A Week in the War on Women: Monday 13th November - Sunday 19th November GOOD NEWS SUPPLEMENT

ARTWORK: Julie Scott

A handful of the good news stories from the gender beat this week. Enjoy!

Right On Cue

A female pool player has publicly withdrawn from a tournament final over the governing body’s trans inclusion policy.

Last week we reported on Alexandra Cunha, one of the world’s top ranking female pool stars, who is refusing to compete against trans-identified males. She is protesting the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) altering its trans inclusion rules to effectively erase the female categories. Quoted in The Telegraph, she says, “This isn’t about me, it’s not even about pool. It’s about the way women’s sport is under siege from transgender players who were born male and have all the advantages that enable them to dominate biological women.”

Now another female pool player has publicly protested the new WEPF policy. This week, veteran player, Lynne Pinches, withdrew from the final of the Ladies Champions of Champions event in Wales rather than have to play against Harriet Haynes, a trans-identified male, thus forfeiting the title.

She was clapped and cheered by spectators as she packed up her cue and walked away from the table. She told The Telegraph, “I don’t care about the money or the title or the trophy. I care about fairness”.

While it is far from ideal that women are having to take such action, it is both heartening and inspiring that players like Lynne and Alexandra are taking such brave and public stands against the glaring unfairness in their sport.

Kudos and all power to them both.

Lynne Pinches holding her Runner Up trophy - IMAGE CREDIT: The Daily Mail

Twin Peaked

Credit where it’s due. In a very refreshing change, Woman’s Hour host, Emma Barnett, challenged the appointment of a trans-identified male as the CEO of an endometriosis charity.

Steph Richards, the newly appointed CEO, and charity founder, Jodie Hughes, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour this week. Emma Barnett was pulling absolutely no punches when she interviewed them both.

She brought up the issue of Richard’s trans activism and use of the word Terf and she pulled him up over his every false equivalence. “In your statement on X, 10% you say of those assigned female at birth suffer from this awful disease. Is the word you are looking for there, woman?” she asked. Brava.

If you’d like to drop Auntie a line to let them know Emma Barnett’s approach is the right one, you can so so here.

Sex & Gender In The House

Important issues around the gender debate were discussed in Parliament by MPs and peers from across all parties this week.

Published by Routledge, ‘Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader’, is an important new book about the relationship between sex, gender and gender identity.

It is edited by Professor Selina Todd and Professor Alice Sullivan. The book’s 15 chapters are all original contributions and their authors are leading experts in their fields, drawn from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, biology, neuroscience,

This week it was launched at the House of Commons with a brilliant panel consisting of Alice Sullivan, Professor of Sociology at UCL; Selina Todd, Professor of Modern History at Oxford; Sophie Scott (CBE) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, and Dr Michael Biggs, Assoc Professor of Sociology at Oxford. It was chaired by Joan Smith, journalist, novelist and women’s rights legend.

Sunlight is flooding in.

Glinner Of Hope

Don’t miss Our Graham on Talk Radio Europe’s programme, Let’s Talk, this week.

And being interviewed by Kieran Cuddihy on Newstalk FM’s podcast, The Hard Shoulder.

And featured on Sky News after an impromptu appearance at Comedy Unleashed.

And Finally…