A turning of the tide in the UK?

A turn of the tide or a lull in the storm which is the fight against Radical Queer Theory?

Since June distinct changes have been afoot in the UK. It would appear certain excesses of the Radical Queer Theory as espoused by Stonewall and others are being curbed, mainly in response to scandal, scandals which many feminists predicted would happen.

Last night, it was leaked that Dominic Raab (the current Justice Secretary) will announce that any transgender prisoner with male genitalia will have to be signed off by a minister before they are transferred to a woman’s prison, irrespective if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate or not.

This should end some of the self-id by the backdoor which was going on in UK prisons where male prisoners were suddenly proclaiming themselves to be female, transferring to female prisons (and in one case impregnating a female prisoner after they shared some illicit alcohol) and then deciding they were male after they were released from prison. Or old lags know how to play the system and will do so until measures are put in place to prevent it.

The change should result in zero transfers to the female estate as the vast majority had male genitalia apparently. Previously the transfers had been growing at a rate of 21% per year.

A Ministry of Justic spokesperson said: “While there have been no substantiated sexual assaults by transgender women in the female estate since 2019, the safety of all those in our care is a top priority.

“Having recently reviewed the arrangements in July, the Justice Secretary directed changes so that transgender prisoners with male genitalia are not housed with other biologically born women in the female prison estate, unless specifically signed off by a minister.

“Once confirmed by the new government in September, it would be implemented as soon as possible.”

You can read the archived version of the story in the Telegraph here.

The Keep Prisons Single Sex has been one of the big strands of the GC feminist movement and a lot has been done behind the scenes to get to this point. I do think the recent grassroots work by women (and others) writing to their MP and telling them that this is an important issue has resulted this movement.

My own MP, Guy Opperman wrote back to me with this: Nevertheless, whoever becomes our next Prime Minister, the Government will remain committed to protecting women’s rights. The Government have made a number of provisions to protect women. This includes the recognition of the importance of the protection of single-sex spaces, as provided for in the Equality Act. This Act makes it clear that providers have the right to restrict the use of spaces on the basis of sex, and exclude transgender people, with or without a Gender Recognition Certificate, if this is justified. I can assure you that this position has remained unchanged since 2010, and the Government believes it continues to strike the right balance. 
 

The other welcome development is that Hampshire Police force are withdrawing from their re-education to avoid being charge with a non-crime hate incident racket. Hampshire was one of three police forces in England to offer these re-education courses.

Recently a 51-year-old Army veteran who posted an offensive meme as a political protest (four Pride/Trans inclusive flags arranged in a deliberately distasteful manner — the opposite of fylfot) was visited by Hampshire police and told that he could avoid prosecution if he went on this course and paid £60. He objected that it was legtimate political discourse and was arrested before being told that no further action would be taken. (NB it is hard to get the police to attend for a home burglary, but they do attend for social media crimes apparently. One of the attending officers was wearing a Pride lanyard). The new Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire is refocusing the police back towards serious crimes, particularly as gender critical views are protected beliefs and it is not an offense to be offensive. You can read the full story in the Telegraph. This is basically a victory for the right of dissent and political discourse.

I am quietly hopeful that things will start to change in the UK, but I still think there is a long way to go.