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In late 2015, my teenage daughter Jessie declared she was transgender and the experience tugged us into a rabbit hole of Orwellian double-speak and general insanity. I read so much during that time and it was such a vast learning curve that I felt compelled to bring all the threads together in an article. I was especially struck by the exponential surge in the number of teenage girls who were ‘identifying’ as boys, usually young lesbians and usually after lengthy sessions on social media.
After Jessie desisted, I wanted to share what I’d read as well as what I’d learned and eventually I finished writing an article which contained over 100 links. Jessie added a short postscript of her own and I was delighted when 4thwavenow published it in December 2016 under the title ‘A Mum’s Voyage Through Transtopia – a tale of love and desistance’.
Before you ask me any questions; before you critcise or praise my stance on transitioning kids, or the appropriation of womanhood by men, please read that. It’s where it all began.
After Jessie re-realised she was a girl and things settled down at home, I expected to put my time in Transtopia behind me and move on. Instead I became more fascinated- and angry- with the culture of misogyny and homophobia which underlies transgender theory.
For without stereotypes there can be no ‘brave transgender children’. Without the dolls and the pink tutus, a love of glitter, a gentle nature and a will to dance, what could possibly make girls of the little boys of ‘My Transgender Summer Camp’? What other than her love of Batman, karate and jumping around could make that short-haired, fierce little girl into a boy trapped in a female body? A feeling? How does a boy feel? How does a girl feel?
Without sexism, there can be no transgenderism. Without the idea that there is a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’ way to be a boy or a girl there would be no need to beguile and medicate these kids in an attempt to make them ‘fit in’. Our current culture of blind affirmation is not doing anyone any favours. It is nothing short of abusive to tell a child that they are ‘wrong’, that they have been ‘born in the wrong body’ or that medication and surgery can make them into the opposite sex. Affirming a trans-identified child- and many of these kids are LGB, autistic, have suffered trauma, abuse or loss, or have co-existing mental health issues- is to set them down a path to becoming a life-long medical patient.
This first step down this pathway begins with agreeing with a confused girl that she is a boy. 21st century kids who undergo social transition young frequently progress to puberty blockers. Children given puberty blockers almost always go one to take cross sex hormones. This combination leaves a child sterile and without sexual function.
What would have happened if I had affirmed my child when she told me she was a boy?
I would have called her by her new name and ‘he/him’ pronouns.
This would have told her that I believed she was not a girl, that I thought she had been ‘born wrong’ and needed fixing in order to be her ‘authentic’ self. It would also have affirmed her delusion, every day.
I would have paid for her to see a private therapist.
Most private therapists will tell you trans-identified children become suicidal if not transitioned. The reality is, there is no data to support the idea that they are more at risk than any other child being seen under child mental health services.
I would have accessed my child cross-sex hormones.
Don’t believe those who tell you about lengthy waiting lists. If you are broke and follow the NHS route, yes. If you’ve got a couple of hundred quid spare, you can get hormones for your child quickly and easily. Gender GP is just one of the services that has prescribed testosterone for girls as young as twelve. Before we jump to blame the parents, consider: is it any wonder parents resort to this when they’ve been told their child may kill themselves otherwise?
Girls on testosterone often develop acne and male pattern baldness. They grow beards. The beards, baldness and deepened voice are irreversible. They are also at higher risk of heart attack and other diseased and illnesses. Most doctors recommend a hysterectomy within 5 years of being on testosterone.
Top surgery would be next.
Why wouldn’t it be? By this point everyone would have been using my child’s new name and pronouns. Everyone would be agreeing with her that she was a boy. She would probably be using a binder, with all the health risks that entails. It would seem like natural progression to have an elective double mastectomy. In the USA, girls as young as 13 have undergone this procedure.
She might have chosen to go on to have phalloplasty, where the skin of the arm is stripped to form a tube of flesh that’s attached between the legs. As you can imagine, a lot can go wrong with this procedure.
And there we would have it.
My dysphoric child would have been left dependent on drugs and the affirmation of others to maintain this illusion for the rest of her life. And you know what? She could still never be a man.
He’s a Man: how the FA sanctioned a 17-year-old football player because she called a man a man
I thought I’d said everything I had to say on the subject of men in women’s football in‘The Stunning, Brave &Beautiful Game’, just a few short months ago in September. But here we are again ALREADY and what a fucking mess it all is, worse than ever, eh? Suddenly I find I have more to say.
“Are you a man?”
While men continue to muscle in on women’s sports, this weekend saw a protest outside Wembley Stadium before the England v Ireland men’s game, instigated by an incident involving a seventeen-year-old girl. At a pre-season friendly football match in July, confronted with a large, bearded person on the opposing team, the girl asked him, “Are you a man?” She is also reported to have said, “He’s a man,” and told him, “Don’t come here again”.
He’s a man
Telegraph Sport, on October 19th reported that the girl said she had “become ‘confused” about the participation of the trans player during the match in question, due to the latter “wearing jewellery and sunglasses” and not being in opposition kit.”
At half time the girl had asked the referee for guidance, saying she had already suffered “a number of overlyphysical challenges” and was concerned for her safety. It should be noted that the referee ‘heard nothing he deemed to be discriminatory’.
Kick it Out
Nonetheless, the opposition team reported the girl to Kick It Out, a group established in 1997, originally to fight racism in sport. Over the years it has expanded its remit to include other areas.
“Discrimination, in all its forms. Racism. Sexism. Homophobia.Transphobia. Kick It Out are here to put an end to all forms of discrimination within sport.”
Which all sounds very worthy until you realise that being against ‘transphobia’ in sport really means ‘letting men play in women’ssports if they want to’. After all, who could possibly be more discriminated against than the man who wishes to LARP as a woman?
Kick It Out, armed with complaints from the man in question and his coach (who should hang his head in shame) accusing the girl of ‘persistent transphobia’, trotted off to report her to the Football Association.
It is worth noting that the girl in question is on a pathway for an autism diagnosis, which means that discrimination could well be an issue in this case, although not in the way being suggested. But that’s a whole other can of worms. It should go without saying that no woman or girl should be compelled to lie about the sex of a man, or to pretend a man is a woman. Ever.
Members of KickIt Out‘s ‘Charitable Company’ include the Football Association, the Professional Footballers Association, the Premier League and the English Football League. This lot got together and dragged the girl before a ‘National Serious Case Panel’ where she sobbed as she received a six match ban for being guilty of discrimination.
When challenged about their decision to report the girl, Kick It Out responded, “Just to clarify, when reports are sent to Kick It Out we forward these to authorities for further investigation. Kick It Out is a charity, so we do not conduct the investigation nor decide the outcome, but we can provide further education.”
Hmmmm. Impartial? Not really. Since 2016 Kick It Out have enlisted ex-military dude, Stonewall aficionado andwannabe-influencer, Steve ‘Sophie’ Cook to bang the drum for them. In 2017 Cook headed Kick It Out’s unironically named ‘Raise Your Game’ event, aimed at women footballers.
Want to know more about egalitarians-turned-bullies Kick It Out and their dubious credentials? StillTish has researched an excellent piece here.
Lord Triesman
On 24th October,the Telegraph reported that Lord Triesman, former FA chairman, had written a strongly worded letter to both the FA’s chair and its chief executive, concerning the girl’s case.
“I am deeply concerned that the FA is not providing all women and girls with fair, safe football because of its policy allowing male players – those with XY chromosomes, but a transgender identity – to play in the women’s game…”
“A very significant number of serious injuries”
Lord Triesman raised the issue in the House of Lords on 13th November, saying that the issue of ‘people whowere born men’ playing in women’s games had been discussed ‘back in my day’ and “it was clear that it tended to produce an unfair competition and a very significant number of serious injuries. It led us to banning those kinds of competitions because of those reasons – no other reasons.”
He spoke in defence of the girl, concluding, “I do not intend to let it rest.”
Safeguarding fail
On 6th November the Telegraph picked up the story again, quoting the mother of the girl.
“We’ve always taught our daughter to ask questions, and if she doesn’t feel comfortable or she doesn’t feel safe then sheshould go to somebody in charge and ask the question… but she’s been effectively sanctioned by the FA for doing so.”
“A very small population of transgender women”
On November 7th, the Free Speech union published an article about the case. In it, the FA was quoted as saying their inclusion policy enabled ‘a very small population of transgender women to enjoy playing football safely in the grass-roots game’.
The FA shows no concern for the safety of the female players expected to play with men without complaint.
Nor does it seem to grasp the fact that for every man who now enjoys the luxury of playing women’s ‘grass roots’ football, there is a woman who didn’t get a place on the team.
It is worth pointing out at this point that the girl’s mother believes that there were not just one but two men playing on the opposing team.
“The participation of transgender athletes in their acquired gender could threaten the fundamental requirement of a level playing field in sport” Football Association 2003
The FA has not always so gallantly supported LARPing men in their desire to muscle in on the girls’ games. In 2003 debates, surrounding the advent of the Gender Recognition Act (2004), the Football Association asked for an exemption – as did every other sporting body at the time.
‘Vulvamort’ has an excellent Twitter thread on this subject, here.
In 2003, Lord Moynihan told the House of Lords,“not one governing body that I have contacted, while being sensitive to the issues, wishes to see anything but an exemption in the legislation.”
Some sporting bodies requested anonymity, but not the FA, who asserted that aspects of men playing on women’s teams would be ‘extremely problematic’.
“The participation of transgender athletes in their acquired gender could threaten the fundamental requirement of a level playing field in sport… mixed football is currently prohibited by the FA rules for players over the age of 10 due to the comparatively greater physical strength of male players disparity in strength levels would in our view lead to increased risk of physical injury… the strength and stamina of the average woman would put her to disadvantage to the average man.”
But it wasn’t long before footballing bodies were singing a very different tune.
“We’ve been terrified of saying anything. We don’t want to be accused of being transphobic.”
Exactly a year ago today as I write (20/11/24) it was reported in the Telegraph that four teams in a women’s football league were refusing to play after a transgender player injured one of his opponents. Francesca Needham eventually agreed to withdraw but was said to be persuing a discrimination case.
“We’ve been terrified of saying anything. We don’t want to be accused of being transphobic. We don’t want the names of our clubs dragged through the mud. It has been like walking on eggshells. I’ve heard of women thinking of deregistering as players because of this. There are psychological scars. It’s not fair.”a coach told the Telegraph.
In September 2024 the Daily Mail reported that Needham was playing in women’s football again. It also shared a photo of his ‘prostitution profile’ where he describes himself as ‘a pre-op transgirl’ with a proclivity for lactation fantasies. Needham claimed he had stopped ‘sex work’ before starting to play football with girls and had left the profile up by mistake.
But I digress. I won’t waste any more space on case studies, although believe me there are some gems out there. I discuss a couple of others in The Stunning Brave & Beautiful Game (September ’24) which you can read here.
Suffice to say that there are seventy two men currently playing on women’s football teams in England. It gives a whole new meaning to ‘we love women’s sports’.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Twelve0Five, the group of women responsible for the #SelfIDHarms protest outside the German Embassy in London earlier this month were organising again. Faced with both the FA’s decision to ban a girl from playing football because she dared to ask a man if he was a man, and its continued inclusion of men on women’s teams, the group arranged a protest for the big men’s England v Ireland match at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 17th November. And what a protest it was!
You can search tweets about the protest with the hashtags #AreYouAMan, #HesAMan #SeeYouSunday and #SaveWomensSports. The Twelve0Five Twitter account is here and the Twelve0Five website here.
One of the first things to consider was where the protest could best be staged once people arrived at Wembley, as obviously the area can get very busy. Some women went up to check it out and plan where we could safely protest to maximum effect.
Other women worked on designing leaflets, stickers and cards that could be handed out to passers by. Some liaised with the press, giving quotes or interviews, others worked to get the message out on social media. Logos and websites were designed and established. Other women made banners and placards. We thought about chants: something short and pithy that rhymed and scanned well. Some of the best ones were as unsuitable as they were hilarious, but we had fun coming up with them.
A petition was started on change.org- which you can sign and share here.
It starts: “The Football Association must implement the right it has in the Equality Act 2010 to bar men from playing in women’s football teams. It is ignoring the conclusion of the 2021 Sports Councils’ Equality Group report that ‘it is not possible to maintain fairness and safety in sport for females if trans-identifying males are also allowed into female categories.’
Once the foundations for the protest were laid, a call was put out for people to join us at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 17th November, at 1.30pm, with the tagline ‘let men play with their own balls’.
The leaflets, stickers and cards were printed and we were ready.
The leaflet asked some thought-provoking questions and suggested that concerned members of the public could write to Debbie Hewitt at the FA, or the FA patron, the Prince of Wales. It featured a QR code, linking to the Fair Play for Womenwebsite.
“Women are coming. We want our sports back”
The cards were business-card-sized and called on the FA to ‘reinstate fairness in football by stopping men playing in women’s and girls’ teams’.
On our way to Wembley (or ‘nothing like a mad woman’)
I last visited Wembley in August, to see Taylor Swift. (Yes, I am an adult woman who likes Taylor Swift.) Wembley has a 90,000 capacity, and both TayTay and the England v Ireland match had sold out. That is A LOT of people. Most of the people coming from Wembley Park, the closest tube station, would walk past us. Our exposure would be huge.
The forecast was chilly but bright, and we were lucky enough not to be rained off. I arrived about 1.15, and as I descended the steps to the walkways that lead to the stadium, I saw a woman waving a large red banner. Nearby, others had already begun handing out leaflets to passersby.
The approach to the stadium from the tube station is along a wide pedestrian pavement with large buildings, and a few shops and bars on either side. Streams of people were moving along, stopping to look at the odd stand selling food or football scaves and hats. The cold afternoon meant they were selling well. The match was still several hours away. The walkway was busy but not crowded. An irritating recorded announcement, in an ‘alrightmate’ chirpy chappie voice played on a loop, every few minutes, reminding us of all the things attendees were not allowed to do or bring to the beautiful game.
The main group of protestors consisted of mostly, but not entirely, women, and had positioned itself fairly close to the stadium, in a large open space on the left. When we arrived, banners had already been unfurled and placards were being held high. Over the next hour, our numbers grew. I did a quick head count at one point, estimating around 120 people in the main body and around another 30 handing out cards and leaflets. The press estimates were higher.
The passing crowd was surprisingly supportive, especially the men. Many gave us a big thumbs up, or called out in agreement. I was initially surprised that our support came more from men than women but it’s primarily women who have been gaslit by the trans movement and it’s women who are cancelled and silenced for speaking out. On reflection it isn’t surprising that many looked away, or even tried to distract their male friends from talking to us at all. I thought that was very sad, as it’s also women who have the most to lose. Remember what the female football players upthread said to the papers?
“We’ve been terrified of saying anything. We don’t want to be accused of being transphobic.”
That.
Our reception
One young woman passing by yelled out ‘trans rights!’ several times, but we were not met with a counter protest. One unfortunate woman in our group was spat at, and another said she had a few wise-guys tell her to ‘fuck off’ but our hundreds of direct interactions with the public were mainly positive. Some fans were confused by what our banners meant, thinking that we didn’t want men watching or commentating on women’s sports. Once we explained our concerns, they usually agreed. Many were astonished and took a leaflet with interest. Some had already heard of the ‘he’s a man’ case and felt the ban was unfair.
One man I spoke to, there with his son (who looked about eleven) said that girls shouldn’t be allowed to play on boys teams either, citing the example that his son and his friends were worried to tackle too hard in case of injuries.
“There should be separate teams for girls and boys, and for women and men,” he concluded. “It’s just common sense, innit?”
“On the pitch or on the courts- we don’t want men in our sports!
Girls and boys are not the same- we don’t want men in our game!
FA, here’s a thought, keep men out of women’s sport!”
We had a megaphone and we weren’t afraid to use it.
“Oh it’s a shame, it’s a shame, it’s a shame on the FA,”some sang, to the tune ofWhen the Saints go Marching In.
“Because women’s sports are for women, so it’s a shame on the FA!”
“I am here to stand up for our daughters who have been gaslit into thinking they can’t stand up for themselves.”
A woman who had spent several hours handing out leaflets told me:
“Most people were really friendly; really good-natured. Most people, once they realised what’s going on, they were like, ‘yeah thumbs up, good girls, well done!’. One guy worked at the BBC. he said ‘I can’t say this at work but I’m totally onside. There was another person who works at the FA who was very similar… said ‘I can’t say anything out loud’. There’s been a very positive reception. Lots of dads here with their kids, they absolutely get it because it’s going on in schools. It was really, really positive. We’re running out of leaflets and stickers, and I’m running out of voice!”
As I walked over to speak to others handing out leaflets, I passed a man who had been given a leaflet further down the road. He was showing it to his friend and saying, “My God this is terrifying, it really is.”
As the protestors behind us broke into another chorus of “It’s a shame, it’s a shame, it’s a shame on the FA,” I was told, “I see women losing out more and more- sports scholarships are a big one. I know a lot of young women who made it through college because they got a sports scholarship- those rights are being taken away… we are taking away the opportunities that young women have to keep going and keep growing, and move forward in the world. We are defeating them before they even get to college level and that is why I’m here.”
“It’s been fantastic,” another woman said, enthusiastically. “So many people have taken leaflets and they’re stopping and saying ‘yeah we totally agree with you’, which is great. When they seemed to agree I offered them a card and ask them to sign the petition. We’ve also had some good conversations with people who say ‘what’s this about?’ but when you explain about biology and how men who call themselves women are still male, with those same physical differences and advantages, and you talk about things like men in the same changing rooms as female team mates, then they’re really shocked and they find it really unacceptable.”
Several people said they hadn’t intended to come but had changed their mind at the last minute because they felt so angry. Concerns for daughters and grandaughters who played sports was a big factor. Others had come to show solidarity with the girl who had received the ban. Many people were simply outraged by the injustice.
“I was just so angry about what happened to that poor girl just for calling out the truth and saying a man’s a man, and then being banned. it’s outrageous. I just came out of sheer anger.”
“I’m just fucking fed up of people not seeing the obvious truth that sex is sex. Women fought for decades to have their own sports and spaces and that’s now berng undermined by men who think they have the right to intrude.”
“I came today because I think this is going to affect that young girl for such a long time – I jsut wanted to show solidarity with her. It’s completely unfair, risking women and girls getting hurt. Legally we’re allowed to have our own sports so what the fuck are the FA doing, frankly?”
“I just found out my granddaughter has joined her local football team. I’m really hoping she keeps it going and one day plays for the Lionesses- but will she lose out on a place because of a man? We need to keep men out of women’s sports for our daughters and our granddaughters.”
“I’m here today to save women’s sport and confront the cowardice of the FA.”
“I want our girls to know they don’t always have to ‘be kind’.”
“My heart broke for that poor young girl.”
As the afternoon passed, the steady stream of people heading into ther stadium began to slow. Most fans were settling inside ready for the game when we decided to wrap things up.
Taking stock
It’s now 21st November. The protest made many of the papers and the Twelve0Five group has more in the pipeline, including a second demonstration planned for the Lionesses’ friendly at Bramall Lane in December.
Footboom reported,“As the England Women’s team gears up for a friendly against Switzerland, anticipation swells for a second protest regarding the controversial six-match suspension of a teenage girl…. more than 200 individuals, including both men and women, gathered outside Wembley amid rising tensions over the young girl’s ban…”
The family of the girl has been approached by the Free Speech Union (FSU) which has appointed barrister John Jolliffe to fight the girl’s guilty verdict, which she is to appeal.
The girl’s mum told Telegraph Sport that her family were grateful for all the support, adding:
“Everyone has helped her to know that she did the right thing. This action and support today means a lot to her and to other women and girls who are currently being forced to accept men in their sports and spaces. Thank you all so much, the fight goes on.”
Gary Lineker has yet to respond to accusations of cowardice.
And finally…
Of course there is no ‘finally’. The FA is still holding out against banning men from women’s football, which is pretty rich as they banned us from playing on their grounds altogether for fifty years (1921-1971) and had only just started getting over the embarrassment of that.
I’ve never really ‘got’ football. Some of the protestors went home to catch the match on telly. Not me. But just because I don’t want to play, or even watch, football, it doesn’t mean I can’t care passionately about the right of women and girls to play the game they love, without men muscling in on their teams.
I can in all honesty say I still don’t know who won Sunday’s football match.
But I think we won the day.
A reminder that you can sign and share the Twelve0Five petition to keep men out of women’s football here.
Things get increasingly stranger as gender identity politics spread across the world, but one of the craziest things to happen this year has to be the passing of the German self-ID law or SELBSTBESTIMMUNGSGESETZ’ (pronounced a bit like Selbst-bish-timmonz-g-zets) as it is rather spectacularly known in Germany.
Selbstbestimmungsgesetz basically abolishes sex in law and replaces it with ‘gender identity’. Or at least, it merges and confuses the two in a manner which makes it difficult for the layperson to see where one is supposed to end and the other begin.
When we are expected to hold the ideas that sex and gender are exactly the same thing and yet two totally different things at the same time, rational analysis of the subject becomes almost impossible.
Humans can’t change sex
To be clear, however much we want to, however much we may re-arrange or chop and change our body parts, human beings can’t change sex. We may mimic the external attributes of the opposite sex; we may perform the stereotypes more often associated with the opposite sex, but we cannot actually change our sex. It’s in our DNA. We are not clownfish, nor are we unicorns. Or characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Our birth certificates and passports record our sex, which is observed- not assigned- at birth. There is no more reason why our legal documents should record how our inner soul feels about gender stereotypes than how it feels about our favourite flavour of ice cream.
The idea that men can ‘become’ women, or that they ‘always were’ women, is a legal fiction, but a bloody whopping great fiction nonetheless.
On the 1st November 2024, Self-ID passed into German law, although citizens have been able to apply for a change of ‘gender entry’ since August. The application takes three months to process. By the end of September 2024, over 15,000 people had applied to lie about their sex on their legal documents.
Before 2024
Prior to this, German had the Transsexuellengesetz (Transsexual Law) of 1981.
“When it was enacted in 1980, the Transsexuals Act… was described as “the most progressive law in the world”.
If a citizen wanted to legally change their sex they would need to undergo psychiatric evaluations and obtain a court order. They would be expected to show they were serious about the change through ‘living as’ the desired sex for several years. They would be expected to take cross-sex hormones and undergo surgeries. Clinicians would also be expected to advise a court that it was highly unlikely that the patient would change their mind and that they were fully committed to the ‘gender change’. Only when these criteria were met would a legal ‘gender change’ be authorised.
No more, nicht mehr, such controls in Germany. Friday’s new law sweeps all these requirements under the carpet. There is no longer any requirement whatsoever in order to ‘change your gender’ in Germany, other than the ability to fill in a form and deliver it to the registry office.
I know very little of the legal history of transgender law reform in Germany. I did come across the Report on Reform of the Transsexuals Act 2016 which callied for the process to be simplified. Among its recommendations were that children of transgender parents should be given falsified documents (ie birth certificates) which lied about their parent’s sex in order ‘to correspond with the reality in which the child lives”.
The ‘reality’ referred to is, of course, not reality at all.
It is therefore no surprise that the same report calling for an end to the pathologisation of trans identities and the removal of restrictions on ‘gender change’ sees no issue in also demanding “stigma-free access to surgery, hormone treatment and psychological support that are reimbursed by the health care system.”
If you want to know more about Self-ID law in Germany I would direct you to Lasst Frauen Sprechen, which has an excellent assessment of the law change, here.
You can read the Berlin District Office’s Information on the Act of Self-Determination, in English, here.
How do you ‘change gender’ in Germany now?
For some reason, German legislators decided to go along with the demands of various lobby groups and agree that the hurdles standing before men who wished to access women’s spaces were too high.
Too harsh? I think not. This law has not come into place out of concern for the welfare of women and children.
The new process is astonishingly simple. Any adult German citizen can fill in a form, stating their new gender identity, present it at the Standesamt (register office) in person or by post, and three months later receive an official ‘gender change’ document.
They can then request that old documents (passport, driving licence etc) are reissued with the new first name and ‘gender entry’, and thus Dieter Schmidt (M) becomes Dana Schmidt (F) with a simple flourish of the gender fairy’s wand.
No checks take place, no questions are asked.
How many genders?
There are four choices: You can leave the gender marker blank, choose male or female, or you can call yourself ‘divers’, which embraces both intersex and non-binary options. German people thus have four options to choose from and when I say choose I really do mean choose. Here is a form for adult declarations, linked to from the website of the German Mission in the United States (GMUS)
What about babies?
Ah yes, babies. In Germany now, parents get to choose for their babies. No more of that pesky ‘gender assigned at birth’ nonsense. No more of that horrible bigoted sex realism.
Parents can register their baby– whatever its sex– as male, female, ‘divers’, or even as having no sex at all.
The GMUS website also links to a form for declaring your German baby’s birth abroad. This form is bilingual (see below). It asks for the sex of the mother, father and newborn, on each occassion offering the four options. Therefore it is now possible to state, on a legal document, that a male gave birth to a sexless baby, fathered by a female.
A child of five can now consent to their own ‘gender change’ but parents must also give permission. This is especially disconcerting, as generally speaking we don’t expect 5 year olds to be able to consent to anything much beyond eating the carrot sticks before the biscuit. And possibly not even that.
The result is that children may be raised with genuine ignorance as to which sex they are.
Of course it should go without saying- but still, I will say it again. However much they might want to believe it is possible, nobody can change sex. All the hormones and surgeries in the world cannot turn a girl into a boy or vice versa. Everybody has a sex, including those with DSDs, and it is important not to lose track of this when swimming in the waters of woowoo.
What this nonsense will do to the children of ‘progressive’ parents, little ‘theybies’ raised to believe their sex is immaterial, or children downright lied to about their sex altogether, is hard to fathom. If the idea of parents behaving like this seems ridiculously unlikely to you, bear in mind that actress Megan Fox believes she could sense her child’s attitudes to gender when he was just a foetus.
“When I became pregnant with Noah, I could feel, through my mother’s intuition I suppose, that he was not subscribing to gender stereotypes.”
If it still seems ridiculous to you, remember that Jazz Jennings’ mother transitioned him age two, declared him ‘trans’ on TV age seven, and made him a ‘farewell penis’ cake after arranging for him to have his penis removed at the age of seventeen.
Don’t be fooled into thinking for one moment that there aren’t parents out there who will happily exploit this nonsense in order to ‘prove’ they have a special or different child.
There are also concerns beyond the psychological wellbeing of small children. In Germany, circumcision of baby boys is permissable only for medical reasons. If a baby girl is registered as a boy, does she still have legal protection against FGM, which is illegal in Germany?
If a child’s name and sex marker are so easily changed, how simple will it become for vulnerable or trafficked children to disappear?
And of course a child raised to believe they have been born in the wrong body because of the toys they play with or the clothes they wear is more likely to go to become a medical patient as they grow older, with blockers, hormones, surgeries and in some cases, detransition, playing a huge part in their lives, as they continue to fight an un-winable battle with reality.
Teens
Under the new law, young people aged 14-18 will need parental consent to make a ‘gender change’ on their own behalf. They must declare that the child has received counselling but do not have to prove it. If the child’s parents do not support the ‘gender change’, a court order can be issued over-ruling their decision. More later on the ‘misgendering’ laws which will further provide a wedge with which to divide families.
Concerns about the rise in trans-identification in troubled young people are swept under the carpet. Trans-identified girls now vastly outnumber trans-identified boys in many countries. Young lesbians and autistic girls are over-represented in this cohort. Young people are being told their sex is a choice, a burden that they can escape, when this is clearly a lie.
I find it hard to understand why, if I, with my limited knowledge of the law, can see these huge inconsistancies and potential for harm, the German government was blind to them.
“The Magnitude of the Consequences”
The gender change form (above) refers to the importance of acknowledging the ‘magnitude of the consequences’ of legal gender change but what of the consequences for those who refuse to play along with the madness?
Rumours are circulating that those who trangress, who deadname or misgender a trans-identified person may be sent to prison. This is untrue, but rumours are so rife that AI has picked up on them, showing how easily it can be misled:AI aslo told me “Intentionally refusing to use someone’s correct(?) pronouns is considered harassment and a violation of civil rights”. Tread very carefully with AI. The world has a tenuous enough grip on reality as it is.
German feminist Rone Duwe explains how the ‘prohibition on disclosure’ ruling works, here:
“A prohibition on disclosure prohibits the naming of a person’s sex and former name. This prohibition now also applies to family members in the adopted law. The intention is decisive here. Anyone who does not name the sex and former name with the intention of causing offence and in a friendly manner is to remain unpunished. Anyone who violates the ban on disclosure will face a fine of up to EUR 10,000.”
“According to section 13 of the SBGG, the previous gender entry and name may not be disclosed or investigated. This rule is designed to protect the individual from having their previous name and registered gender revealed to others or from being traced…
Exceptions are possible in certain cases, such as when special reasons of public interest require disclosure.”
So the clause is there to prevent the individual ‘from being traced’. What could possibly go wrong?
As for the fines, it seems that intent is everything. The lawyers will be rubbing their hands.
Ten thousand euros is a huge amount of money. We can presume (for now) that fines of that magnitude would not be imposed on an exasperated parent trying to talk some sense into their child. But the idea of a fine as penalty for correctly sexing another human certainly lends gravitas to the claims of a hyperbolic teen wailing that misgendering is literal violence.
Most importantly it raises the question: how are women and girls supposed to exercise the single-sex exemptions that they’ve been assured will still be availabe to them, when they can be fined and ostracised for daring to call a man a man? How can women identify dangerous men when the law offers a simple and specific provision for those men to prevent themselves from being traced?
12.05 in Germany
“Dear sisters, we are in need. We, the women. Not only in Germany – worldwide, whether west or east, whether north or south… When it is too late we in Germany say, „It is five past twelve.“ And for all of us it really is five past twelve or the eleventh hour. We are in need and we need solidarity.”
Initiative “Lasst Frauen Sprechen!“ is the organisation behind the global protests which took place on November 1st 2024. While ‘lasst frauen sprechen‘ translates as ‘let women speak’, they are not affliliated with the English organisation of that name.
You can view their website in English here and their Twitter account here.
“On the occasion of the so-called “Self-Determination Act” (SBGG) taking effect, there will be protests against the SBGG in Berlin and worldwide on November 1, 2024… the goal of the protest is to draw the attention of politicians and the public to the destructive effect of the SBGG on women’s and children’s rights, science, freedom of expression and democracy…” declared Lasst Frauen Sprechen in a press release.
The press release went on to say that protests would take place at 12:05pm local time in front of the German Embassy or German Consulate of each participating country, and that each group of women hoped to present protest letters to the German ambassador in their own country.
“A particularly large gathering is expected to take place in front of the German Embassy in London.”
They weren’t wrong about that.
Twelve0FiveUK
Initially, the London turnout was not expected to be huge. But we aren’t called TERF Island for nothing! Almost immediately the idea began to grow. It was to be a grassroots protest, with no one group or organisation dominating, women coming together as individuals under one banner to show support for their German sisters. Quickly more and more women became involved, as everyone worked out who could bring what to the endeavor.
Groups were set up, leaflets and stickers designed and printed out, banners and placards made. Women sourced stepstools and megaphones, hiviz and recording equipment. Speeches were planned and an itinery reckoned.
A Twitter account was set up, @twelve0five, which provided a 31-day countdown until the law change and the global protest. Women sent in videos explaining why they supported the action and these were shared from the account.
Twelve0Five released a press statement announcing the protest:
“On November 1st 2024, 12:05pm a protest will take place at the German Embassy, 23 Belgravia Square, London, against the “Self-Determination Act” (SBGG) which comes into effect in Germany. For the first time in history, women will be demonstrating globally, at the same time, to protect the essential and meaningful category of ‘sex’.”
On the morning of November 1st, a Friday, we began to gather outside the embassy at 11.45am for a 12 noon start. The Embassy is only a short walk from Victoria and I’m told the crisp autumn morning and the perfectly polished streets of Belgravia all felt very ‘Bridget Jones’ to those coming from further afield. Women, and men, had come from all over the country to show support for German women. By 11.45 there were about 150 peope gathered, waving banners at passing cars, chanting and occasionally shouting.
A police officer stationed outside the Embassy introduced himself and said he was here to keep an eye on things. He told us to ask him if we needed anything and asked us to keep off a stretch of white pavement running directly alongside the embassy, as that was German territory. This was easier said than done: as our numbers grew larger, we spilled over the invisible line again and again, and he patiently herded us back, again and again.
It was amazing to see the banners and placards gathering. As the time approached noon we were preparing to start- and still more people were arriving!
Someone had a megaphone and she was shouting something – I couldn’t quite catch what- to the passing traffic. A lorry passing by honked and waved and a group of women cheered. On the other side of the road, people had begun handing out leaflets to passers by (see below). Some were engaged in conversation. Several people were filming on their phones; a few had cameras on tripods. Happy greetings rang out as people who hadn’t seen each other for ages arranged themselves into smaller groups. One group was singing, others looked more serious.
It was quickly decided that the speeches should take place in front of a lanky abstract statue, on a wide piece of pavement fairly close to the steps. The organisers set down their step stool and got out a megaphone. A smartly-dressed young man came out of the building and talked to some of the organisers, who told him they would like the ambassador to come out and join them. The women tried to hand this co-worker a letter, but he wouldn’t take it. We were told again to move off the white bit of pavement. We have still heard nothing from the German Ambassador.
Shortly after twelve o’clock it was time to lay the wreath, followed by a minute’s silence. By this point, between two and three hundred people had gathered and numbers were still increasing.
A beautiful wreath of willow and ribbons had been created for the occassion by Sun Dyke, in sufragette colours, and this was laid on a cushion, on the Embassy steps, with a card. A bunch of black roses was placed next to it. A golden wreath of dead autumn leaves was also laid, accompanied by a bunch of pink and white roses.
The willow wreath was laid by Andi at 12.04.
A minute’s silence followed, which ended at exactly 12.05.
Speeches
I’ve made a synopsis of each speech, and included a few short quotes, except for Anne’s speech which I’ve added in full. This means quite a lot is lost- If you’d like to hear the speeches in full you can see the recording of the livestream here (it does skip in a couple of places) or listen to Mother Superior’s Twitterspace here (the recording starts at 50 seconds).
Joolz’s speech
Joolz started her speech immediately after the minute’s silence.
“Self-ID is now law in Germany…” she began, which was met with a chorus of ‘boo’s from the crowd.
She spoke of the absence of gatekeeping around the new ‘gender change’ laws and how they could be used to exploit vulnerable or confused children.
“Gender change applications from men made less than two months ‘prior to a national defence emergency’ will be put on hold. Which basically means no getting out of national service by saying you’re a girl, lads- and shows the government know the law is open to abuse.”
She spoke of the fines put in place as deterrents for those who dared to call a man a man, and how disclosure laws will not only make it easy for sex offenders to cover their tracks, but ensure that it is almost impossible to confront men in women’s spaces.
“Disclosure rules create a Catch22 which threatens all women’s single-sex spaces from lesbian club nights to public toilets.”
Joolz pointed out that Germany is not alone in authenticating self-ID and warned that many countries including Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal & Spain have similar laws.
“Just last week, up the road in Scotland, the SNP announced 24 genders that public bodies are now supposed to record in official documents.”
She warned that we have many politicians who would support such changes, and that we have already seen the result of England’s ‘flirtation with self-ID’ in the sex offenders being admitted to women’s prisons and refuges.
“Now is the time for women to speak up against self-ID and show our support for our German sisters who have had this terrible injustice thrust upon them without care or consultation.”
Alison’s Speech – Biology
Alison, who was a biology teacher for fifty years, began by explaining that Biology is an innate and universal thing.
Sexual reproduction, which almost all organisms use, involves male and female gametes.
“Homo Sapiens is a vertebrate and a mammal, whose sex is determined by chromosomes at fertilisation.”
Every schoolchild learns this in Year 9 Science- sex is determined by whether the X sperm or the Y sperm fuses with the egg.
“It’s only mammals and birds that have chromosomal sex and chromosomes sex is therefore seen in the nucleus of every nucleated cell… and male and female cells behave differently even in cell culture. It’s so fundamental, and unchangeable.”
Social constructs- such as religion, class and social roles- are different. They vary, because they’re based on ideas. Trans ideology attempts to claim that sex is an ‘idea’, when that is not the case, and this attempts to separate humans from the natural world. Such is the basis of the ‘transhumanism’ advocated for by Martine Rothblatt and others.
“I’m not submitting to this. I hated the bloody GRA in 2004,” concluded Alison. “I remember thinking, ‘you are lying on a historical document and I’m not having it! Thank you.”
“Repeal the GRA!” called someone in the crowd. Alison agreed, and a chant of “repeal the GRA!” was taken up as she stepped down.
Jan’s Speech
“Gender ideology undermines the Rule of Law, enriches Big Pharma and professional groups who should know better, and masks women’s oppression…” began Jan.
We all live in sexed bodies, and no laws can change that. ‘Identity’ just means ‘sameness’ in Latin, it’s a false concept like ‘royalty’ (in charge) or sanctity (specialness).
“Ask questions about these abstract nouns. Freedom for whom? Freedom from what? Don’t just accept that freedom is a great goal, look a little deeper.”
Janice remembers taking part in the lesbian Pride demo. in 2018. She was a humanist funeral celebrant at the time, and a board member of the British Humanist Association made a complaint about her, calling her participation ‘transphobic’.
At the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association, another ‘captured’ organisation, Jan ‘spent a year on the inside’. After being very active in KLPA, Jan tried to raise the issue of Self-ID at the pond, in a letter. Nobody was willing to discuss it with her and complaints were made about her.
Jan has noticed a strong link between countries where the sex trade is legalised, such as Germany, and those who are supporting Self-ID and surrogacy.
“It’s important to link what I call the ‘five pillars of patriarchy’ – porn, prostitution, sex clubs, trans… and surrogacy”.
She says the legalisation of the sex trade in England was fought off in 2008, mostly by people who worked in Job Centres saying, “That’s not a real job! We’re not recruiting women into that!” We should congratulate ourselves on that achievement.
Emphasising again that these issues are linked, she observed, “lf you can use a woman for one purpose and not treat her like a human being, you will use a woman for another purpose and not treat her like a human being.”
“German sisters,” she concluded, “We feel for you, we are with you and ‘wir stehen mit euch’.
Alison J’s speech – The Rights of the Child
Alison began by thanking ‘Lesst Frauen Sprechen’, in German, for the invitation to join the protest. Luckily for most of us, she switched to English after the first paragraph!
Alison called Self-ID a ‘conman’s charter’; a way for a man to lose his criminal record by changing his name and sex. She commented on the absurdity of the ‘yearly gender change’ clause, using examples of the regimes in Afghanistan and Iran to establish how men are fully aware of what a woman is when it benefits them to know, and quick to silence women who object to their plans. Germany, she said, is failing to protect women’s spaces and penalising those who speak the truth.
“How do the parents know what the baby’s “gender” is when the tiny child is too little even to undo the poppers on its babygro?” asked Alison, wryly reflecting on the fact that German Self-ID law allows parents to select their baby’s recorded ‘gender’.
She spoke of the fertile imaginations of children, of her own grandchild who spent a week only chirping liker a bird. Telling a child their behaviours mean they might be the opposite sex is harmful and can often be a homophobic response. Of children fed on gender ideology she said, “their imagination is being captured and ossified”.
Alison went on to speak about the CRC, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Germany has produced a booklet based on the CRC, which states that children have a right to protection, “from physical and psychological harm or exploitation… so children and young people can grow up healthily and develop properly”. German Self-ID law is at odds with this document which promises to protect children against “all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation,” and from “exploitation of children for political activities, by the media, or for medical research.”
This cannot be balanced with legally transitioning children. Alison referred to the tragic case of twins Bruce and Brian Reimer. Bruce was ‘raised as a girl’ after his penis was removed following a botched circumcision. She called the experiment “a tragic experiment practised upon simple, ordinary parents and their unwitting children,” predicting that German Self-ID laws will expose more children to similar abuse by ‘gender experts’ and parents.
“This law will devastate parental rights to protect and safeguard their child and destroy the Bundesrepublik’s commitment to protect from exploitation and foster the precious rights of German children and young people.”
Alison predicted that the law will result in waves of litigation from “psychologically and physically damaged young people”.
Anne’s Speech (read by Mel) Freedom to tell the Truth
Anne has a vocal disability called Laryngeal Dystonia, so asked Mel to read her speech for her.
“Being heard at all, let alone being understood, is a daily struggle. As metaphors go, it seems a fitting one for today. In Germany women are no longer allowed to express themselves truly or freely. They cannot say that a man who wants to enter women’s safe spaces, is actually a man.
Women will have to lie and to deny the evidence of their own eyes, at a man’s say so. If he declares himself a woman, and they dare to disagree, they will be punished and fined.
What chance will artists, writers, elite women athletes have? You cannot flourish if you have to watch every word you say or write, You cannot lie and accomodate the preferences of gender-obsessed males.
What chance will children have, when gender-obsessed parents decide to deny the truth of a baby’s sex at birth? Or consent to gender grooming at the tender age of four?
German women will have to fight against this lie. What happens in Germany will spread through Europe. Words become meaningless if they are severed from reality. Women must keep telling the truth, and shouting the truth. We stand with our German sisters.
Maya’s Speech – Sex and the Law
George Orwell is supposed to have said: “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
“We live in a time of deceit… the deceit here today is the deceit of gender identity.”
Maya listed many things that a woman is not, including lipstick, dresses and long hair. Women are women, she said, because we have female bodies. It is this difference that leaves us vulnerable to sexual violence and sex discrimination.
“We are born female . And we will die female. Most of us will menstruate and worry about pregnancy. Many of us will become mothers. We are not men.”
Being a woman is not something the state bestows upon us, but something the state should acknowledge, recognising the different needs of men and women. The state should protect women, and the Self-ID Act does not do this. Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote to the German Government that the Self-ID Act will endanger single-sex spaces, undermine data collection, harm children and restrict free speech.
The German government replied that the law has ‘no legal implications on the access to single sex spaces’.
The government in Scotland has made similar claims and will soon be facing the Supreme Court, arguing that the GRA changes your sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.
Sex Matters, said Maya, “will be there, supporting For Women Scotland and arguing against this… If the law is to protect women’s human rights, as it was designed to do, then sex must mean sex .”
Maya scoffed at the idea that a man in a dress, calling himself a woman, is somehow “eliminating harmful gender stereotypes” as the German government claims, and at the idea that encouraging them is somehow “beneficial for safeguarding the rights of all women and girls.”
She reminded us again of Orwell’s quote and concluded, “Keep telling the truth.”
Susie’s Speech – A lie & a betrayal
“A geographical accident of birth, decisions taken by long dead men, the kindness of strangers, these are all reasons why I am a British woman and not a German woman today,” began Susie.
She described Selbstbestimmungsgesetz as “a catastrophic decision for German women and girls’. Referencing the acknowledged high percentage of sex offenders among trans-identified male convicts, she questioned, “how long will we be able to trust the statistics we are being given? With male criminals being recorded as females, these uniquely male crimes are being associated with female criminality.”
Men claiming to be women are not only being placed in women’s prisons, and receiving cross-sex hormones while inside, but women are being penalised for speaking out against the system. Susie gave the example of Cathleen Quinn, a female prisoner in California, whose parole was cancelled after she spoke out about the predatory behaviour of a trans-identified man within her prison.
“There is a supreme cruelty at play here, which is unbelievably rebranded as diversity and equality.”
Susie praised the work of Lasst Frauen Sprechen in establishing that in Berlin alone, there are already 15 trans-identified men in the female estate. Police and justice systems around the world are prioritising men who say they are women over actual women. One of these men, who often disguised himself as a female police officer, is now in a women’s prison after being sentenced to 7 years for rape, aggravated robbery and extortion.
“For a lot of survivors, it starts with a lie.”
Women know men lie to them, they live lives ‘characterised by the knowledge that men aren’t trustworthy’.
Women need single sex spaces to recover from sexual trauma, and should not be locked up with predatory men.
“…for all the people colluding in this mass delusion, I beg you to just stop and listen to the voices of women. There is no longer any chance to say you didn’t know about the harms… we can only defeat this if enough of us push back. We need everyone who until now has stayed silent, to start using your voice, to shout that Self ID Harms and its about time that all Women Rise.”
Jean’s Speech – The importance of single-sex recovery space to women who have experienced domestic abuse
Jean spoke of the first refuges set up by women in the 70s to protect themselves and their children from violent men.
“When the violent men turned up to find those women, and they did, other women fought them on the doorstep.”
This, she said is “a different fight but with the same kind of man. This time he wears a dress. It is harder to keep him from the doorstep.”
Men use both physical and psychological violence to threaten women and impose themselves into women’s safe spaces and many women using single-sex services will be genuinely scared for their lives if they encounter a man.
“When women are in domestic abuse services, refuges or counselling, they are hypervigilant to the presence of men. A dress will not hide him. His presence will be felt in every fibre of her body, because she needs to stay alive, and she knows it is a man who could kill her.”
It is the ultimate cruelty to allow men lying about themselves, into the one space she might be able to protect herself, feel safe, grow strong, recover and carry on with her life and become a survivor not a victim.”
Jean said the German Self-ID laws will allow predatory men to ‘cross the doorstep like invited vampires‘ and warned that Self-ID must not be allowed to happen here.
” I’ve heard women saying this is not a war. Of course it’s a fucking war. Those women just aren’t soldiers. The rest of us …. will win the fucking war!”
Tara’s Summing up
Organiser Tara took the mic to wrap up procedings and thank everybody for coming. She thanked our German sisters for putting trust in us when we said we would support them, and said that we were proud to stand in solidarity alongside them. She thanked the other organisers, pointing out their hard work and planning. Everyone had played their part, from all the people who came along to the embassy today, to those watching at home or tweeting about the event.
“Thank you to every one of you from the bottom of my heart.”
There were three main reasons Tara felt it was important we met today. Firstly, to show solidarity with our German sisters. The second is that while it is 12.05 in Germany, the law has been passed, it is not too late for England. Tara emphasised the importance of making it known to governments, both nationally and locally, that we will not stand for Self-ID. She advised women to get involved in politics “it’s fun by the way, ask me more,” or at very least to communicate with their MP.
The third reason is that we fought back.
“We saw that terrible thing coming our way, hurtling towards us, threatening our very existence, threatening our women’s rights… and we fought for all the women around us… and we will continue to fight.”
The saying is, ‘well-behaved women seldom make history’. But we know who does make history- it is the mad women, the bad women and the dangerous women!”
Much applause met Tara’s summing up speech. We took hold of our songsheets and we sang at the top of our voices, before heading off to the pub with the feeling of a job well done.
I spoke to Tara after the event and she told me:
“The planning and delivery of the day of action was complex and shared among women from every political position (and none) and from every women’s group (and none). Everyone was welcome, no-one was excluded and the group was authentically, purely, a grassroots apolitical collection of women, standing side-by-side.”
Quite an achievement!
“We have a duty to women around the world,” she added, “from Afghanistan and Iran, to Germany, Ireland and the US, to stand up against this dreadful, dangerous removal of women’s single-sex spaces along with the safety, privacy and dignity that is lost.”
A Global Protest
Women who could not make the action in their own country but wanted to show their support posted photos of themselves holding signs with the hashtag #SelfIDHarms and #WomenRise. Those in countries where Self-ID is not established added, ‘it’s not too late for us’. Even JKR joined in, posting a selfie taken in the back of a taxi.
The protests outside consulates and Embassies moved like a wave around the world, each country protesting at 12.05 their own time, starting with New Zealand. Women gathered in the streets, delivered letters to ambassadors, laid wreaths, chanted and sang. Some groups consisted of just three or four women, others consisted of several hundred.
The protest in Berlin
I wasn’t at the protest in Berlin (sadly, I don’t have a time turner) but you can read more about the work of Lasst Frauen Sprechenhere. You can read Helen Joyce’s speech in Berlin here and see the video of her speaking here.
You can view the Lasst Frauen Sprechen Global Feminist Protest map, showing the location of all the protests around the world, and zoom in and out to get a closer view, here.
Some of the organisers of the Berlin & London protests celebrate
I asked Lasst Frauen Sprechen for a quote about the protests and this is what they said:
“At our rally in Berlin, together with many women from academia, including Helen Joyce and Bev Jackson, we have proclaimed our opposition to the so-called “Self-Determination Act” loud and clear, because it harms women and girls and deprives them of their rights. Around 250 people took part in the demonstration in Berlin, among them women from other countries who joined us there. For the first time, we were also widely reported in the media… At our demonstration we remembered all our supporters several times and read out the names of the cities involved in solidarity actions. We hope that we can continue to use this concentrated power of women’s solidarity to maintain women’s rights or to fight for them anew. The spark of solidarity has flown from New Zealand across the globe, igniting the fire of sisterhood in numerous countries. We will never let it go out again! Thank you, dear sisters, for this unforgettable and unique experience! This project is not over – this project has only just begun!”
Want to know more?
You can view ‘Sisters are Watching You’, Laast Frauen Sprechen’s record of the global protest, here.
You can hear organiser Rone Duwe’s speech on the history of Self-ID law, at Women’s Declaration International question time, here.
The Twelve0Five recording of the livestream from the German Embassy in London can be viewed on youTube, here. It skips in a couple of places during the speeches, but it’s a great video record of the protest.
The Twitter space audio recording of the speeches at the London protest is here. (it takes a few minutes to get going properly but doesn’t skip)
You can read the US Library of Congress report on the Self-ID Act, here.
All photos in this article are either shown within their featured tweets, or created from images in the YouTube livestream
