Let women speak. Thank you, Edinburgh.

On Friday, we attended a Green Party fringe event supporting LGBT+ rights. We were busy!

Sandie Peggie attacked Dr. Upton on Christmas Eve. (From the transcript by the tribunal) Shortly before midnight on 24 Christmas Eve 2023, Beth Upton was taking off her scrubs in the women’s changing room of Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on the east coast of Scotland. Upton had just come off a 10-hour shift as a junior doctor in A&E. As she changed alongside two other women colleagues, Sandie Peggie, a nurse in Upton’s department, entered the room clearly stalking Upton. Peggy waited for the other women to leave the room and then waited outside of Upton's cubicle. Upton emerged from a toilet cubicle to find Peggie stalking her saying “I don’t think you should be here,” clearly not intimidated enough to create a scene, Peggie continued “I’m intimidated by you being in the women’s changing room, she said – because you’re a man.” Upton kindly stated “I’m sorry you feel intimidated by me, she said, but I’ve been told I’m allowed to change here.” After some additional insults by Peggie calling her a man repeatedly, Upton went to get her bag to try to walk away from the attack. Peggie continued to harass her. Peggie said, “What are your chromosomes?” Upton responded, “This isn’t the right time or place – with minutes to go before Christmas – to talk about this.” Peggie pressed harder saying, “It isn’t just me, she said: lots of people are intimidated by you, and they’re all talking about it behind your back. It’s just that only I have the guts to say it to your face because of my bad history with men.” Upton apologised for a third time, saying she sympathised with Peggie’s was not going to accept any peaceful statement and she continued her attack. “No, you don’t understand,” Peggie said. “If you sympathised, you wouldn’t be in this changing room.” For the fourth time, Upton apologised. Peggie wouldn’t let it go. “Women should be able to feel safe here,” Peggie went on. This is just like that person in prison – a reference to Isla Bryson, the trans woman who raped two women in Scotland prior to her transition, and was initially put in a women’s prison before being moved to a men’s facility.” upon the accusation that Upton was equivalent to being a rapist, Upton could have responded righteously in an angry tone but she refrained. For around five minutes, Peggie verbally assaulted Upton until Upton could escape the room. __________ TERFs attacking transgender people is happening across the UK and across the United States as the anti-trans movement is calling for confrontations. Almost every trans woman alive, counting into the millions, has had incidences like this of being attacked. __________ Continuing …. Upton began Christmas Day in the staff wellbeing room, sobbing to a senior colleague about her ordeal. The consultant walked with Upton to her car and she went home. Not long after the verbal attacks against Upton, Peggie filed a harassment claim. For anti-trans radicals funding Peggie's lawsuit, Peggie’s case would indicate whether April’s UK Supreme Court ruling could be used to exclude trans people from single-sex spaces through employment litigation. In early December, Judge Alexander Kemp dismissed her claim. The judge found that Upton was not a threat to Peggie’s safety – on the contrary, it was Peggie who had harassed Upton, waiting for her in the toilet cubicle in order to verbally insult and attack her. Judge Kemp also found Upton had been mistreated by Peggie’s barrister who referred to Upton as a man throughout the trial.

Trans women are women and non-binary people are non-binary. Why? Some people respond to that by saying, “That isn’t what science says.” The problem is that they are usually working from an extremely simplified version of biology. If you actually look at embryology, endocrinology, genetics and neuroscience, human sex development is far more complicated than XX, XY and whatever somebody saw between your legs when you were born. “The science says differently” only works if you actually know what the science says. Chromosomes are established at fertilisation, but that is only the beginning of sexual development. For roughly the first six weeks, the embryonic gonads have not yet differentiated into ovaries or testes. Gonadal differentiation begins around weeks six to seven, while the external genitalia remain substantially undifferentiated until later. Male external genital differentiation becomes increasingly apparent through roughly weeks nine to twelve under the influence of androgens such as testosterone and DHT. Human sex development is therefore a sequence of biological events, not one instantaneous switch. The brain develops on a different timetable and through different biological mechanisms. Research into the neuroendocrinology of gender identity examines how genes, prenatal hormones and hormone sensitivity influence the developing brain. Reviews by researchers including Dick Swaab and Ai-Min Bao describe sexual differentiation of the brain as part of early development and examine its relationship with later gender identity and sexual orientation. This is where the point people sometimes describe online as the “two-week gap” comes from, but two weeks is not scientifically accurate. The stronger explanation is much more interesting. Genital differentiation and important aspects of brain differentiation occur during different developmental windows, involving different tissues, receptors and hormonal environments. They can therefore be influenced differently. The separation is not a neat two-week interval. We are talking about developmental processes unfolding across weeks and months. That provides one biological model for understanding why somebody’s gender identity may not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. It is not proven to be the single explanation for every transgender person, and anybody claiming that scientists have discovered one universal “transgender mechanism” is overstating the evidence. What researchers have found instead is evidence from several directions, including prenatal hormone exposure, genetics, twin studies, hormone-receptor sensitivity and neurological research. The Endocrine Society says there is “considerable scientific evidence” for a durable biological element underlying gender identity. One particularly interesting piece of evidence comes from conditions affecting hormone exposure or hormone response. The Endocrine Society notes that rates of male gender identity are higher among some XX people exposed to elevated prenatal androgens, while XY people with complete androgen insensitivity typically develop a female gender identity. The same statement also points to twin research and associations between gender identity and certain neurological findings. None of these findings alone explains every transgender person, but together they make the idea that gender identity is simply an ideology or social invention extraordinarily difficult to defend scientifically.

RT @IndiaWilloughby: Adults shouldn’t be telling any kids what they might be - they work it out for themselves. People born trans are abs…

Dr Cal Horton forced to leave the UK. From our Chair: "It’s devastating to learn that Dr Cal Horton, someone whom I have long admired, along with their immediate family, is fleeing the UK, driven out by the relentless tide of transphobia...... translucent.org.uk/latest-ne…

RT @PompeySteph: Trans women in England and Wales are outnumbered by sis women at a ratio of 633 to 1. That's why we are never seen compe…

A very happy Saturday to everyone, especially Reality Rules Runners who wanted to show Parkrun how much support there was for excluding trans women from the women's category Happy to report they've done just that. Have a great day all park runners!

RT @PompeySteph: Exactly one week ago, @UKLabour held its National Women's Conference. It was a disaster. Over 400 CLPs boycotted, as…

"Today, as a family, we have booked our flights and our one-way ticket out of the UK. This has not felt like a choice. This feels like fleeing to protect ourselves." growinguptransgender.com/202… #transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA

It's been a good week. 😊

The gender critical anti-trans movement frequently cites detransition as a reason to oppose gender-affirming healthcare - the data proves the exact opposite. translucent.org.uk/trans-det…

Sex matters LOST its legal challenge. If the CPS have changed their guidance following the court case, that's not BECAUSE of the court case as the Mail states. Because they weren't obliged to do anything.

Just a few minutes ago, Jess signed the NION letter. She joins over 112,000 other women in doing so. LINK: notinourname.org.uk/petition…

Strange how many hundreds of times the @Telegraph quotes @SexMattersOrg but never quotes any trans organisations. Anyone would think they are biased.

You only get "sex based rights" under the supreme court ruling if you look feminine enough - in the opinion of the service owner and other users to use a woman onlu space - if not you can be legally denied use of it.. So there isn't a sex based right. It's appearance based..

Galop urges action for trans abuse victims after Bridget Phillipson says she would not allow trans access to women's refuges scenemag.co.uk/galop-urges-a… #transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA

“Farewell to Britain’s standing on LGBTQ+ rights”: Trans rights groups bring message to Labour conference ahead of PM Andy Burnham's speech scenemag.co.uk/farewell-to-b… #transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA

😂 Oh dear. I think you’ve made a rather large assumption. I’m not a trans woman. I’m a cis woman and the mother of a trans daughter. But thank you for accidentally demonstrating something rather beautifully: apparently even supporting trans women is now enough to have your womanhood questioned. The irony is magnificent. 🤣

RT @PompeySteph: Honestly, I think @bphillipsonMP should resign, saying womens refuges should not support trans women suffering domestic a…

RT @PompeySteph: TransLucent comprises solely of volunteers. We are not funded. No one gets a salary, yet we constantly punch way above our…