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Updated [22/6/22, 13:00]
Launched to much fanfare by More in Common on 16th June 2022, the Britons and Gender Identity - Navigating Common Ground and Division Report aimed to do what exactly?
We don't know, because it’s actually not particularly clear at any point in the document what the aims and objectives of this study were. And that’s a problem, unfortunately one of many.
...moreIn mid-2021, I authored a piece centring on the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Named by the American Human Rights organisation the SPLC as a "Hate Group" - the ADF says they are "Christians".
...moreFor Women Scotland is distributing a leaflet in relation to reform of The Gender Recognition Act. Below is the text of their document along with comments from Steph’s Place in blue text. We are an LGBT+ humans rights organisation nominated for the 2022 National Diversity Awards.
...moreThe UK is in an epidemic of transphobia - the prejudice against transgender people. In the 1980s and 90s, gay and lesbian people were ostracised, with the public being told by newspapers that they were perverts, sex offenders, and a danger to children.
...moreWith the "trans debate" seemingly getting hotter every day in the press and media generally, it is sometimes easy to forget they are talking about human beings.
...moreGoogle “the definition of transphobia” and currently this will come up "the dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people". Google quote from Oxford Languages.
...more13/3/21
10:00
Late last week I was doing my usual check on The Cass Review website to see if there had been any updates. Nothing has been posted since 12th October 2021.
On Thursday we found out why, almost 5 months since the last update and The Cass Review have released their interim report.
Was it worth it?
Not really.
...more8th March 2022
10:00
You may recall that we recently wrote to Minister Mike Freer at the Government Equalities Office, and received a response last week.
While it appeared to contain some positives, we found it to be deeply unsatisfactory.
So we wrote back.
...more3rd March 2022
12:00
Late last week, following the debate in parliament about GRA Reform in England and superficially positive comments from the UK Government representative, we wrote an open letter to Minister Mike Freer at the UK Government Equalities Office.
Yesterday, we received an unexpectedly quick response.
...more28th February 2022
18:00
Today, the team at Steph's Place sent a letter to Minister Mike Freer, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Government Equalities Office.
This letter forms part of an attempt to open dialogue with the Government, following somewhat positive noises made during the debate of GRA Reform on Monday 21st Feb 2022.
...moreIt is deeply concerning how quickly this country is sliding into lawlessness and unruly behaviour. This is worsening daily, with reactions and examples of potentially deadly behaviour growing and increasing. It was reported that a blind person was shouted at for having her guide dog with her on an escalator.
...moreStonewall, Good Law Project and 20+ major LGBTQ+ organisations unite to spark international review of UK’s human rights body.......
...moreThe last two weeks have truly exposed a worrying level of Transphobia currently faced today within the UK.
It started with The Council of Europe approving a report condemning “extensive and often virulent” attacks on LGBT+ rights in Europe with the worst offender of these human rights being named and shamed.
...moreIn December of 2021, I made ten Freedom of Information Requests to NHS Hospital Trusts spread across England. There was just one question:
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could you supply the following information relevant to the period 1st April 2020 to the 31st March 2021:
(1) How many natal female inpatients complained that a trans woman inpatient was being cared for in the same ward?
...moreWhen G.I.C lacks N.R.G
Just before Christmas (2021) I put out an @Twitter Poll asking the Question:
How long have you/did you wait for a 1st NHS CIC appointment?
...moreAt one minute past midnight today (December 21st 2021), The Women & Equalities Committee published its report in reply to the UK's Government approach to the reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Unsurprisingly, the Committee has heavily criticised both the Government Equalities Office and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission for failing in their duties.
...moreAs we reflect on the Trans Day of Remembrance, we have to ask why this happening? As we remember those transgender people specifically, but non-binary people in general, and reflect on their lives and the massive toll of lost skills, passion and personality that has gone forever.
...more21/11/2021
Our co-editor Claire gave a talk at TEDx Bath on the 18th November. This is how it all happened.
...moreOn October the 26th, FiLiA made a statement regarding Amnesty International's involvement with my event "Fly the Flag" (October 16th & 17th at Portsmouth Guildhall Square). My event was not the only protest event in the square that day.......
...more19/10/21
This all started with a chance conversation with Julie, a fellow editor here at Steph’s Place. We were talking about the state of the UKs Gender Identity Clinics (a topic of much discussion in the trans community), Julie mentioned CQC inspections and I got..curious.
When I get curious, I tend to ask awkward questions.
...more
Firstly.... I want to thank everyone for coming today to “Fly the Flag” and supporting trans and non-binary rights. I want to tell you about my nightmares.
...moreProof the Cass Review deliberately excluded trans people from the Assurance Group.
You may remember back at the start of the The Cass Review there was a bit of a furore because review website had wording that appeared to show it was deliberately excluding trans voices from the governance process? - if not, we covered this in Part 1 of our ongoing blog following the Cass Review's activities on 19th April 2021.
The Cass Review denied this at the time, but then surreptitiously changed the website to remove the offending sections without telling anyone. I went digging via the Freedom of Information Act to see if this was true...
...moreSteph's Place is privileged to publish in full the first-ever press release from #GIN (Gender Identity Network). The group has a membership of over 1000 people spread across the globe, but with most members currently based in the UK.
...moreMalta is a small island located just north of the African coast and south of the Italian island of Scilly; it has a population of around 430,000 people. One of the first things you notice when visiting is the substantial British influence in language, the fact that they drive on the left and even retain British style three-pin plugs!
...moreTogether. Always together. So regularly tweets Michael Cashman CBE, one of the co-founders of Stonewall UK, who were formed back in May 1989. Even as a 69-year-old, I only remember seeing "LGBT" - or in the last decade or so, as we have welcomed other identities, our 'plus sign' kinfolk making LGBT+....
...moreUpdated 14/10/21
This will be an “Ongoing” article, looking at the review as it progresses, analysing the activities and reporting observations. As such it is very likely some things may change, and issues and questions may be resolved or clarified. As such, following the Background summary, each update will be listed by date and will detail observed changes and issues as they arise or are addressed.
Scroll to the bottom of the article for the latest update.
...more(21/6/21)
You know that moment when you make a mistake, then realise it’s had an unexpected outcome that’s almost as good as the one you were expecting?
That happened to me on Friday.
...more
On the 5th of June 2021, this website broke the news to thousands of people that sex offender Stephen Woods, also known as Karen White, was not transgender. This was a 'big deal' for those involved in the gender war - dozens of newspaper articles in the past three years or so has stated the opposite. Consequently, various alleged 'womens organisations' (often shorthand for anti-trans hate groups) have depended on White as the prime example of a transgender sex offender.
...more(20/6/21)
Erasing Lesbians, Transing the Gay Away.
In parts 1 and 2 we looked at demographic and hate crime data to debunk the idea that LGB people were being erased or transitioning to avoid homophobia.
Our final part in this series of articles is the hardest one, looking at the most complex and insidious claims of all - the idea that LGB people are being told they’re really transgender through ‘affirming’ therapy, and that transitioning is really conversion therapy for LGB people.
...more(19/6/21)
Erasing Lesbians, Transing the Gay Away.
In Part 1 we looked at demographic data to address whether LGB people really were ‘being erased’ - and the answer was a resounding ‘NO’ given the increases year on year among the LGB population of the UK.
In Part 2 we are going to unpick the idea that gay people are transitioning in order to avoid homophobia.
...more(15/6/21)
Erasing Lesbians, Transing the Gay Away.
These are yet more in a seemingly endless supply of claims made by trans hostile activists in their quest to dehumanise, demean and marginalise transgender people.
'Transing the gay away' and 'erasing lesbians' narratives in part rely on the false notion that...
...more(15/6/2021) Updated
This will be an “Ongoing” article, looking at the review as it progresses, analysing the activities and reporting observations. As such it is very likely some things may change, and issues and questions may be resolved or clarified. As such, following the Background summary, each update will be listed by date and will detail observed changes and issues as they arise or are addressed.
...moreGender critical people make out that they are experts on transgender issues, including crimes and violence, but their academic leaders were caught with their knickers down by no other than the Women and Equalities Select Committee
...moreIn the ongoing culture war between trans people and gender critical (GC) people, the latter consistently refer to the former as a cult. Social media posts by GC people frequently accuse trans people of following “transgender ideology” or “gender ideology”.
...more(7/6/21)
Another Sunday, another attack on the trans population in the UK by the mainstream, socially conservative press. Something like four or five this weekend alone. Laughably, in the The Guardian that comes in the form of their ‘Comment is Free’ section, in an 'opinion piece' by Sonia Sodha.
Comment is Free, because other people are paying the price. As I write this, my friend Steph is talking another trans person out of a suicide attempt. Employers are putting in safety measures to protect their trans employees coming in on Monday after the weekend media feeding frenzy, and trans allies are being driven from their homes.
...more(6/6/21)
‘Gender Identity is nothing more than what gender stereotype you like’, or words to that effect, is another one of those misleading trans hostile activist claims used against trans people.
And as usual, it’s repeated mantra like, often without any real understanding of what sex, gender or gender identity actually are - and because most people often conflate all of these as the same thing, they get away with it.
...more
(28/5/21)
....of Something Else!
This is another one of those annoying hyperbolic claims made by trans hostile activists to attempt to appropriate and minimise the impacts of Gender Dysphoria, and to try and delegitimise trans identities.
Why does it work? Because people want it to be true.
...more(28/5/21)
As any trans person who has been embroiled in the so called debate around trans lives in the UK (and elsewhere, particularly America) can tell you, one of the most enduring, consistent ‘tactics’ used by trans hostile activists is that of Deliberate Misinterpretation.
...more24/05/2021
Last Sunday, Boris Johnson announced the appointment of Lord Nick Herbert to take the new role as the UK’s Special Envoy on LGBT Rights - he has been given the job to champion LGBT equality both home and abroad and will chair the recently announced ‘Safe to be Me: A Global Equality Conference’ that is to be hosted here in the UK in June 2022 ......
...more24/05/2021
It’s been yet another rollercoaster week for those that are transgender in the UK and the true picture of the Government's current position was savagely exposed during last week’s Women and Equalities Committee (W&EC) meeting which was taking evidence from former members of the Government's own LGBT Advisory Panel .......
...moreThe Intercom Trust have just released a well-researched and comprehensive report entitled “Trans+ Voices, Gender Identity Healthcare in the South West”, in which 645 people responded..............
...more(23/5/21)
When a chef makes a thoughtful but risky decision to combine two ingredients that he hasn’t used together before for a curry, and the outcome is delicious and complementary, he goes home with a satisfied glow in his heart, and probably his tummy too. He took a calculated risk and it paid off, but it could have gone horribly wrong.
...more(23/5/21)
In September 1962, John F Kennedy, President of the United States of America, gave a speech in Texas.
It was a speech that set in motion the most ambitious endeavour in human history at that time, an endeavour that would push humanity to it’s creative and technological limits
...more(22/5/21) Updated
Sadly, based on the evidence currently available, I would have to say yes - either unwittingly or deliberately.
But as anything trans related in the UK goes - I don’t think it’s entirely that simple either.
...more13/5/2021
In light of the recent appeal by Maya Forstater who keeps insisting she has the right to express views that are ‘not worthy of respect in a democratic society’, we have once again been subjected to calls from all those who believe they have the right to express their views and not be forced to accept something...................
...more1/5/2021
“You can do it when you B and Q it” - just one example of a strapline, an easy-to-remember phrase that B & Q's advertising agency devised to remind us of the services B & Q offers. I guess every retailer has one, as too would charity organisations and campaign groups.....
...moreHere is the new procedues for trans folks who live in Wales
...moreWoman’s Place UK (WPUK) launched in September of 2017 with the sole purpose of influencing the Gender Reform Act (GRA) consultation. They claim they did not expect to be in existence for more than a few months – the co-founders also state they are members of the Labour Party....
...moreOn hate and talking.....by Sarah Phillimore: I am reading Sally Kohn’s book ‘The Opposite of Hate’ at the moment. Her consideration of the Rwandan massacres is particularly chilling.........
...moreCONTENT WARNING - This article is highly controversial and may cause upset. It is designed to provoke thought & discussion.
Being trans is something none of us chooses. But it affects us for a vast portion of our lives and in my - and many others, all our lives. Being trans is also the launchpad for some trans folks to self-harm and often ‘end it’ by their own hand.................
...moreWhen I decided to become a trans right activist, I also made a promise to myself that I would keep out of the puberty blocker debate concerning trans kids. Children's 'Health and Safety' is a massive issue for me as I worked to protect them for over thirty-five years........
...moreWe have all seen it, probably hundreds of times the sign saying "Male Cleaner in Attendance" or of course the female equivalent.
And we think nothing of it - we pop into the loo, and sometimes we see him, and sometimes we don't. Either way, it is normal.
...moreNow and then, like all writers, I produce a bit of work that I feel is very significant. And that is the case with this article which is based on a blog I made in early October 2020.
...moreA significant contributor to gender dysphoria is the appallingly poor healthcare trans people suffer in the UK. In the past week, I have taken time out of Twitter and worked behind the scenes. One result is a letter which has gone to:
...moreWe all have beliefs and it is unreasonable to expect that everyone shares those beliefs. I am very grateful to all the reasonable people who have contributed to this page. It took five (often arguing) months to get here - but we got here in the end.
The binary. One two, one two. A never-ending stream of just two digits. And the arguments about binary in life seems to be never-ending either - because of "sex" - male & female.
...moreI am almost three months in now into my self-propelled career of being a trans rights activist. What has surprised me is how I have changed. In everyday life, I was once an easy-going sort of human being; taking life in its stride, just trying to make the best of every day with a smile on my face. Now I am Mrs Angry..
...moreMedia, exclusionists and gender-crirical academics often cite the phrase "trans ideology." Recently, one gender-critical academic Kathleen Stock was awarded an honour by the right-wing UK Tory government......
...more