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Michelle Styles's avatar

And because this in -- Maya Forstater received over £106k compensation for her harassment, including extra damages because of what the company officers said after the verdict. https://www.forstater.com/discrimination-costs/

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Alison Bull's avatar

That WSJ article was excellent and shows how many doctors know that the wrong paths are being taken. I believe we’re not there yet, but doctors are finally speaking up about more because they’re tired of being afraid, especially about vaccine injury and kids getting the vaccine.

https://twitter.com/immeme0/status/1674083167152553984?s=46

I don’t know if that link works but it’s a man speaking about trans women using girls bathrooms in school.

Congratulations on the new contract! That’s great news!

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Michelle Styles's avatar

I think we are not quite there yet either. Do you follow Gerald Posner on twitter -- it would appear he is doing a book on the subject?

I am pleased about the new contract. It just needs to be written and I need to get the first 100 pages of the Murrow ready for my agent. She suggested I read Letters to a Young Writer as she was finding it very useful in helping her triage submissions. I suspect you might enjoy it if you haven't read it.

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Alison Bull's avatar

I do follow him. I’ll buy his book, too! And yes I will also check out Letters. I’m finally almost done with my manuscript.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

Hooray!

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jt's avatar

Likewise! Three cheers for Alison!

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Alison Bull's avatar

It’s taken a while. A long while lol.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

it always does.

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jt's avatar

Oh! Nice *catch!* Alison!

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LudicrousLife's avatar

We women need to keep fighting. I keep thinking that very soon we will wake up from this nightmare of injustice. So blatantly unfair. Thank you Michelle for continuing to write about this.

I saw a photo of the suburb in Paris burning. It was a line of flames as far as the eye could see. Yep, mostly peaceful.

Oh, congratulations on the new contract. Wonderful!

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Michelle Styles's avatar

It is my little act of rebellion to write about these things. It amazes me how deeply entrenched it has become. Did you see the article in the WSJ about the Endocrine Society? https://archive.ph/2023.06.28-183920/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-endocrine-societys-dangerous-politicization-endocrinologists-gender-affirming-care-arkansas-dac768bd

And Paris burning is amazing. I am shocked that Macron thought it a good idea on the 2nd night of rioting to go to the concert as he has been accused of being out of touch before. Elton John's set at Glastonbury was great (watched it on the telly) but I would not have wanted to see it in person even 120k did -- standing for 12 hours and not daring to use the loo in case you lost your place.

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jt's avatar

Appreciate You.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

And I appreciate you reading it and commenting.

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jt's avatar

Haha. Forgot to comment on the rowing. Anybody with eyes to see...

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Michelle Styles's avatar

Yes. It amuses me no end in the mixed 8 crews -- four must be female and four must be male as not to disadvantage anyone. They know what a woman is if men are involved.

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jt's avatar

TY. That's unbeLIEVable, so all too true. SHEESH on them!

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LudicrousLife's avatar

Great opinion article in WSJ. It would seem to be a manipulation of the research by applying 2017 thought in support of the ruling. Just as in COVID doctors (endocrinologists) need to speak up. They are all cowed into compliance

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Patrizia's avatar

I always look forward to your weekly summary!

And congratulations on your Harlequin contract offer!!!!!

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Michelle Styles's avatar

Thank you! I am so pleased you enjoy my little offering.

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jt's avatar

Stop the presses!! I didn't quite make it to the end, when I saw this, Ma'am:

"In news closer to home, Harlequin have offered me another contract. My editor loved what I had done with the revised partial. I now must deliver the full by 6 November."

That should-a been the LEAD story this week, right? (And that should be Nov. 6, right? ;-) Of course, that's just great. Is the hard part ahead or behind or both?

Having read a number of articles You linked to, I dunno where to start with my praise, Michelle. Or disgust. I would just ask someone to explain something to me, which I don't understand about the press. I saw this sentence in an article I can't find now:

"... gender-critical beliefs - the conviction that people cannot change their biological sex."

I think this came from an article that was generally tolerant of gender-critical views. But there's this erroneous view that people have a "belief" or "conviction" that "people cannot change their biological sex." The key word that people don't seem to be able to see is BIOLOGICAL, right? And it's "mathematically impossible," meaning scientifically, biologically impossible, for a person to change there biological gender.

Likewise the article in the Irish Times misstating that biological gender is "assigned." "Assigned male sex at birth" is mathematically impossible, as well, right? I say that because I view the .07% of people who are Intersex as the exception that proves the rule that sex is, for all intents and purposes for 99.93% of people, binary.

I was sorry to read that about France. I hadn't paid enough attention. TY as always, Michelle, for that and other points.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

I thought you'd be pleased. I was pleased. It is always nerve wracking. Luckily my editor loves my v strong heroine.

The reason why the UK made it a belief is so that it becomes protected in UK law. Whoever went that way was v clever. And I totally agree with you. It did take me awhile to get my head around it.

Genetic/Biological Sex is established at conception and observed at birth. It never wavers. It cannot be assigned. Those people who suffer from a DSD Development Sex Disorder (the preferred term) will never have their genes altered and they are not some mysterious new sex caused by the addition of a new chromosome. If you have Y in your genes, you are male. If you have only X, you are female -- regardless of how many Xs and Ys you might have. A cheek swab can determine if the doctors can't, but truly medical science has advanced leaps and bounds from only a few decades ago. (Sorry assigned sex at birth is fingernails on a blackboard for me)

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jt's avatar

yeah, me too. That last. And TY, of course, as I appreciate Your writing us all the replies You do.

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Alison Bull's avatar

Michelle, let me know if this is behind a paywall. It shouldn’t be.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/skyhorse-publishing-the-house-of-the-canceled-tony-lyons-books-heterodoxy-manuscript-d7b57992

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Michelle Styles's avatar

I went and retrieved it from archive.is https://archive.is/0S5dz I shall read it. It looks interesting.

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Alison Bull's avatar

Definitely read it. It made my day.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

It is good. He is publishing Miriam Grossman's new book.

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Alison Bull's avatar

I have two of her other books. She’s wonderful.

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Running Burning Man's avatar

Great summary as usual.

HOWEVER, can we dispense with labels like "trans women (biological males)"? How about "trans identified males"? They are male; they simply wanna claim they are women. It is a claim, not a reality.

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Michelle Styles's avatar

Ah language -- a personal favourite topic as I love words.

It is what words do you to describe a thing and if changing the word is going to make things easier or harder. A feature of Gender Ideology is to obscure with words and redefine words.

As Coloum McCann says in Letters to a Young Writer (my agent suggested I read it as I am trying to move away from genre novels), where you are telling a story is important to the words you will use. If the narrator is telling the story in a corporate boardroom, the narrator will use to different words to a whorehouse in Texas, for example.

I know some people are using TiM -- Trans identified Males or TiF Trans identified Females to make the point about biological sex not changing. I personally have no problems with TW Transwomen as I know they are biological males and it is a familiar enough term so I use it. YOu of course can use whatever term you like (right to dissent and all that) and if I don't understand, I may ask for clarification.

My big problem is when people use trans children -- real fingernails on a blackboard moment for me as there is no objective test to show which children who are suffering from gender incongruency will go on to develop full blow adult severe gender dysphoria. Most won't. And children who are merely gender variant and have behaviours which alter from the norm are not necessarily gender incongruent. I found the new service specifications for the NHS (the ones which block puberty blockers except for 'research purposes') really interesting about the need to be really careful in the diagnosis and not simply to be 'child led'. We simply do not know if they are stressed because they have this problem or are exhibiting the problem because they are stressed. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Interim-service-specification-for-Specialist-Gender-Incongruence-Services-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf

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