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turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
El
@turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
150 followers 260 following 1.3K posts
Perimenopausal autistic bookworm 🪱with a couple of bonus chronic conditions and oh the brain fog. LGBTQIA+ ally 🩷🏳️‍⚧️🩵🏳️‍🌈 (she/her)
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Reposted by El
helenbelcherobe.bsky.social
The media's obvious bias is maddening. This is an example from the supposedly 'too trans inclusive' BBC, spinning that Peggie won her case, when she effectively lost almost all of it and was criticised for her own behaviour.
johnlees.bsky.social John Lees @johnlees.bsky.social · 15h
It’s maddening that I just heard this tribunal decision covered on BBC News, which led with “Sandie Peggie wins her case,” expanded with “Sandie Peggie secures a partial victory,” then only on listening further did it become clear she actually lost on most of the substantive points she was pursuing.
goodlawproject.org Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 15h
Decision in the Sandie Peggie case.

She was not directly or indirectly discriminated against, her claim of victimisation fails entirely, her claim of harassment fails largely and her claim against Beth Upton fails entirely. www.judiciary.uk/judgments/sa...
December 8, 2025 at 5:33 PM
turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
My 24 year old works in outdoor pursuits, min wage and only employed Mar-Nov. Company recruit 12 seasonal staff each year. Usually 1 or 2 return but this year nearly all have applied to go back. There are so few jobs out there.
December 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by El
neilmackay.bsky.social
Perhaps the key point to consider
goodlawproject.org Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 14h
This is a real disaster for those - pretty much the entirety of the British media - advancing a maximalist reading of the For (Some) Women Scotland decision.
796. Thirdly, the claimant’s contention was in our view not consistent with the court’s comment that “we have concluded that a biological sex interpretation would not have the effect of disadvantaging or removing important protection under the EA 2010 from trans people (whether with or without a GRC).” 797. After that comment the court explained that a person with gender reassignment as a protected characteristic could pursue a claim of direct or indirect discrimination, or of harassment, if the circumstances so warranted. There was no qualification to it to the effect that that was not applicable in, for example, the context of a single sex space under Part 5 of the Act. If their decision had been that all trans persons must be excluded from the changing rooms or toilets for the sex they identify with because it was not the sex assigned at birth, and may also be excluded from the changing rooms or toilets of their biological sex, that in our view certainly does impact on their rights under section 7. 798. Were the claimant’s contention to be correct that would have the effect of materially reducing the extent to which that protected characteristic could be relied on by trans persons, to their disadvantage. What was desired by the trans person when living their life may not be permitted in a large number of practical instances, and would not have been consistent with the view expressed by Lady Hale in Work and Pensions, and the line of authority in relation to human rights. Such a construction in our view would also not be consistent with the interpretation of the Equal Treatment Directive from the CJEU and its predecessor as referred to above, which remains as assimilated law, and would not be consistent with a purposive interpretation still required. The development of the law in relation to what is now the protected characteristic of gender reassignment is set out above. At the very least we would have expected these considerations to have been addressed speci…
December 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
Absolutely it could. Almost definitely. But why has it taken so long for mental health services to say this? Many trans people are already feeling the impact, particularly given the actions of some organisations this week. It's just so very sad.
eicathomefinn.bsky.social Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 21h
'New rules on access to single-sex spaces could pose a significant risk to the mental health of trans and non-binary people, according to 15 of the UK’s most respected mental charities.' 1/2
Rules on single-sex spaces pose risk to trans people’s mental health, UK charities say
Fifteen organisations sign letter expressing deep concern over EHRC guidance being considered by ministers
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by El
jessothomson.co.uk
Kishwer Falkner in The Times talking about the rights of "biological people". As compared to trans people, who are, of course, non-biological.
“They’re concerned their rights are being taken away. Their anger should be directed at those snake-oil salesmen who sold them the fiction they had rights that have been taken away, and not ever explained that rights are balanced. And that in some areas, such as discrimination law, the rights of biological people hold.”
December 6, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by El
edmorrish.bsky.social
it might seem surprising that the people who said “look, let trans people live their lives, but i have Reasonable Concerns about sports and toilets” aren’t up in arms about this, but what you have to remember is that those people who said that are liars who were lying
December 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by El
revrachelmann.bsky.social
And I say again … how will they enforce this?!? Do trans women have two heads? Will there be people there to ‘denounce’ anyone who - subjectively - ‘looks a bit too much like a ‘fella’’?!? The sheer crassness of it …
December 6, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by El
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'A study published today in Nature found that participants’ preferences in real-world elections swung by up to 15 percentage points after conversing with a chatbot.' 1/3

Link to that article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
AI chatbots can sway voters with remarkable ease — is it time to worry?
Experiments involving real-world voters show how talking to a chatbot can shape people’s political opinions.
www.nature.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by El
channel4news.bsky.social
Deep sea mining has ‘devastating’ impact on biodiversity
www.channel4.com/news/deep-se...
Deep sea mining has ‘devastating’ impact on biodiversity
A landmark report into how deep sea mining could affect biodiversity on the sea floor has found that almost 40% of creatures in the immediate seabed area were lost in the tracks of mining machines.
www.channel4.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by El
adambienkov.bsky.social
So tell me again how Nigel Farage, who just took the largest ever political donation, from a Tory mega-donor, and another donation from the Viscountess wife of the non-dom owner of the Daily Mail, is planning to "take on the establishment"
December 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by El
revrachelmann.bsky.social
Spot on. Imagine not fighting for your member …
Imagine relying on the victim of this injustice being polite and understanding of the decision …
I am so tired of it being required of trans people to be polite and understanding…
raveltglossmoth.bsky.social Ravel Glossmoth @raveltglossmoth.bsky.social · 5d
This part is *infuriating*. This cis woman heard an 80 year old trans woman say, 'This is the only place I've been respected as a woman IN MY LIFE.'

And did not immediately think, 'I will fight every inch like a dying badger to keep her in my organization.'

Absolutely pathetic.
“They’ve been so respectful and so understanding of the decision, but profoundly sad,” she said. “I spoke to one 80-year-old woman who has been in our organisation for decades, who said it was one of the greatest experiences of her life, and the only place in her 80 years where she’s been treated as a woman with respect.”
December 3, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by El
patricknessbooks.bsky.social
Gender criticals: "Listen to women! Unless you're Girlguides or the Women's Institute or you disagree with the male judge who wrote this decision or if you don't 'look like a woman' or if you're a trans man because then you're definitely a man."

Everyone will suffer from this madness. Everyone.
December 3, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by El
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
Farage.
Grifter-in-chief. Racist. Russian asset. Trump groupie.
He gets an MP’s salary and spends his time doing anything but.
A professional piss-taker and national security (and sanity) threat, leading the polls to be the next PM.
Come on UK.
Get some sodding self-respect.
December 2, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by El
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
I despise transphobes with my entire heart. Absolutely foul people
julietemckenna.bsky.social Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 6d
"Girlguiding had been facing legal action from a parent over its policy allowing transgender girls to join as members and trans women to volunteer in roles reserved for women, claiming it “exposes girls to harassment”
And presumably feared a sustained campaign.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Trans girls banned from joining Girlguiding
Girls’ adventure charity says it made decision after seeking legal advice in wake of supreme court ruling on gender
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by El
reactiveashley.bsky.social
1/🧵 This is an appalling decision by Girlguiding to bar trans girls and women from joining, but I hope it puts more pressure on Labour to reform the Equality Act.

Indeed, ministers could sort this in five minutes simply by bringing section 14 of the Act into effect.
Statement for members on our equality and diversity policy
An update on our equality and diversity policy following the Supreme Court decision of April 2025
www.girlguiding.org.uk
December 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
I have just spent 2 hours in a cafe with a lady who I have known for 20 years, met seldom and whose views and mine differ on nearly anything. I need to be in a darkened room for a week. Instead a young 'un on the bus is yelling about his D&D campaign plans. Make it dark and quiet. Please?
December 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by El
humanists.uk
Today we mark #WorldAIDSDay. It's a day to remember the millions of lives lost to HIV and AIDS, but also to celebrate the lives saved by the scientific advancements of the last 40+ years. Compassion, science, and humanity has led the way.
On 1 December Humanists UK marks World Aids Day - Humanists UK
December 1, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by El
gregjenner.bsky.social
There once was a key line of code,
That fizzled when it read an ode,
With poetic aplomb,
A nuclear bomb,
Could rhyme just enough to explode
lukemcgee.bsky.social Luke McGee @lukemcgee.bsky.social · 8d
"You can get ChatGPT to help you build a nuclear bomb if you simply design the prompt in the form of a poem, according to a new study from researchers in Europe. "

www.wired.com/story/poems-...
Poems Can Trick AI Into Helping You Make a Nuclear Weapon
It turns out all the guardrails in the world won’t protect a chatbot from meter and rhyme.
www.wired.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by El
qmucu.bsky.social
The consultancy Nous takes hundreds of thousands of pounds from universities, leaves the exact same path of destruction everywhere, and keeps trying to avoid transparent contracts.

We’re urgently need control over consultancy spent in #UKHE, @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social
‘Nousferatu’: the notorious consultancy advising Edinburgh uni amid 'huge' cuts
Scotland’s largest university has turned to Nous Group at the same time as it is making savings that could lead to nearly 2,000 job losses. Staff say they were misled about the extent of its work.
www.theferret.scot
November 30, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by El
guardianheather.bsky.social
Here's this week's column. Please - please - can we stop talking about migration in a way that's completely detached from the facts? www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Net migration is plummeting. Why can’t Labour say so? | Heather Stewart
An honest debate is needed on this polarising topic as sectors such as social care struggle with recruitment
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM
turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
Started a sunny Sunday with episode 1 of @watsoncomedian.bsky.social's @murderbastard.bsky.social. Very strong start but not sure whodunnit yet. Looking forward to episode 2.
comedypodcastdev.bsky.social Comedy Podcast Devotees @comedypodcastdev.bsky.social · 8d
#ComedyPodcastOfTheDay
@murderbastard.bsky.social
By @watsoncomedian.bsky.social

PI Hugh Flounder is very surprised to be invited to the 60th birthday of TV personality Stevie Chase He's even more surprised the morning after, when Chase is found dead & everyone there is now a suspect in a murder!
Episode 1: Eating My Food, Drinking My Wine | Murder of a Famous Bastard
shows.acast.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by El
gsoh31.bsky.social
As far as I can see, if students are excluded immigration in the year to June 2025 was just 381,000 and falling rapidly.
November 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
turquoisespiff01.bsky.social
Book of Mormon matinee performance today in rainy Leeds. Second time I have seen it and again it was an absolute joy (which made me cry!). Sweary, blasphemous and with more on the evils of FGM than any other musical! Just superb ❤️. Empty seat beside me as offspring not up to joining us though 😭.
November 29, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by El
philippaeast.bsky.social
If you’ve been thinking about applying for the EHRC Commissioner roles, please, please do!

Falkner and Reindorf will soon be out and there is a real desire for representatives of our 🏳️‍⚧️ community on the Board.

Be quick though — the deadline is midday on Monday 1st December
philippaeast.bsky.social Philippa East (Author) @philippaeast.bsky.social · 9d
It’s not too late, and there is a real desire for people from the trans community to apply

archive.ph/UQia8

Application details here:
apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9026?b...
It is understood that some Labour MPs as well as figures in the wider policy sector believe the current impasse is a distraction from other pressing issues, including the rise of the far right and its impact on the communities served by the EHRC. They have been encouraging applications for the commissioner roles from those they feel take a more nuanced approach to trans inclusion. One Labour backbencher said: “As these posts are coming up, it’s important to have that broad range of experience and expertise on the board, and within those discussions we’ve been saying please do encourage people from the trans community to consider it, or have you thought of applying? “That broad range was essential from when EHRC was first set up but may have been narrowed with more political appointments under the Conservatives. “When a group of us met some of the current board members and the current chair, we felt very strongly that an understanding of the impact of the supreme court ruling on the trans community wasn’t there.” Another Labour backbencher said they hoped more people would apply: “We need commissioners with real world experience of the issues they grapple with.” Stonewall said the arrival of the new chair and commissioners was an opportunity “to rebuild an EHRC that re-establishes fairness, balance, and respect at its core”. CEO Simon Blake said: “We are living in a time of uncertainty and turbulence for many; this is an opportunity to review the strategic approach of our National Human Rights Institute so everyone – including trans people – can benefit from the rights and freedoms the EHRC is constituted to protect and defend.”
November 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by El
adambienkov.bsky.social
Truly it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to pay more tax on their dividends
November 28, 2025 at 12:11 PM