The Man Who Would Be Queen: Michael Bailey {Part One}

Part 1: The Controversy.

Having seen many references to this book I have, finally, tackled it. It doesn’t take a strictly biologically determinist or a social constructionist stance. It is sympathetic to gay and trans rights. {Though not in ways likely to satisfy Trans Activists, in 2019}. There is plenty to disagree with, for one, I think the cover was needlessly tabloid. However it’s well worth a read and, finally, I understand the acronym MWWTBQ. Bailey talks about erotic motivations for transition, why feminine gay males are in danger of being, wrongly, diagnosed as “trans”, and why gay males reject their feminine brothers. All topics deeply unpopular in some sections of the Trans community and with *some* gay males. Hence why it feels necessary to discuss the controversy, prior to discussing the book itself.

The book had sold only 4000 copies, when it became the centre of a Trans Rights Tornado. This, predictably, drew it to the attention of a much wider audience; a phenomenon known as the Barbara Streisand Effect. [Named for the singer’s legal attempt to block a publication which revealed the location of one of her properties. Ironically ensuring much wider dissemination of the information she wished to protect].

Alice Dreger covered the controversy in forensic detail. She spoke to all the key players, or at least those who were willing to go on record. Some wished to remain anonymous and others refused to co-operate at all. Dreger was also subject to a campaign of vilification following her piece. The key to the controversy is Bailey’s lack of acceptance of the main thesis of gender identity ideology, namely that transsexuals have a gender identity at odds with their biological sex. Bailey, instead, locates its origins in “erotic interests” and, in particular, covered the issue of Autogynephilia (AGP). Worse, even though this book was aimed at a more popular audience, it was based on rigorous science. Dreger:👇

Full article here: Dreger on The Man Who Would be Queen

Even today any mention of AGP is furiously denied in sections of the Trans community. Most often the AGP deniers are late-transitioners who, coincidentally, appear to fit the typology like a velvet glove. AGP is, put simply, described as an erotic target location error, a male, normally heterosexual, becomes erotically charged by the fantasy of himself, as a woman. (See Ray Blanchard Abstract: Blanchard)

Dreger is an intersex advocate who is also concerned about gay and transgender rights. Despite this, her coverage of this controversy over MWWBQ garnered attacks on her own work, and provoked attempts to discredit her, particularly, in the intersex community. Once her account was published the backlash escalated to personal attacks on Dreger herself .

Support for Dreger and Bailey came in the unlikely persona of Dr. Ann Lawrence a, self-proclaimed, autogynephile, transwoman. Lawrence analysed the controversy with an insiders knowledge of AGP, as a condition. The fury, Lawrence argues, originates in the shame of the AGP community which makes sufferers vulnerable to “Narcissistic Injury”. One response, to Narcissistic Injury, is internalised shame but a more common response is to externalise the response and display “Narcissistic Rage”. The full paper is available below:

Lawrence: MWWBQ & Narcissistic Rage

Lawrence reflected on the savagery of the campaign and located it in a co-existing vulnerability to “narcissistic rage” in the AGP community.

Another, related, backlash is the attempt to shut down another, emerging, research area: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. Childhood identity confusion, and late onset Gender Dysphoria (of the AGP type), are relatively well researched and documented. A more recent phenomenon is a spike in late childhood (often at puberty) Gender Dysphoria. The spike in female children declaring a trans-identity has inverted the sex of those expressing themselves as transgender. In the UK a spike in girls, referred to Gender Identity Clinics , well over a 4000% increase over the last decade, has generated theories of social contagion. There are also increases in males, identifying as transgender, but the increase has been nowhere near as dramatic. Early speculation about the causes has resulted in the label of “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” and calls for further investigation of the phenomenon. The first attempt to capture data on the phenomenon was published by Lisa Littman. Like Bailey and Dreger, the author of this study Lisa Littman has faced similar opprobrium which resulted in the withdrawal of her paper, at the behest of a Trans activist. Not an academic, or peer in her field but this “transsexual”. I wish I was joking.

This is also the person who applied to become a counsellor at Vancouver women’s refuge and was involved in a 10 year campaign, still ongoing, to defund /close the refuge for offering single sex services.

You can read more about this here: 👇

Lisa Littman Controversy

The paper was then subject to a second peer review and republished, virtually unaltered. You can read further about this controversy here: Interview with Lisa Littman

What all these controversies have in common is a reluctance to accept any opposition to the idea of an innate gender identity at odds with biological sex. The mantra of “born in the wrong body” attempts to cement the idea that gender non-conformity (often a hallmark of future Gay males and Lesbians) is an early sign of being “transgender”. The existence of “trans-children” de-sexualises transition for the adults, with AGP, and cleanses some of their shame. It also presents the public with a population (children), far more likely to garner sympathy than adults with a paraphilia. This seems to be the motivation for the backlash to both Bailey’s book and any professionals who adhere to Ray Blanchards typology of Transexuality.

Transactivists are keen to convey the idea that transsexuals have always been with us and are a naturally occurring phenomenon. There is scant evidence for this. Cross-dressing is indeed a historic phenomenon. Women disguising themselves as males, to escape the restrictions imposed on the female sex are similarly not a recent phenomenon. Yet our children are being taught Transgender Ideology in schools. Our Judicial system has accepted this, our legal system is involved in wholesale sex-denialism. I have done other blogs about what is happening in our prison estate but this quote is from Family Court. Where is the evidence for this assertion?

Before I publish part 2 , which looks at the book in some detail, here is a recent interview given by Michael Bailey to Benjamin Boyce. As it is from 2019 he also speaks on the topic of ROGD. (Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria). As he is careful to say, at the moment, we are operating on a “hunch” at the reasons for the spike in referrals. We need empirical evidence and, at the moment, any forays into this area are met with the same backlash as his own book.

Benjamin Boyce Interviews Michael Bailey

Girl Power: The Spice of Life?

Preferred Pronouns. A harmless courtesy?

During my trawl through legal cases involving Transgender Prisoners I came across this case:

Paedophile: Victim and Perpetrator

The prisoner had committed sexual offences against young boys. Their offences started whilst young and continued to adulthood. The prisoner had also been a victim of childhood sexual abuse. Makes for a pretty grim catalogue of offences.

It is hard to read without reflecting on the damage done to young males, by early sexual contact, whether by direct force or grooming. I did wonder how this shapes their attitude to their own bodies, warps their boundaries and perpetuates a cycle of abuse. [Note that many CSA survivors do not go on to become abusers. Female survivors , in particular, quite rightly baulk at the inference and maybe more likely to internalise the consequences in self-harm. Once again we find sex matters.]

Another startling finding is the seemingly higher rates of CSA transitioners. Are they trying to escape the physical shell in which their abuse took place?

Child Sexual Abuse and Transgender Identity

From the study 👆

For the purposes of this blog, however, my focus is on how the judicial system deals with the needs of these prisoners, primarily the impact on women. Especially when this places males in the female estate. All prisons have policies which require them to at least consider housing males according to their “gender identity”.

The case opens with the kind of statement I am becoming accustomed to:

The prisoner was “born a man” and “remains physically a man” yet the case will use female pronouns, out of respect. The legal system is using she for a male, child sex offender. Let that sink in! Furthermore, as the case makes clear, this is not someone with a Gender Recognition Certificate. (A GRC confers the “legal fiction” that a male is female). What is apparent is the legal system already extends this “recognition” prior to any assessment by a Gender Recognition Panel. Polite female pronouns for a male sex offender are a dis-courtesy to women across the land but, hey, we are only women. Gillian Flynn had it right when she reflected on the me too movement:

Well worth taking a break, at this point, to read this post about the ubiquitous use of female pronouns, to describe males, and the impact on our cognitive abilities. This was posted on mumsnet and earned the poster a 7 day ban! 👇

Pronouns are Rohypnol

Includes this clip:

Now the law is using this linguistic rohypnol of “preferred pronouns”. Even for male sex offenders who have committed sexual offences against children, do not have a GRC and have not medically “transitioned”. The overwhelming perpetrators of crimes of a sexual and violent nature are males, so in whose interests is this linguistic shift? It is NOT in the interests of the female sex to obscure the sex of the perpetrators of sexual violence.

The offender , in this case, had already been tried and imprisoned for the sexual offences committed. However, what if the preferred pronouns were “she” at the time of the offence? Would the young boys he victimised have been admonished for using “he”? We have already seen that Maria McLachlan was legally compelled to use female pronouns for her attacker. In addition, despite the perpetrator being found guilty, her use of male pronouns was actually used to reduce any compensation that may have been due. In her own words : Maria McLachlan: Trial

Sexual Offender Therapeutic Treatment Programmes.

To return to the case in hand. These are offences that no woman or girl could have physically committed. The number of females imprisoned for sexual offences against children is statistically insignificant.

There are lots of interesting points, in this case, about parole hearings, indeterminate sentencing and whether the prison system is equipped to deal with transgender sex offenders. Those remain issues that require resolution. I remain steadfast on the principal that women are entitled to single sex spaces. However, even were I to set that aside, women’s prisons are not sufficiently experienced, or sufficiently resourced, to deal with male sex offenders. Indeed if you read the case the male prison seems similarly unable to identify the correct risk reduction programme for such a prisoner.

Another salient point is the absence of a Gender Recognition Certificate proves no barrier to anyone “self-identifying” as Transgender. This, in turn, allows them to invoke the legally protected characteristic of “Gender Re-assignment”. If , like me, you assumed that a GRC must be obtained, to be covered by this legal protection, the law is not operating in this way. These are some of the legal arguments which make it clear the case was heard on the basis that the prisoner was entitled to be legally protected by the characteristic of “Gender Reassignment”. No mention of even hormone treatment and definitely no surgery, at this point.

No wonder every political party is signing up to getting “Self-Id” specifically enshrined, in law, they know we have already let the Fox in with the hens!

A year ago I may have expressed less concern about Homosexual transgender offenders as a risk to women. However, if you read this earlier case on my blog Male Sex Offender in Female Prison , you will see that this is no guarantee of female safety; not even protection from sexual assault.

The prisoner, who is the subject of this blog, was housed in the male estate. A same sex attracted male would obviously have less incentive to petition to be moved to the female estate. There is only one reference to this preference. Here:👇

HMP Send is a female therapeutic community. The prisoner expressed fear at being in a male sex offender treatment programme (SOTP) and this fear was taken seriously. Nowhere is there any reference to the fears of females at HMP Send, to have a (fully-intact) male in their treatment programme. In the end , despite more than one overture, this request was turned down. In my view this should simply not have been considered. A fear of males is not exclusive to the Transgender community. Cannot quite believe I have to actually state this in 2019. Female prisoners have an over-representation of women who have been abused at the hands of men. The Prison policy should act on the legally protected characteristic of sex. It simply should rule out housing a male, sex offender or not, with women. Neither should there be any compulsion to admit one to a female therapeutic programme.

Note also, in the above clip, the prisoner reports they are three months away from being granted a Gender Recognition Certificate. I have no way of verifying this. However, thus far there are no details of any hormone treatment and certainly no surgery has taken place. So it would seem being imprisoned for child sexual abuse, and handed an indefinite sentence to protect the public, is not an automatic bar to applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate. Whilst activists are campaigning to relax the requirements for a GRC I ask why the requirements not made even more stringent? Or, indeed, why we have accepted them at all. If the GRC is supposed to reassure women then it is transparently not worth the paper it is written on.

There are safeguarding implications and this study raised a concern. 👇

Motives for Transition.

Predators will always take the path of least resistance. Safeguarding principles tell us to look at where these weak links are because this is where you will find predators.

Its OK if they are homosexual.

A feature of this “debate” , we fought to have, is institutionalised sexism which fails to understand the nature, and extent, of sexual offences against women. In my earlier blog, linked above, I quote the motivation for the attempted rape of a woman. It was a male-attracted offender. His motivation for a sexual attack against a women was rage. Narcissistic rage because she was a woman this was the status the male wished for himself. Narcissistic tendencies are frequently referenced in respect of this prisoner:

References to this prisoner’s narcissism and fragile self-image recur in the psychiatric assessments quoted. What bigger threat to your self-image than to present yourself as “female” and not be accepted, as such, by actual females. So much of the rage directed at women, from trans activists, seems driven by a recognition of this simple fact. The mere existence of natural women triggers a malevolent response. It seems simply being is interpreted as a threat and an act of confrontation. How dare we just exist as women.

There are so many layers to this societal shift that it is difficult to maintain focus on one aspect. In this case we have a relatively young male with a history of sexual offending from their early teens. He has been convicted of grooming and manipulating young males, for his own sexual gratification. The case indicates that this young man had also been sexually abused, prior to becoming a child sex offender himself. They have a history of self-harm, and vengeful behaviour, when their self-image is threatened . A clinician has diagnosed Narcissist Personality disorder. During their time in prison they adopted a female identity which would seem to add another layer of vulnerability to a fragile personality. We have already seen that the prisoner acts out against staff and prisoners when threatened. The Sexual Offender Treatment plans are not deemed suitable for the prisoner and finding a suitable therapeutic approach has been problematic. Treatment has therefore been significantly delayed. This has further rebounded on the prisoner because, without a risk reduction programme, they remain indefinitely detained. There is also a pending police investigation because the prisoner alleges a rape in the male estate. (At the time of this case). All of these things can be true. They are not, however, issues that can, or should, be resolved by handing over the problem to female prisoners and staff.

Placing prisoners with this profile (below) in the female estate forces women to co-habit with a high risk , narcissistic male, with a fragile sense of self and a need to control and dominate the environment in which they are based. If they are doing this in the male estate how much more vulnerable are the women going to be? How is putting a self-identified “woman”, who will not be read as “female”, in with women, going to help their self-image? What form might the “vengeful schemas” take on the women who don’t demonstrate, sufficient, acceptance of that “identity”?

How does a male feel like a woman?

This is a recurrent question to which it is difficult, to impossible, to achieve a coherent answer. This subject is littered with people who speak of “living as a woman” or “adopting a female role” but what does that mean? There is no answer ,I have seen, that doesn’t resort to circular reasoning and sexist stereotypes. This prisoner is no different. Their version of woman hood, and no I am not kidding, is as defined by the Spice Girls. This is a male fantasy about what makes a woman. These males display a unique version of mysogyny

Don’t let a man tell you, you can’t do something because you are a girl!

Not for the first time I quote Miranda Yardley who coined the term “refugees from masculinity”. I agree. Refugees from masculinity exist. It is still not the job of the female sex to run the Refugee camps. Reject the mantle of maleness. De-programme your male socialisation. You have my full support in this. Telling women their biological reality can be colonised and you lost me.

Girl Power was an empty slogan revolving around the mythical empowerment of hyper-sexualised women. This 👇

I don’t accept a man can tell me, a woman, that he, a man, has any right to pontificate on what makes a woman Less #GirlsLikeUs and more #JustWomen.

Toward an End to Appropriation of Indigenous “Two Spirit” People in Trans Politics: the Relationship Between Third Gender Roles and Patriarchy

Excellent post on the cultural misunderstandings around “third gender”

The 2019 Witch Hunts.

The Witch Hunts, which began in the 1500’s, swept across Europe in the 17th Century. Estimates of the deaths vary wildly with the most conservative estimates, of casualties, ranging around 60,000. Feminist theories of the trials focussed on the sex of the victims. In England a staggering 90% were women. Coincidentally (not) this was inversely proportionate to the sex composition of the saintly class. Theories which contradict the feminist interpretation can’t dismiss the sex of the victims. Some theorists point to the role of the rise of the printing press in the spread of Witchcraft Trials. This modern re-enactment owes much to Twitter. Twitter Shaming has replaced the burning. Just when this will tip over into more serious violence, against a woman, is anyone’s guess. The violent incidents we have already seen have been denied, dismissed and minimised. This is a dangerous climate we are creating for women.

The focus was on a particular type of woman. Those who were not assimilated & under male control. In the 2000’s this can extend to women with an “unseemly” critique of a male dominated society / financially independent women. Many of the twitter hunts echo this pattern of selecting modern-day witches. Women defending our right to name ourselves, organise as a class, and exclude males, in defined spaces, are the new witches, or, Terfs, if you will.

Women who have been paying attention, or directly involved in the Terfwars, are not surprised by the demonization of women. Lately the target group has widened to include public attacks on JK Rowling and Caroline Criado-Perez. Maybe we can snatch some positives from the, increasingly vitriolic, Social Justice Warrior crusades. Maybe it will finally trigger some self- awareness in our political elite.

Caroline Criado- Perez has not, to my knowledge, entered into the fray regarding the conflict between women’s rights and trans rights. She has, incurred the wrath of the Trans Activists for two cardinal sins. The first is for a book which looks at the experience of women, as a sex class, in a world built around default humans, otherwise known as males.

The book analyses the way the world has been built to accommodate males and left women, the majority, obliged to slot into a world where we are not the template human. Some of those things relate to female biology and this is anathema to the robotic mantra chanters of “Transwomen are women”. For example, female heart attacks are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed. One would assume that redressing this would be welcomed by feminists across the land. Not so. The problem is that discussing female matters now triggers cries of “transphobia”. Women centring ourselves in our own political movement is viewed as discriminatory against wannabe women. Medically women have different bodies. Different physiology. Women don’t have prostates!

If we are not allowed to say how we are different to males we will remain invisible. Sex matters. If you identify “with” women, you would understand this. The need to erase all distinctions between transwomen and women is a pathological obsession with *some* TransActivists. Logically “trans” should exist as a distinct category to capture accurate data, for example, for medical reasons or documenting crime , both against and by the trans community. If feminists were demanding the eradication of data, specifically related to trans people, we would be accused of erasing trans identities. The demand, ironically, is coming from within the Trans community.

Criado’s second “offence” was to reject the label “Cisgender”. This attempt to impose nomenclature on women is interesting. Cis, for the uninitiated, is the term given to women who identify with the “gender” they were born with. Women protest in vain. We don’t identify with a “gender”, we just are women. Apparently, being “CisGender” affords us “privilege” over born males who identify as women. Not only are we being “told” we identify with a set of crass, reductive, stereotypes, we are further advised we are privileged to do so. Let me break that down. Members of the male (oppressor) class are colonising a female identity and then telling their, unwilling, hosts we are actually the oppressor of the, mainly white, male class of colonisers. Truth Inversion is a common feature of this discourse. Any woman with her wits about her would reject the label “CIS”.

No Gender Apostate can be allowed to go unpunished and twitter duly obliges. I love this one. Any woman over forty, who has a platform, is guilty until proven innocent. There is a common pattern in misogyny which often targets older women. Mature (Wise-women) were similarly overrepresented in the witch trials of the 1600’s.

JK Rowling’s has a bigger platform so the attacks are louder. The threshold for “offences” is low and seems to be limited to “likes” & follows on twitter. Rowling has been subject to the popular twitter past-time of offence archaeology; where whole threads are dedicated to excavating her twitter feed for outrage opportunities. As far as I can ascertain it can basically be summed up as “Goody Rowling was seen talking to Goody Berns”. In this case JK Rowling has followed Magdalen Berns, a Radical Feminist, and Lesbian, who was unforgivably, it would seem, prescient about where this was all heading. In response to the witch hunt Rowling has, incredibly, stuck two fingers up at the haters and added Julie Bindel and Fionne Orlander to her follows. Fionne (if you don’t already know) is a self-proclaimed male, battling Dysphoria, embracing gender transgression & trying to forge a path that makes a claim on male spaces, not female. (@FionneOrlander)

Here are some examples of the abuse hurled her way. First up the peremptory demand for an apology. Repent Ye Witch!

Information sharing to drag in other Terfs is another familiar theme from Witch Hunts. The Woke Stasi trawling for gender apostates. We’re going on a Terf Hunt!

Next come the book burnings! How on earth did Enid Blyton survive the Author pogroms? (Oh. Wait. She is forgiven because we can, retrospectively, “Trans” George)

And, naturally, it would not be complete without casting aspersions on her personal attractiveness. Inconvenient women are totally unfamiliar with this tactic. Women deemed “unfuckable” have no other purpose but as a receptacle for male rage.

For anyone puzzling about the women are joining in the attacks on their “sisters” you need only look at the work of Christina Larner and Ann Bastow , on the original Witchcraft trials.

An interesting feature of this “debate” has been the attacks on trans allies for deviating from the every more complex and changing script. The trans equivalent of “witch” is “Truscum” or , latterly “Transmedicalists”. The latter term is imposed on Transexuals (another verboten description) who have actually made some meaningful attempt to escape their masculine bodies. They are an affront to the #LadyPenis proponents. Particular opprobrium is reserved for those who accept their biology and eschew single sex spaces in alliance with women. This is a necessary part of any alliance with women.

Some of these women allying against the “Terfs” have not learnt the lessons of the past. The fate of one of the accusers, in the 1600’s, illustrates, how wh the hunts widened, and former collaborators were swept up. The law to allow younger children to testify was specifically modified to lower the prosecution bar for the witch women. Jennet was persuaded to testify against her family and lo she was implicated and executed in the next round up. First they came for my mum…..

Watching this unfold it is ought to be clear, by now, that no amount of compromise will be enough. Women are required to completely capitulate and allow males to mandate us, as a class, out of existence. Heaven forfend that women define ourselves, meet to discuss our rights, and fight to keep same sex spaces. Handing women’s rights over to anyone, who self-defines as a woman, renders our rights obsolete and unenforceable.

Maybe this latest Terf-Hunt will end the silence and generate some self-reflection on how widespread the “witch-hunting” has become, across the political spectrum. Male Feminists (short for Maleficent, in my mind ) are amongst the worst offenders.

In this modern re-enactment of the Witchcraft Trials there are some common themes with the trials of yesteryear. In Scotland the Witch finders acquired a delicious nickname. The wannabe Mathew Hopkins If 2019 well deserve an updated, abbreviated, modern version. I will think on it. 👇

Get ready! Women are waking up to this. We are saying #EnoughIsEnough.

The Woke Gay Conversion Therapy?

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Let me state, for the record, I don’t believe anyone has an innate “Gender Identity”. Gender is a social construct, super-imposed on biological sex to uphold Patriarchal structures.

Gendered expectations limit and constrain women whilst grooming boys to occupy a dominant role, as men. Historically, feminists made a distinction between “sex” and “gender” to deconstruct, biologically determinist, theories of sex differences. It was never a radical feminist position that women, or men, were born with a “natural” gender. (Note to evolutionary biologists. I am not a proponent of blank slate theory. I am, however, wary when biology is used to justify women’s position in the sex hierarchy). Feminists dispute that gendered roles are a natural, inevitable, consequence of our biology. Our Gendered role is distinct from our Biological Sex.

Gender versus Sex discourse is now distorted into the antithesis of a feminist analysis. We now have a political class who have accepted the proposition that “gender” is real and innate, and biological sex merely “assigned at birth“. Since gender comprises sexist, stereotypes the reification of “gender” is regressive. Furthermore medicalising gender non-conformity, has some serious implications for the health and well-being of our youth.

As a feminist I have principally registered the impact of sex stereotypes, on women. As a mother of two sons I have an increasing awareness of gendered expectations, for males. Watching them navigate the world, as boys, inducted into the male tribe, exposed the deployment of, often brutal, sanctions for boys who don’t perform “male” behaviours. As a parent of a same sex attracted, son, this has brought things into even sharper focus.

Not conforming to sex stereotypical behaviour is not unusual for Gay males (& Lesbians). They may exhibit non-conformity early and it will often pre-date sexual awareness. Many of these children, like mine, will be brutally punished because they are deviating from expected “normal” behaviour. They may have atypical interests for their sex, hang out with, and even identify “with” members of the opposite sex. For males they are often explicitly rejected by their own sex and isolated by their peers. All of this is painful and confusing and years of bullying can, and does, lead to internalised homophobia.

Homophobia & The Cotton Ceiling

Homophobia is not a thing of the past. A focus on the UK context can, superficially, suggest the main battles are won. Sexual orientation is a protected characteristic, under The Equality Act 2010. Same sex marriage is legal. Currently we are seeing a vicious attack on same sex attraction from within the LGBT community. For Lesbians their same sex attraction is badged as transphobic. There is even a name for this: “Cotton Ceiling”. This is a play on the notion of a “glass-ceiling”, a phrase coined to describe the barrier to female achievement. This term has been repurposed to refer to Lesbian underwear, as a barrier to “all-inclusive” sexual availability. Lesbians are explicitly under attack for rejecting male bodies in their “Lesbian” dating pool! This is the new “progressive” Corrective Rape. Article here: Cotton Ceiling.

As always this is a tale of two sexes. There is no comparable campaign to shame gay males over their vagina-exclusionary orientation. They are not, on any significant scale, condemned and policed about their sexual orientation. Some of the battles we thought had been won are being undermined, ironically, under the banner of “progressive” thinking. None of the leading Gay publications, or Advocacy groups, have condemned the rhetoric of #CottonCeiling, indeed most deny it exists. Same sex attraction is being undermined by organisations which purport to represent the gay community. (Cough…Stonewall).

Inculcating Gender Dysphoria

It is in this context we need to examine how the concept of an “innate Gender Identity” is being proselytised in our schools. Children are being taught that “sex” is no longer dimorphic but exists on a spectrum. Homosexuality is the attraction to one’s own sex. Its predicated on the notion of two sexes. How do prospective gay adults reconcile this to the idea that they exist “on a spectrum?

The phrase “assigned male at birth” is being used in the media, by medical professionals and by our political elite. Somehow the idea that a small number of disorders of sexual development (DSD), leading to “intersex” conditions, has morphed into a belief that accurate determination of sex is not possible, at birth. There is no evidence that DSDs are more prevalent. This belief is not borne out of concern for people with intersex conditions. It is ideologically predicated to privilege “gender identity” above sex. Same sex orientation is then seen as in conflict with attraction based on “gender”. Gender can be de-coupled from “sex” and even sexual characteristics. This places definitively homosexual males, & females. in the “wrong” for excluding opposite sex partners.

Here is an example of school based training. A pack which has been used in various forms across the Education Sector: All sorts Trans Inclusion Kit Here is a critique from the Transgender Trend organisation of the training in our schools: Transgender Trend

It is my contention that this training is inculcating Gender Dysphoria: a disassociation from biological sex. Nobody conforms 100% with the expected behaviour for their sex. Yet children are being taught that failure to adhere to these , culturally determined, expectations may mean they are “Born in the Wrong Body”. Lesbians and Gay Males frequently deviate from “gendered” behaviour and are much more vulnerable to this ideology. Its confusing and de-stabilising. The meme below was sent out by a young, gay male. 👇

Here is an example of Mermaids training slides. (Mermaids is an organisation which exists to support “trans” children and youth). This is being rolled out to schools and teaches a spectrum of “gender identities” with which children are asked to “identify”. At one end of the spectrum is Barbie and at the other end is GI Jo.

The use of regressive stereotypes is only one area vulnerable to critique. If we were teaching the variety of ways people express themselves and deconstructing sex stereotypes this could be a force for positive change. We are , instead, using it to push the notion that one can be, literally, “Born in the Wrong Body”. Instead of celebrating difference we are instead advocating that these children/teens should be medicalised and handed over to #BigPharma for Life.

I have one son who does sport most days, captains football and rugby teams, and has, largely, gender typical interests. Based on that criteria you could allocate him to one end of the spectrum. The same son does his own washing , irons clothes, watches boxing but also likes poetry. Where does he now go on this “spectrum”?. Are we not just pathologizing personalities which deviate from the “man-box”?

I have another son who loves music, hates sport, identifies “with” girls and has always had female friends. He also came out as “gay” when he was in his early teens. When puberty hit he was still not accepted by his male peers but now female peers were retreating into same sex friendship groups. Parents were not including him in female bonding experiences, like sleepovers. Those parents had every right to exclude him but it did increase his isolation. Its not difficult to understand why a boy like this would identify out of his male sex, and his homosexuality, by retreating into a faux-straight, medicalised closet. Superficially this can look like an attractive option.

Gender Dysphoria is a relatively recent historical phenomenon. In the last decade, in the UK, we have seen a spike of over 4000% increase in girls referred to Gender Identity Clinics. For boys the figure is 1152%. Parents who are resistant to the dominant “affirmation” model of treatment won’t be included in these figure. Many know better than to enrol our offspring in these “treatment” centres. Article here: Behind a paywall. Rise in Gender Identity Clinic referrals

Are we medicalising away the Gay?

Recently whistle-blowers at the UK’s main Gender Identity Clinic ,The Tavistock, have broken ranks to highlight the real threat to gay children who are using their service. Below is a clip from this article in The Times newspaper. Full article here (paywall) Transgender Experiment

Here is a youtube from another expert in this field asking: Why are lesbian and gay children being transitioned?

Professor Eric Vilain

Here is another article summarising studies which show that most children who identify as the opposite sex eventually reconcile to biological sex and, many are gay. Author is James Cantor who works in this field. Remember also that this much of this research predates the meteoric rise in referrals. There is every reason to suspect that desistance rates would be much higher in the current “crop” of trans kids IF (and its a big IF) they were not subject to irreversible medical treatment.

Do Kids stay Trans

Here are quotes from two other experts about the impact of early medicalisation on children. Dr James Barret, a consultant at the UKs oldest Gender Identity Clinic, makes it clear most would desist, reconcile to biological sex, and be gay IF allowed to go through a natural puberty.

Ray Blanchard another expert, in this field, makes it clear that the addition of Puberty Blockers locks those self-same children on an irreversible path to medicalisation.

Proposal to criminalise “affirming” Biological Sex?

The standard model of “treatment” is to accept the child/teens self-assessment of their “Gender” and to socially, leading to medical, affirm that identity. Affirming a child in their biological sex is the least invasive approach. Since most desist from a “trans-identity” and many are merely gay this seems to be the obvious approach and indeed has been the standard treatment for decades. Fast forward to 2019 and this is seen as akin to Gay Conversion Therapy. At this very moment affirming biological sex is outlawed in many US states. Here is the UK we have a bill, currently going through parliament, which proposes to outlaw my parental practice. Now I am told it is unlikely this will proceed but I have lost all faith in our political class over this specific issue so I am keeping it under scrutiny. (Clip from Hansard below).

Silencing dissenting Parents.

On Social Media parents, like me, adopting a cautious approach, to medicalising our children, are subjected to quite a lot of criticism. Little of it is evidenced based. Here is a sample. Not all of these screenshots were to myself but I have had pretty much all of this type of abuse.

@Terfblocker were particularly egregious and their follow up, to the tweet above, was to find my real name and add it below to “out” my son. Nice Touch. Here is a reminder of the person who set up @TerfBlocker.

Former Green party candidate now ensconced in the Liberal Democrats. You may remember the name and a public statement that this person was dangerously unaware of basic safeguarding. Also, as of June 2019, still appears an advisor to Stonewall. Stonewall Trans Advisory Group

More here if you are unfamiliar with. Aimee Challenor

What other alleged campaign for “Civil Rights” routinely labels caution and research as bigoted? What other campaign uses the threat of children’s suicide as a tactic to terrorise parents into submission? If anything the vehemence of the attacks has made me more confident that this is wrong.

Since writing this I commented on the issue of trans sports and was treated to another lovely comment, No wonder perceptions of hate crime are sky-rocketing when someone sees hate in this comment.

There will be a reckoning when society wakes up to what is being done to children under the, mistaken, belief that they are Born In The Wrong Body. I hope we wake up to the problematic, and unquestioning, affirmation of a child/teens belief that this is the right path for them. My biggest fear is that EVERY single political party and most politicians have gone along with this. What will it take for them to reverse this position? Are our children to be electoral cannon fodder?

What other issue has cognitively captured the political elite so swiftly? One thing for certain is that this is not a grass roots movement!

Are you sure, WB??

Great piece.

Gender Identity: Redefining Women

Feminism has taken a strange, and frankly baffling, turn whilst I was distracted. The brand of Feminism I knew regarded gender as a social construct. Simone De Beauvoir, said “women are born not made” she did not mean that women can be male born. She meant that women were inculcated into the “right” way to be a woman in a Patriarchal society. Similarly “Intersectional Feminism” doesn’t mean women have to centre males in our feminism. (See Kimberle Crenshaw). Female socialisation is not homogenous across different cultures, and times, and needs a different lens to see the layers of oppression when sex intersects with, for example, your race or class. Women are still a sex class but our experience of being “women” intersects with, race or class. Once again, “intersectional feminism” does not mean the category of woman has to be inclusive of males, any more than Rachel Dolezal has to be included in “black”

Fast forward to the age of Woko Haram. The new feminism regards “intersectional feminism” as meaning we include biological males, socialised as men, as literal women. Suddenly gender is real and a basis for legislation and public policy. It is argued that “Gender Identity” is innate and that this “subjective sense of self” trumps biological reality because, wait for it….. now biology is the social construct! Being a woman is performative we are told, so males who perform gender are now able to identify into a biological sex class which, in the UK at least, is a legally protected characteristic.

I didn’t always see it this way. Like many women I barely raised an eyebrow at the Gender Recognition Act. Here is a summary of my trajectory.

My concern at the implications, for women, only surfaced when I saw the more extreme manifestations of trans ideology. I could scarcely believe how swiftly this was taken up by mainstream political parties. It seemed to have cognitively captured a diverse array of organisations.

Let us start with the labelling of women as “Cis” because it raises some interesting points. We are being told that we are Cis-Gender which means that, unlike those born male, we have the privilege of identifying with the sex we were born. (I say born but Trans-activists describe this as the sex we were “assigned at birth“). If , like me, you see Gender as a social construct this is to be resisted. Gender/Sex Stereotypes have been constructed around female biology but don’t necessarily arise from it. (I am not a blank slate proponent in its totality but its so hard to unpack biology from socialisation etc). Feminist thought separated out Sex & Gender to identify those “socially constructed” attributes designed to confine and limit women. These vary over time but the obvious ones are that our Lady Brains are not suited to “hard science”, we are better suited to caring work and University would lead to ruination for the gentle sex….something about shrivelled wombs.. Now, if in fact, we are deemed to identify “with” our “gender” this means that Cis-Gender women accept that collection of sexist stereotypes as our “identity”. No feminist in her right mind would accept that.

Another pernicious result of the “cis” label is the notion that women (actual, biological, women) have privilege over males, who merely identify as women. What a neat trick. Men colonise women’s spaces, roles and very being and then tell the colonised that we are in fact the oppressor class! Thousands of years of Patriarchy and finally men have come up with a neat way to blame women for their dominant role in the sex hierarchy.

To question this, even mildly, invites opprobrium at a Testerical level. The pejorative term “Terf” was coined. This is justified as a mere acronym for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Femnist”. It is, we are told, merely a descriptive term. The usage belies this. It is dished out with accompanying threats of rape and violence and often coupled with those lovely epithets “cunt” and “bitch”. So many males, self-proclaimed feminists, and those who claim to identify as women, use threats of rape and violence to silence women. Seems like the new boss is very much like the old one.

I still have sympathy for “refugees from masculinity” a term coined by Miranda Yardley, a transsexual. I just don’t think it is the job of women to run the refugee camp. Women’s rights are under threat and the attack has taken me by surprise, because it came from such an unexpected quarter. I should clarify that I have late onset misogyny realisation , about Transactivism, but Cassandra’s like Magdalen Berns, certainly saw it coming. Magdalen’s youtube video on Men Going their own way anticipated this. You can watch it here: Magdalen Bern

Reifying gender and encoding “gender identity” in law ascribes a set of “sex stereotypes” the status of naturally occurring phenomena. Since deconstructing the notion of “gender” is a central aim of my feminism its elevation, into a basis for law and public policy is, deeply regressive. Our aim is unpicking the notion of a, biologically determined, set of characteristics which, we are told, are innate to women. I may not be fully on board with blank slatist, Tabular Rasa thinking but we do need to be sceptical about why all the traits assigned to women, at birth, are the ones used to limit and oppress us. I am at significant odds with this ideology which attacks women as propping up biologically essentialist notions of womanhood (spoiler it doesn’t) whilst demanding that we accept the notion of a Lady Brain (which does!).

How is it possible that this is proclaimed as a new way to “Smash the Gender Binary”? It seems rather to entrench sex stereotypes and entrench binary thinking about sex. In a further sleight of hand the “problem” has been outsourced for the women to sort out. Funny how everyone knows which sex is responsible for the provision of emotional labour. The labour is being assigned to females and not those who seek to identify as us.

Along the way the Pharma-Medico-Industrial complex stands to make a great deal of money. The way this has been embraced by anarchists, anti-capitalists and the “I am literally a communist” brigade is mind-bogglingly incomprehensible. This is neoliberalism on cross-sex hormones. A compassionate response, to accommodate a rare disorder, has been monetised and is being inculcated in vulnerable youth, Many who are struggling to understand where they fit now that “gender” has been elevated over biological sex and they don’t conform to the gender stereotype that fits their biological sex. Many of these, gender non-conforming, children would, if left alone, and, crucially, unmedicalized grow up to be gay adults and yet Stonewall is one of the biggest cheerleaders for this ideology.

We are in the grip of a regressive ideology which is all the more dangerous because it is being, incorrectly, labelled as progressive. In the UK every political party (bar the Communist Party of Great Britain) has embraced the notion of gender identity over material reality. It is women’s material reality that is being denied. It is women who are being asked to give up the word “woman” and accept being labelled in reductive ways such as “Cervix Havers” or “Uterus Bearers” Even the British Medical Association has recommended that we should refer to “Pregnant People” in order to be “inclusive” of females who identify as men. I have seen no such reductive terminology applied to men.

In my next post I will look at the organisations who are campaigning for an end to the legally protected characteristic of sex. A campaign which is being conducted, in stealth, and has cognitively captured Local Councils, Crown Prosecution Services and the Ministry of Justice, to name a few. All are getting ahead of an anticipated legal change. For women like me the 100 year anniversary of the right to vote is a bitter milestone as I am now, effectively, disenfranchised. I have nowhere to exercise that vote that does not require me to support a party seeking to mandate me, a woman, out of existence.

I hesitate to claim the label “Radical Feminist” only in so much as I don’t feel I have earned it. Right now we all need to aspire to it because Liberal Feminism has totally let women down.

TWITTER & WOMEN

A post on my (temporary) twitter ban. For this tweet: 👇

Is twitter tone policing women? I routinely watch women disciplined for comments men utter with impunity. It’s almost as if this is a tale of two sexes. We, in the UK, have the protected category of “sex” enshrined in the 2010 Equality Act. Twitter has its own list of protected groups. None specifically relate to “sex”, probably because we are expected to pretend sex doesn’t exist any more, unless it’s meaning is bent all out of shape.

Many of my tweets concentrate on the impact of trans ideology on women’s rights. There are real consequences of privileging an “identity” over women’s material reality. I also have a concern that the notion of an “innate gender essence” may have a negative effect on, likely gay, youth. I have reasonable grounds to raise this. Prospective gay adults often “fail” to conform to sex stereotypical behaviour. Many are aware they are “different” long before they realise their sexuality. Teaching materials which preach that “gender is a spectrum” can, and do, inculcate “Gender Dysphoria”. Failure to align with stereotypical characteristics, assigned to your sex, is a common experience. If your “gender identity” does not align to your biological sex you are in the majority. Nobody identifies 100% with a social construct. A belief in the concept of an innate gender essence may give rise to a feeling you are in need of medicalised interventions to “correct” this mismatch. That is regressive and conservative. Its not liberating . We are building a new “straight” jacket! A medically constructed closet.

The inherent danger, in gender ideology, is that it mitigates against understanding and accepting same sex attraction, instead, gay youth come to believe they are merely “born in the wrong body”. To contextualise this we must remember the severe social penalties for behaving in a Gender-non- conformist way. For gay teens this may lead to a rejection of self , regardless of whether this is labelled “internalised homophobia”.

James Barret works at the UKs oldest Gender Identity Clinic. He also recognised that there are a high proportion of gay children who may adopt a “gender identity” which is at odds with their biological sex. Most resolve this if allowed to go through natural puberty. The introduction of medicalised methods to block puberty do not allow for this. Professor Ray Blanchard also highlights that, far from allowing a “pause”, as is often claimed, blocking puberty sets kids on a medicalised trajectory, a path from which they do not step off.

As a parent of one of those formerly “out” gay teens it is my parental responsibility to help my child navigate this path. Premature medicalisation is not the answer. I have discussed this with adult males who define themselves as “trans” or “transsexuals” who, even if happy with their current pathway, are concerned at the spike in referrals to Gender Identity Clinics. They see the danger for gay children wrongly swept up in a surge of children/teens with Gender Identity confusion. In working towards more social acceptance, and better medical care, for the “Trans” community we may be wreaking untold harm on a generation of , prospective, gay adults.

It was in response to a discussion on this that I posted the tweet below. This has led to my account being limited , for twelve hours, under twitter rules on “hateful conduct”.

My options are to remove this tweet or to appeal. I have appealed. At present this has left me locked out of twitter and unable to change privacy settings, to protect my account. This means I have no recourse to rebut, or correct. any misunderstandings or misrepresentations. Removing this tweet will also mean that, for 14 days, there will be a message stating my tweet has been removed for “hateful conduct“. There is no hate in this tweet. None.

I am raising a relevant concern which has also been raised by Gender Identity Professionals. This is a quote from a clinician who has departed from the UKs leading Gender Identity Clinic due to similar concerns. This quote echoes my reservations about the medicalised pathway.

Children are subject to relentless bullying for behaviour that may mean they would grow up to be homosexual. Many parents have direct experience of this and it is inextricably bound up with gender non-conformity. In this context the notion you are “born in the wrong body” is, superficially, attractive. It is incumbent on us all to adopt a cautious approach and ensure we do not prematurely medicalise children. Most would, if left alone, desist (from a trans-identity), reconcile to biological sex, and grow up to a fulfilling life as a gay male or Lesbian.

It is not bigotry, to say this.

I love the twitter platform. If, however, it fails to facilitate legitimate discussion it will be viewed as authoritarian and antithetical to free speech. If this tweet fails to pass the test for legitimate debate they may find themselves on the “wrong side of history”.

paypal.me/STILLTish

Researching Gender Identity Ideology and its impact on Women and our Gay Youth. Support is always appreciated (I have no income). All my content is open access so if you can’t speak publicly, and want to support those who can, only IF you have spare cash, this helps me keep going.

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The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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Category: Uncategorised

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What other issue has cognitively captured the political elite so swiftly? One thing for certain is that this is not a grass roots movement!

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TWITTER & WOMEN

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The Journey Begins

Like this:

Part 1: The Controversy.

Share this:

Like this:

Preferred Pronouns. A harmless courtesy?

Sexual Offender Therapeutic Treatment Programmes.

Its OK if they are homosexual.

How does a male feel like a woman?

I don’t accept a man can tell me, a woman, that he, a man, has any right to pontificate on what makes a woman Less #GirlsLikeUs and more #JustWomen.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

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Like this:

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Homophobia & The Cotton Ceiling

Inculcating Gender Dysphoria

Are we medicalising away the Gay?

Proposal to criminalise “affirming” Biological Sex?

Silencing dissenting Parents.

What other issue has cognitively captured the political elite so swiftly? One thing for certain is that this is not a grass roots movement!

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

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