But in fact the headline on the STV News website – whether intentionally, through innocent misunderstanding or, as we suspect, a result of being deliberately misled by government ministers – is a flat-out lie.
In fact the Scottish Government has done the exact opposite. It has taken Dr Hilary Cass’s four-year report and set it on fire, so that it can continue to irreversibly destroy the lives of Scottish children in the name of gender ideology.
You’d have to be living in a pretty strict prison not to have heard the big story from today’s Olympics in Paris, in which male Algerian cheat Imane Khelefi was put in a boxing ring with young Italian woman Angela Carini and allowed to hit her in the head for 46 seconds until she retired, in tears and in fear for her safety, saying “I had to preserve my life”.
Sound like your kind of fun, men? It’s surprisingly easy!
The Scottish Greens, in a feat of remarkable hubris and financial profligacy, stood 44 candidates in this week’s general election, knowing that most of them would lose their deposits, which they duly did.
But not quite all of them. And there the comedy arose.
Because while SNP boneheads on social media are raging idiotically at Alba, Wings and others for causing division and damaging the unity of the indy cause yada yada yada, a small handful of Green candidates made a real difference.
In the modern political world, you don’t get anywhere without a movement, and movements don’t get anywhere without a flag. So we’ve decided it’s time to take action and stand up for a very large group of people who are genuinely discriminated against and significantly disadvantaged in our society.
Here’s their symbol.
Today is July 1st, and we officially, on behalf of all our oppressed kinfolk, declare this to be People Who Aren’t Eligible For A Railcard Pride Month.
I was going to write this article yesterday, but 2024’s miserable damp squib of a summer unexpectedly delivered a beautiful day – a perfect 20C of unbroken sunshine with a refreshing slight breeze – so I went for a nice walk instead.
Rather than my usual bird-feeding and bear-patrolling beat along the river and canal, I headed off on what used to be my standard summer stroll: up the long steep hill to Beckford’s Tower and its associated cemetery with stunning views over the city.
I’ll scatter a few pics from the walk throughout this feature, as otherwise I’m afraid it’s going to be a bit depressing and angering.
I’m a professional community organiser, and a tenant and housing activist for some 20 years. I saw the old Scottish Tenants Organisation get smashed by Jack McConnell’s government to make way for council housing privatisation, which in Glasgow created the Glasgow Housing Association.
I’ve long wanted to rebuild a national body to give housing schemes a political voice and to push to end the housing crisis. That’s why I got involved with Living Rent, organising my community to become their first branch. Little did I know that would lead to a brush with crazed gender ideology, and see Queer Theory used to try to destroy it.
As a writer, feminist and literary events organiser in Scotland, I’m regularly sent links to information someone thinks might be of interest to me. This week it was a document commissioned by one of Scotland’s leading and most powerful publicly-funded literary organisations, Literature Alliance Scotland (LAS).
Nobody, of course, objects to transgender writers being included or supported, but the content of the guidance raises several extremely serious and concerning issues.
Normally in cases like these, there’s an instant and concerted attempt to rubbish the judgement, both from amateurs and activist lawyers like Robin Moira “Barry” White, Jolyon Maugham, and the anonymous “Pissed Off Lawyer” tweeting as @legaltweetz. They’ll issue spurious “analyses” dismissing the findings with jargon terms like “obiter”, and either question their correctness or attempt to minimise their significance.
For some reason that didn’t happen this time. The hyper-antagonist online trans army has very conspicuously failed to rush to the defence of ERCC CEO Mridul Wadhwa, perhaps because Judge Ian McFatridge’s conclusions were so relentlessly, brutally and comprehensively excoriating of Wadhwa’s appalling behaviour that no amount of spin or disingenuity could disguise it.
But then, on white charger and with papoose, enter a hero.
Captain Caveman on The fight about to come: “I don’t disagree per se. However, there is a school of argument that suggests the SNP and their ilk do…” Oct 15, 12:55
MaryB on The fight about to come: “Interesting that the SNP conference in Aberdeen is the same weekend as the SSRG conference in Dunfermline, discussing ideas for…” Oct 15, 12:42
Northcode on The fight about to come: ““Better to admit your faults than dress them in borrowed competence.” — attributed to Bea Lurt. Bea Lurt is often…” Oct 15, 11:54
Northcode on The fight about to come: “If we’re using fighting metaphors then the real, most obvious and most urgent, fight facing independence-seeking Scots is the one…” Oct 15, 11:01
Minceheid on The fight about to come: “I’m nae ower bothered about the beer because I have been abstinent for the past twenty years, but I’d be…” Oct 15, 09:34
Hatey McHateface on The fight about to come: “Too right. I read they have to even import welders these days.” Oct 15, 09:22
Hatey McHateface on The fight about to come: “Get a grip, Bob. Free beer would break their own alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing law. Ain’t never gonna happen.” Oct 15, 08:42
robertkknight on The fight about to come: “Aye, right… SNP announce new manifesto pledge… “Free Beer Tomorrow”. Fool me once, and all that.” Oct 15, 03:09
Mark Beggan on The fight about to come: “Do you have growth in your postcode? See a Doctor.” Oct 15, 00:25
Rob on The fight about to come: “Who is looking for perfection? Just basic competence and the feeling that they represent the majority of the country instead…” Oct 14, 22:55
100%Yes on The fight about to come: “The national will feed you any story that makes you buy the paper, so your being lied to and your…” Oct 14, 22:39
Hatey McHateface on The fight about to come: “Aldi 3 YO blended whisky on your breath.” Oct 14, 20:19
Hatey McHateface on The fight about to come: “Aye. Right. What is it with people constantly parroting this £600,000 shite? It’s as if they never heard of bank…” Oct 14, 20:00
Aidan on The fight about to come: “Exactly – a “perfect” government is impossible because people will evaluate a government against different sets of values, interests and…” Oct 14, 19:56
SilentMajority on The fight about to come: “‘Groundhog Day’ anyone? “Our money’s all been spent I don’t know if all that’s true ‘Cause you got me and…” Oct 14, 19:08
Mark Beggan on The fight about to come: “Walk on with hope in your heart and growth in your postcode.” Oct 14, 18:59
factchecker on The fight about to come: “There has never been a perfect government, anywhere. But it is reasonably to expect competence. And it is essential to…” Oct 14, 18:18
factchecker on The fight about to come: “Sarah, That is defeatism. It is perfectly simple to remove these “morons” at any election. Vote for another party. Otherwise,…” Oct 14, 18:12
Ex President Xiden on The fight about to come: “The good news is the SNP has a £600000 referendum fighting fund put aside. I remember them asking for donations.” Oct 14, 18:02
Spartan 117 on The fight about to come: “No excuse in my opinion. Voting SNP and expecting independence is like voting Tory and expecting conservatism/tax cuts/small state. If…” Oct 14, 17:49
Spartan 117 on The fight about to come: “Just as a clarification, my comment about “laughable agitprop fanfic” refers to The National and not Stu’s excellent blog. Sorry…” Oct 14, 17:40
Spartan 117 on The fight about to come: “A very naive view. The career politician is an established industry across the West now and it won’t go away.…” Oct 14, 17:37
Spartan 117 on The fight about to come: “Looks like (yet another) recycle of made-up front-page “headlines” as seen on the montage to the right of this page…” Oct 14, 17:28
am firinn on The fight about to come: “Sarah is right again. Anyone who thinks that independence must wait for a perfect Scottish Government to be achieved does…” Oct 14, 17:20
BLMac on The fight about to come: “Looks like the SNP have dug out the Independence Carrot from under all those Stonewall Gender Manuals. Now they’re looking…” Oct 14, 16:52
Aidan on The fight about to come: “Oh yeah if Scotland achieved independence at the helm they’d definitely all just resign en-mass wouldn’t they, rather than say…” Oct 14, 16:38
sarah on The fight about to come: “It’s so obvious, isn’t it? Why don’t the members all see it? Perhaps they do but they see no alternative…” Oct 14, 16:25
sarah on The fight about to come: “@ Rob, these morons will probably stay in charge until we leave the Union. They will have no hold on…” Oct 14, 16:17