Mick Hartley

It’s a condition that affects only women, so of course they’ve made a trans woman their representative. From the Times:

Amanda Craig, who has published nine novels and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2021, spoke out after Steph Richards was named as the parliamentary engagement officer for Endometriosis South Coast.

Endometriosis is a chronic and painful gynaecological condition in which cells similar to those in the lining of the uterus grow in other parts of the body. It affects one in ten women in the UK.

Craig, who suffered from acute endometriosis in her forties, said the appointment of Richards was “absolutely ridiculous”. She added: “It’s as ridiculous as someone purporting to speak for black people when they’re white.

Richards, who was born male but identifies as female, stepped down as the charity’s chief executive in 2024 after women’s rights campaigners objected to her in the position, saying it was “insulting”.

It has now emerged that Richards, 73, who is also chief executive and founder of the trans campaign group TransLucent, has taken up a new role representing the charity to parliamentarians.

Rosie Duffield, a gender-critical independent MP, said she felt “uncomfortable” when invited to an event in parliament by Richards and described the appointment as “inappropriate”.

She said: “I am really uncomfortable that of all of the tens of thousands of women affected, someone who is biologically male is coming to speak about this in parliament who can have no possible lived experience of this condition.

“There are lots of women that would need this kind of support out there who would be able to talk about the lived experience in a much better way than someone who’s never menstruated in their life.

“This is a senior spokesperson’s role, so it’s somebody speaking on behalf of an awful lot of sufferers and you can’t, in my opinion, do that if you can have no possible awareness of what women’s bodies go through.”

Would they get a woman to campaign on behalf of prostate cancer sufferers? I’m guessing not. This only works one way. And “Steph” Richards has a history of violent and aggressive campaigning against women speaking out. He enjoys the business of humiliating women.

In response to the fresh criticism of her position, Endometriosis South Coast insisted that it was “scientifically inaccurate” to suggest endometriosis was a condition that only affected women.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “It affects people of all genders, including trans men, non-binary, and intersex individuals.”

Oh ffs. Only if they’re women.