A Week in the War on Women: Monday 24th June - Sunday 30th June

Monday 24th June - Labour Losing Women

THE TIMES: The Labour Party, should it win the general election, will introduce self-ID legislation in all but name and erase the vital spousal exit provision from the gender recognition process.

We have reported previously on The Labour Party manifesto. The party is clinging to its ‘trans the gay away’ policy of a fully ‘trans-inclusive’ ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’. This could criminalise parents, teachers and clinicians who offer counselling and therapy to those struggling with gender issues instead of the instant affirmation which would make them a life-long medical patient.

The party has also promised to ‘simplify and reform’ the gender recognition process, making it easier for males, even those who have not undergone any hormone treatment or surgery, to acquire a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) and thus gain legal status as women.

The current system requires that anyone applying for a GRC must provide evidence of having lived ‘in their preferred gender’ for two years. Such proof can be as simple and straightforward as utility bills, payslips and library cards in their new name. Labour intends to eradicate this requirement in order to “Remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance”. (If Labour thinks photocopying a few household bills is undignified, wait until they hear what disabled people have to go through to gain formal recognition of their status!)

The Labour Party will also ditch the two-person panel - made up of one clinician and one lawyer - which has to approves a GRC. Instead there will be a ‘cooling off period’ and a single ‘gender specialist’ doctor (such as Helen Webberley or Adrian Harrop, perhaps?) will need to provide a supporting medical report.

As Sex Matters points out, “The Gender Recognition Panel process is remarkably efficient, requiring two short doctor’s reports and a handful of bank statements, payslips and utility bills. The success rate of applications for a gender-recognition certificate (GRC) is consistently 80-90%”. The panel process is usually positive and supportive and rarely is an application refused. The current GRC process is clearly not deterring people; applications have risen sharply since 2019, from around 30 a month to over 100.

The Times also reports that the Labour Party plans to abolish the vital spousal exit clause from the gender recognition process. This would be a very cruel blow to the husbands and wives of those with trans identities who seek a GRC.

In English and Welsh law, a change of status to a marriage contract requires agreement from both parties. Consequently, if one partner changes their legal sex, thus altering the contract, the other must consent to that change before a full Gender Recognition Certificate can be issued. If consent is not given, an interim certificate is granted and the marriage must be dissolved by divorce or annulment prior to a full GRC being granted.

This was erroneously known as the ‘spousal veto’ but it is not a veto, just an opportunity for a partner to withdraw from a relationship / contract to which they never agreed. It is particularly important for women whose husbands ‘transition’ as they are far more likely to be affected financially. It will have a significant impact on women of certain faiths and cultures for whom divorce can be incredibly difficult and socially devastating. But in its rush to be progressive, Labour seems happy to trample over women who are already hugely marginalised.

Labour’s manifesto mentions the Equality Act 2010, claiming that the party will “Continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions”. However, this is entirely meaningless if these single-sex exemptions will apply not only to women, but also to men with a GRC.

Shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, appeared on Times Radio this week and was questioned on this issue. When presenter, Kait Borsay, asked her which toilet a trans-identified male with a GRC should use, she replied, “I would expect that if you were someone who had gone through that formal process of recognition that you are to all intents and purposes, for legal purposes, you are regarded as being in the different gender… I would think that in those cases people would be using female toilets”.

Later in the week, Bridget Phillipson appeared on LBC, speaking to Nick Ferrari. When asked whether a ‘trans woman with a penis’ should be using women’s toilets, she failed (eight times) to give a straight answer to the question.

Similarly, when speaking to GB News, Keir Starmer failed to give a direct answer to the same question. Ignoring concerns about the need for clarification, he claimed that female-only spaces are “Already guaranteed in the Equality Act”. When asked to clarify that “A transgender woman with a penis would have to use the men’s bathroom, yes or no?” he could not give a straight answer.

Of course, the party may be trying to hedge its bets with an election looming, but many senior Labour figures have already made clear they’ll put women’s rights and spaces up for grabs, as demonstrated by @ripx4nutmeg’s excellent thread.

And let’s not forget that, four years ago, the Labour Party was so enamoured of ‘gender neutral’ toilets, it inflicted them on its own staff at its Westminster HQ.

Tuesday 25th June - This Unsporting Life

REDUXX: A female rugby team in Canada is being forced to accept a trans-identified male co-player, with women’s concerns about safety and fairness being overridden by the club’s fear discrimination allegations.

We have written previously about just how dangerous a sport rugby can be. In August 2018 a French rugby player, Louis Fajfrowski, a forward for Stade Aurillacois, died as a result of a heavy tackle during a game. A blow to his chest disrupted the rhythm of his heartbeat and he died from a lethal fibrillation. He was twenty-one years old.

Louis Fajfrowski 1996 - 2018

Tragically, Fajfrowski was one of four young French players to die while they were playing rugby in the space of just eight months.

Of course, no sport is worth the loss of life or serious injury of its players. That’s why sports’ governing bodies must take every possible precaution to protect the safety and well-being of those who compete. To that end, in February 2020, rugby union’s governing body, World Rugby, held a landmark transgender workshop. Leading independent experts from various disciplines presented the latest research on the inclusion of trans-identified male players in the female game.

A 38-page document produced by this working group recommended that the then guidelines, which allowed trans-identified males to play on women’s teams, were not fit for purpose. World Rugby then announced that it would review its policy.

"The latest peer-reviewed research confirms that a reduction of testosterone does not lead to a proportionate reduction in mass, muscle mass, strength or power. These important determinants of injury risk and performance remain significantly elevated… This presents a clear safety risk when transgender women play women's contact rugby”.

In October 2020, World Rugby acted on all the expert advice and research garnered at the landmark transgender workshop. It updated its transgender policy to prevent trans-identified males from playing on women’s teams, “Because of the size, force- and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates.”

Yet contrary to World Rugby’s guidelines and in spite of all the evidence that their presence is unsafe and unfair, males are still being allowed to play on women’s teams.

The Clanswomen is a female rugby team based in Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Clansmen Rugby Club (CRC) and falls under the jurisdiction of the Edmonton Rugby Club. Last month, a trans-identified male, 48-year-old Maeryn Gellhaus, was allowed to join the team. The female players were not consulted, simply informed by a coach that Gellhaus was joining their squad.

For many years Gellhaus played on the CRC men’s team. According to the Clanswomen players who spoke to Reduxx anonymously, Gellhaus approached club authorities in May, requesting a swap to the women’s squad. He then began attending the twice-weekly practice sessions.

Posting to his (now private) Instagram account, Gellhaus stated that he is only a few months into his ‘transition’, has only just started hormone treatment and still presents as male much of the time. “I haven’t had [facial feminization surgery]. I still boy-mode mostly”, he wrote. He also boasted of his now being allowed to play rugby on the club’s female team.

The Clanswomen players who spoke to Reduxx said Gellhaus was informed that his presence made some of women on the team uncomfortable and that they feared being injured. He clearly didn’t care and, only a few days later, took to Instagram to complain. “There is an underlying feeling that some don’t want me there”, he said. “It hasn’t been figured out yet. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth the struggle. I want to be celebrated, not tolerated”.

Gellhaus played his first match with the Clanswomen on Saturday 24th June. A five minute recording of the game was shared on YouTube by Forsberg Famaly. Gellhaus, playing at No 17, can be seen tackling several of the female opposition team players.

All of the scientific evidence demonstrates that, even after reducing testosterone levels, males retain numerous physical and physiological advantages over women and any loss of muscle mass and strength is negligible. And in rugby specifically, there is a 20%-30% greater risk of injury to a female player when she is tackled by a male.

One CRC female player told Reduxx, “It’s safety and fairness of sport. It’s pretty fucked up that one person’s ‘feelings’ trump legitimate concerns of safety from our women. Our opinions and feelings don’t matter. In an aggressive contact sport like rugby, where your only required protection is a mouth guard, why do we have to argue over safety and explain the risks of women versus men?”

Other players commented that CRC is more concerned about potential lawsuits than about the safety of its female players. “It’s reckless. The club is afraid [Gellhaus] will file a discrimination suit if we don’t let him play”, said one. Several of the women have approached Rugby Canada with their concerns. They were told that the club must follow the current guidance, which allows players to choose a team based on their self-identified gender ‘at both recreational and competitive levels’. This is in direct contravention of World Rugby’s guidelines.

The Canadian rugby authorities have access to all the same research and information as World Rugby. Yet they choose to ignore it, contravening their own governing body’s guidelines and, in doing so, tacitly admitting that they would rather risk a female player ending up like Louis Fajfrowski than say ‘No’ to a man.

Wedesday 25th June - This Never Happens

BBC NEWS: A trans-identified male has been convicted of raping a woman.

According to the BBC, 35-year-old Lexi Secker was ‘living as a man’ when he attacked and raped a woman in Blunsdon, Wiltshire, on 23rd April 2023. This week he was convicted of rape following a trial at Swindon Crown Court.

Outrageously, the court tried Secker ‘as a woman’. For the crime of rape which, as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, requires a penis.

Wiltshire Police were rather coy about revealing Secker’s true sex when reporting on the case, stating that ‘a person’ had been found guilty of rape.

That the crime of rape requires the perpetrator to have a penis makes their ludicrous press release - in which they refer to Seckler with female pronouns - even more insulting to the victim.

Fiona McAnena of Sex Matters told The Daily Mail, “This person is a man. Why don't the police say so? Do they think they have to pretend, because he now says he's a woman, even though he has committed the ultimate male crime of rape? It is very concerning to see the police pandering to the feelings of trans-identifying males. It does not give confidence that they are policing without fear or favour”.

Secker will be sentenced in September.

Thursday 27th June - I Can’t Believe It’s Not Satire #1

REDUXX: A trans-identified male convicted of domestic violence has successfully sued the City of New York over his accommodation in a men’s prison.

We have written previously about Dylan Miles, a man who ‘identifies’ as a woman and calls himself ‘Ali’. In June and July 2022, he was held at the George R Vierno Centre on Rikers Island, New York, while waiting for a transfer to Arizona in order to stand trial on domestic violence charges. He was subsequently convicted of harassment, aggravated harassment, disorderly conduct, threatening or intimidating, and false reporting to a law enforcement agency. He was sentenced to 312 days in prison and three years supervised probation.

Miles then pursued a legal action against the City of New York over his detention in a male facility.

The suit claimed that Miles was ‘in the process of transitioning’ and undergoing hormone treatment. It also alleged that Miles faced discrimination, assault, and human rights violations - such as a strip search carried out by a male prison officer as a opposed to a female - while he was housed in the George R Vierno Centre.

Dylan ‘Ali’ Miles - IMAGE CREDIT: Reduxx

Miles is no stranger to litigation and has filed a number of legal actions in the past, all based on so-called discrimination over his ‘gender identity’.

In February 2022, Miles filed a civil action against his previous employer, Sedona Soul Adventures, alleging he’d suffered ‘harassment and discrimination’ and seeking $75,000 in compensation. A month later he filed another legal action against a branch of Planet Fitness after he was escorted out of the women’s locker room there. In May 2023 Miles sued a Manhattan yoga studio for $5,000,000 because he was told to use the male locker room after female patrons had complained about his parading naked in the women’s area where female clients were undressing. He also brought legal suits against the New York Presbyterian Hospital, a café called Bagel Point, and a Bronx homeless shelter where, it is alleged, he assaulted a security guard.

Dylan ‘Ali’ Miles - IMAGE CREDIT: New York Post

All of Miles’ previous lawsuits were dismissed.

Unbelievably, on this occasion, he has been successful. While the City of New York rejected and refuted Miles’ claims, it has offered to settle the case. The settlement agreement stipulates that the City of New York is not admitting guilt and that Miles will no longer be able to take legal action over this matter in the future.

Miles is to receive $350,000 from the City of New York in settlement of his claim.

Friday 28th June - These Are Not Our Crimes

REDUXX: A trans-identified male has been arrested in relation to the death of a second trans-identified male and news reports are obscuring the facts of the case.

On Saturday 22nd June, police responded to a single-vehicle crash in Olmsted County, Minnesota. A car had crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 90, seemingly intentionally. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the driver of the car, Margot Lewis, being tended to by a passer-by.

Searching the vehicle, officers discovered a body, later identified as Liara Tsai, wrapped in blankets and a tarpaulin and lying on the back seat. It became immediately obvious that Tsai’s death had not been caused by the car crash and police reported a ‘large wound’ close to the carotid artery on his neck. An autopsy report later described Tsai’s death as a homicide caused by multiple sharp force injuries.

Victim, Liara Tsai - IMAGE CREDIT: Instagram

Minneapolis police conducted a welfare check at Tsai's home and discovered a ‘scene indicating violence’. Olmsted County Sheriff, Kevin Torgerson, told a press conference that the victim’s bed and bedding were saturated with blood and that a cleaver was missing from the apartment’s kitchen.

It is reported that 32-year-old Lewis and 35-year-old Tsai had been involved in a romantic relationship in the past. Evidence suggests that Lewis had flown from Boston to Minnesota to visit Tsai just the day before the killing. Lewis has now been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and with interference with a dead body. He is being held on a $1.5 million bail and will appear in court on 5th July.

Margot (formerly Myles Gerald) Lewis - IMAGE CREDIT: Andy Ngo

According to journalist Andy Ngo, Lewis has been booked as a female and is currently being held in a female facility. However, Margot (formerly Myles Gerald) Lewis is a trans-identified male, as was Liara Tsai. Nevertheless, numerous media outlets have been ignoring this inconvenient fact when reporting on the story.

The New York Post ran with the headline ‘woman busted’. The article referred to suspect and victim as women and used female pronouns for them both. It failed to mention either’s true sex or trans status.

Similarly, ABC 6 News, failed to accurately report on the sex of the victim and suspect and used female pronouns throughout its article to refer to them both. Local news outlet, Post Bulletin, also described both Tsai and Lewis as ‘women’ and referred to them both with female pronouns, making no mention of their sex or trans identities.

The Independent makes several references to victim, Liara Tsai, as a woman but also mentions his trans identity and describes him as a ‘community and trans activist’. The suspect, Margot Lewis, however, is referred to throughout the article with female pronouns and no mention is made of his true sex or transgender identity. Consequently, readers are left with the false impression that a woman has been implicated in the murder of a trans-identified male.

Other media outlets and organisations rushed to paint Tsai’s tragic murder as a ‘hate crime’ even though it appears to be an act of domestic violence, perpetrated by a member of the ‘trans community’.

LGBTQ+ youth organisation, The Trevor Project, for example, was quick to frame this tragedy as an act of ‘transphobic violence’.

On social media, trans activists were also quick to label Tsai’s death as a ‘hate crime’ and blame it on ‘transphobia’. An account called @kennishaents received 13,000 ‘likes’ when they made such a claim on X (formerly Twitter).

Liara Tsai’s murder is, of course, an unspeakable tragedy and our heart goes out to his family and friends. Those exploiting and lying about his violent and senseless death to further their agenda are truly beneath contempt.

Saturday 29th June - Leave Them Kids Alone

LOS ANGELES TIMES: California law makers have just passed a law which requires school teachers to lie to parents about gender-distressed children.

On Friday 28th June, the Californian legislature passed Assembly Bill 1955 (AB 1955), which criminalises school boards if they inform parents that their own child identifies as the opposite sex.

In recent years, several Californian schools have adopted ‘notification policies’, meaning that staff will inform parents if their child adopts a ‘gender identity’ and/or socially transitions at school. However, AB 1955 will prohibit schools from enacting these policies and it will require school staff to lie to their pupils’ parents.

Following a volatile Assembly discussion which almost descended into a physical fight, the bill was passed by a 61-16 vote. It will now be passed to Governor Gavin Newsome to be signed into law, after which Californian parents may be actively deceived about their own children being socially transitioned.

Sunday 30th June - A Fox in the Henhouse (Again)

THE TIMES: Another nurse is taking legal action against the NHS after being forced to share a changing room with a trans-identified male.

In recent weeks we have reported on a group of nurses in Darlington who are taking legal action against the NHS after they were forced to share their communal changing room with a (fully intact) trans-identified male who makes them feel intimidated and uncomfortable.

This week, The Times reported on another nurse who is taking the NHS to an employment tribunal after she too was forced to share a changing room with a trans-identified male. This nurse works for NHS Fife and For Women Scotland is aware of another four similar cases at NHS centres around the country.

The female nurse works who features in The Times article had just finished her shift late one night towards the end of 2023. She found herself alone in the women’s changing room with a trans-identified male colleague who began to take off his clothes. The woman tried to explain to him that his presence made her feel intimidated and embarrassed. He replied that he had as much right as her to use the female-only facilities.

The trans-identified male then made a formal complaint about the nurse and she was immediately placed on ‘special leave’. In January 2024 the nurse was suspended from her job pending an investigation into her “Alleged unwanted behaviours towards another member of NHS Fife staff”. Following the intervention of her solicitor, the nurse returned to work in April 2024. However, NHS Fife has instigated its disciplinary process against her and the investigation remains ongoing.

The nurse’s solicitors have now begun legal proceedings against NHS Fife and the male colleague in question, alleging multiple breaches of the Equality Act 2010 and whistleblowing rights under the 1996 Employment Rights Act.

This trans-identified male’s conduct towards his colleague is concerning enough. But consider, having already demonstrated his contempt for women’s boundaries, privacy and dignity, and his seemingly obvious sense of entitlement, what happens when this man’s female patients request women-only care?

See you next week.