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Thithterhood groupth

Ok we’re not allowed to throw the front door open to them, but we can open a window in the back.

A transgender row is threatening to tear the Women’s Institute apart.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), the institute’s umbrella organisation, announced earlier this month it would ban transgender women from becoming members in line with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on sex and gender.

But it has now been accused of attempting to “breach the law” by creating “sisterhood” groups that would be open to transgender women.

But transgender women=men, so creating sisterhood is not possible. If you’re a sheep farmer you can’t create sheephood groups that would be open to wolves, because wolves are not … Read the rest

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Thithterhood groupth
By Ophelia Benson, January 1, 2026

Ok we’re not allowed to throw the front door open to them, but we can open a window in the back.

A transgender row is threatening to tear the Women’s Institute apart.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), the institute’s umbrella organisation, announced earlier this month it would ban transgender women from becoming members in line with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on sex and gender.

But it has now been accused of attempting to “breach the law” by creating “sisterhood” groups that would be open to transgender women.

But transgender women=men, so creating sisterhood is not possible. If you’re a sheep farmer you can’t create sheephood groups that would be open to wolves, because wolves are not … Read the rest

Archives
Bad Moves
Articles
Flashback
In Focus
Latest News
Letters
Notes and Comment Blog

Thithterhood groupth 

Ok we’re not allowed to throw the front door open to them, but we can open a window in the back.

A transgender row is threatening to tear the Women’s Institute apart.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), the institute’s umbrella organisation, announced earlier this month it would ban transgender women from becoming members in line with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on sex and gender.

But it has now been accused of attempting to “breach the law” by creating “sisterhood” groups that would be open to transgender women.

But transgender women=men, so creating sisterhood is not possible. If you’re a sheep farmer you can’t create sheephood groups that would be open to wolves, because wolves are not … Read the rest

Delayed guidance 

It’s called stalling.

The government is facing renewed pressure to publish delayed guidance on single-sex spaces after the new chair of the equalities watchdog insisted the document was “legally sound”.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson addressed the issue of the guidance after replacing Baroness Falkner of Margravine as head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) earlier this month.

The EHRC submitted its updated code of practice to Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, in September. But four months on, the guidance, which will be used by businesses and other organisations to inform their provision of single-sex services such as toilets and changing rooms, is still awaiting ministerial approval.

The government has defended the delay in publication, saying it 

… Read the rest
Not just a scarf 

How not to show solidarity.

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is facing a firestorm of criticism from conservative figures and political commentators after appearing in a hijab during a visit to a Somali market in Minneapolis.

The incident took place at the Karmel Somali Market, where Flanagan—flanked by Somali leaders and speaking in part in Arabic—opened with the greeting “Salam alaikum” and told viewers: “The Somali community is part of the fabric of the state of Minnesota.”

But the hijab is part of the fabric of the oppression and repression of women. Women in Afghanistan and Iran are beaten and imprisoned (or worse) for not wearing the hijab. It’s not a nice cuddly symbol of nice cuddly religion, it’s … Read the rest

Oh yes it is 

I’m pleased to see that I’m not the only one who emphatically insists that trans ideology is indeed an ideology.

I was drawing a deep breath to say “Oh yes there is” but then I realized I didn’t need to. (I said it anyway though. Might as well.)

… Read the rest

The not wheeshting award 

Helen Lewis gives the prize to For Women Scotland.

… Read the rest

Everybody across all 

If only people would tell the truth in these discussions, it would save so much time and effort. The endless evasions and concealments just prolong the misery.

THE new head of the UK’s human rights watchdog has said she will “endeavour” to protect trans people amid the ongoing row over access to single-sex spaces.

What does that mean? Protect them how? Nobody is trying to beat trans people up, so what kind of protection do they need? Spell it out!

Mary-Ann Stephenson said she is keen to “uphold the rights of everybody across all protected characteristics”, having taken up her role as Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) chair at the beginning of December despite a campaign to block

… Read the rest
Sneak them in under the tent 

The Women’s and Some Men’s Institute.

The Women’s Institute is facing a potential schism after one of its leaders advised members to hold “sisterhood” meetings to get around a ban on transgender women, The Times can reveal.

Funny kind of sisterhood, trying to sneak men into an organization for women.

The suggestion prompted warnings that such a move could mark the end of the 110-year-old female-only network.

Oh stop with the “could” shit. Don’t be ridiculous. It would do that by definition. Of course adding men to the WI would – not could, would – mark the end of the female-only network.

This month the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) said it had decided to exclude trans women

… Read the rest
Planning to file 

Questions questions.

Trump-Kennedy Center says it plans to sue jazz musician who canceled Christmas performance over Trump name change

Well look. Suppose you’re booked to do a performance at a fundraiser for women in Afghanistan, and then after you signed up, the fundraiser is taken over by the Taliban. You would know the funds raised would not be going to women in Afghanistan, wouldn’t you. So, not wanting to fund the Taliban, you would cancel, right?

This is like that. A gig at the Kennedy Center is not the same thing as a gig at the Trump-Kennedy Center.

The Trump-Kennedy Center, led by President Donald Trump’s appointee Richard Grenell, says it is planning to file a $1 million lawsuit “after

… Read the rest
Shove over, Beardy Boy 

More people ditch Trump’s Trump-Kennedy Center.

At least three more events are no longer happening at the Kennedy Center after its board, which was handpicked by President Donald Trump, voted to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center.

New York Dance Company Doug Varone and Dancers announced that they would no longer bring their pre-scheduled performance to the institution in protest of the decision to rename the arts center.

Not simply in protest of the decision to rename the arts center; in protest of Trump’s decision to rename the arts center named after an assassinated president so that it includes Trump along with the assassinated president. It’s about as crassly greedy and callous and just plain dumb as it’s possible … Read the rest

Shut it all down 

We must end the scourge of scientific research once and for all.

The Trump administration is breaking up a research center praised as a “crown jewel” of climate research after accusing it of spreading “alarmism” about climate change.

Russell Vought, the director of the White House’s office and management budget, said the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, would be dismantled under the supervision of the National Science Foundation.

“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” he wrote in a social media post. “A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”

Excellent. If we don’t do research … Read the rest

Trumpfiti 

The level of detail is impressive.

The White House has installed plaques along President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame,” offering descriptions of his predecessors, often written in the style of his social media posts — including insults, baseless claims and random capitalization.

Nobody asked for a “presidential walk of fame” but he had to slap one up so that he could make his insults and caricatures that little bit more conspicuous.

What’s a walk of fame anyway? Former presidents are already “famous” in some sense, because of being former presidents. What need is there to give them a “walk of fame”? Apart from creating a new way to crap on them, that is, which I guess answers the … Read the rest

To make him look super muscly 

Ermmmmm what?

Indiana Senate Majority Floor Leader Chris Garten celebrated Christmas by posting AI-generated images of himself violently attacking Santa Claus in front of the Indiana Statehouse.

Well…I’m sorry to say this, but not Santa Claus – someone in a “Santa Claus” suit. There is no real Santa Claus. (There may be people named Santa Claus. Doesn’t count. You know what I mean.)

That aside, wtf?

In one picture—clearly edited to make him look super muscly—Garten is seen riding bareback on a reindeer with his fist in the air, while supporters stand behind him holding signs rife with AI-induced spelling errors.

As one does.

From President Trump to failed New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, to Garten, so much

… Read the rest
Guest post: A prefab understanding 

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Not as familiar.

There’s a bleak irony here that I’ve tried to point out more than once: the loudest champions of gender ideology are often the ones most afraid to actually look at it. “Transphobia” is real and common — it just doesn’t manifest the way we’re told. More often, it takes the form of incuriosity masquerading as virtue. It’s the Ardals of the world — people who don’t know the first thing about the subject — who are phobic in the literal sense: afraid of what they might discover if they examined it too closely.

They haven’t merely absorbed a set of beliefs; they’ve been handed a full epistemic template — a … Read the rest

Not as familiar 

Graham Linehan points out something I hadn’t realized – some or many defenders of trans ideology haven’t bothered to find out a damn thing about it.

I’ve been here before. I’ve read all the quotes by now, from all the old friends who couldn’t pick up the phone before speaking to the press. Bill Bailey – our secret sauce on Black Books – said he found my stance in supporting women’s rights “baffling”. Amelia Bullmore – one of the things that made Big Train classier than it had any right to be – spoke of the “unfathomable escalation” of me standing against the mutilation of children in gender clinics. They all have their little variations, but the tune

… Read the rest
Now connect 

It turns out that climate affects many things. Who knew? Besides everyone who isn’t Trump?

Most Americans now connect the worsening climate crisis with their cost of living pressures, with clear majorities also disagreeing with moves by the Trump administration to gut climate research and halt windfarms, new polling has found.

About 65% of registered voters in the US think that global heating is affecting the cost of living, according to the polling by Yale University.

Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms and heatwaves, exacerbated by the climate crisis, are taking a toll on food production, with recent spikes in the cost of coffee and chocolate blamed by experts, at least in part, on global

… Read the rest
To form cells 

Gosh, you mean they might actually mean it???

JK Rowling has urged politicians to “finally” take seriously any threat of violence from transgender activists after it was alleged one group had vowed to target senior officials including the prime minister.

Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians had taken it seriously all along?

The Harry Potter author spoke out after a pro-trans group was reported to be planning a series of attacks on the offices of senior politicians. Bash Back also indicated it could target Wes Streeting, the UK health secretary, five months after it said it had vandalised his constituency office, according to The Mail on Sunday.

They’re allowed to vandalize MPs’ offices because trans is the most everything … Read the rest

In a rambling speech 

We’ve moved on to the rambling about Her underpants now.

President Donald Trump raged at the FBI for making a “mess” of his wife Melania’s “panties” during a raid on their Mar-a-Lago estate.

As an aside: it makes me happy to see that hideous word “panties” in scare-quotes.

In a rambling speech delivered at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Friday night, Trump went off on a wild tangent about federal law enforcement agents, revealing how they had disturbed the First Lady’s underwear drawer during their 2022 search of the Palm Beach, Florida, property.

“They went into my wife’s closet. I’ll say this. Number one, it’s very bad, but it sounds a little strange. They looked at her

… Read the rest
Several stickers 

Thanks to Francis Boyle’s seeking out the link, we can read all of what the selectively zealous Perth District – WA Police Force said about those dreaded Stickers. Take a deep breath and brace for impact.

The State Security Investigation Group Hate Crime Team is investigating a series of criminal damage incidents in Subiaco around Wednesday, 10 December 2025.

Several transphobic stickers were placed in public spaces around the Subiaco Library precinct, nearby park areas, and close to a local school.

If you see any suspicious behaviour—particularly around bus stops, signage, or the library precinct—or have information that could assist, please report it to Crime Stoppers online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au or call 1800 333 000. Reports can be made anonymously.

… Read the rest
If you think that’s bad 

Trump enablers are shocked, shocked at the rudeness of a musician’s canceling on them just because Trump added his own fragrant name to that of the Kennedy Center.

The head of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC has demanded $1m (£740,000) in damages from a musician who cancelled a concert after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the venue.

Chuck Redd called off his Christmas Eve performance, which he has hosted annually since 2006, citing a vote by the board to rename the site the Trump Kennedy Center.

See, the problem here is, the Kennedy Center was named that because Kennedy was murdered on the job. Trump has not been murdered on the job. Furthermore it’s worth noting that … Read the rest

FWS 

Hadley Freeman talks to For Women Scotland:

Politicians are “thwarting” the Supreme Court ruling on women’s rights and are putting women at risk, according to the feminist group For Women Scotland (FWS).

Ruling in favour of the campaigners, who brought the court case, the judges said in April that the term “sex” in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, when it comes to the provision of single sex spaces. This means the term “women” refers to — hold onto your hats — women, and women-only spaces are lawfully provided for women. The term does not mean, as the Scottish government insisted, and spent at least £374,000 arguing, a man who identifies as a woman, known as a

… Read the rest