Mick Hartley

More on Saturday's London "trans rights" parade – a misogynistic hate march – from Jo Bartosch at UnHerd:

Trans activism has always attracted bullies. I received my first threat nearly a decade ago — and since then, women’s rights campaigners I know have faced stalking, assault, bomb threats, and legal harassment for trying to organise meetings. Others have been pushed out of jobs or dragged through the courts.

For years, this behaviour was ignored by politicians, while Stonewall, celebrities and HR departments lent a sheen of legitimacy to demands that were unhinged from the start.

But the shine has now worn off. Thanks to a resurgent women’s movement and the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming that sex means biology, the trans lobby has been dragged into the daylight. It’s come as a shock to activists who, just a few years ago, were on the brink of rewriting the law.

And, in the cold light of day, as we wake from the gender nightmare, the rampant misogyny at its heart becomes too obvious to ignore.

There was no mandate for this movement’s demands. Changes to law and policy were pushed through by stealth, with lobby groups co-opting employers through training sessions and model policies. But when the public caught on, they said no. And for those used to getting their way, “no” is frighteningly unfamiliar.

The Government should have listened to those who first sounded the alarm. Feminists — many of whom recognise the tactics used by abusers — warned that this was never about kindness. It was always about coercion. Now, with “Arm trans people” as a rallying cry, the direction of travel is obvious. The placards at Trans+ Pride weren’t a glitch. They were a sign of things to come.

We have been warned.