FIRST DRAFT LETTER TO SCHOOL. NOT SENT YET. WRITTEN FROM HEART.
comments on anything I have got wrong:
I am Gender Critical (GC). This means that I do not accept all the tenets of gender ideology. My view is protected by the Equalities Act 2010 as clarified in the recent Maya Forstater case.
I am not sure if the school has a policy on gender ideology. Given the UK Government does not seem to, it would be difficult for the school currently to do anything other than to manage and respect a range of different views. Which means accepting and supporting a GC view such as mine.
If I have influenced my young children towards my beliefs, I expect them to be treated fairly and respectfully at school. In the same way that my children will always respect and support anyone who wishes to be recognised another as another gender.
I expect the school to teach biological science. Sex is observed at birth, not assigned. You cannot change your sex, you can have plastic surgery to alter your genitalia but every cell in your body remains either male or female.
I personally find the idea that young people who are struggling with their appearance, their interpersonal skills or having suffered abuse are being given puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and then surgery before realising they were troubled rather than trans (detransitioners) absolutely harrowing. Other topics which are very worrisome are:
1. Self ID – male sexed bodies in womens’ prisons, toilets, refuges
2. The use of Trans as an umbrella term to include young girls who want to become boys, fully transexual people (operated on) and male heterosexuals (transvestites).
3. Young lesbians transitioning before they realised they were lesbians (Kiera Bell).
4. Male bodied people taking place in female sports
Many rights being demanded by some Gender Ideology campaigners, such as male sexed people who self ID as women, conflict directly with women’s rights to female only spaces.
This is a contentious area of debate. The LBG Alliance has formed to distance themselves from Stonewall and the LGBT Alliance. This is because the T in LGBT (Trans) is not a sexual orientation, and in fact some of their ideology damages homosexuals – some activists find the idea of same-sex attraction to be Transphobic.
Most of the leading GC campaigners are lesbians. Anyone who questions gender ideology is assumed to be transphobic and a bigot and they are put on the back foot by these presumptions/accusations.
Stonewall have been paid by the BBC, Welsh Govt, Ofcom, Scottish Gov to lobby them on gender ideology. This is under investigation by Stephen Nolan (BBC Sounds) in his Stonewall series of podcasts. I think this is the tip of the iceberg and many organisations will review their membership of Stonewall and their approach to Gender Ideology, not least for fear of legal action.
I would appreciate knowing that the school have made themselves as aware as possible of both sides of this debate, and that no child or parent suffers for having a GC view. To this end I recommend:
• Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
• Trans by Helen Joyce
• BBC Sounds Stephen Nolan on Stonewall
These books are thoroughly researched by well respected journalists with many excellent reviews from leading newspapers, but of course if you google them you will find some very angry negative reviews from Trans campaigners, which is no excuse to not read the books. From the school’s perspective, Abigail Shrier’s theory that the desire to identify (and perhaps transition) as male is catching amongst young girls.
There are many transexuals who are extremely worried about the effects of unquestioned acceptance of gender ideology, such as Debbie Hayton who writes for the Times and The Spectator.
An interesting area for the school to investigate with older girls is gender stereotypes, especially how social media might emphasise these stereotypes. How does it feel to not conform with these stereotypes through your interests, feelings and appearance?
Really well written. Very concerned about what might happen in my area considering Loudoun County- I might end up borrowing from this if you don’t mind!
I think it is gentle as I am not asking them to agree with me just to respect my views as a starting point (I am pretty sure a teacher is bullying my child because I wrote a letter about the pronoun police - girls being mean to anyone making a pronoun mistake). I keep adding to the letter and refining but will share final draft. thank you for reading it!
I had some thoughts- obviously just ideas. With respect to this idea, “If I have influenced my young children towards my beliefs, I expect them to be treated fairly and respectfully at school.” I would offer that you could expand on this idea- underscore Forstater and state the obvious- you have the right to bring up your children, within reasonable limits, as you see fit. Something like:
Like all parents, I have brought up my children within my belief system, and as the Forstater case found, Gender Critical views are a "genuine and important philosophical position" that cannot “be shown to be a direct attempt to harm others." Therefore I expect that my beliefs to be treated fairly and respectfully at school.
I would also offer a slight difference to this paragraph for clarity because “find” and “harrowing” are so far apart.
Personally, I find the stories of detransitioners absolutely harrowing. These are young people who are struggling with their appearance, their interpersonal skills, or having suffered abuse and are being given puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and then surgery before realising they were troubled rather than trans.
The only other resource that I can think of that you could offer them is a link to the recent article by Abigail Schrier on the Barry Weiss substack, where two eminent WPATH doctors basically admit that the medical treatment for these kids has been wrong. In the New York Times passed on that story.
This has been on my mind a lot too and you have inspired me to write my own letter to my local school board.
The big question I want to ask my local school board is whether they lie to parents. Several states including Washington, New York and California allow minor students to change their names and pronouns at school. The new name, I believe, gets put on all internal school paperwork, but any paperwork sent home has got the child’s legal name on it. The reason this really bothers me is that the parent child bond is so important, and for a public institution to insert themselves in between parents and kids as if they know better it’s so damaging.
Wow! Jo was there long before Nolan and she doesn't get the credit she deserves - this is just brilliant.
I'd share it but I'm in twitter jail for saying Rachel Levine is not a female. Trying to decide if I want to play on twitter enough to have to collude in an outright lie and I don't think I do.
You, me and everyone else including the guy looking in the mirror knows he’s not a female. Just as well a childhood reading fairy tales prepared me for this farrago of nonsense.
Fantastic article. I agree entirely about the defensiveness she mentions. People standing up against the mighty transgender movement should not have to preface their comments with support for trans identifying people when it is clear to any reasonable person that there are many, many problems with the ideology.
So true - we don't have to state our support or acknowledge that Muslims are a marginalised community within British society before we slag off the Taliban.
Brilliant. As a British expat in the US, I couldn’t be more proud that people in the UK are fighting back. The situation in the US is a nightmare, and that is why I am supporting causes in the UK, hoping that it spreads here.
Yes ,I believe we've been nicknamed " Terf Island " Maybe meant to be a slur ,but it feels much more like a compliment ! Let we Brits show the world what we're made of ,in spite of some of our" leaders" !!
Have been thinking this for a while. I think we should have a pic of the UK on it with the slogan "Proud to live on Terf Island". What t-shirt printing company would dare print it though?
Brava missus 👏👏👏👏 Aa bet a' the sisters were buzzin efter yer electrifying speech. Fair got me stirred up jist readin it. Jist wishin aa had been there tae hear ye in person.
Just brilliant! Jo, you are one brave lady. If we all do our little bit to wear our gender critical credentials on our sleeves and stand up for reality in the every day, they will not prevail. Let's not be cowed by academic critical gobbledygook and appeals to kindness that are never reciprocated.
Knock out Jo! You are supremely talented. Thank you so much for everything you have written. I love it when you say how pleased you are with certain pieces, must feel fabulous to be able to use words like that x
Fantastic speech !! So articulate and well put together. Wish more women ( and men ) in the public eye would speak the truth about this ,the truth that we ALL know to be immutable FACT !! Not for a moment longer should anyone tiptoe around this issue ,which has already caused so much harm to many people and endangers many more !! The future of the human race hangs in the balance ,which is what happens when you allow the proliferation of very dangerous ideas and put crazy people in charge.. I feel so sorry for transsexual people who are not involved in transactivism but just want to live their lives in peace and security . Most of them are just as horrified as we are at the way this has evolved and do not agree with it. Hopefully ,when this ideology comes crashing down it'll be the real villains who get punished.
FIRST DRAFT LETTER TO SCHOOL. NOT SENT YET. WRITTEN FROM HEART.
comments on anything I have got wrong:
I am Gender Critical (GC). This means that I do not accept all the tenets of gender ideology. My view is protected by the Equalities Act 2010 as clarified in the recent Maya Forstater case.
I am not sure if the school has a policy on gender ideology. Given the UK Government does not seem to, it would be difficult for the school currently to do anything other than to manage and respect a range of different views. Which means accepting and supporting a GC view such as mine.
If I have influenced my young children towards my beliefs, I expect them to be treated fairly and respectfully at school. In the same way that my children will always respect and support anyone who wishes to be recognised another as another gender.
I expect the school to teach biological science. Sex is observed at birth, not assigned. You cannot change your sex, you can have plastic surgery to alter your genitalia but every cell in your body remains either male or female.
I personally find the idea that young people who are struggling with their appearance, their interpersonal skills or having suffered abuse are being given puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and then surgery before realising they were troubled rather than trans (detransitioners) absolutely harrowing. Other topics which are very worrisome are:
1. Self ID – male sexed bodies in womens’ prisons, toilets, refuges
2. The use of Trans as an umbrella term to include young girls who want to become boys, fully transexual people (operated on) and male heterosexuals (transvestites).
3. Young lesbians transitioning before they realised they were lesbians (Kiera Bell).
4. Male bodied people taking place in female sports
Many rights being demanded by some Gender Ideology campaigners, such as male sexed people who self ID as women, conflict directly with women’s rights to female only spaces.
This is a contentious area of debate. The LBG Alliance has formed to distance themselves from Stonewall and the LGBT Alliance. This is because the T in LGBT (Trans) is not a sexual orientation, and in fact some of their ideology damages homosexuals – some activists find the idea of same-sex attraction to be Transphobic.
Most of the leading GC campaigners are lesbians. Anyone who questions gender ideology is assumed to be transphobic and a bigot and they are put on the back foot by these presumptions/accusations.
Stonewall have been paid by the BBC, Welsh Govt, Ofcom, Scottish Gov to lobby them on gender ideology. This is under investigation by Stephen Nolan (BBC Sounds) in his Stonewall series of podcasts. I think this is the tip of the iceberg and many organisations will review their membership of Stonewall and their approach to Gender Ideology, not least for fear of legal action.
I would appreciate knowing that the school have made themselves as aware as possible of both sides of this debate, and that no child or parent suffers for having a GC view. To this end I recommend:
• Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
• Trans by Helen Joyce
• BBC Sounds Stephen Nolan on Stonewall
These books are thoroughly researched by well respected journalists with many excellent reviews from leading newspapers, but of course if you google them you will find some very angry negative reviews from Trans campaigners, which is no excuse to not read the books. From the school’s perspective, Abigail Shrier’s theory that the desire to identify (and perhaps transition) as male is catching amongst young girls.
There are many transexuals who are extremely worried about the effects of unquestioned acceptance of gender ideology, such as Debbie Hayton who writes for the Times and The Spectator.
An interesting area for the school to investigate with older girls is gender stereotypes, especially how social media might emphasise these stereotypes. How does it feel to not conform with these stereotypes through your interests, feelings and appearance?
Thank you for your kind attention.
Really well written. Very concerned about what might happen in my area considering Loudoun County- I might end up borrowing from this if you don’t mind!
I think it is gentle as I am not asking them to agree with me just to respect my views as a starting point (I am pretty sure a teacher is bullying my child because I wrote a letter about the pronoun police - girls being mean to anyone making a pronoun mistake). I keep adding to the letter and refining but will share final draft. thank you for reading it!
Great letter - please keep us posted as to what sort of response you get.
Will do!
Fantastic! I can’t believe I’m wishing someone good luck for stating what should be the sodding obvious- but good luck.
Well said. You could include MATERIAL GIRLS by Kathleen Stock !!
Ok great will read it first!
I had some thoughts- obviously just ideas. With respect to this idea, “If I have influenced my young children towards my beliefs, I expect them to be treated fairly and respectfully at school.” I would offer that you could expand on this idea- underscore Forstater and state the obvious- you have the right to bring up your children, within reasonable limits, as you see fit. Something like:
Like all parents, I have brought up my children within my belief system, and as the Forstater case found, Gender Critical views are a "genuine and important philosophical position" that cannot “be shown to be a direct attempt to harm others." Therefore I expect that my beliefs to be treated fairly and respectfully at school.
I would also offer a slight difference to this paragraph for clarity because “find” and “harrowing” are so far apart.
Personally, I find the stories of detransitioners absolutely harrowing. These are young people who are struggling with their appearance, their interpersonal skills, or having suffered abuse and are being given puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and then surgery before realising they were troubled rather than trans.
The only other resource that I can think of that you could offer them is a link to the recent article by Abigail Schrier on the Barry Weiss substack, where two eminent WPATH doctors basically admit that the medical treatment for these kids has been wrong. In the New York Times passed on that story.
This has been on my mind a lot too and you have inspired me to write my own letter to my local school board.
This is excellent! Thank you so much.
The big question I want to ask my local school board is whether they lie to parents. Several states including Washington, New York and California allow minor students to change their names and pronouns at school. The new name, I believe, gets put on all internal school paperwork, but any paperwork sent home has got the child’s legal name on it. The reason this really bothers me is that the parent child bond is so important, and for a public institution to insert themselves in between parents and kids as if they know better it’s so damaging.
Pointing out a typo.. ‘recognised another as another gender’ just in case you missed it 👍🏼
Thank you!!
Brilliant letter. Really well written.
Fantastic letter, Louise!
Wow! Jo was there long before Nolan and she doesn't get the credit she deserves - this is just brilliant.
I'd share it but I'm in twitter jail for saying Rachel Levine is not a female. Trying to decide if I want to play on twitter enough to have to collude in an outright lie and I don't think I do.
You, me and everyone else including the guy looking in the mirror knows he’s not a female. Just as well a childhood reading fairy tales prepared me for this farrago of nonsense.
I've shared for you!
Thank you!
He is definitely NOT a woman.
Are you going to tell him or shall I?
I'll tell him; horrible man that he is. Helf Minister. LoL.
Be my guest. *hurriedly runs away*
I've stuck a note under his door!
I was briefly in Twitter jail for the same offence. I tweeted:
@nytimes Dr "Rachel" Levine is a MAN. He was born one and he will die one. Of all people, as a doctor HE should know!
I retracted that. But retweeted exactly the same without including NYTimes Twitter account. It's true: I was teasing them.
Fantastic article. I agree entirely about the defensiveness she mentions. People standing up against the mighty transgender movement should not have to preface their comments with support for trans identifying people when it is clear to any reasonable person that there are many, many problems with the ideology.
So true - we don't have to state our support or acknowledge that Muslims are a marginalised community within British society before we slag off the Taliban.
Brilliant. As a British expat in the US, I couldn’t be more proud that people in the UK are fighting back. The situation in the US is a nightmare, and that is why I am supporting causes in the UK, hoping that it spreads here.
Yes ,I believe we've been nicknamed " Terf Island " Maybe meant to be a slur ,but it feels much more like a compliment ! Let we Brits show the world what we're made of ,in spite of some of our" leaders" !!
It is definitely a compliment. Now there’s an idea for a T-shirt.
TERF is - thank you Rex Landy! - Telling Everyone Real Facts
Too right!
Have been thinking this for a while. I think we should have a pic of the UK on it with the slogan "Proud to live on Terf Island". What t-shirt printing company would dare print it though?
Please: not the word "proud". It comes with too many wrong associations. Similarly the word "glad".
Maybe just "Terf Island: Telling Everyone Real Facts".
Ohh it was so epic to witness her completely wipe the stage with that.
I'm so jealous of you being there!
It gave me goosebumps just reading it ... I probably would have cried if I'd been there!
There were a lot of moments for tears at the conference, ones of joy, ones of shock, ones of sadness from all the amazing stories shared.
If her words could be bottled and used as disinfectant whenever this crap comes to the surface the War would be won in days.
Every word spectacularly thought out. This explains in every detail why I am an old 82 year old lesbian.
BTW, please note that there is no need to add the rider 'woman' to the dyke word, it is complete in and of itself!
I've just shared this on both Twitter and Facebook. As you say Graham, this is a fucking barnstormer. Courage calls to courage ... onward
Brava missus 👏👏👏👏 Aa bet a' the sisters were buzzin efter yer electrifying speech. Fair got me stirred up jist readin it. Jist wishin aa had been there tae hear ye in person.
"WomenRiseUpAndRoar 🧙♀️♀️🏴💚🤍💜
Ocht meat tae put a hashtag on that...
#WomenRiseUpAndRoar
Wonderful speech. Thank you for sharing it.
What a beautiful coherent speech.
Just brilliant! Jo, you are one brave lady. If we all do our little bit to wear our gender critical credentials on our sleeves and stand up for reality in the every day, they will not prevail. Let's not be cowed by academic critical gobbledygook and appeals to kindness that are never reciprocated.
Marvellously written and no doubt brilliantly conveyed. What a fantastic piece of work.
Knock out Jo! You are supremely talented. Thank you so much for everything you have written. I love it when you say how pleased you are with certain pieces, must feel fabulous to be able to use words like that x
Well done that WOMAN!!!
Powerful and to the point.
If only there were more like her.
Fantastic speech !! So articulate and well put together. Wish more women ( and men ) in the public eye would speak the truth about this ,the truth that we ALL know to be immutable FACT !! Not for a moment longer should anyone tiptoe around this issue ,which has already caused so much harm to many people and endangers many more !! The future of the human race hangs in the balance ,which is what happens when you allow the proliferation of very dangerous ideas and put crazy people in charge.. I feel so sorry for transsexual people who are not involved in transactivism but just want to live their lives in peace and security . Most of them are just as horrified as we are at the way this has evolved and do not agree with it. Hopefully ,when this ideology comes crashing down it'll be the real villains who get punished.