Wrong Think Equals Arrested Think
I've had to develop a safe plan for my son in the even of me 'using the wrong words' thanks to Hate Crime Legislation
With the Scottish Hate Crime Legislation coming into force Monday I’ve had to develop a ‘safe-plan’ for my son if and when I get charged. Despite not being a criminal, I’ve already experienced threats for ‘wrong think’ and for that mine and my son’s young life will be thrown into turmoil.
This legislation is giving a metaphoric gun to unhinged people. And although it is widely acknowledged to be riddled with problems and most anticipate it will fall to pieces within months it serves as no comfort to those of us who will get caught in the cross hairs.
I suspect I am very much at risk of being charged with a 'hate crime' not because I have any 'hate' or 'ill will' towards anyone but because I have thoughts that are out of the allowable bandwidth in Scottish society. For this the police can show up at my door, seize my devices, and imprison me. I can have a ‘non-crime hate incident’ put on my record which will inhibit my ability to work in places that require enhanced PVG checks. I have to prepare for this. That is the law come Monday.
That crime? The statement that sex is real. That children should not be medicalised in the name of 'trans medicine' for being gender non-conforming, autistic, or gay. That if a child presents with the statement 'I am a boy' (as a female) or "I am a girl" (as a male) this statement should be taken in the context of child development (3 year olds also declare themselves super heroes), and external factors that may be leading to their bodily distress (autism, puberty, sexual abuse, eating disorders). That our first role as adults is to protect children. To be informed as best able. Sometimes saying 'no' is the kindest thing.
With the release of the WPATH documents (The World Professional Organisation for Transgender Health) we see a Mengele level list of outcomes for this purported 'gender medicine' - osteoporosis, sterility, liver cancer, an increase in psychiatric distress, stunted brain development and early death to name a few.
I have always stood up for children. Always. I have done so at huge sacrifice to myself. Decades of projects off my own back to bring happiness and connection to all people, children especially. I danced for TWO YEARS at the Glasgow Broomielaw JUST to bring happiness and dance to people. The many projects I have initiated in Pollokshields, and monies I have raised. I have lost toenails, I have done so despite not having funding from the cultural sector, filling the enormous gaps left behind. And yet despite my advocacy for the things that are best that have been seen as good and needed, I am being made into a criminal.
My awareness of this began in 2016 when the local arts venue Tramway decided to switch to "gender neutral" toilets. At the time I was a community councillor and several local people came to me. The Tramway only consulted with the Scottish Trans alliance for this move. They did not consult with any local organisation, any Muslim groups, any women's groups, not the disability charity in residence, or any of the local schools. Whatsmore the toilets were (and are) illegal. "Gender Neutral" toilets do not exist in law. "Unisex toilets" do. They merely changed signage. Therefore increasing provision for males (as one does not pee with one's gender but one's sexed body). It was here I began to understand the scope of this problem.
At that time merely for bringing this issue to light, for trying to find a way through (to ensure that due diligence was done). I was placed onto a 'watch list' called 'Terf blocker'. These were the first lists generated by trans activists to bully and silence women who were trying to ensure that due diligence was done and that rights, and safety were upheld.
At the time I was annoyed but did not think anything of it, I was blocked from certain twitter accounts. But then I watched organisations fall one by one in the idea that sex was immutable and that speaking otherwise was akin to wishing death upon someone. This is a paranoia that has been bred. it does reflect any real danger women (and let's be clear that is the target) pose. Trans adults need trans children to validate their existence. No adult should use children in this way. We must be robust in safeguarding and protection of our children, as children.
That said, in terms of individual rights, I am a free speech absolutist. If a trans activist wants to believe in a magical sky king that hands out good and bad bodies up in the cloud gender factory, they can fill their boots. But I will not be compelled in my own world to validate that. Because that is dangerous. Being able to state what is real, is the bedrock of stable societies.
Over the summer there were several high profile cancellations in the arts world. David Greig, Graham Linehan, Jenny Lindsay, Rosie Kay. In dance I had been watching as the work that is funded, and what is spoken about was increasingly becoming more 'queer' focused.
Over the time this has woven into funding strands and our cultural institutions it is presented as a social justice issue. NOT subscribing to it labels you a ‘bigot’ and someone who wishes dangerous harm to people.
Upon the cancellations I (in a private dance members page) expressed my concern that as artists we should be worried about the infringement on free speech. Of course the conversation turned to the theme of the cancellations - the battle to state sex is real. For this my post was removed and the head of the organisation made a statement saying 'if anyone was upset by my statement to contact her and that of course the organisation supported trans members'. 80 people supported that post. Not one came back, even privately, to support me.
The education of these artists must be very poor. Because look into the history of Communism , of the Red Guard in China, of the Stas, of Hitler youth, or of the disappeared in Argentina or Chile and you see it does not start as a 'bad moment' just like that where people are killed on a stage during a struggle sessions, or dropped out of airplanes. It's the gradual grooming of citizens until what was previously abhorrent becomes morally justifiable in the name of the cause.
You want to see how 'good Germans' were bred? Look all around you. The complacently comfortable. In their government jobs and good salaries.
The Hate Crime law requires no proof of crime, and a person can be reported anonymously. Someone who has a vexatious claim can report to their hearts delight with no possibility of recourse. I have received threats in recent months for speaking up for children, in particular for them to be told their bodies are good, that there is no such thing as a 'wrong body'. This is my sin. I assume these individuals partially come from the breeding ground of radical activism within the dance sector. I expect another sector will be transactivists who have organised a mass reporting event on the lists they have compiled as I have noted earlier.
I don’t think this is worthy of criminality, but for this we could be sunk more deeply into poverty, my son’s life will be thrown into chaos, and I will be made even more unable to work.
I have just watched Lemony Snicket “A Series of Unfortunate Events” with my son again. These stories are quite useful. In it there are adults who continue to forge ahead enabling bad things to happen to the children even when it's obvious it is harmful. They trust the experts, trust the law, trust the government. In that story it doesn't matter to those 'good adults' what happens because they continue to have nice lives regardless. This is where we are.
Someday I will use the people around us, the people whom I have counted as friends, who have been cared for and by and valuable to me and my child of how good people did bad things, how capable good people are of doing bad things as a way of shielding him, of keeping him aware of how bad lurks everywhere, and good too. We shall judge people by their actions in the moments.
What has happened to my beautiful Scotland and its people breaks my heart. It really does. I hope more can wake to what is unfolding around us and do better. For all the children in Scotland, whose future is bleak if it continues in this way.
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