A Week in the War on Women: Monday 18th April - Sunday 24th April GOOD NEWS SUPPLEMENT
So much good news from the gender beat this week, I struggled to fit it all in! Here’s just a selection of stories for you to enjoy.
It’s About Time
Shout out to the Egard Watch Company for having the guts to point out that the emperor is butt-naked in this brilliant commercial.
“How long do we sit idly by and not stand for the sacred value of womanhood as it loses all meaning. We believe that womanhood is a birth right.”
Sex In The City
The Financial Conduct Authority has scrapped plans to include ‘self identified women’ in new female diversity targets.
A consultation found that hundreds of City firms believe targets regarding female representation should be based on sex, not gender identity. All but one of the 439 respondents said that transwomen should not be included in the targets or the data.
Yes, Ministers
Answering a question in the House of Commons, Health Secretary, Sajid David spoke in support of the Cass Review, describing the treatment of gender dysphoria in children as ‘overly affirmative, bordering on ideological’.
“We need to make sure there is holistic care that is provided… and that all medical interventions are based on the best clinical evidence”.
A few days later, Javid announced he will be launching an urgent enquiry into the treatment of minors who have issues around their gender.
According the The Times, “The health secretary thinks the system is ‘failing children’ and is planning an overhaul of how health service staff deal with under-18s who question their gender identity… The inquiry will form part of Cass’s final report but Javid is understood to want to begin making the NHS change its approach immediately”.
Huge thanks are due to Stephanie Davies-Arai and all at Transgender Trend whose tireless work has been sounding the alarm for years.
Meanwhile, Education Secretary, Nadim Zahawi, has also spoken out on the issue of gender identity.
Appearing before the Education Select Committee in Parliament, Zahawi said that teachers must inform parents if their child identifies as transgender. “Parents have to be front and centre of this. And that is my message to the front line... You have a duty to safeguard those children and parents are very much part of that.” He commented that his department is drafting guidelines on ‘trans issues’ for teachers.
Elsewhere in Westminster, Nadine Dorries, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has been unequivocal in her opposition to males in women’s sport.
“I am absolutely of the opinion that it is impossible for a trans woman to compete in women’s sport... You can’t change that you were born male.”
The Florida Key
Florida’s Department of Health has issued guidance decrying ‘unscientific’ approaches to treating gender dysphoria in children and adolescents and discouraging all forms of medical and social transition.
Women Won’t Wheesht, Sport
A number of Australia’s leading sportswomen have spoken out against the inclusion of trans-identified males in female sports.
One of those women is swimming legend, Emma McKeon, Australia's most decorated Olympian and a four-time world record holder.
Speaking in a debate at Griffith University this week she commented, “You do want to be inclusive, but you don’t want to have females racing against swimmers who are biologically male because it’s just not fair.”
Similarly, Australian backstroke star and winner of 15 gold medals, Emily Seebohm, has also spoken out.
Appearing on the Nine Network’s Today show, Seebohm described the physical advantages enjoyed by trans-identified males. “Of course, biological males are always going to be faster and stronger than I will ever be in my life.”
It’s not just women. Elsewhere in Australia trans-identified male professional golfer, Mianne Bagger, has also defended women’s sport.
Bagger supports Senator Claire Chandler’s Save Women's Sports Bill and has said that trans-identified males competing against females is a ‘slap in the face to women’.
Furthermore, trans-identified male social commentator, Cate McGregor, said he now regrets having played cricket on a women’s team as it was unfair to have done so.
“If you're playing first-grade cricket at 63, which I was, that says a lot about the inherent advantages I had, having gone through male puberty.”
In the UK, double Olympic cycling champion, Katie Archibald, has criticised the IOC and other sports bodies for letting down female athletes.
In a statement Archibald called on sports’ governing bodies to develop policies based on science “Without sacrificing one of the foundational pillars of sport: fairness”.
Power To The People
Camden’s female-only public toilets are to be reinstated as an ‘urgent priority’ after residents complained about their becoming mixed sex.
That’s what people-power can do.
The good news is coming thick and fast Graham. Well done for all you do, thank you and keep going strong!
Thank you - I needed to see some good news after Owen Jones et Al and their continued BS surrounding gender ideology