Why I Am Voting Scottish Green

I am not some turkey voting for Christmas.

I have come to the decision that I shall be voting Scottish Green 1 and 2 in the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in May. The reason being the unchecked transphobia within the Scottish National Party (SNP).

I remain fully committed to an independent Scotland, but events of the past few years, which have come to a head more recently, have convinced me that I cannot vote for a party in which transphobia goes unchallenged, and the party leader, however well meaning, seems unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

Firstly, let me outlay the history.

In the run up to the last Scottish Parliamentary Election in 2016, the SNP made a manifesto promise to reform gender recognition, to bring it into line with “best international practice”. This promise included gender self-ID, that being extended to 16-17 year old transgender people, and legislation for nonbinary people in Scotland. They promised to implement these measures in the lifetime of the parliament, meaning between 2016-2021.

The SNP won the 2016 election, and a Bill was submitted to the Scottish Parliament on the above basis. It had cross-party support in the parliament. The Bill then had to go through the mandatory public consultation period, as all new devolved legislation in Scotland must do so. The support was overwhelming, with 65% of respondents, a clear majority, in favour of implementing the Bill into law.

Everything in the garden looked rosy.

In stepped Rev Stuart Campbell, and 15 SNP politicians.

Rev Stuart Campbell is the founder of the hugely influential Wings Over Scotland blog. Wings campaigned hard for independence during the 2014 referendum campaign. However, Mr Campbell is also an out and out transphobe, whose continual posting of hate messages and memes on Twitter saw Wings Over Scotland banned from the platform. Another blog supported by and advertised on Wings, The Sealand Gazette, started posting vile transphoic messages, and it too got banned. While it cannot be proven, it is highly suspected that Stuart Campbell was using the Sealand account to continue posting his hate speech.

A couple of side notes here.

1. During the 2014 referendum campaign, a tiny minority of independence supporters posted hate messages and threats on social media. Despite the independence campaign, Yes Scotland, and the SNP stamping down on those responsible, the unionists and the mainstream media jumped on the actions of a few loonies to demonise all Scots Nats as being vile, anti-English, “nasty cybernats”. Wings was one of the loudest voices to speak out against this, and point out that this hate was not tolerated in the official independence campaign. But while active on Twitter, Campbell routinely posted hateful messages from a tiny minority of transgender people, their allies, or those purporting to be transgender, in an effort to demonise all transgender people as hateful, violent, and dangerous. He was playing exactly the same sensationalist game as the unionists did against Scots Nats.

2. Stuart Campbell does support independence, that I shall not deny. Like all of us, he does not believe in a union with England and that Scotland should control her own matters, not Westminster. Interesting then that Rev Campbell does not even live in Scotland, and somehow thinks that he can dictate how Scotland should be ran, from his home in Bath, England.

In April 2019, among growing transphobia in the SNP and the wider independence movement, fifteen SNP politicians signed an open letter to Nicola Sturgeon, party leader and First Minister of Scotland, stating, ““conflating sex with gender identification affects a wide range of policy and service delivery, including data collection, education, health and social care, justice and sport. New information about this topic is emerging all the time and deserves to be properly scrutinised… …Changing the definition of male and female is a matter of profound significance. It is not something we should rush.”

Basically, the letter wanted any gender legislation to take “women’s sex-based rights” into consideration, which meant that it is they who wanted gender defined by biological sex. Anyone who knows any of the science behind gender will immediately realise that the two are not one and the same, and trying to claim so makes about as much sense scientifically as flat earth belief. So far from the Bill changing the definition of gender, it was the signatories to this letter who did so.

In October 2019, the SNP Women’s Pledge was launched, which likewise asked for gender being based on biological sex. All involved claim they are not transphobes, and have called any such accusations to cease. At the same time, they seek to invoke the Equality Act 2010, to uphold “sex-based protections”, and state that, “Women have the right to refuse consent to males in single-sex spaces or males delivering intimate services to females such as washing, dressing or counselling.”

So, there you have it. They want gender recognised by biological sex, which defies all known science, and effectively denies the very existence of transgender and nonbinary people, and they do not recognise transgender women as anything else than men invading female spaces – but they’re not in any way transphobic, you understand?

So, what did the Scottish Government do in the light of a majority of 65% supporting the GRA Reform Bill, and every single LGBT charity in Scotland supporting it? Ignore those opposed to it as inconsequential, you may think. Like hell they did. Under increasing pressure from transphobic members, they pulled the Bill, rewrote it, and presented it again in a very watered down form. OUT went the proposals extending self-ID to 16-17 year old transgender people. OUT went the measures for nonbinary Scots (the SNP promised separate legislation for we NB people, and well over a year later, we’re still waiting to see any). IN came a clause covering the “sex-based rights” of women.

The new Bill was supported by the Parliament, and went to the compulsory public consultation period. It too was supported by the majority of respondents.

So, the SNP 15 and the Women’s Pledge got their way, and they should have been happy with that, you may think. Except they are not. I’m not sure just what they want, but it seems to me that they do not want self-ID in any way, shape, or form. In fact, they appear to want transgender and nonbinary Scots not to exist at all, or at the least to keep quiet about their very identity.

Amidst all this, things hotted up on Twitter, and there were those opposed to self-ID who accused transgender / nonbinary people and their allies of posting hate messages. Some did, this I do not deny. And I don’t deny either that the majority of the cis people involved posted some of the most vile hate imaginable, including the same tired old crap of all transgender women being just fetishist, predatory men and paedophiles, using common English dictionary definitions of ‘female’ and ‘woman’, objecting to being called cisgender – which is a valid term used in medicine – and the like. There were also not a few tweets threatening violence. But they’re not transphobic, you understand?

Into 2020, and the Coronavirus pandemic hit Scotland. What did the SNP Scottish Government do? They put the GRA Reform Bill ‘on hold’ with indecent haste. It was the first legislation to be postponed in this manner.

The SNP Party Conference took place online in November 2020, and at it members voted a number of transphobes into places of power. Not least of these was Fiona Robertson MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament), who openly supports the ‘freedom of speech’ of transphobic author J.K. Rowling (who hates the SNP and who in 2014 donated £1 million to the official unionist campaign, Better Together), and who was one of the original 15 signatories to the open letter to Nicola Sturgeon. When several transgender and nonbinary people asked perfectly reasonable questions of Ms Robertson on Twitter, her response was to block us all. The new job of Fiona Robertson is? She is the Scottish Government Equalities Convenor. You seriously could not make this shit up, dears.

In January 2021, several transgender / nonbinary young people and their allies left the SNP, prompting Nicola Sturgeon to make an open plea to them to return “home” to the party, and to have a ‘debate’. Sorry, Nicola, but when that home is abusive, then you are left with no choice but to leave to protect yourself. And you do not get a ‘debate’ over anyone’s gender; the right of anyone to exist is simply never up for discussion. You want to debate people? Debate the hatemongers within your own party, or better still, expel them.

The SNP promised self-ID within the lifetime of this parliament, and they have completely failed in delivering that, due to the rantings of a minority of anti-science bigots, who malign transgender and nonbinary Scots as perverts and predators, and then laughingly claim they are not transphobes. And the party hierarchy, right up to and including the First Minister, have done absolutely nothing to combat that.

It is not a matter that I will not vote for any such party; as a nonbinary Scot, I simply cannot do so. And trust me, it breaks my heart that I can no longer vote SNP, as I do not believe for one moment that they have my best interests at heart. It would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. If their vision of independence is one where I and other transgender and nonbinary Scots can be maligned just for being who we are, that is certainly not a vision which I share.

And that is why on 6 May 2021, I shall be voting pro-independence, pro-trans, Scottish Greens, 1 and 2.

Now is the Time for Inclusive Education

Scotland is to become the first country in the world to have LGBTI-inclusive education embedded across the national school curriculum.

On 8 November 2018, John Swinney, Deputy First Minister of the devolved Scottish Government, announced that LGBTI-inclusive education would be implemented across all Scottish state schools, and the Scottish Government have vowed that “Work to implement the recommendations will start immediately.”

In his announcement, Mr Swinney said:

“Scotland is already considered one of the most progressive countries in Europe for LGBTI equality. I am delighted to announce we will be the first country in the world to have LGBTI inclusive education embedded within the curriculum.

“Our education system must support everyone to reach their full potential. That is why it is vital the curriculum is as diverse as the young people who learn in our schools.

“The recommendations I have accepted will not only improve the learning experience of our LGBTI young people, they will also support all learners to celebrate their differences, promote understanding and encourage inclusion.”

This historic announcement marks a success after three years of campaigning by groups such as Stonewall Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland, and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE). John Daly, Co-founder of TIE, said:

After three years of campaigning, we are delighted that LGBTI inclusive education will now become a reality in all of Scotland’s state schools. This is a monumental victory for our campaign, and a historic moment for our country.

“The implementation of LGBTI inclusive education across all state schools is a world first, and in a time of global uncertainty, this sends a strong and clear message to LGBTI young people that they are valued here in Scotland.

“Eighteen years from the repeal of Section 28, we can finally put its destructive legacy to bed.

“Education is one of the most vital tools we have to tackle bullying, prejudice and discrimination – and it shapes the fabric of our society. We now look forward to continuing our work with the Scottish Government as we progress towards full implementation.”

Section 28 was a policy implemented under Margaret Thatcher’s government for sexual and gender diversity to be discussed in UK schools.

Mr Swinney’s announcement was marked by an applause across the political spectrum of the Scottish Parliament, with the policy having cross-party support. There have been very few voices opposed to the move, and those who are have patently never read the proposals. Contrary to what some think, LGBTI-inclusive will not be implemented to the detriment of other education, but will work alongside the existent school curriculum, but with greater emphasis upon LGBT issues during age-appropriate lessons.

There are, as ever, the few minority voices screaming out about this, usually from the usual suspects of Scotland’s dour, Calvinistic, religious homophobes and transphobes. Unfortunately it seems that the Wee Frees and the like are deterimined to stay locked in to their “Thou shalt not” mentality. Just a word, dears, as Scotland’s own Billy Connolly once said “We fucking shall. Ye live in a land where the men wear skirts. We’ve done it before, and we’ll dae it again.”

But I am very pleased to see that the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is not taking a stance against this, as I and some others thought thay may, as Scotland has state-funded RC schools. In fact, one member of the LGBTI-Inclusive Education Working Group is Barbara Coupar of the Scottish Catholic Education Service. Kudos for once to the RC Church then, because their stance against equal marriage in Scotland was downright shameful.

The move towards LGBTI-Inclusive Education was felt necessary to reduce bullying of and improve the experience for LGBTI-youth in Scotland. One of the aims of this is to give all pupils a greater understanding of LGBTI people.

Stonewall Scotland report that in 2017 half of LGBT young poeple in Scotland, including seven in 10 transgender youths, were still bullied because of sexual orientation or gender identity. One in four lesbian, gay, and bisexual, and two in five transgender young people had attempted suicide as a result. Meanwhile, two in five LGBT pupils had never been taught anything about LGBT issues in schools. This becomes even more alarming when one considers that Stonewall Scotland call this an “improvement”.

Scotland is fast becoming the best little country in the world to be an LGBT person. Scottish Criminal Law recognises hate crimes based upon sexuality and gender identity; the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Act 2014 not only allowed same-sex marriage but was inclusive of all sexualities and genders; the Scottish Government is to implement self-identification of gender in the next year, making changing of gender on birth certificates and other official documentation, quicker, free of charge, and without any governmental intrusion into the individual’s private life.

Now, Nicola Sturgeon, sweetie, about parents choosing the gender of intersex babies…

20 November ~ Transgender Day of Remembrance

32% to 50% of transgender people will attempt or commit suicide.  Of that figure, 14% are young / teenage.

368 transgender and non gender conforming people have been murdered worldwide in the past year alone.

Almost 3000 transgender and non gender conforming people have been murdered in the past ten years.

And no-one speaks out about this silent genocide.

Remember them, and stand up to fight bigotry against and bigotry committed upon transgender people.

Reports of my death have been greatly exagerrated

HELLO, DARLINGS!

Yes, I’m still around, and alive and well.  I’ve just been very busy in the past few months.  I have a new job which leaves me with very little time for social media, but I have been missing being on here.

I do hope this post finds all, especially my much-loved sisters, here well, and trust you have all been behaving yourself in my absence.  Well, as much as you lot can.

I am going to endeavour to be here a little more in future, so look out for more political posts, and more nonsense.

Much love to all,

Xandra  XXXX

Nightwear Tip

NEVER wear a satin teddy in nylon sheets, girls.  I could light up the whole of Scotland at this rate.

Trans Woman Found Dead in Male Prison

Vicky Thompson

Prisoner had threatened suicide.

On Friday, 13 November 2015, trans woman Vicky Thompson was found dead in her cell at the all-male Armley Prison in Leeds, England, having apparently committed suicide. Her Majesty’s Prison Service (which runs prisons in England and Wales) announced her death six days later, on the evening of Thursday, 19 November, only hours before the start of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“HMP Leeds prisoner Vicky Thompson was found unresponsive on the evening of Friday, 13 November,” said a Prison Service spokesman, “Staff and paramedics attempted resuscitation but she was pronounced dead at 21:10 GMT. As with all deaths in custody there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman”.

Vicky, who had identified as female since her early teens but had not undergone gender reassignment surgery, had previously been incarcerated in Her Majesty’s Prison Leeds on a 12 month sentence, which had been reduced to a suspended sentence.  But when she broke the conditions of that, imprisonment was invoked. According to her boyfriend, Robert Steele, she had received harassment and bullying from the other prisoners, because she dressed as a female. Vicky had said that if she were returned to HMP Leeds, she would commit suicide. Her solicitor, Mohammed Hussain, had told the trial judge that Vicky Thompson was “essentially a woman”, that she was a vulnerable person, and pleaded for her to be placed in a women’s prison. Those pleas fell on deaf ears, and she was returned to HMP Leeds.

Vicky Thompson was only 21 when she took her own life.

I am not just angry today, I am FUCKING LIVID with rage. This girl’s death comes only weeks after the case of trans woman Tara Hudson, whom it took a public campaign to be moved from all-male HMP Bristol to a women’s prison. It is all too obvious that the Prison Service and the British government learned NOTHING from that case, and with tragic consequences.

I do not hold out many hopes for the investigation into Vicky’s death either. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman service will look into it from the perspective of cisgender privilege and no doubt shall decide that it was ‘tragic’ but ‘unavoidable’. When the English judiciary were petitioned to move Tara Hudson to a female prison, they immediately washed their hands of the matter and claimed that it was the responsibility of the Prison Service which prisons offenders should be allocated to. I have no doubt the so-called ‘independent’ ombudsman will reach the same conclusion. This is so much shifting the blame BULLSHIT.

Yes, Her Majesty’s Prison Service, just like the Scottish Prison Service, decide which correctional establishments to place convicted offenders in. However, it is part of the responsibilities of the judiciary to consider particular circumstances of each offender, and where it is deemed necessary to make recommendations to the Prison Service based upon those circumstances. That is precisely why Vicky Thompson’s solicitor underlined her vulnerability and asked for her to be placed in a female prison. The judge, whose name has not been disclosed, cannot claim that they were not made aware of the special circumstances surrounding Vicky, which he completely failed to act upon.

But the judge was not the only person to fail Vicky. Questions also need to be asked as to why the Prison Service managed to fail a vulnerable prisoner, under their very own guidelines, under not one but two circumstances. In the Tara Hudson case, a BBC spokesman told the BBC “It is longstanding policy to place offenders according to their legally recognised gender. There are strict rules in place to ensure transsexual prisoners are managed safely and in accordance with the law.” Vicky Thompson had previously complained of harassment and bullying from other prisoners, which proves that HMP Leeds failed upon that commitment. Secondly, Vicky was a known suicide risk, and yet somehow managed to take her own life. How was this able to happen? Why was a vulnerable prison apparently not on suicide watch? HMP Leeds therefore failed in their duties on that count as well.

As to the first criteria, that of recognised gender, the Prison Service cannot claim to know that Vicky identified as a woman, and if they even attempt that, then they will immediately make liars of themselves, for their statement announcing her death gave her name as “Vicky Thompson” – her chosen female name – and referred to her as “she”. We likewise know that she wore ‘female’ clothing in the prison. So, they have already identified Vicky as female. But then, one only need look at photographs of Vicky to tell she was a woman. Watch out for denials based on all the above in the forthcoming whitewash, sorry, I mean investigation.

It has been announced that the government is to review the criteria under which transgender offenders are jailed. It is not before time, but unless the current Conservative government, which does not have one transgender Member of Parliament, takes strong advice from the transgender community, then I do not hold out much hope for that either.

Certainly, the current criteria surrounding the imprisonment of transgender offenders is an absurdity and a bureaucratic trap, which far too many fall into. The current rules only recognise gender by biological basis and whether or not a prisoner has undergone gender reassignment surgery, and if so, they can prove that.

The rules state that if a transgender prisoner carries a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) or an altered birth certificate, then they shall be placed in a prison according to their recognised gender. Where no GRC is available, gender is determined by birth certificate.

Herein lie the problems. For a start a birth certificate can only be changed if the person has a GRC. Tara Hudson had undergone reassignment but did not carry a GRC. Therefore, as her birth certificate stated she was born male, despite having fully-formed breasts and female genitalia, she was placed in male prison.

GRCs are available, for a fee, only to transgender people who have undergone gender reassignment and lived under their chosen gender for two years or more. This of course requires the release of certain medical records to prove they have undergone reassignment and when. Many transgender people are against GRCs as they see them as governmental intrusion into their private lives and a “trans tax”. If you are cisgender and do not see a problem with GRCs, consider how you would feel if you had to release your medical records and pay to prove your gender. Then (hopefully) you will see how these rules single out one of the most maligned, misunderstood, and vulnerable sections of society, effectively coercing them – and only them – to carry “identity papers”, and pay for that to boot. The GRC is an insult to the transgender community.

Now, let’s look at Vicky Thompson in relation to those rules. She was 21 when she took her life, so given the slow bureaucracy of the English judicial system, we can safely assume she was at least 20 years old when first convicted. Gender reassignment surgery in England is only available for adults over 18 years of age. Before surgery is decided and carried out, there are several steps a transgender person has to go through, including years of psychotherapy, counselling, reviews, then hormonal treatment. In short, Vicky at 20 years old simply would not have had the time to have had the above steps, then undergo gender reassignment surgery and then wait the two years to obtain a GRC. We see here how the GRC rule puts transgender young offenders and older teenagers / early 20s at a distinct disadvantage.

Not that the present government would ever take advice from a slightly-to-the-left-of-Leon-Trotsky genderqueer pansexual like myself, but the recommendations on transgender offenders seems simple enough to me. Gender is not about what may or may not be dangling between your legs. If someone identifies as a woman, dresses like a woman, looks like a woman, and has done for years, they are a woman, and the opposite of all the above for transgender men. If something looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, you can be fairly sure it’s not a fucking ostrich. That is the only criteria any prisoner, transgender or cisgender, needs to be categorised by.

Until the government wakes up to that, there are going to be more cases of trangender prisoners placed in the wrong environment, and thereby put in a place of danger both from other prisoners and themselves.

As it is, suicide is a terrible thing for anyone to do. I don’t think it’s the “coward’s way out”. Far from it, I think anyone who takes their own life has to be very brave indeed to take that step. I therefore do not nor cannot condemn a 21 year old girl, driven to despair after everybody in authority ignored her, to end it all.

No, I don’t blame Vicky Thompson for her own death.

I BLAME the staff of HMP Leeds.
I BLAME Her Majesty’s Prison Service.
I BLAME the judge who ignored all advice.
I BLAME the Home Secretary, Theresa May MP.
I BLAME the British Prime Minister, David Cameron MP.

YOU ALL FAILED VICKY THOMPSON. YOU ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR HER DEATH.

GO DOWN YOU MURDERERS. GO DOWN!

Dreams we Conceive

Nothing to do with being a crossdresser or trans, but it could almost be when you consider the lyrics.  We truly are the forbidden and unforgiven who keep our wounds hidden from view.

And of course it is just beautiful.

In a city after midnight,
‘neath the halo of a street light,
where the dreams die,
as the blood dries,
of the wounds we keep hidden from view.

In the safety of this darkness,
as it hides all time has tarnished.
The forbidden, unforgiven,
are secure here where no-one pursues.

But the night fades away,
and gives way to the day.
What else is the night to do?
As the dark steps aside,
with the hopes we confide,
and never believe that the dreams we conceive
could ever not ever come true.

Is life different after midnight,
with it’s new dawn, and it’s new light?
Inconsistent and indifferent,
to the things we were so sure we knew.

As you stood there, in the night air,
with such beauty; let the stars stare,
from their distance; you were different,
like a dream that no-one could refuse.

But the night fades away,
and gives way to the day.
What else is the night to do?
As the dark steps aside,
with the hopes we confide,
and never believe that the dreams we conceive
could ever not ever come true.

As you stand all alone at your station,
what if God doesn’t know where you are?
As you send out your prayers for salvation,
but afraid that they don’t go that far.

So you wait all alone in your darkness,
and there’s a train that drives on through the night.
And if everyone’s on it except us,
would it return for that single life?

In a city, after midnight,
‘neath the halo of a street light.

I post this for every crossdresser and trans woman who is in hiding tonight.

Black officer who helped KKK supporter says policing is helping people ‘regardless of beliefs’

SC police chief shows the true way to combat hate – with kindness.

“An eye for an eye only leaves the world blind.” (Gandhi)

Kindness Blog

As hatred and racial intolerance engulfed a South Carolina rally over the weekend, a poignant picture of a black police chief helping a man who was wearing a swastika T-shirt emerged on Twitter.

The sick man, according to reports, had suffered from heatstroke and was being helped by Leroy Smith, the director of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.

The powerful photo, captured by Twitter userRob Godfrey, shows police officer Leroy Smith helping the unidentified KKK supporter out of the sun

Smith’s display of love and humanity in the face of hatred went viral, already getting retweeted thousands of times in the course of a single day.

Leroy Smith said in a statement that the photo, taken at a Ku Klux Klan rally, captured “who we are in South Carolina” and represents what law enforcement is all about: helping people “regardless of the person’s skin color, nationality…

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YOU LOOK DISGUSTING – (Comments Left on Social Media After a Woman Begins Posting Images of Her Face Without Makeup)

I would sooner have one person like this brave and beautiful girl, than one million who strive for physical perfection (it doesn’t exist) but who are ugly inside.

Please reblog to keep it going.

Kindness Blog

“My Pale Skin” wrote:

“Three months ago, I began posting images of myself without makeup on social media. The following film contains real comments that were left on images of my face.

Over the past few months, I’ve received thousands of messages from people all over the world who suffer or have suffered from acne, an insecurity or self-confidence issues.

I wanted to create a film that showed how social media can set unrealistic expectations on both women and men. One challenge many face today, is that as a society, we’re so used to seeing false images of perfection, and comparing ourselves to unrealistic beauty standards that It can be hard to remember the most important thing – You ARE beautiful.

You are beautiful – no matter how flawed you feel, no matter how upset you may about the way you look or how hard you find it to make…

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HELLO GIRLS!

I’m back

Hi folks.  I’ve been away from here for a little while.  That wasn’t intentional, I just got tied up (no, not that way – I should be so lucky, dears) in other things and blogging hasn’t been top of the agenda.

So, I’m just popping in to say Hi, I’m still alive and little Xandra shall soon be back to normal, posting her thoughts and observations on gender, sexuality and oh so much more and being the complete and utter bitch cuddly fluffy bunny she usually is.

Love you all.

Xandra XXXX