Aurora Ballard

Editor, Writer, erstwhile opera singer, intactivist. 'No one means all he says, and very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous.'

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

ALL Brexit voters knew it would tank UK economy; they voted with their emotions, not their wallets. The Leave campaign was never about improving the economy, it was about culture, xenophobia, appealing to nativism. Brexit supporters never gave a damn about economic fallout. https://t.co/IaGPZdq4qI

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

Britain’s economy has slowed to a standstill, largely because of Brexit https://t.co/OS5NAbJnv0

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

It's exhausting and frustrating dealing with the misperception that @jk_rowling "hates" trans people or wishes them harm or is trying to erode their rights. She is not and has never been & I am sick of all the misplaced anger. I hope this quote puts that incorrect notion to rest.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Yes, the people who call themselves 'trans' exist and they deserve exactly the same rights as everyone else, which, fortunately, they already have in the UK. It would rightly be considered discrimination if a person was refused employment, housing or the vote because they identified as trans.

'Trans women are women' is a thought-terminating cliché. Men are not women. That doesn't mean they're not allowed to present themselves however they like, call themselves whatever they like and believe whatever they like about themselves. It means they haven't changed sex.

If we replace the objective, observable characteristic of sex with the unfalsifiable concept of gender identify, women and girls lose, among other things, their right to fair and safe sport and women-only spaces, including changing rooms, prison cells and rape crisis services.

Women and girls are provably more vulnerable to forms of abuse including sexual assault, harassment and voyeurism in mixed-sex spaces. There is no evidence that trans-identified men don't have exactly the same rates of criminal offending as all other men.

Trans people exist. I have no desire for them not to exist; indeed, I wish them safety, happiness and health. However, 'existence' does not, and should not, mean the violation of other people's right to privacy, dignity and freedom of speech, or the reconfiguration of society to indulge a fallacy.

[Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren]

Donald Trump spent more than $11 BILLION in a week bombing Iran for reasons he cannot explain, but he can't find a nickel to help the 82M people who are struggling to pay for their health care.

It's all about priorities.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@BillWhiteUSA @POTUS @realDonaldTrump @JDVance @VP @SecRubio @StateSEAS @DeputySecState No, they should not. Male genital mutilation is a barbaric human rights violation. It should be outlawed in the entire civilised world. If an adult man chooses to have this foreskin amputated as a religious sacrifice, that is his business. A minor cannot consent to the sacrifice.

[Stephen Burns @Stephen___Burns]

@JohnCleese Want to blow American minds?

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

The bravery of these people is astounding. They're light in what lately has felt like a very dark world.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@JohnCleese I've yet to see any proof that he has an IQ above room temperature. No, his money isn't proof. There's no shortage of rich, stupid people.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@jk_rowling Alas, I suspect the conversation would have gone in the same direction if the box had contained new underwear.

[Sharron Davies HoL MBE @sharrond62]

Men cannot become women. They can pretend to be a stereotype of what society is ever peddling as a regressive version of being a woman. A woman is simply a biological adult female. One of only two sexes, that produce one of only two types of gamete. The rest is dress up, emperor’s clothes & an incredibly dangerous social contagion for vulnerable children.

[Sharron Davies HoL MBE @sharrond62]

This is happening in countries all over the world. Women & girls are losing out in their sports categories to people who do not belong there. In huge numbers. It has a massive negative effect & does NOT affect men. They are losing nothing. Again. Just women & girls. It must STOP

[Lily Maynard @LilyLilyMaynard]

“80% of the boys & 90% of the girls at the Tavi were same-sex attracted… this is gay conversion therapy… puberty blockers are an anti-gay chemical weapon”
@Jebadoo2
@AllianceLGB
#StopTheTrial

[Kate Barker-Mawjee @KateBMwriting]

Lesbians and gay men oppose the medicalisation of homosexuality. Being gay is not an illness to be ‘cured’ with puberty blockers.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@RichardDawkins Her cross necklace undermines her. She's not really standing up for women's rights when she's a shill for the patriarchy. Dumb enough to believe in a fictional male sky fairy who subordinates women & demands rigid gender stereotypes is not feminism, it's misogyny in another form.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@RichardDawkins I wish I could read this but it's behind a paywall.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

The drivel turned in as an 'essay' was a set-up and you fell for it. Shame on you for enabling another grifter to become a wealthy shill as a right-wing spokesbimbo.

[University of Oklahoma @UofOklahoma]

Statement from the University of Oklahoma:

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@UofOklahoma The drivel turned in as an 'essay' was a set-up and you fell for it. Shame on you for enabling another grifter to become a wealthy shill as a right-wing spokesbimbo.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

Kids' voices are mostly good but the narrator ruins it.

[Wizarding World Direct @WW_Direct]

The Times has revealed the very first extract from HARRY POTTER: The Full-Cast Audio Editions 🤩

Listen to Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Harry Potter and the Philosoper’s Stone comes out Nov. 4th on @audible_com / @audibleuk

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@WW_Direct @audible_com @audibleuk Kids' voices are mostly good but the narrator ruins it.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

It is not ‘hate’ to speak the truth.
It is not ‘hate’ to defend the rights of women and girls.
It is not ‘hate’ to be deeply worried about an unevidenced medical experiment on minors.
Rationality goes out of the window when you pretend men can be women.

[Aurora Ballard @KirkWordsmith]

@sewingwithsteel @Hobbycraft Don't cover up the name of the manager and employee.

[Senator Adam Schiff @SenAdamSchiff]

Some metaphors just write themselves.