The early 2000's were an extraordinary period for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) community. After decades of apparently fruitless campaigning, the walls suddenly fell, and politicians and big corporates began to compete to prove their LGBT friendly credentials at Pride and Awareness events. 

Five friends on a night out.  Which are a "woman" and which aren't?

Arguably transgender individuals have been the greatest beneficiary of this change, as laws were passed in country after country that allowed them to legally change their "sex" to match their preferred gender, and even a replacement Birth Certificate to be issued.   One example in the UK is that daughters have inherited hereditary titles as a man and become a Lord, whilst sons have married as a woman and become a Lady.

Okay guys, our new office dress code does state suit or knee length dress - but we didn't expect it to be taken so literally!

Trans-activists have continued to press for even more concessions, most controversially regarding transwomen who have had no medical treatment.  They are physically men but identify as a woman and want to be legally treated as such in all regards - from access to women's toilets to applying for (and often gaining) jobs such as a Rape Counsellor.

I find particularly worrying indications that teenage children are seeking to change their gender just because their friends are.  Social media sites are a massive influence on teenagers and encourage a bandwagon effect when popular infuencers transition, whilst the mission of leading trans charities in the UK such as Stonewall and Mermaids leads them to encourage and support young children in changing their gender without questioning if this is necessary and in the best interests of the child.  Even worse, the NHS in the UK has been overwhelmed by the number of children who now apparently suffer from gender identification disorders (GID), and as result it's providing irreversible "gender confirmation" treatments and surgery to teenage children with minimal assessment.  I fear that there will be huge backlash by the end of 2020's, with thousands of young transmen and transwomen (it's rarely recognised that the former outnumber the later) bitterly regretting their poorly advised decisions as a teenager.

Corey Rae with her then fiancee.  She transitioned age 15, had SRS age 19, became engaged age 31 and they married when she was 34.  But gentically she is still XY 'male'. Is she a woman?

Gender vs. Physical Sex

Despite all the positive developments, huge problem remains in the wide-spread assumption that gender and sex are the same when in fact they are very different.  Gender is a mental and lifestyle attribute), whilst is sex is a physical attribute which includes genes, sexual intercourse and reproduction.

In the UK, the ignorance of Civil Servants and Members of Parliament about the difference between sex and gender resulted in the passing into law of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA2004).  This inaccurately confuses sex as being synonymous with gender.

In 2016 it was announced that GRA2004 would be reviewed after a campaign for a 'simplified' Gender Recognition procedure where the applicant could self-declare their gender with no medical assessment required, and that this declaration will be legally binding.  An amendment to the Act was expected to be passed allowing this in 2019, but other UK government priorities such as Brexit and then Covid-19 delayed the legislation, and it was eventually dropped.  However, the Scottish Parliament, which has extensive devolved powers, has continued to pursue the self-declaration route, for example the 2022 census will in Scotland allow anyone to self-declare their sex - regardless of what official documents such as their Birth Certificate or Passport may state.

Even without the amendment, under GRA2004 it is possible in the UK to legally to change sex from male to female, or vice-versa, without having had any medical treatment.  The requirements are: fill in a form; find a registered doctor who will sign it; and pay the requisite fee (just £5).  About a month later a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) will arrive in the post. 

Implementation of the GRA2004 has become a triumph of the views of a small but very vocal trans-lobby.  The rights, safety and best interests of women with a vagina (yes, I'm including constructed neo-vagina's) are subordinated to anyone with a penis who can coherently fill in a form.

A repeated sex offender (David Thompson) became legally a woman (Karen White) in the UK without having had any medical treatment.  The claim that he and other similar men are now actually women is having a brutal effect on cis-women.

Possession of a GRC permits the holder to be considered female for all legal purposes, whilst often still physically a fertile male with a fully functional penis.  One (and not unique) appalling example of the consequences of this is the case of David Thompson.  Whilst on remand for grievous bodily harm, burglary, multiple rapes, and other sexual offences against women - David applied for and obtained a female GRC as Karen White, age 52.  When subsequently convicted as a male paedophile who had sexually abused young girls, her GRC meant that 'she' was sent to a women-only prison - despite having had no genital surgery or even any hormone treatment.  Within a few weeks Karen had raped or sexually assaulted four fellow prisoners.  As a result, Leeds Crown Court described Karen as being a "predator who was a danger to women and children".  However, whilst Karen had been temporarily relocated to a male-only prison, the court couldn't order this to be made permanent as she was legally female!

(Left) Dr Upton before and after transition, and (right) Nurse Peggie.

Another example of the problems granting a GRC to a physical male is the case of Dr Upton.  Born in Scotland in 1995 as Theodore Upton, his Birth Certificate stated that he was 'Male'.  He subsequently qualified as a medical doctor.  In January 2022 he obtained a GRS and in August 2022 transitioned, adopting the female forename 'Beth'.  After re-registering under her new name, Dr Beth Upton began working as a doctor in August 2023 at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she was given permission to use the hospitals female-only facilities despite still possessing a penis.  A nurse, Sandie Peggie, was dealing with her menstrual flow in a female changing room when Beth entered the room and supposedly undressed in front of her.  Sandie was very uncomfortable about this experience and when they were subsequently both in a changing room confronted Beth about being a man.  This led to Dr Upton making a formal complaint about Nurse Peggie, claiming that she had said "deeply upsetting and hurtful things ... I felt unsafe".  The nurse was suspended from work and investigated for bullying.  Sandie countered by taking the hospital to an employment tribunal in early 2025, she claimed sexual harassment under Equality Act, indirect discrimination and victimisation by her employer and a male doctor; whilst Beth responded that she was actually the one who had been harassed - "my identity is female."

I found it interesting that the UK newspapers adopted a far more even tone about the Beth Upton case than they did with other complaints against pre-surgery transwomen, such as Isla Bryson and Karen White.  The vast difference in the severity of their supposed crimes is hopefully the predominant factor, but I suspect that the 29-year-old Beth also benefited from presenting as a normal and reasonably attractive woman.  In court she was at no great disadvantage in appearance and demeanor from the 50-year-old nurse.  Concersely, Isla and Karen were more like "Ugly Sister" drag artists with obvious wigs and OTT make-up.

But being positive, GRA2004 has helped to legalise thousands of marriages in the UK between a man and a transwoman.  For this, both partners must complete a statutory declaration for submission to the Gender Recognition Panel.  Whilst the vast majority of husbands are aware that their wife is transgender (or vice versa), there are a small number of instances where she has successfully been in deep stealth and this is a huge surprise, and a source of magazine articles!

Great Beauty = Woman?

Recent years have been seen a gradual acceleration of the trend for transwomen to become ever more successful in the $1 trillion per year women's beauty and fashion sector.  2024 saw Alex Consani (right) being voted female model of the year, the first transgender woman to win this award. But there are dozens of other transwomen who are currently rated among the top female models in the world, e.g. Lea T, Hari Nef, Valentina Sampaio, Katy Gramma, Ariel Nicholson and Teddy Quinlivan.

Similarly, all the "Big 4" beauty pageant contests now accept openly transgender women as contestants - before that rumours often circulated about which participants were transsexual.  Transwomen are starting to win an ever larger number of competitions at a national level, for example Angela Ponce (Miss Spain), Rikkie Kolle (Miss Netherlands) and Marina Machete (Miss Portugal).  Inevitability one will soon win the overall contest and become Miss World/Universe/ International/Earth.

Historically, physical beauty has always been a key measurement for identifying women.  If young transwomen are now setting this standard, does that mean they are women and it is cis-women that are struggling to make the grade?  Of course, until recent years female beauty was usually associated by men with fertility, so that may give genetic women some hope that they won't cease to be irrelevant!

Problems

The pendulum swung extraordinary quickly and by 2020 it had become almost mandatory for “progressive” politicians, sports administrators, charities, et al, to advocate the rights of transgender women.  Indeed it seemed that the rights and interests of self-declared transgender women were more important than those of cis women.

Josh Seiter (age 37, 6ft / 183cm tall and 189lbs / 86kg weight) posted vidoes and photos of himself using women's toilets and restrooms shortly after declaring that he identified as a woman.  He is not on hormone therapy or planning to have any medical treatment.

I'm not surprised about the increasing number of cis women complaining about transwomen who have often not had GCS or even hormone treatment, or indeed any medical treatment.  For example, transwoman:

• using women's toilets and changing rooms

• being admitted to women-only hospital wards and prisons

• entering women-only refuges, safe houses and havens

• demanding access to women-only societies and events

• enrolling for women only courses and workshops, e.g. yoga, pilates and even maternity classes

• participating in women's sport events

• advocating radical feminist views on topics such as rape and abortion

• availing of state benefits available only to women (such as an earlier pension age)

• being employed as counsellors in areas such as female sexual assault and rape, domestic abuse, menopause and abortion.

Other issues in the UK include:

• the misstatement of someone's preferred gender becoming considered a hate crime, with a criminal record potentially resulting

• suggesting in conversation that "biological sex cannot be changed” or that "transwomen are not women" can have  serious consequences, such as the loss of your job

• the introduction of confusing pronouns such as "them" and "they"

• lesbian and bisexual women (10% of cis-women in the UK in 2022) who do not want to have sex or a relationship with a transwoman who still has male genitals being verbally abused, branded as unacceptably transphobic by activists, and even raped by a "woman" physically far larger and stronger

• reading leaflets, newspaper and articles that go to extreme lengths to avoid sex specific words such as "vagina".  E.g. a UK charity refers to the vaginal opening as the "bonus hole", whilst an Australian professional medical publication uses the term "front hole"

  A 38-year-old transwoman. Despite hormones, dieting, and extensive surgery including breast implants and GRS, she struggles to "pass" as a woman in daily life, resulting in frequent depression.

  discovering that the in-print edition of classic books by JR Rowling, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Ian Flemming - amongst others - have been re-written to remove sexual stereotyping potentially offensive to a very small minority

• traditional family friendly films such as Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music being re-certified to require parental guidance, with trigger warnings added about their sexual stereotyping

• the NHS's National Menopause People Policy Framework claiming "It is important to note that not everyone who experiences menopause is a woman."

• parents discovering from schools (e.g. at parent meetings when their son is unexpectedly referred to as "she" by teachers) that their child has asked to change their gender, and they legally can't prevent this!

I'm going to be controversial by stating that I consider some of the complaints to be valid as I've been personally affected by the increasing backlash against transwomen because a few men (I can't find an alternative word) and "trans activists" have abused the rights that it took decades for us to win.

I find extraordinary the apparent current belief by many supposedly “progressive” politicians, sports administrators, charities, et al, that the rights and interests of self-declared transgender women are more important than those of cis women.

 

The Thought Police

Extreme and polarised views are now dominating the transgender agenda in the UK and in other western countries.  For example, a lesbian woman (normally the good person in WOKE thinking) who refused to have sex with a self-labelled lesbian transwoman who had not had "bottom surgery" and obviously had a functional penis was damned on social media as being 'transphobic'.

Supposed transphobic behaviour (e.g. posting a comment on Twitter that a post-GCS neovagina "goes nowhere" - which is physically true) has become so unacceptable in the UK that it can lead to a visit by the police, with a formal warning issued that "whilst a criminal offence has not been committed, you now have civil offence record for a hate incident".  Thousands of UK companies, schools and public sector bodies thus now subscribe to schemes run by the LGBTQ charity Stonewall, which is largely taxpayer funded.  It's unclear why Stonewall qualifies as being a charity as when it appointed a new CEO in May 2020, her salary was more than the £160,000 paid to the UK's Prime Minister!

Stonewall advice participating organisations to avoid the use of the words "mother" and "father" (instead suggesting "parent who has/has not given birth"); "boy" and "girl" (instead use terms such as "learner"); and "he" and "she" (use "they").  As a result, for example, the NHS Scotland has been removing these offensive words from all of its publications, forms, leaflets and websites.  Compliance with Stonewall's guidance will gain Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. 

Stonewall is far from unique, numerous other LGBTQ organisations and individuals are demanding similar changes to accepted terminology, for example:

• "mother" to "the birthing parent"
• "breast-feeding" to "chest-feeding"
• "woman" to "cervix-haver" or "menstruator"

By 2021 the trans agenda was so succesful that a leading medical journal, The Lancet, avoided the word "women" and instead used the phrase "bodies with vaginas" on its front cover in reference to an article about menstrual periods.  Crazily, this still created a hail of criticism on the grounds that the phrase was prejudicial and exclusionary to transwoman, with a British politician confusingly stating that "it was not right [to say] only women have a cervix".

I find it impossible to defend this situation - it's a modern incarnation of the Thought Police in George Orwell's novel 1984.  If the recommendations of Stonewall and similar organisations are followed, the resulting genderless society seems akin to a science fiction book - and certainly does nothing to advance women rights.  Indeed, women's rights are becoming subsumed into the rights of transwoman, even if the later have had no medical treatment. 

A scene in the 1986 movie the Life of Brian lampoons the current situation with surprising accuracy:

Stan (left) out's himself as Loretta and wants to have babies.

Stan: I want to have babies.
Reg: But you can't have babies.
Stan: Don't you oppress me.
Reg: I'm not oppressing you,
Stan: You haven't got a womb. Where's the foetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?
Judith: Here! I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the "right" to have babies.
Francis: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister, sorry.
Reg: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies, when he can't have babies?
Francis: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
Reg: It's symbolic of his struggle against reality.

There has since been huge pressure to delete this scene from both the movie and a prospective stage show because it might offend some people. 

Man or woman?  Teddy Quinlivan (left), Angela Ponce and Nikol Spearman (right)

Despite all the high profile and superficially very successful LGBT+ campaigning (at least in the USA and Western Europe, I suspect that the vast majority (99% ?) of the world's human population still identify themselves as 'male' (a man) or 'female' (a woman).  Trying to encourage or even enforce the use of gender neutral terms such as 'them' (rather than 'he' or 'she'), 'person' (rather than 'man or 'woman') and 'parent and co-parent' (rather than 'mother and father') seems to me to be an oppressive rather than liberating action.  The words 'women' and 'woman' have social connotations for people who describe themselves as such that don't deserve to be destroyed by a very small minority with a differing opinion.  Deleting the word 'mother' is surely simply putting wishful or woke thinking before the reality of biology.

In October 2021 the European Commission published communication guidelines which attempted to ban gender specific words and phrases such as "man-made" and "ladies and gentlemen" and replace them with neutral phrases like "human-induced" and "dear colleagues".  This was withdrawn a month later with the official reason that it was not "a mature document and more work was required".  An alternative reason provided is that examples were in English but the French language categorises every noun as masculine or feminine - France is strongly advocating that French should replace English as the primary working language of the EU post-Brexit.

 

A Moment of Sanity?

T

Vittoria Schisano, Abril Zamora and Angela Ponce  attending an event about Gender Affirmation Surgery in Madrid, Spain, in March 2022.  They are genetically XY, don't menstruate and can't bear children.  So, are they men or women?

o widespread astonishment, in April 2022 the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) unexpectedly pushed back against the headlong acceptance of transwomen who were still physically completely male as women.  It published guidance that allows "where proportionate" transwomen to be excluded from female-only changing rooms and lavatories, and said that a "service provider can exclude, modify or limit access to their service for trans people" ... "for reasons of privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety”. 

Examples of where restrictions would be applicable include:

•  "group counselling sessions for female sex assault victims where it is judged the victims are likely to be traumatised by the presence of a person who is biologically male”
•  "a domestic abuse refuge that offers emergency accommodation to female survivors"; and
• "female-only fitness classes because of the amount of physical contact involved"

These nurses are suing the NHS for being forced to share their changing room with physical men who identify as women.

The EHRC's guidance immediately hit a storm of criticism, including from the NHS which will have to change it's supposedly progressive policies to comply, and is reluctant to do so.  In June 2024 a group of NHS nurses in Darlington sued their employer for allowing transwomen to use the female changing rooms.  In particular, they felt unsafe and even experienced panic attacks after being required to change into work clothes in front of a sexually active biological male with an all too obvious penis who claimed to identify as a woman, and had changed her name to Rose.  After raising concerns, the nurses were told by HR that they needed to be "re-educated" - which Rose offered to help do.

In July 2024 the EHRC tried to clarify its guidance by stating that if an employer wanted to advertise for a woman-only job, that must only mean biological women or those who have received a gender-recognition certificate (GRC).  Unfortunately it is very easy to obtain a GCS and no evidence of medical treatment such as hormones or surgery is required. 

 

Woman or Transwomen?

A massive challenge that is never addressed by lawyers or trans advocates is the physical reality that there is a huge difference between transwomen, for example:

Example 1. A 20-year-old who is 160 cm tall (5ft 3in), weighs 48kg (106lbs), transitioned and began hormones age 17 under supervision after a medical assessment, had SRS age 19 and identifies as a heterosexual woman attracted to men.  However, her USA passport still states that he is "Male".

and

Example 2. A 58-year-old who is 185 cm tall (6ft 1in), weighs 102kg (223lbs), and transitioned age 56 without any medical supervision and doesn't take hormones consistently.  He is pre-SRS but identifies as a lesbian attracted to women.  He has obtained a UK Gender Recognition Certificate and her passport now states that she is "Female".

Four transwomen, all post-SRS/GCS, but some pass as a woman far easier than others.

Sadly, we are in a situation where there is a subjective element.  Not accepting example 1 as a woman seems hugely unfair but conversely accepting example 2 as a woman raises many problems - from women's toilets to women's sports to women's hospital wards.  

Applying a law where just completing a form makes an adult man legally a "woman" not only doesn't work, but it can dangerously abuse the rights of other women.   

 

Impact on Children
Personally, I'm very concerned about the impact that saturation trans-advocacy on social media is having on children.  In 2000 I was a strong supporter of the earliest possible medical treatment of children with GID.  But that was when just 1 in 4000 of UK children (the majority male to female) under 18 were being reported as having GID, in 2020 the number astonishingly reached over 2 in 100, with 76% female to male!  Something has surely gone badly wrong when so many teenagers, particularly girls, are questioning their gender.  The increasing number de-transitioners in their twenties - who have often had irreversible and ironically named "gender confirmation surgery" - need to be listened to.

Children are now being bombarded on social media, television and even at school by LGBT+ messaging.  Organisations such as Stonewall are sponsoring television programmes and making adverts to encourage children 'to be themselves' and come out as transgender.  Their pamphlets and posters have also appeared in almost every school.  It's become trendy and attention gaining among teenage children to come out as transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, gender neutral, etc.  UK children with Gender Identify Disorder (GID) are almost doubling annually - the NHS accepted 77 children for treatment in 2009, 2,590 in 2019.  A typical UK school now has 1% of its pupils registered as having GID.  

W

Trans-activists don't consider the ability to have children to be a differentiator between cis-women and transwomen.  I have to disagree; I believe that there's a fundamental divide between "gender" and physical "sex".

e seem to be reaching a once Science Fiction like scenario where every child can decide if they want to be male, female or something else - both legally and in their secondary sexual characteristics (i.e. external physical appearance).  As a society, we need to consider carefully the implications of giving children that choice, a choice which that they may later bitterly regret.

In my own (medically unqualified) experience there's a small proportion of transgender children who after expert medical assessment should be given pro-active medical assistance (including blockers, hormones and surgery) at the earliest possible age.  But there's also a greater number where it would be best not to intervene medically - even if that meant them passing through puberty.  Unfortunately, there are a substantial number of children in the middle that require the "Wisdom of Solomon" to assess correctly.