The Trans Agenda 13

[20 March 2024]

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Publications known for taking an anti-trans stance are and will be referenced and linked. Often, these are the most comprehensive sources for these stories because of their obsession with trans people. I give a summary for those stories so you can make the choice if you want to click the link or seek out more information elsewhere.

TL;DR

  • Liz Truss brings her nonsense to Poland with the Heritage Foundation.
  • Anti-trans UK Government urge FA to ban trans women from women’s football.
  • Anti-trans question set for Women and Equalities oral questions today.
  • Blue plaque commemorates first trans conference.
  • Trans street artist named as Upfest’s lead artist for 2024.
  • First person convicted of cyber-flashing in England and Wales jailed.
  • ‘Diversity still not a priority in practice’ in news industry.
  • Dylan Mulvaney speaks out after backlash to ‘Days of Girlhood’ song.
  • Transgender people bear brunt of misinformation about gender identity.
  • Rainbow Refugees NI hosting information drop-in.
  • BBC apologises for calling Reform UK ‘far right’.
  • UK university partners with media regulator Impress on ethical journalism training.
  • RBG award ceremony cancelled amid controversy over recipients.
  • India court allows transgender woman to participate in Armed Forces’ youth wing.
  • Today’s papers.
  • Any other business.
  • Recommended reading.
  • plus more…

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NEWS & POLITICS

Liz Truss brings her nonsense to Poland with the Heritage Foundation [Liz Truss]

  • Taking to Twitter, Liz Truss revealed that she spoke in Warsaw on Tuesday at The Future of Europe conference. She delivered the keynote speech. To promote this event, she included a link to Breitbart, Steve Bannon’s website. Of course, on her recent trip to the States, Truss was palling around with Bannon and looked on vacantly as he called Tommy Robinson a ‘hero’ [Trans Agenda 6]. Bannon also served as vice president of Cambridge Analytica and, of course, his Donald Trump links are well known.Truss will see her Tufton Street anti-trans bill have another go at getting a reading this Friday after being defeated by Ferrets last week [Trans Agenda 11].
Ferrets for trans rights tshirt
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I read the Breitbart piece, so you don’t have to, and, after clicking the link, this pop-up was the first thing to greet me:

The Margaret Thatcher Centre Freedom Festival 23-24 March

The strapline on the website reads, “She delivered, now it’s our turn”. There are 31 confirmed speakers, none of whom you’d pay money to hear talk.

Lettuce get back to Liz Truss. On the list of the former Prime Minister’s targets in her speech were “environmental extremists”, “trans activism [that] undermines the basics of human biologics”, “mass migration” and other, unnamed forces these tinfoil botherers imagine all around them.

“It is not a traditional political battle. What we’re seeing is an undermining of our values from within,” she said, without a hint of awareness that that is exactly what she is being used to do by Bannon and co. “We cannot continue to appease these people who want to undermine our way of life.”

Finally, something we agree on.

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative ‘think tank’ known for its fierce opposition to trans rights, misinformation campaigns, legal actions, and the huge amount of money it spends trying to take rights away from people who aren’t cis, het, white and obedient to their view of how the world should work.

Blue plaque commemorates first trans conference [University of Leeds]

  • A blue plaque has been installed on Leeds University campus to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UK’s first ever trans conference.

Trans street artist named as Upfest’s lead artist for 2024 [Bristol Post]

  • Trans artist Mister Samo, acclaimed for his vibrant and meaningful street art, has been named the lead artist for Upfest 2024 in Bristol. Highlighting messages of love and inclusion, his selection represents a significant move by the organisers to support the trans community.

Green Party reject anti-trans activist Shahrar Ali [Adi Aliza]

  • He was bidding, laughably, to be elected London Federation of Green Parties Equality and Inclusion Officer. He lost to ‘re-open nominations’ by 67% to 32% with 1% abstaining.Actual feminist, Antoinette Fernandez, was voted Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer with 96% of the vote.

Conservatives fined for failure to declare donation [Politico]

  • The Tories have been fined £10,750 by the Electoral Commission for failing to accurately declare the secondment of a staff member, worth more than £200,000 as a donation from Richard Halpin. The Checkatrade owner has donated around £3m to the Conservative Party since 2008.

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MEDIA & TODAY’S PAPERS

Media

BBC apologises for calling Reform UK ‘far right’

  • Richard Tice, Reform’s leader, said it was “defamatory and libellous” to say that Reform is a far-right party. Aurelion Mondon, Senior Lecturer, Politics, Languages & International Studies at the University of Bath and researcher of the ‘mainstreaming of far right discourse’, said “As an expert on the issue, it is safe to say Reform is far right.”

GB News?

  • Despite getting away with shameless bias and the spreading of misinformation on a regular basis because Ofcom says they are not a news channel, GB News’s Political Editor and Head of Politics Christopher Hope has been bragging about being just that. Taking to Twitter he said that when he hosted Jacob Rees-Mogg’s ‘not-a-news-show’ its ratings beat out both Sky News and BBC News. If you are not a news channel, why would you compare yourself to other news channels? The Antiques Roadshow does not compare itself to Sky Sports Premier League coverage, after all.In a recent ruling, Ofcom finally found something that GB News had done wrong. See Trans Agenda 12 for more on that.

‘Diversity still not a priority in practice’ in news industry, survey finds [Press Gazette]

  • A survey by FT Strategies reveals diversity and inclusion are not practiced priorities in the news industry, despite being stated as strategic goals. Only 18% from large news organisations see it as a top priority, highlighting a significant gap between management and junior staff perceptions.

Dylan Mulvaney speaks out after backlash to ‘Days of Girlhood’ song [Pink News]

  • Dylan Mulvaney faced ‘mixed’ reactions to her new single, “Days of Girlhood,” that features themes like retail therapy and personal challenges. The anti-trans cult accused her of perpetuating stereotypes, a common insult thrown by them that ignores cis women who do the same thing on a daily basis but get lauded for it. Mulvaney responds.

Transgender people bear brunt of misinformation about gender identity, experts say [Toronto Star]

  • Misinformation about gender identity heavily impacts transgender and non-binary people’s mental health. Advocates highlight the detrimental effects of widespread myths, especially in educational settings. The importance of accurate information and inclusive healthcare practices is stressed for improving trans youth’s well-being.

UK university partners with media regulator Impress on ethical journalism training [University of Huddersfield]

  • The University of Huddersfield is collaborating with media regulator Impress to develop ethical journalism training aimed at addressing current industry gaps. This initiative, part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, focuses on equipping professionals with the necessary skills to tackle ethical challenges, particularly in online media.

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Today’s papers

Daily Mail

  • There are no articles about trans people in Wednesday’s Daily Mail.

Daily Telegraph

  • On the back of the news that the government are urging the FA to ban trans women from women’s football [see below for more on this], I headed straight to the sports section of today’s Telegraph and there it was:
    FA and ECB urged to look at banning trans players The Daily Telegraph20 Mar 2024By Jeremy Wilson The Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board have been urged by the Government to seriously consider banning transgender players from women’s competition. In a continuation of a policy that was first set out by Nadine Dorries in 2022, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer suggested that football and cricket must follow athletics, cycling, swimming and rugby in preventing transgender women from participating with and against natal females. The transgender policies of both the FA and the ECB have long been under review, but both governing bodies currently allow transgender women to compete with women, subject to certain criteria. In football, players must show their testosterone levels are “within natal female range for an appropriate length of time so as to minimise any potential advantage” and there are annual checks. The ECB’S guidance allows trans women to compete in female competition, saying that players should be accepted in the gender with which they identify, although players require written clearance in elite competition. These policies are now being challenged by the Government. “I think a number of sports have looked at this very carefully and come to the decision that it’s not appropriate to have women competing against people who are not biologically women,” Frazer told Sky News. “We’ve seen that in rowing. We’ve seen that in swimming. I would encourage other sporting bodies to look at that carefully.” Article Name:FA and ECB urged to look at banning trans players Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Jeremy Wilson Start Page:3 End Page:3

    In the main paper, the front page is taken over by Kemi Badenoch feeling sorry for cis het white men:

    Diversity drive has backfired, warns Badenoch White men should not be left worse off as result of inclusion policies, says minister The Daily Telegraph20 Mar 2024By Daniel Martin DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR BRITAIN’S diversity drive has been “counterproductive”, Kemi Badenoch has said as she warned that inclusion policies must not come at the expense of white men. The Business Secretary commissioned a report which found the majority of spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is a waste of money. The report calls on bosses to take into account disadvantages faced by the white working classes when shaping diversity schemes rather than focusing on “visible” quotas. It comes amid a wider government crackdown on wasteful diversity schemes, with Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, using his Budget earlier this month to urge councils to cut spending on such policies and Rishi Sunak appointing a “common sense minister”. Writing for The Telegraph, Mrs Badenoch, who is also equalities minister, says: “The new report shows that, while millions are being spent on these initiatives, many popular EDI practices – such as diversity training – have little to no tangible impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice. “In fact, many practices have not only been proven to be ineffective, they have also been counterproductive.” She adds: “No group should ever be worse off because of companies’ diversity policies – whether that be black women, or white men ... Performative gestures such as compulsory pronouns and rainbow lanyards are often a sign that organisations are struggling to demonstrate how they are being inclusive.” Mrs Badenoch commissioned the independent Inclusion at Work Panel last year to investigate whether EDI was working in Britain amid concerns that too much money was being spent on the schemes. Diversity training aims to help staff understand the types of discrimination, including direct, indirect, harassment and victimisation, and how to treat others with respect. The Business Secretary claimed that it has little impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice, pointing out that the number of employment tribunals hearing cases brought under the Equality Act has seen a “notable uptick”. Experts also said that the “well-intentioned” attempts to boost visible diversity could lead to organisations breaking the law by discriminating against white candidates for jobs. They found that one in four business leaders said their approach to diversity was reactive, such as being “in response to societal events like the Black Lives Matter protests” that started in 2020. The report recommended that bosses avoid diversity schemes which alienate certain groups – such as the white working class – cause division, and have no impact, calling on the Equality and Human Rights Commission to clarify the legal status for employers in relation to diversity and inclusion practice. The report called on bosses to take into account disadvantages faced by the working classes when shaping diversity schemes, concluding: “Employers must also consider less visible diversity, including socioeconomic and educational background.” Mrs Badenoch, who said last year that Britain is “the best country in the world to be black”, hits out at “snake oil” diversity schemes and tells firms that their equality strategies must uphold “fairness and meritocracy”. She says some firms had broken the law under the guise of diversity and inclusion by “censoring beliefs or discriminating against certain groups in favour of others”. The report cited the example of Cheshire Police, which in 2019 had to pay out £100,000 after being found to have discriminated against a white applicant on the grounds of sexual orientation, race and gender. The panel also highlighted the RAF’S discrimination against white men as part of its drive to improve diversity. Last year the force admitted that initiatives to increase the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities had led to unlawful positive discrimination. The independent panel said firms should ensure the number of EDI staff they have represents “value for money”, pointing out the UK appoints twice as many as any other country. Mrs Badenoch is considering a further crackdown on EDI spending in government, with possible curbs on external consultants. Article Name:Diversity drive has backfired, warns Badenoch Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Daniel Martin DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Start Page:1 End Page:1

    It continues on the second page:

    Pronouns and rainbow lanyards are not the way to foster inclusion The Daily Telegraph20 Mar 2024By Kemi Badenoch IN 2021, a manager at Lloyds bank took an internal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) course, during which he asked how he should handle a situation where someone from an ethnic minority background uses a word that would be considered offensive if it was said by a white person. Lloyds branded him a racist for quoting the “n-word” as part of his question, and he was dismissed for gross misconduct. He then took his former employer to a tribunal, won his claim for unfair dismissal, and was awarded £800,000 in compensation. This is not an isolated incident. For several years now I have read reports of employers misapplying equality law under the guise of EDI initiatives. This Government believes that EDI policies should unite rather than alienate employees, and crucially uphold fairness and meritocracy. That’s why last year the Government set up an independent Inclusion at Work Panel to address this issue in an evidence-led way. The panel has now published its final report. Much of it makes for concerning reading. Studies found that the UK employs almost twice as many EDI workers per head than any other country – costing the taxpayer at least £500million a year. Despite this, the report shows that, while millions are being spent on these initiatives, many popular EDI practices have little to no tangible impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice. In fact, many practices have not only been proven to be ineffective, they have also been counterproductive. Recent years have seen a notable uptick in cases taken to employment tribunals using the Equality Act in comparison to the years 2013-17. What’s also concerning is how few employers are using evidence when making decisions. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, only one in four business leaders say they consult data before coming up with new EDI initiatives. The panel found that organisations are crying out for better evidence on how they can practise diversity and inclusion. Performative gestures such as compulsory pronouns and rainbow lanyards are often a sign that organisations are struggling to demonstrate how they are being inclusive. These clumsy diversity policies aren’t a substitute for rigorous, evidence-based measures that ensure everyone participates and thrives in the workplace. As both Business Secretary and minister for women and equalities, I welcome the findings of this independent report. Over the next few weeks and months, the Government will consider how we can best take forward its recommendations. Article Name:Pronouns and rainbow lanyards are not the way to foster inclusion Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:By Kemi Badenoch Start Page:2 End Page:2

TODAY IN…

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  • 11.30am – With just 23 minutes to answer oral questions before the main clown show of the day gets underway, someone from the Women and Equalities department will take the floor. It should be Kemi Badenoch but it is not clear at the time of writing if it will be. Among submitted questions are: “What recent steps the Government has taken to implement the HIV Action Plan?” (Peter Gibson, Con.), “If she will make an estimate of when the gender pay gap will be closed?“ (Gregory Campbell, DUP), “What steps the Government is taking to help support women experiencing menopause at work?” (Gerald Jones, Lab.), and “What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on Government support for the health of gay, lesbian and bisexual young people?” (Neal Hanvey, Alba, bringing the anti-trans hate to the floor). Anti-trans activist and Labour MP Rosie Duffield has somehow managed to submit a question about something useful, asking “What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help reduce maternal mortality?”
  • Prime Minister’s Non-Answers takes place at 12pm with bets being taken on how often Rishi Sunak says the word ‘plan’ and how quickly he brings up Jeremy Corbyn.

WESTMINSTER HALL

  • 11am Conduct of elections debate.
  • 2.30pm Human rights in Sri Lanka debate.

HOUSE OF LORDS

  • After seeing their amendments to the Rwanda Bill rejected by the House of Commons [Trans Agenda 12], the bill is back in the Lords. They will have another go at making the government realise it can’t use legislation to change reality.

COMMITTEES

  • 9.30am (private) Culture Media and Sport Committee will hear oral evidence on the work of the BBC. More here.
  • 2pm (private) Women and Equalities Committee will hear oral evidence on the escalation of violence against women and girls. More here.
  • 2pm (private) Human Rights (Joint Committee) will hear oral evidence on government proposals on extremism. More here.

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SPORT

Anti-trans UK Government urge FA to ban trans women from women’s football [Sky News]

  • The government have urged the FA to consider banning trans women from women’s football in a move that is likely to see the biggest backlash from any single sport. While there might be a few open to the idea, the players are mostly vocal LGBTQ+ allies, in no small part due to the large number of queer women playing the game. Those who like to attack Gary Lineker when he makes a point about the current government and their cruelty, telling him to keep politics out of sport, will no doubt love this idea. Football, however, (I sincerely hope), will have nothing to do with it.

Appeals court sides with USA Powerlifting in defeat for transgender athlete JayCee Cooper [The Washington Times]

  • The Minnesota appeals court ruled in favour of USA Powerlifting and against science, setting back trans athlete JayCee Cooper‘s fight to compete in the women’s category. The decision will be reviewed again by the lower court.

AROUND THE WORLD

India court allows transgender woman to participate in Armed Forces’ youth wing [Washington Blade]

  • The Kerala High Court has ruled in favour of a transgender woman’s right to enrol in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) as female, setting a positive precedent for transgender rights in India. This decision aligns with the Transgender Persons Act of 2019, enhancing inclusivity and challenging binary norms.

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ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Inflation drops but cost of living still rising

  • Rishi Sunak will try to claim credit for inflation dropping to a two-year low of 3.4%, but it has nothing to do with him or this government. They make that perfectly clear when it is rising.

Success in disrupting Israel’s war machine [Declassified UK]

  • Palestine Action has forced four UK companies to cut ties with Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems in the past three months.

First person convicted of cyber-flashing in England and Wales jailed [Irish News]

  • Nicholas Hawkes has been sentenced to 66 weeks in jail after he became the first person in England and Wales to be convicted of cyber-flashing under the Online Safety Act, which became an offence in January. A convicted sex offender, Hawkes sent unsolicited explicit images to a teenager and a woman in her sixties using his father’s phone. The offence now carries a maximum two-year sentence.

RBG award ceremony cancelled amid controversy over recipients [npr]

  • The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation has cancelled its ceremony for the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award after selecting recipients that contrast with the justice’s values, notably including men like Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk. RBG’s family criticised these choices, leading to a re-evaluation of the award’s mission.

Judge Merchan says Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and Michael Cohen can testify, with restrictions, in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial [MSNBC]

Joe Biden’s re-election effort is expected to reach $1 billion this year in spending from outside groups [NY Times]

  • Obscene.

24 years ago, MI6 sent Tony Blair to Russia to help Vladimir Putin get elected [Declassified UK]

COMING UP

Rainbow Refugees NI hosting information drop-in

  • Rainbow Refugees NI, HEReNI, and The Rainbow Project, are hosting a no-obligation drop-in session designed for people interested in hosting a refugee, offering a chance to talk with LGBTQIA+ refugee campaigners and experienced hosts. The event is scheduled for Wednesday 20th March 2024, from 6pm to 8pm, at The Rainbow Project (Union St. Office) and all the information you need can be found here.
  • Join the Trans Rights Readathon March 22-29 [Book Riot].
  • Thursday is World Down Syndrome Day.

TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

RECOMMENDED READING

Far right figure who targeted Elgin registers political party, by Jamie Mann [The Ferret]

  • “A new far right political party led by a man who styles himself on Adolf Hitler and spoke at an anti-asylum seeker rally in Elgin, has been approved to stand in elections by the Electoral Commission.”
Transgender. How do you know? By Lee Hurley
Transgender. How do you know? By Lee Hurley

RECOMMENDED WATCHING

  • Transgender flag creator calls for more visibility on the 25th anniversary of her iconic design [CBC]

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