September 19, 2023 - 7:00am
The conflict over gender reform between Westminster and the Scottish Government ramps up today. The Court of Session in Edinburgh will begin hearing a challenge to the UK Government’s use of a Section 35 order to prevent its controversial Gender Recognition Reform Act becoming law. The Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, blocked the bill on the grounds that it would have a detrimental effect on the 2010 Equality Act, which allows organisations to provide single-sex spaces in limited circumstances.
The SNP will be hoping to frame the court battle as a principled fight against “interference” by Westminster in Scotland’s affairs. But it has a problem — several in fact. Voters who thought they were opting for independence didn’t imagine that they would get something quite different, namely male sex offenders being housed in women’s prisons.
I suppose ministers had to do something when their hopes of a second independence referendum went up in smoke. But no one would have predicted that, egged on by their Green coalition partners, who have some of the weirdest ideas ever promoted by actual Government ministers, they would plunge down a rabbit hole where being a woman is just a feeling.
The SNP has been in power as both a minority and majority administration since 2007, without ever managing to persuade a majority of voters to support independence. It has changed its leader since the furore over the bill at the beginning of this year, but it now finds itself in an unexpectedly tight race with Labour. Ministers might prefer to forget the way they tied themselves in knots when asked whether a male-bodied double rapist calling himself “Isla Bryson” was “genuinely trans”. But “progressive” politicians in Scotland have a history of saying ridiculous and offensive things about sex, and this habit is about to come under scrutiny again.
The court challenge carries significant risks, not least because it will revive an argument that the SNP didn’t just lose. It lost comprehensively, with the party leaching members and electoral support. Opinion polls show that between half and two-thirds of the Scottish public oppose legislation which would allow any man, including one accused of rape, to declare himself a woman and be treated as such in law.
Nicola Sturgeon’s career as First Minister crashed in a blaze of headlines mocking her refusal to say whether Bryson was a man or a woman. Many erstwhile supporters couldn’t believe what they were hearing when the self-declared feminist MSP described critics of the legislation as “deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly […] racist as well”.
Her replacement as First Minister, Humza Yousaf, claimed that Bryson was “at it” and not really trans, without acknowledging that he’d just conceded the point made by every opponent of the legislation. The co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater, who is a minister in Yousaf’s government, compared critics of the bill to racists and anti-Semites. Green MSP Maggie Chapman, who thinks children as young as eight should be able to change their legal sex, disclosed that she doesn’t know what her chromosomes are.
Most legal authorities believe that the Scottish Government’s legal challenge will fail. With a crucial by-election looming in Rutherglen and Hamilton West next month, however, it’s just as well to remember that Scotland is currently governed by a bunch of people who regard a belief in biological sex as a form of bigotry. Thanks for the reminder: I think we all know who the real misogynists are.
Joan Smith is a novelist and columnist. She was previously Chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Board, and is on the advisory group for Sex Matters. Her book Unfortunately, She Was A Nymphomaniac: A New History of Rome’s Imperial Women was published in November 2024.
polblonde
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeThings would change if they elected a black president. White America isn’t ready to do that though.
Didn’t they try that?
Or doesn’t’ ‘he’ count?
Trying a bit of satire. Not so good maybe.
Irony actually.
I got you. Really funny if not sad. For a systematically racist country we’ve done a pretty crappy job keeping discriminated against groups out of the White House.
Name a country that isn’t “systematically racist”. As Mohammed Ali said, people like to be around people who are like themselves.
Name a country that isn’t “systematically racist”. As Mohammed Ali said, people like to be around people who are like themselves.
Irony actually.
I got you. Really funny if not sad. For a systematically racist country we’ve done a pretty crappy job keeping discriminated against groups out of the White House.
Obama wasn’t black enough, and yes, that absurd statement has been used to describe him and others.
Or the black guy he’s married to?
Trying a bit of satire. Not so good maybe.
Obama wasn’t black enough, and yes, that absurd statement has been used to describe him and others.
Or the black guy he’s married to?
“The so-called black and so-called white people of the United States resemble nobody else in the world so much as they resemble each other.”
This. I don’t know if Americans realize how alike they seem to be for the rest of us.
That’s something that has struck me too. There may be differences within the US (though I wonder if these are as big as class or even geographic differences) but to a foreigner they seem very similar and unmistakably American.
That’s something that has struck me too. There may be differences within the US (though I wonder if these are as big as class or even geographic differences) but to a foreigner they seem very similar and unmistakably American.
He was half and half like the rest of the country. Or at least liberals pretend it is demographically, and certainly in terms of cultural significance.
It’s time to add the third major ethnic group, Hispanics, into the representational mix and have a DeSantis or Haley candidacy.
I think DeSantis and Haley are pretty okay, compared to the available alternatives, but it’s not clear to me what either of them has to do with Hispanics.
I think DeSantis and Haley are pretty okay, compared to the available alternatives, but it’s not clear to me what either of them has to do with Hispanics.
Didn’t they try that?
Or doesn’t’ ‘he’ count?
“The so-called black and so-called white people of the United States resemble nobody else in the world so much as they resemble each other.”
This. I don’t know if Americans realize how alike they seem to be for the rest of us.
He was half and half like the rest of the country. Or at least liberals pretend it is demographically, and certainly in terms of cultural significance.
It’s time to add the third major ethnic group, Hispanics, into the representational mix and have a DeSantis or Haley candidacy.
Things would change if they elected a black president. White America isn’t ready to do that though.
I never cease to be amazed at how much ‘systemic’ racism is needed, by anti-racists, to defeat racism, systemic or otherwise, and how little this is pointed out by those campaigning against racism !
See Vivek Ramaswamy on reverse racism is racism.
See Vivek Ramaswamy on reverse racism is racism.
I never cease to be amazed at how much ‘systemic’ racism is needed, by anti-racists, to defeat racism, systemic or otherwise, and how little this is pointed out by those campaigning against racism !
Black Americans have always had a streak of anti-establishment, and yet we find that many white Americans are being red-pilled these days with that same level of distrust for the ruling-class institutions. I think the biggest fear of the ruling-class is a merger of all of the America people against them. Joe Biden even had his speech from hell where he threatened F16s and called about half the nation (those who don’t trust them) insurrectionists. They know, and they are afraid.
This is very much correct. As oligarchs, they fear nothing so much as the people. They know Americans are angry. Their best and only hope is to have Americans direct that anger at one another, through pushing racial and regional divisions. They also presumably have military experts at the Pentagon explaining the cost and strategic problems of suppressing and occupying a state or region that tried to secede in the modern era. Occupying the south after the civil war was expensive, so much so that Reconstruction was abandoned just a little over ten years after the war ended, and war now is not fought in the same way it was then. Guerilla warfare, terrorism, IED’s, and automatic weapons were not a thing then. Military experts surely know America has more and better guns per capita than Afghanistan, Iraq, or any of the other nations where we’ve tried and failed to ‘spread democracy’ over the past few decades. I can’t imagine an attempt to occupy a seceding region or state would go much better. Add to that the fact that internal warfare is exponentially more expensive than external warfare because all the damage is inflicted not on a foreign enemy, but on one’s own resources, industry, and people. And all that assumes the military remains intact. The first civil war witnessed mass defections as many southerners sided with their state. It might well happen again, and then a weakened military has to fight elements of itself. Further, America still has other resources that would act as a reservoir of military assets in a worst case scenario. There are still many local militia groups, many of whom are composed of ex-military personnel. American police are highly armed and militarized, and firmly under state and local control. I can’t imagine many more difficult military scenarios than an invasion of part of the US. Like an invasion of Russia, no sane person would or should attempt it. I’ve always felt Biden had probably just come from hearing some Pentagon task force’s bleak assessment of what a real insurrection would look like and cost when he made that particular angry old man rant.
The womanly chairman of the joint US chiefs of staff is on record staying “white nationalism” is the biggest threat to the nation.
This surprises me not at all. The people at the Pentagon are a lot of things, but ‘stupid’ is not one of them. I’m sure the military people are trying to tell the rest of the elite class and the swamp not to push so far you trigger an actual rebellion/secession scenario, because once it goes that far, there’s no good ending. Even if the military could win it, and it possibly could depending on the exact conditions, the political, economic, and social cost of doing so would make Iraq look like a leisurely stroll in the garden.
This surprises me not at all. The people at the Pentagon are a lot of things, but ‘stupid’ is not one of them. I’m sure the military people are trying to tell the rest of the elite class and the swamp not to push so far you trigger an actual rebellion/secession scenario, because once it goes that far, there’s no good ending. Even if the military could win it, and it possibly could depending on the exact conditions, the political, economic, and social cost of doing so would make Iraq look like a leisurely stroll in the garden.
The womanly chairman of the joint US chiefs of staff is on record staying “white nationalism” is the biggest threat to the nation.
This is very much correct. As oligarchs, they fear nothing so much as the people. They know Americans are angry. Their best and only hope is to have Americans direct that anger at one another, through pushing racial and regional divisions. They also presumably have military experts at the Pentagon explaining the cost and strategic problems of suppressing and occupying a state or region that tried to secede in the modern era. Occupying the south after the civil war was expensive, so much so that Reconstruction was abandoned just a little over ten years after the war ended, and war now is not fought in the same way it was then. Guerilla warfare, terrorism, IED’s, and automatic weapons were not a thing then. Military experts surely know America has more and better guns per capita than Afghanistan, Iraq, or any of the other nations where we’ve tried and failed to ‘spread democracy’ over the past few decades. I can’t imagine an attempt to occupy a seceding region or state would go much better. Add to that the fact that internal warfare is exponentially more expensive than external warfare because all the damage is inflicted not on a foreign enemy, but on one’s own resources, industry, and people. And all that assumes the military remains intact. The first civil war witnessed mass defections as many southerners sided with their state. It might well happen again, and then a weakened military has to fight elements of itself. Further, America still has other resources that would act as a reservoir of military assets in a worst case scenario. There are still many local militia groups, many of whom are composed of ex-military personnel. American police are highly armed and militarized, and firmly under state and local control. I can’t imagine many more difficult military scenarios than an invasion of part of the US. Like an invasion of Russia, no sane person would or should attempt it. I’ve always felt Biden had probably just come from hearing some Pentagon task force’s bleak assessment of what a real insurrection would look like and cost when he made that particular angry old man rant.
Black Americans have always had a streak of anti-establishment, and yet we find that many white Americans are being red-pilled these days with that same level of distrust for the ruling-class institutions. I think the biggest fear of the ruling-class is a merger of all of the America people against them. Joe Biden even had his speech from hell where he threatened F16s and called about half the nation (those who don’t trust them) insurrectionists. They know, and they are afraid.
Calling for massive demographic change for the purposes of political power sounds suspiciously similar to a certain idea labelled by the ADL as a conspiracy theory.
Calling for massive demographic change for the purposes of political power sounds suspiciously similar to a certain idea labelled by the ADL as a conspiracy theory.
I thoroughly disagree. Since the woke claim that every Black failure is whitey’s fault, the thing to do is designate one state as Negrotopia, encourage all woke/BLM types to move there, where Blacks will control *everything*, and let them build their White-free utopia — let’s run the experiment.
Anyone complaining about the Systemic Racism under which they suffer, will simply be invited to move to Negrotopia where there are no Whites to Oppress them (OK, I suppose White Allies will want to move there too, but they will not have voting rights, nor be permitted to run for public office.) Lori Lightfoot might be the first governor.
I thoroughly disagree. Since the woke claim that every Black failure is whitey’s fault, the thing to do is designate one state as Negrotopia, encourage all woke/BLM types to move there, where Blacks will control *everything*, and let them build their White-free utopia — let’s run the experiment.
Anyone complaining about the Systemic Racism under which they suffer, will simply be invited to move to Negrotopia where there are no Whites to Oppress them (OK, I suppose White Allies will want to move there too, but they will not have voting rights, nor be permitted to run for public office.) Lori Lightfoot might be the first governor.
People like Blow are as racist as those they vilify for being so! Racism is a pernicious evil, no matter who perpetrates this warped worldview.
People like Blow are as racist as those they vilify for being so! Racism is a pernicious evil, no matter who perpetrates this warped worldview.
Mr Blow should be encouraged to begin the relocation, but I suspect he likes New York a little too much.
The ‘Bama Rush’ article is an exercise in barely disguised female envy.
Mr Blow should be encouraged to begin the relocation, but I suspect he likes New York a little too much.
The ‘Bama Rush’ article is an exercise in barely disguised female envy.
If that was taken seriously, people in the big blue cities would stop electing black mayors, who just make things worse.
If that was taken seriously, people in the big blue cities would stop electing black mayors, who just make things worse.
Read Thomas Sowell – very relevant.
Read Thomas Sowell – very relevant.