'Now is not the time’
'This is not the place'
'It's too sensitive a topic'
I’ve received a lot of polite put downs when I’ve problematised extreme trans ideology and many that are less polite. But my biggest difficulty is getting people to engage at all. And there is a good reason for that. People do not feel safe. And when we don't feel safe, it's tempting to stick our head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich.
One of the people who will engage respectfully with me on this issue, and from whom I have learned so much, is my trans grandchild. They know I strongly support their right to have good health care, to be free of discrimination and to have the same opportunities as other young people. They also listen carefully when I talk about my concerns.
At a recent zoom meeting on the topic of keeping women safe, I asked, ‘Where is the safe space to discuss concerns about women’s rights and safeguarding children?’ Answers from the panel ranged from ‘this isn’t the meeting’ to ‘one assumes that women would feel some sense of solidarity with those who most discriminated against’ and one panellist who thought the more important issue was that trans people were not safe. I certainly don’t deny the last, but that wasn’t the question I asked.
There is currently no safe space to talk on this issue. These are times when:
- a secondary school pupil gets sent out of class for saying it’s unfair that male bodied people take part in women’s sport;
- friends of mine working with young people tell me privately that they cannot talk about their concerns of what is happening for fear of their jobs;
- those who are brave enough to speak up, to problematise the issue and to ask questions are hounded out of their professional bodies, their political parties, sacked from their jobs and face disciplinary hearings; and
- despite the vehement trans ideology, trans people are still discriminated against, experience abuse and lack appropriate health care.
Should there ever be an issue we cannot question? That sounds too much like religious dogma.
Should we ‘Wheesht for Indy'? That sounds as though we want independence at any cost, regardless of equality and justice.
May I suggest this is not the time to stick our heads in the sand and hope it will all go away? There’s a full-scale war on. As in all wars, the temptation is to align without question to one side or the other; to wear that colour; to carry that flag and to believe the worst of the other side. As in all wars, the underlying motives of the powerful are given the sheen of respectability – have we asked ourselves who is really in control here? Are we being used as pawns in a more sinister game?
There have been far too many casualties, not least among the trans and intersex people who feel that they have been colonised in the interest of an extreme ideology; and the vulnerable children who are being brought up to believe that only medical intervention can make them feel worthwhile.
We urgently need to move to a peaceful solution. We need to build a consensus. Inevitably, that will mean giving up some positions we thought we would never surrender.
Let's talk, eh?