Before any more UK journalists recycle this lazy line about @stonewalluk giving Essex Uni "incorrect and potentially illegal" MAYBE DO SOME ACTUAL REPORTING? For starters, the High Court has reviewed such claims (AEA v EHRC) and dismissed them wholesale... (1/?)

To give an example of this so-called "incorrect and potentially illegal" advice... (so-called by trans exclusionary radical feminists with nothing better to do than harras trans people, in case you're new here)

Stonewall advised that: "gender identity or trans status” are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Essex Uni report countered that: "this is not the case... the law instead protects the characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’." 🙃🙃🙃

Is this not the definition of a vexatious complaint? The legal term "gender reassignment" not only correctly and deliberately encompasses gender identity and trans status, it explicitly protects nonbinary people (Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover).

As per, the anti-trans lobby is having a debate about "bodies" while ignoring the rights of people. They're also successfully orchestrating the UK's trans moral panic: their fantasy about what they *want* the law to say, informed by their false and malicious ideas of who we are.

Yesterday Stonewall clarified: "Our advice is based on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Equality Act Code of Practice, which was recently reaffirmed in the High Court." But their response is not included in reporting by e.g. the BBC, The Guardian, The Times etc.

Stonewall: "In most contexts, gender identity is an appropriate, inclusive, and well-understood term, so – in line with the UK Government and with international standards – we talk about gender identity in our everyday communications."

cont. "Similarly, when we describe the Equality Act’s protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’, we refer to ‘gender identity’ to explain who is covered by the law and how they are protected, as the EHRC does in their Code of Practice."

So again, journalists, before regurgitating this "incorrect and potentially illegal" line again without context, maybe do some reporting... and examine your own biases while you're at it.

Stonewall's full statement: And the @trans_safety 's AEA v EHRC write up:

ps. I was a staff journalist for years. I know how little time/expertise there is. But this isn't "in the weeds", it's fundamental. You can't report on an issue as if the High Court has not examined it when it has. The media's blindspot on trans rights is a national scandal.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC Every time you call us Terfs a bell rings and another woman wakes up. It was I who donated $15 American. Women quite like each and stand together. Keep calling us names and telling us we deserve nothing and you’ll find more and more of us. We hear the call. Tinkle tinkle.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I've got a scoop for you Freddy. The £100k came from me. Oh, and hundreds of other people who chucked in a few quid. I'm available for interview if you're planning on running this story...

@freddymcconnell @EHRC We paid for it tenner by tenner. The crowdfunder was public information.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC @rachelmsavage did. She did a huge investigation aiming to expose the far right American funding that is behind all this. She interviewed me and others. She found nothing.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I recall a judge who had no time for your unmeritorious claim that you were the (a?) father of the baby you gave birth to. How you have the nerve to jeer at other women for losing considerably less absurd claims is baffling.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC Here you go Freddy.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC Here's a crazy idea: maybe lots of people individually chipped in a small amount to raise a large amount overall because they believed in a common goal? It's actually quite a common thing these days, believe it or not.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I think you’ll find, if you bother to look, that women are standing FOR women’s rights. The fact that you take it to mean that this undermines trans rights says a lot.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I donated £10 as did many thousands of ordinary women just like me that are appalled at the undermining of women's single-sex spaces. There's no great conspiracy. Just ordinary women (and that's enough - thankfully)

@freddymcconnell @EHRC You took the government to court and ultimately the court had not time for it.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I know the idea terrifies you, but the answer is transparent-hundreds of ordinary women chipped in a few quid when they could afford it, as they’ve done for other cases with huge implications for women. Women are allowed to own & spend their own money now, even if you disapprove

@freddymcconnell @EHRC The judge had no time for your court case either, so can we assume it was vexatious?

@freddymcconnell @EHRC I donated ☺️ My friends donated. No big mystery.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC The £100,000 came from people like me, Freddy. You might be right that the definition of gender reassignment is so broad that it almost amounts to self-ID. This is what I was saying in the case between AEA and EHRC. We need to talk about the fitness of the GRA.

@freddymcconnell @EHRC TERF is a slur. LGB alliance are against homophobic transitioning of gay youth. Feminists are inclusive of females whoever they identify.