A Week in the War on Women: Monday 31st October - Sunday 6th November GOOD NEWS SUPPLEMENT
It is my pleasure to present some good news stories from the gender beat this week. Enjoy!
University Challenged
There has been a revolt of Cambridge University funders and alumni following the histrionics at Gonville and Caius College over Helen Joyce’s recent appearance.
“Many alumni have written to the college, Cambridge’s fourth oldest, with major donors telling The Telegraph they are withdrawing their funds and bequests unless a retraction is issued.”
Re: Joyce
And while we’re on the subject, look at this fabulous article by Helen Joyce herself
“Academic freedom means listening to views you don’t agree with… Despite the cowardly academics at Caius and their tantrum-throwing students, however, I refused to be silenced at the event named ‘Criticising gender-identity ideology: what happens when speech is silenced.’”
Women Won’t Wheesht
Following her resignation from the SNP front bench over Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill parliamentary vote, Ash Regan spoke out about her concerns.
“My conscience would not allow me to vote for a bill where I could not be 100 per cent certain that women and girls would not be in danger”, she told a press conference.
Furthermore, The Times has reported on the outpouring of support Ash Regan and her fellow rebels have received.
“Regan said she had been inundated with messages of support from Scotland and abroad, with bunches of flowers arriving at her door… Others among the nine SNP MSPs who voted against the bill, or abstained, have said they too have received overwhelming backing for their stand. According to the latest polls, wider public opinion is against the proposed legislation.”
And, of course, Ash Regan is supported by another formidable Scottish heroine.
Hell Breaks Loose In Holyrood
This rebellion over the GRA legislation is having serious repercussions for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.
An article in The Times reports that ‘SNP rebels force Sturgeon to back off’.
“Nicola Sturgeon is preparing to water down her gender recognition reforms after a backlash from voters and the biggest backbench rebellion since the SNP came to power.”
Another article reports that ‘SNP colleagues round on each other as trans row in Scotland deepens’.
“The leadership, still smarting from the ministerial resignation of Ash Regan, is wary that punishment could foment further rebellion. That may come anyway as anger grows in some SNP circles that the Scottish government’s position on gender recognition is about keeping its governing partners, the Greens, happy. Why, they ask, should there be a Scottish Green tail wagging the SNP dog? And if the Greens persist in pushing for the bill, some believe it’s high time that the dog started to growl.”
“The significance of the rebellion should not be underestimated in terms of what it says about Nicola Sturgeon’s style of leadership, her relationship with ministers – never mind backbenchers – and whether this is just the beginning of an unravelling of the SNP’s iron grip on power. Make no mistake, the numbers may yet feel small, but this could yet be a seminal moment not just in the career of the FM, but also in the history of the SNP.”
Petition Matters
Sex Matters have launched a campaign to clarify the terms of the Equality Act 2010 around the protected characteristic of sex.
They will petition the government to update the Equality Act 2010 to make clear that the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ refers to biological sex and is not modified by the holding of a gender recognition certificate.
The petition is open to British citizens and UK residents. If you are able and would like to, please sign here.
Baby Steps For Starmer
Keir Starmer and Shadow Education Minister, Bridget Phillipson, were interviewed for Mumsnet by founder, Justine Roberts.
When asked about The Cass Review and the social transition of children, Keir Starmer replied, “I feel very strongly that children shouldn’t be making these important decisions without consent of both parents… this argument that children can make decisions without the consent of parents is one I just don't agree with at all”.
Responding to a question about single sex spaces and Labour’s self ID policy, Starmer said he is a ‘big believer’ in women’s safe spaces. He claimed the Labour Party would ‘champion women’s rights’ and maintain women’s spaces. He added, “I believe in integrity and fairness in sport and that means that biological women need to be safeguarded in that environment as well”.
Is Sir Keir starting to see the light?
Victory For ‘Natural Born Females’
In big news from the states, the Ninth US Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that a female-only beauty pageant is exercising its constitutional right to free speech by excluding trans-identified males.
The Miss United States of America competition (MUSA) requires all its contestants are ‘a natural-born female’. This caused trans identified male, Anita Noelle Green, to take legal action in 2019 after he was refused entry.
The appeals court has now ruled that the pageant acted legally when excluding Green, stating that the it was expressing its views to the public and has the right to do so under the First Amendment.
Huge congratulation to WoLF who assisted in this case by filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Circuit Court of Appeals in support of MUSA.
Cherry On The Cake
Wonderful news from Scotland; the indomitable Joanna Cherry KC is among the nominees in the Scottish Politician of the Year 2022 awards.
She has been nominated for Best Scot at Westminster. An extremely worthy nominee, we send our heartiest congratulations and wish her the very best of luck.
Thank you for all your incredible hard work, Glinner. I'm more than happy to tell anyone that my subscription to your substack is absolutely worth it.
Thanks JL.