A Week in the War on Women: Monday 28th August - Sunday 3rd September GOOD NEWS SUPPLEMENT

IMAGE CREDIT: @styxsandstones

A jam-packed edition of good news from the gender beat this week. Enjoy!

Oh, Canada

Ontario’s education minister, Stephen Lecce, has pledged to ensure that ‘parents must be fully involved’ if their child wants to be known by different pronouns at school.

Speaking at a news conference, Lecce outlined the changes he is making at Ontario schools. “We have to respect the rights of parents and recognize that these can be life-changing decisions, and I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids. And I think that's a really important principle that we must uphold.”

Justice Is Served #1

More great news from Canada, Robert Hoogland, the father who tried to protect his teenage daughter from gender medicalisation, has been won his appeal.

Robert Hoogland is the Canadian dad jailed and fined £30,000 for trying to save his child from the irreversible harm of medical transition. The British Columbia Court of Appeal has issued a judgment that Hoogland will not have to spend any more time in prison and it has also the rescinded the order to pay the fine.

In a statement Hoogland commented, “This is a huge win… it was setting a precedent”.

Justice Is Served #2

In the US, a school board has been held accountable for encouraging a young girl to ‘transition’ behind her mother’s back.

Jessica Konen filed a lawsuit against the Spreckels Union School District to defend her parental right to raise her daughter, Alicia, without the school’s interference. This week a settlement in the case means a $100,000 payment is to be made by the school district to the Konen family.

“This is a huge win for Jessica and Alicia, and it’s also a win for parents across the country.”

See You In Court, Cobber

Kellie-Jay Keen (aka Posie Parker) is threatening legal action against the leaders of the Victorian Liberal Party over allegations of defamation.

KJK has accused the Liberal Party leader,John Pesutto, and his colleagues, Matt Bach and Georgie Crozier, of making ‘grossly misconceived, wilfully vexatious, and wretchedly false’ claims against her following her Standing For Women event in Melbourne earlier this year. 

Her lawyers have alerted the Liberal MPs of a 28-day deadline to publicly apologise, compensate KJK and cover her legal fees. Failure to meet these terms will lead to court proceedings with Keen seeking both aggravated and exemplary damages

Without Fear Or Favour

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has forbidden his officers from openly expressing support for ‘woke’ causes while on duty.

He has made it clear that police officers must remain impartial and will not be permitted to fly or wear rainbow flags.

In similar news, Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has commissioned a review into police force ‘activism’.

“In a letter to policing leaders, Suella Braverman set out her expectation that the police should focus on tackling crime, rather than being involved in political matters… She highlighted cases where she believes public confidence had been damaged by police engaging in contentious issues. This includes policing gender-critical views on social media.”

On Yer Bike

Cycling’s governing body is taking action against everyone’s favourite TRA peddle-pusher and thrower of mammoth tantrums, Reece McKinnon (aka Rachel McKinnon and Veronica Ivy).

This week McKinnon/Ivy ranted on his Instagram account in a mouth-foaming rage over the communication he’d received from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). (Coach Linda Blade has the receipts. ) It seems his abusive and expletive-ridden reaction to the UCI’s new rules barring trans-identified males from female races did not go unnoticed and the UCI is taking action to have him suspended and fined.

I think Martina speaks for us all.

Common Sense In Nebraska

Nebraska Governor, Jim Pillen, signed an Executive Order establishing the state’s Women’s Bill of Rights this week. This legislation, protecting women’s rights, sports and spaces etc, came into immediate effect.

The legislation states that “A person’s sex is defined as his or her biological sex (male or female) at birth”. It continues, “There are legitimate reasons to distinguish between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons or other detention facilities, domestic violence shelter, rape crisis centres, locker rooms, restrooms, and other areas where biology, safety and/or privacy are implicated”.

The Girls Are Back In Town

Having previously banned the events, the Stonegate Group pub chain has backed down and agreed that Jenny Watson’s strictly female-only lesbian speed-dating nights can still be held at The College Arms.

The LGB Alliance made a statement: “This decision from the UK’s largest pub operator is an acknowledgement that it is legitimate to hold a lesbian social gathering and it is proportionate, therefore, to make that gathering women-only. It’s a significant win… It shows that those who might seek to ban lesbian events, on the grounds that they are not ‘inclusive’, have a poor understanding of the law and may be open to legal challenge as a consequence”.

The first of the re-instated speed-dating nights was a roaring success.

It just goes to show that it is always worth raising our voices. Huge congratulations and much kudos to Jenny, the LGB Alliance and all involved in securing this victory.

And Finally…