Read on Twitter
In English, gender has been used as a direct equivalent to sex since 1969, according to the @OED.
No one complained about this for (approximately) 50 years. Your gender is your sex, your sex is your gender, English is a wonderfully flexible language full of synonyms. /1
No one complained about this for (approximately) 50 years. Your gender is your sex, your sex is your gender, English is a wonderfully flexible language full of synonyms. /1
In 1986, I attended the first-ever Pride held in Scotland; a static protest on the Mound, full of colourfully-made banners. One of the speakers was a woman who had campaigned for @on_lothianbuses to let her use her photo & her name in her pensioner's bus pass: she was trans. /2
Yes, 1986. 35 years ago.
In Scotland, we have been campaigning for #LGBT rights for long enough for a babe in arms at that first Pride in #Edinburgh to grow up, get married, & have a kid old enough to be campaigning for #LGBTQIA rights NOW. /3
In Scotland, we have been campaigning for #LGBT rights for long enough for a babe in arms at that first Pride in #Edinburgh to grow up, get married, & have a kid old enough to be campaigning for #LGBTQIA rights NOW. /3
In Scotland we have turned back Pat Robertson from his attempt to buy into the Bank of Scotland. We have no time for the US Christian Right here. (Granted, our own home-grown homophobic bigots are poisonous enough.) /4 https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/jun/06/observerbusiness.theobserver17 @LGBTHistoryScot
In the UK, in 1996, a European Court of Justice decision extended the right to be protected by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to trans women. (And trans men. Laws against sex discrimination are not confined to one gender.) /5
In 1999, secondary legislation extended the protection of the Sex Discrimination Act to trans people.
Over 20 years ago.
No protests. No anger. No complaints that if "sex discrimination" applies to trans people this means "our sex based rights" are diminished. Nothing. /6
Over 20 years ago.
No protests. No anger. No complaints that if "sex discrimination" applies to trans people this means "our sex based rights" are diminished. Nothing. /6
In 2000, Scotland's new Parliament abolished #Section28 of the Local Gov Act, despite a hateful campaign by Brian Souter claiming "lesbians and gays" are a threat to children.
(In England & Wales, the House of Lords blocked the abolishment in 2000. Hey for hereditary votes.) /7
(In England & Wales, the House of Lords blocked the abolishment in 2000. Hey for hereditary votes.) /7
In 2004, the UK govt passed the Gender Recognition Act, which allowed trans people for the first time to formally change the sex recorded on their birth certificates by their parents before they were six weeks old. /8
The GRA process was long & expensive & gave medical gatekeepers significant power over trans people, & a birth certificate is used on very few occasions in a person's life - but it was still important. From 2004 to #equalmarriage, a GRC also required divorce. /9
Trans people have been able to get photo ID in their correct name & gender for decades - remember that pensioner from 1986? She got her bus pass by self-ID, not birth certificate. No one uses a birth certificate to get a bus pass or a drivers licence. /10
A birth certificate is a legally-important document, used on few occasions, & the GRA 2004 was important legislation for trans equality, but if was never significant in terms of trans people getting gender-appropriate ID. Not ever.
And no outcry over our "sex-based rights". /11
And no outcry over our "sex-based rights". /11
In 2010, the Equality Act gathered up a lot of legislation and formally set it out in what was meant to be one of the United Kingdom's significant constitutional Acts in our uncodified constitution. /12
The Equality Act 2010 acknowledged gender reassignment as a protected characteristic, as well as sex discrimination.
Sex discrimination since 1999 in UK law had included all women, cis & trans. The Equality Act didn't change that.
No outcry then for our "sex-based rights". /13
Sex discrimination since 1999 in UK law had included all women, cis & trans. The Equality Act didn't change that.
No outcry then for our "sex-based rights". /13
#EqualMarriage - even under the Tories - meant for the first time, a trans person married to a cis person didn't have to get a divorce to get their GRC. Marriage was recognised as for couples of same gender or different gender.
No outcry then for our "sex-based rights". /14
No outcry then for our "sex-based rights". /14
The US Christian Right exploded all over US churches & missionised abroad against #equalmarriage, claiming how awful it would be for mixed-sex couples if same-sex couples could marry. How this would "destroy marriage" & affect the rights of ALL mixed-sex married couples. /15
But against #equalmarriage, the US Christian Right had some temporary victories, mostly in the US, but their final defeat was handed to them by the US Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, 15th June 2015. They went on fighting rearguard actions for a couple of years. /16
But by 2017, the US Christian Right realised they didn't look any better fighting against happily-married same-sex couples crying with joy about being able to tie the knot after 30 years, than they did when they were fighting segregation in 1980.
So, what next? /17
So, what next? /17
In October 2017, the anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council put on its annual Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC., & they found a new target: separate the T from LGB.
Attack trans people! Call them a "cult". https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/23/christian-right-tips-fight-transgender-rights-separate-t-lgb /18
Attack trans people! Call them a "cult". https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/23/christian-right-tips-fight-transgender-rights-separate-t-lgb /18
A few months later, in June 2018, the first lying leaflet about what GRA reform would mean for women's rights
(nothing, unless you lie about it)
was distributed at the Radical Bookfair in London.
The US Christian Right had united with radical feminists in the UK. /19
(nothing, unless you lie about it)
was distributed at the Radical Bookfair in London.
The US Christian Right had united with radical feminists in the UK. /19
Every single argument you hear against trans rights is a script repurposed from the US Christian Right's work to keep segregation, to ban abortion, to fight #equalmarriage.
None of it has any basis in reality. /20
None of it has any basis in reality. /20
And notably, for anyone who has, like me, been a part of the #LGBT rights movement AND a feminist since the 1980s, none of this anti-trans bile was gushing over any of the inclusive changes to UK law & society before ... not until 2018. /21
We sent off Pat Robertson crying. We sent off Brian Souter to sulk til Alex Salmond got him a "sir".
Scotland defeats bigots.
No matter what party you vote for in SP2021. Don't vote for this anti-trans bigotry funded, supported, invented, by the Christian Right. /22
Scotland defeats bigots.
No matter what party you vote for in SP2021. Don't vote for this anti-trans bigotry funded, supported, invented, by the Christian Right. /22
Er, yes.
Hadn't quite realised this was going to take off like this.
If you thought this was useful, & only if you can afford it, buy me a kofi: https://ko-fi.com/edinburgheye
Hadn't quite realised this was going to take off like this.
If you thought this was useful, & only if you can afford it, buy me a kofi: https://ko-fi.com/edinburgheye
