropriate for them. Actions we need to see more of, and other actions that may be more creative and effective.
I am planning to write to my MP as soon as I have calmed down enough to be coherent. I don't know whether I would actually have the courage to challenge the bigots in public. I hope so.
Parliament now has 40 days to review the draft Code of Practice, after which it sets a date for it to come into force (as a statutory code of practice) unless a resolution is passed to reject it.
As part of the process, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of the draft Code of Practice. In addition, The Government's Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) made its own Equality Impact Assessment of the Draft Code of Practice as well as of the EHRC's EIA. The OEO's EIA addresses each of the protected characteristics in turn. The following excerpts highlight some of their concerns regarding Disability, Gender Reassignment and Sex:
Disability
… However, the additional content in relation to the gender reassignment section amended following the FWS [For Women Scotland] ruling, concerning the potential need for trans people to use disabled toilets as ‘third space’ facilities, may not foster good relations between groups. This is because disabled people and trans people may have to compete to access a limited number of facilities.
We also note the removal of guidance to insurance and financial services, meaning that the Code no longer states an insurer cannot adopt a policy or practice of refusing to insure disabled people on certain terms. We know that disabled people have historically experienced premium insurance rates as a result of conditions they have. We also know that many disabled people have experienced exclusion from financial services. The removal of this guidance may exacerbate existing issues.
Gender Reassignment
As set out in EHRC’s EIA, the updates to the Code are expected to have a significant impact on people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. In addition to the concerns detailed in that EIA, there are further impacts to note…
‘Double exclusion’: It is possible that trans people could be barred from both the space aligned with their gender (because of their sex) and the space aligned with their birth sex (because of possessing the protected characteristic of gender reassignment), effectively leaving them with no service at all.
Policing of gender: Potential ‘policing’ of gender presentation, which could lead to increased harassment for trans people and cisgender people who do not conform to traditional gender stereotypes.
Our assessment is therefore that the likely impacts on gender reassignment as a characteristic are negative, in relation to each of the 3 limbs of the PSED [Public Sector Equality Duty].
Sex
The extent to which the changes to the code could have a negative impact when it comes to fostering good relations between those with protected characteristics of sex and gender reassignment, even if the changes reflect the law accurately, is not fully explored within EHRC’s EIA.
The impact of the changes for women who are deemed not to meet cultural and social expectations of femininity are also not explored in EHRC’s EIA (explored in the ‘gender reassignment’ section as unintended consequences leading to gender policing). OEO notes anecdotal evidence from stakeholders that this is occurring, although at present there’s not yet a strong evidence base to ascertain the level at which this is occurring, or the scale or severity of the impact. Women who are considered masculine may face greater scrutiny about their sex as a result of the changes. This will likely have a negative impact on this group, potentially on limbs one and three of PSED.
Transgender woman here - thank you, everyone, for love, support and prayers. Please continue to hold us in the living, loving, light, as Wodders used to day. I'm going to be writing some Letters, and I'll keep everyone updated.
MPs have until the 30th of June to decide in Parliament whether or not to bring in the guidance, so that's the timeframe for contacting MPs for those wanting to do that (and certainly as many people as possible doing so would help a lot).
I think New Zealand First, one of the parties in the coalition Government in Aotearoa/NZ has picked this up from Reform and wants to introduce similar legislation here.
I missed the first demo against this in Christchurch, but am keeping my ears open for future activities. (I hope they're not too active as I have an injured foot, but I can yell really loud).
It's a fascist shibboleth and they use it as a cover for their misogyny, so I suppose no surprises there, but sorry to hear Aotearoa/ NZ is catching it too.
Burnham promised a reset, yet with the decision to keep Bridget Phillipson as Minister for Women and Equalities, and Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, the cruelty of Starmer’s government will continue.
Over the last two years, our research has shown increasing numbers of trans people being challenged and threatened in public spaces, and forcibly outed at work. This is the legacy of Starmer’s government – and Phillipson specifically – who have implemented a ban on trans people accessing public spaces and services we have been using for decades, encouraged a new era of gender policing, and delivered school guidance for England and Wales that is reminiscent of Section 28. Their failure to protect human rights, and demonisation of migrants and asylum seekers, drew international condemnation and has left the UK as an outlier on LGBTQ+ progress
Burnham has brought notorious persecutor of British trans people Wes Streeting back into the cabinet, kept toilet-policer Bridget Phillipson as Minister for Women and Equalities and 'promoted' political failure Anas Sarwar to the Lords and the cabinet.
Sarwar is worth noting, since as Scottish Labour leader he fought the recent Scottish elections on a strident and highly-publicised anti-trans rights position - he launched his campaign with it on the front page of the Daily Record (the big Scottish Labour tabloid) and led Labour to an ignominious third place defeat- also plummeting to a personal approval rating of -32 by the May elections (YouGov).
This was despite facing an SNP still in disarray because the Murrell trial and sentencing hadn't happened yet. Nor did it give him any advantage over Reform, the hard core option to Labour's hatred 'lite'. (He was also very poor on immigration - waffling on about 'reasonable concerns' while the SNP and Greens rejected anti-immigration talking points out of hand)
So he went violently anti-trans rights for presumed electoral advantage (previously having voted for self-ID but U-turned when Starmer stuck his oar in) and far from gaining from this, led his party to an unprecedented disaster.
He will have suffered from how badly Starmer was disliked in Scotland and he's also a politician who comes over badly - the more they hear from him, the more voters seem to dislike him but he's an interesting example of how stealing the far-right's clothes on persecuting trans people doesn't lead to electoral success for centrists who ape them.
There's no electoral mileage in these hateful policies yet Labour cant seem to be weaned off them. Far from appeasing the prejudiced being something that has to be done by centre/left parties to win, it's both evil and entirely useless electorally and needs to be completely rejected.
It would be good to get some “own voice” experiences. This comment is second hand.
On a recent visit to us I asked my daughter (who has made numerous trips across the Irish Sea as part of her move to Ireland) whether she has experienced any transphobia in the UK or Ireland. She said not in Ireland at all, but twice recently in England during her various trips.
One of them was particularly nasty when she and a friend were having a drink together in a pub. There was a complaint about their presence and a member of the bar staff asked them to leave. My daughter who is brave confronted the member of the bar staff, asked who the complainant was and confronted him. After which she and her friend finished their drinks and left. As they were heading to their car, another customer came up to them and apologised, said they should have spoken up in my daughter’s defence, but felt she couldn’t.
Are there any recent attitude surveys? I would like to believe that my daughter’s experience was exceptional but it certainly confirmed her in her view that Ireland was likely to be safer for the trans minority.
PS. This event happened during the last two months. She had previous experienced anti-trans behaviour from members of the public together with negative written responses from ministers she had written to re the UK Supreme Court decisions, the EHRC guidelines and the contrast with the European human rights standards. Her decision to go to an EU country was not taken lightly.
@Barnabas62 do you mean that the member of staff asked your daughter and her friend to leave, or the complainant was asked to leave? Transgender status is still a protected characteristic in the UK and it's still illegal to refuse to serve trans people because they are trans.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that moving to Ireland would be a decision that was taken lightly, but at least at an electoral level transphobia isn't a vote winner. That's different to a lack of transphobia in society in general, and I don't think that Louise was suggesting otherwise. I would certainly say that the increase in transphobia in the UK is manufactured by people with a vested interest in anti-LGBTQ+ culture wars in general, and the UK media being the way it is has perpetuated that. The main problem is that the general cis public do not have an accurate picture of trans people's reality, largely in part due to the manufactured culture war stuff peddling lies.
I'm glad that your daughter was able to move away, but most trans people in the UK aren't going to be able to do that, not least because it's incredibly expensive - and we deserve more than just shrugging shoulders and viewing Labour as a lost cause. We shouldn't have to abandon our lives in the UK even if it's doable (and for me, being reliant on disability benefits means it is impossible to move out of the UK).
My daughter and her friend were asked to leave. The basis for the complainant’s request was not in accordance with the law but that didn’t stop him. It should have stopped the member of the bar staff from passing on his demand but it didn’t. Nor did it produce any contradiction of him, or support for my daughter and her friends, from anyone else in the bar. But it should have. Transphobia plus fellow travellers and colluders. That’s what made the event particularly shocking.
My daughter was successful at work and had a house to sell otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to cope with the costs of the move. She fully appreciates that others are not nearly so fortunate.
Her decision to emigrate, rather than stay and fight, was not just about personal protective prudence. She campaigned long and hard in this country. Her decision was also based on despair with current UK politics and senior politicians with whom she had communicated at length.
And to be honest, the lack of public condemnation of the UK Supreme Court decision and its attack on human rights as spelled out in the European Convention was very hard for her to bear. She finds the victory of the TERFs profoundly distressing.
I’ve travelled with her in this most distressing journey, written letters myself to ministers and met my local
MP. I know why she reached the end of her own road.
Yes as @Pomona says I'm not suggesting at all that things are less transphobic, just pointing out that it really isnt the vote winner some think it is. So that ground (which should never be conceded anyway for moral reasons) really mustn't be conceded on electoral grounds because that's both immoral and false. Non fascist parties demonstrably do not win votes this way.
The rise in expressed hatred is real though. Media moral panics let bigoted people feel they have 'permission' and social approval to be openly bigoted to attack and discriminate where they might have kept quiet previously fearing social disapproval. When that is loosened you can see an uptick in danger but it doesn't mean it necessarily translates into electoral victory the way opportunists like Sarwar think - and they and their backers and enablers must be resisted
During the 'Keep the Clause' campaign in Scotland attacks on LGBTQ+ people here rose as a torrent of hatred was spilled out in the press media and campaigns - but the bigots weren't able to turn that to electoral advantage - they couldn't win then or later on prevent equal marriage being legalised. There were more physical attacks and abuse during the campaign however and LGBTQ+ people were less safe while it was going on even if removing the clause eventually led to greater rights for them.
But an alarming thing happened when it came to trans people - the leadership in formerly progressive parties did not stand their ground firmly as Donald Dewar and Wendy Alexander did - Nicola Sturgeon made too many concessions to anti- trans voices which allowed them to organise effectively and in the case of Labour, they have utterly and shamefully entirely sold out - and also almost the entire press and media, who if not willingly complicit, are frightened by lawfare into acting complicitly. So the campaigning against trans people goes on and on and on and is really dangerous as your daughter has experienced.
So lots of bad things are happening - many of which I cant go into because of lawfare but to give an example I can cite - Cal Horton (they/them) has written on Bluesky about the horror facing their young trans daughter because of Labour
And to be transparent for those who are trying to keep their own kids safe - my focus is on trying hard to find a way for my family to leave the UK.
I do not see any way of keeping my kid safe and healthy in this country.
As @Pomona says trans people shouldn't have to be in this position, feeling they have to leave the country to be safe and many like Pomona cant- so I feel it's important that we dont concede any ground at all on the left and that we make sure the transphobes and their allies who tolerate them and keep them in power and office pay a political and reputational price for that if we possibly can.
Burnham has shown he isn't interested in stopping this cruel moral panic and he rewards those who have driven it - so he looks to be no better than Starmer.
Shocking links. My heart goes out to Cal Horton and his daughter.
I’m pretty close to despair about the Labour Party, after a lifetime of support.
I don’t think Andy Burham’s concern for rough sleepers is a political stunt; indeed I doubt it’s a vote winner. It shows he’s engaged with that particular disadvantaged minority. So I don’t think he lacks the potential for moral insight into the plight of trans folks (particularly vulnerable children). But I suspect it’s not very high on his personal priority list. Does that make him inconsistent, or a hypocrite, or a political balancer?
I agree that those of us who still care about Labour should keep banging the drum. It still looks like a tough job to get a significant majority of active Labour supporters to join us.
And I hope I’m wrong. Meanwhile I’m personally relieved that my daughter feels safer where she is.
@Barnabas62 I'm glad your daughter has been able to leave, don't get me wrong. I was surprised that she didn't challenge the request to leave for being illegal, but equally I understand why she would just prefer to leave. I personally would prefer to leave the UK at this stage (or at least leave England, which I think is much worse in terms of open transphobia than say Scotland) but equally I'm angry that I'm put in that position. Equally, I realise that trans women and trans girls are bearing the brunt of all this and that their experiences are typically more dangerous. Also the UK legal system makes lawfare a more present danger for those trying to challenge things.
I think being willing to endanger young children at school - as Burnham's government policy is doing - makes someone a bad politician and a bad person. Burnham may not be personally invested in transphobia in the same way as Wes Streeting is, but his inaction on institutional transphobia is equally harmful when it results in these material harms to trans people. The way trans kids have been targeted makes me especially furious.
I think you have misunderstood. Here’s the quote from my earlier post.
My daughter who is brave confronted the member of the bar staff, asked who the complainant was and confronted him. After which she and her friend finished their drinks and left.
Since when does confront not mean challenge? Of course she challenged his right and that of the bar staff to ask them to leave.
She and her friend left the bar in their own good time and decided to find somewhere more congenial. That’s not chickening out.
I think you have misunderstood. Here’s the quote from my earlier post.
My daughter who is brave confronted the member of the bar staff, asked who the complainant was and confronted him. After which she and her friend finished their drinks and left.
Since when does confront not mean challenge? Of course she challenged his right and that of the bar staff to ask them to leave.
She and her friend left the bar in their own good time and decided to find somewhere more congenial. That’s not chickening out.
I never said anything about anyone chickening out! If you read my comment you'll see that I said that I totally get why they would leave. I didn't read the initial comment as being about the legal factor but just a more general questioning as to why they were asked to leave, that's all.
I'm sorry if you've read a more critical tone into my comments than was intended. I appreciate your well-founded fears for your daughter and I'm not suggesting that they aren't real.
Comments
Content warning for extreme anti-trans petition- L
[ link deliberately broken by host to keep far right content more than a single click away- if you want to see reconstruct link]
utm_content=B&utm_medium=shared&utm_campaign=tyemail&utm_source=wa
Ugh!!!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CitizenGO
Sorry, will check with admin that this is what they'd like done.
L
Epiphanies Host
https://www.ordinaryoffice.org/morning-prayer
I trust there are no problems with this link. To put my own distresswith this lady in context, my daughter has just come out as gay and our middle grandaughter's long term partner is a lovely creative person who is transgender. And suffers for this.
Lord, have mercy.
No doubt based on the concept of the “reasonable man”!
And this happened under a Labour government! And Scotland and Wales which were offered this kind of hate by Tories, Labour and Reform and just rejected it at our elections cant legislate to stop it.
Coverage from trans writers tends to take a while to come out because they're generally with overstretched and shoestring funded organisations, but here's TransActual's current statement.
https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2026/05/21/updated-statement-on-the-new-code-of-practice/
( There was no shortage of stuff from well-funded hate organisations and their fellow travellers- which tells its own story)
But, heartily agree that those of us who are not having to face hostility should do more heavy lifting to help others. I know some places that de-gendered their toilet facilities just by changing the signs - goodbye "ladies" and "gents", hello "toilets with urinals" and "toilets without urinals", describe facilities by what's there rather than the expectation of who would use them. A lot cheaper than refitting all the toilets into individual use facilities. I was recently at an event where it was announced at the beginning that as we had exclusive use of the entire floor of the building that people should use whatever facilities were appropriate for them. Actions we need to see more of, and other actions that may be more creative and effective.
As part of the process, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of the draft Code of Practice. In addition, The Government's Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) made its own Equality Impact Assessment of the Draft Code of Practice as well as of the EHRC's EIA. The OEO's EIA addresses each of the protected characteristics in turn. The following excerpts highlight some of their concerns regarding Disability, Gender Reassignment and Sex:
I missed the first demo against this in Christchurch, but am keeping my ears open for future activities. (I hope they're not too active as I have an injured foot, but I can yell really loud).
Transactual comment here-
https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2026/07/21/burnhams-cabinet-picks-a-new-direction-on-equalities-must-come-from-the-top/
Burnham has brought notorious persecutor of British trans people Wes Streeting back into the cabinet, kept toilet-policer Bridget Phillipson as Minister for Women and Equalities and 'promoted' political failure Anas Sarwar to the Lords and the cabinet.
Sarwar is worth noting, since as Scottish Labour leader he fought the recent Scottish elections on a strident and highly-publicised anti-trans rights position - he launched his campaign with it on the front page of the Daily Record (the big Scottish Labour tabloid) and led Labour to an ignominious third place defeat- also plummeting to a personal approval rating of -32 by the May elections (YouGov).
This was despite facing an SNP still in disarray because the Murrell trial and sentencing hadn't happened yet. Nor did it give him any advantage over Reform, the hard core option to Labour's hatred 'lite'. (He was also very poor on immigration - waffling on about 'reasonable concerns' while the SNP and Greens rejected anti-immigration talking points out of hand)
So he went violently anti-trans rights for presumed electoral advantage (previously having voted for self-ID but U-turned when Starmer stuck his oar in) and far from gaining from this, led his party to an unprecedented disaster.
He will have suffered from how badly Starmer was disliked in Scotland and he's also a politician who comes over badly - the more they hear from him, the more voters seem to dislike him but he's an interesting example of how stealing the far-right's clothes on persecuting trans people doesn't lead to electoral success for centrists who ape them.
There's no electoral mileage in these hateful policies yet Labour cant seem to be weaned off them. Far from appeasing the prejudiced being something that has to be done by centre/left parties to win, it's both evil and entirely useless electorally and needs to be completely rejected.
It would be good to get some “own voice” experiences. This comment is second hand.
On a recent visit to us I asked my daughter (who has made numerous trips across the Irish Sea as part of her move to Ireland) whether she has experienced any transphobia in the UK or Ireland. She said not in Ireland at all, but twice recently in England during her various trips.
One of them was particularly nasty when she and a friend were having a drink together in a pub. There was a complaint about their presence and a member of the bar staff asked them to leave. My daughter who is brave confronted the member of the bar staff, asked who the complainant was and confronted him. After which she and her friend finished their drinks and left. As they were heading to their car, another customer came up to them and apologised, said they should have spoken up in my daughter’s defence, but felt she couldn’t.
Are there any recent attitude surveys? I would like to believe that my daughter’s experience was exceptional but it certainly confirmed her in her view that Ireland was likely to be safer for the trans minority.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that moving to Ireland would be a decision that was taken lightly, but at least at an electoral level transphobia isn't a vote winner. That's different to a lack of transphobia in society in general, and I don't think that Louise was suggesting otherwise. I would certainly say that the increase in transphobia in the UK is manufactured by people with a vested interest in anti-LGBTQ+ culture wars in general, and the UK media being the way it is has perpetuated that. The main problem is that the general cis public do not have an accurate picture of trans people's reality, largely in part due to the manufactured culture war stuff peddling lies.
I'm glad that your daughter was able to move away, but most trans people in the UK aren't going to be able to do that, not least because it's incredibly expensive - and we deserve more than just shrugging shoulders and viewing Labour as a lost cause. We shouldn't have to abandon our lives in the UK even if it's doable (and for me, being reliant on disability benefits means it is impossible to move out of the UK).
My daughter and her friend were asked to leave. The basis for the complainant’s request was not in accordance with the law but that didn’t stop him. It should have stopped the member of the bar staff from passing on his demand but it didn’t. Nor did it produce any contradiction of him, or support for my daughter and her friends, from anyone else in the bar. But it should have. Transphobia plus fellow travellers and colluders. That’s what made the event particularly shocking.
My daughter was successful at work and had a house to sell otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to cope with the costs of the move. She fully appreciates that others are not nearly so fortunate.
Her decision to emigrate, rather than stay and fight, was not just about personal protective prudence. She campaigned long and hard in this country. Her decision was also based on despair with current UK politics and senior politicians with whom she had communicated at length.
And to be honest, the lack of public condemnation of the UK Supreme Court decision and its attack on human rights as spelled out in the European Convention was very hard for her to bear. She finds the victory of the TERFs profoundly distressing.
I’ve travelled with her in this most distressing journey, written letters myself to ministers and met my local
MP. I know why she reached the end of her own road.
The rise in expressed hatred is real though. Media moral panics let bigoted people feel they have 'permission' and social approval to be openly bigoted to attack and discriminate where they might have kept quiet previously fearing social disapproval. When that is loosened you can see an uptick in danger but it doesn't mean it necessarily translates into electoral victory the way opportunists like Sarwar think - and they and their backers and enablers must be resisted
During the 'Keep the Clause' campaign in Scotland attacks on LGBTQ+ people here rose as a torrent of hatred was spilled out in the press media and campaigns - but the bigots weren't able to turn that to electoral advantage - they couldn't win then or later on prevent equal marriage being legalised. There were more physical attacks and abuse during the campaign however and LGBTQ+ people were less safe while it was going on even if removing the clause eventually led to greater rights for them.
But an alarming thing happened when it came to trans people - the leadership in formerly progressive parties did not stand their ground firmly as Donald Dewar and Wendy Alexander did - Nicola Sturgeon made too many concessions to anti- trans voices which allowed them to organise effectively and in the case of Labour, they have utterly and shamefully entirely sold out - and also almost the entire press and media, who if not willingly complicit, are frightened by lawfare into acting complicitly. So the campaigning against trans people goes on and on and on and is really dangerous as your daughter has experienced.
So lots of bad things are happening - many of which I cant go into because of lawfare but to give an example I can cite - Cal Horton (they/them) has written on Bluesky about the horror facing their young trans daughter because of Labour
https://bsky.app/profile/fiercemum.bsky.social/post/3mqr2kw75wk26
Https://bsky.app/profile/fiercemum.bsky.social/post/3mqte45k22c2g
https://bsky.app/profile/fiercemum.bsky.social/post/3mqr2kw75wk26
As @Pomona says trans people shouldn't have to be in this position, feeling they have to leave the country to be safe and many like Pomona cant- so I feel it's important that we dont concede any ground at all on the left and that we make sure the transphobes and their allies who tolerate them and keep them in power and office pay a political and reputational price for that if we possibly can.
Burnham has shown he isn't interested in stopping this cruel moral panic and he rewards those who have driven it - so he looks to be no better than Starmer.
Shocking links. My heart goes out to Cal Horton and his daughter.
I’m pretty close to despair about the Labour Party, after a lifetime of support.
I don’t think Andy Burham’s concern for rough sleepers is a political stunt; indeed I doubt it’s a vote winner. It shows he’s engaged with that particular disadvantaged minority. So I don’t think he lacks the potential for moral insight into the plight of trans folks (particularly vulnerable children). But I suspect it’s not very high on his personal priority list. Does that make him inconsistent, or a hypocrite, or a political balancer?
I agree that those of us who still care about Labour should keep banging the drum. It still looks like a tough job to get a significant majority of active Labour supporters to join us.
And I hope I’m wrong. Meanwhile I’m personally relieved that my daughter feels safer where she is.
I think being willing to endanger young children at school - as Burnham's government policy is doing - makes someone a bad politician and a bad person. Burnham may not be personally invested in transphobia in the same way as Wes Streeting is, but his inaction on institutional transphobia is equally harmful when it results in these material harms to trans people. The way trans kids have been targeted makes me especially furious.
I think you have misunderstood. Here’s the quote from my earlier post.
Since when does confront not mean challenge? Of course she challenged his right and that of the bar staff to ask them to leave.
She and her friend left the bar in their own good time and decided to find somewhere more congenial. That’s not chickening out.
I never said anything about anyone chickening out! If you read my comment you'll see that I said that I totally get why they would leave. I didn't read the initial comment as being about the legal factor but just a more general questioning as to why they were asked to leave, that's all.
I'm sorry if you've read a more critical tone into my comments than was intended. I appreciate your well-founded fears for your daughter and I'm not suggesting that they aren't real.