[News] Gender and biological sex

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I find if you just use the persons name or the pronoun “they”, you can’t go far wrong. I’ve slipped up before, nobody has seemed to take offence to honest mistakes.

RuPaul is amusing on this: "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me."

Sadly the notion of asking the question "How can I make you feel comfortable today?" is anathema to some. I have had to work particularly hard to avoid (getting sacked by) offending people through my lack of conventional empathy, but that's one of the downsides of being 'on the spectrum'. There is certainly no excuse for actively pursuing the prejudiced dick head's agenda.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

No chance

That said, when I first discovered the unusual effects of eating a whole fresh beetroot, I did capture the outcome on camera. Jackson Pollock could have made even more of his career had he discovered that monochromatic expression can be immensely dramatic, if the texture is right

Well, you did provoke me

 

[Sid in the Sharknado]

No chance

That said, when I first discovered the unusual effects of eating a whole fresh beetroot, I did capture the outcome on camera. Jackson Pollock could have made even more of his career had he discovered that monochromatic expression can be immensely dramatic, if the texture is right

Well, you did provoke me

Good taste is the last refuge of the scoundrel

 

[wellquickwoody]

I was surprised to hear on the radio today that someone had to appeal a dismissal from work (it was actually 'contract not renewed' - I have since looked up the case of Maya Forstater) for claiming that biological sex cannot be changed. Forstater won the appeal. However there are expressions of disappointment from some spokespeople for transgender organisations. This is baffling and disappointing. Here is a recent statement from the British Medical Journal:

"Gender identity information can be valuable to help guide the clinical encounter, respect the transgender patient’s sense of self and gain a fuller picture as to healthcare needs. But gender identity should be recorded in addition to, not act as a replacement for, biological sex. If an unknown patient comes in to A&E, unaccompanied and unconscious, their gender identity would not be ascertainable. However, their sex would remain observable, and would make a difference to that patient’s care.

Healthcare cannot collectively discard words for the two biological sexes. Awareness of the importance of clinical research into sex differences in medicine, especially for the female sex[9], has just been highlighted by the pandemic. How would such work be done if the sexes cannot be named?

Clear language on sex is vital in medicine, science, and public health education.

It is surprising these words should need to be typed in a Rapid Response to the BMJ"

In case there is any misunderstanding, I fully support those who classify their gender as something other than the two main (there are others including XYY but they are relatively rare) biological sexes. But their biological sex and gender may not be the same. It's simple, really

The judgement today states "“Just as the legal recognition of civil partnerships does not negate the right of a person to believe that marriage should only apply to heterosexual couples, becoming the acquired gender ‘for all purposes’ within the meaning of GRA does not negate a person’s right to believe, like the claimant, that as a matter of biology a trans person is still their natal sex. Both beliefs may well be profoundly offensive and even distressing to many others, but they are beliefs that are and must be tolerated in a pluralist society."

The other viewpoint is this "Louise Rea, a solicitor at the law firm Bates Wells, which advised the CGD, called the decision “concerning” and “a much narrower interpretation of the previously understood position that a belief which conflicts with the fundamental rights of others will not be protected.

“The EAT’s decision sets the threshold for exclusion so high that it will leave marginalised groups more vulnerable to discrimination and harassment and place employers in an impossible position. Our clients are considering their next steps.”"

I am not sure what Maya Forstater's axe is here or why she wants to grind it, but she describes herself as holding "gender-critical views". I suspect the law will have to be changed so that if someone wants to insist that, for example, Jayne County is 'really a man' they can only do so in a biological sex-specific context, for example, they are a GP and Jayne is seeking HRT.

Attention seeking.

 

[Blues Guitarist]

Seems there is now a call for gender neutral toilets in schools.

I just wonder if anyone can inform me what the difference is between gender neutral and unisex toilets.

Why should toilets be described by gender rather than by sex?

 

[Papak]

Just because my friend would like me to....suggest you read this....

https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/30/by-using-the-disabled-toilet-youre-putting-me-at-risk-9327740/

13.9 million people of which (less than according to the article) 8% (1.1 million) are wheelchair users?

There is no way on earth that many people in the UK are users, unless they are nearly all existing elsewhere from everywhere I have been for the last few decades.

I have seen 1 guy who lives near me in a wheelchair but otherwise I genuinely could not remember the last time I saw one except in a hospital for transporting patients.

 

[Razzoo]

This guy is a clown. Self ID is a horrendous idea.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/labour-keir-starmer-doubles-down-144024115.html

 

[sydney]

meh...

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

If I need a cubicle and it is occupied and there is no alternative, I have to wait. Having spent 20 years with misdiagnosed lactose intolerance (I was told I had diverticulosis - I don't), I have had to go back home from Fav station some mornings when trains with 'no working toilet' were my only option (increasingly common in the last 4 years). The lavs on our trains are mostly accessible and without any 'accessible only' rule, but when they were all out of order, I couldn't go to work. Now I have resolved that problem perhaps my attitude may be different. Perhaps it should be

If there were an 'accessible' and a 'non-accessible' toilet available, nobody waiting, nobody around, I admit it would be selfish of me to opt for the cleaner bog. That said I have never heard a tap on the door and never found anyone waiting outside after I've left. I think my judgement has been good, even if I were taking a risk with someone else's 'comfort'.

The way I saw it was, if there were ten non-accessible bogs, with five people queuing for each, and one accessible bog with no queue, but me using it, anyone who could only use the accessible bog would still be four places up the queue. Moreover, before I got my diagnosis sorted, if I were the one bod queuing outside the accessible bog, while five queued outside each non accessible bog, there is still a fair chance I'd shit myself, no matter who was blocking my passage, so to speak.

Now my sudden stabbing pains and spasmic projectile shitting is apparently no longer an issue, perhaps I should start to behave myself. I'm not sure if I've really done bad but I admit it would now be taking the piss, so thanks for the advice and admonishment.

The last refuge argument, of course, is that sometimes we are all desperate for a shit, whether we have an entitlement to an available trap, or not. I say that as someone who did actually do an impression of a bear in some woods recently (so all is still not quite ticketyboo in the large intestinal department, sadly).

Apologies if that's too much information.

Think you've written your constitution(al) there HWT