Meet Mackenzie Bly (not his real name; see back cover).
I wanted to write something purely funny, but I fell in love with my lead character along the way.
It's out in August, but the lovely proofs have just arrived.
Retweet before tomorrow (Sun) evening, and I'll pick 2 winners.
If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you're illiberal.
If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you're a fundamentalist.
If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you're a totalitarian.
If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you're a terrorist.
"Erasing women and women-specific language and needs based on their sex is not only wrong, but also demeaning, regressive and constitutes one of the worst forms of violence that women and girls can experience," @UNSRVAW Reem Alsalem told the @UN Human Rights Council.
#HRC59
This 'why do you care about a tiny fraction of the population?' line is, and always was, utterly ridiculous.
Gender ideology has undermined freedom of speech, scientific truth, gay rights, and women's and girls' safety, privacy and dignity. It's also caused irreparable physical damage to vulnerable kids.
Nobody voted for it, the vast majority of people disagree with it, yet it has been imposed, top down, by politicians, healthcare bodies, academia, sections of the media, celebrities and even the police. Its activists have threatened and enacted violence on those who've dared oppose it. People have been defamed and discriminated against for questioning it. Jobs have been lost and lives have been ruined, all for the crime of knowing that sex is real and matters.
When the smoke clears, it will be only too evident that this was never about a so-called vulnerable minority, notwithstanding the fact that some very vulnerable people have been harmed. The power dynamics underpinning our society have been reinforced, not dismantled. The loudest voices throughout this entire fiasco have been people insulated from consequences by their wealth and/or status. They aren't likely to find themselves locked in a prison cell with a 6'4" rapist who's decided his name's now Dolores. They don't need state-funded rape crisis centres, nor do they ever frequent high street changing rooms. They simper from talk show sofas about those nasty far-right bigots who don't want penises swinging around the girls' showers, secure in the knowledge that their private pool remains the safe place it always was.
Those who've benefited most from gender identity ideology are men, both trans-identified and not. Some have been rewarded for having a cross-dressing kink by access to all spaces previously reserved for women. Others have parlayed their delicious new victim status into an excuse to threaten, assault and harass women. Non-trans-identified leftybros have found a magnificent platform from which to display their own impeccably progressive credentials, by jeering and sneering at the needs of women and girls, all while patting themselves on the back for giving away rights that aren't theirs.
The actual victims in this mess have been women and children, especially the most vulnerable, gay people who've resisted the movement and paid a horrible price, and regular people working in environments where one misplaced pronoun could see you vilified or constructively dismissed. Do not tell me this is about a tiny minority. This movement has impacted society in disastrous ways, and if you had any sense, you'd be quietly deleting every trace of activist mantras, ad hominem attacks, false equivalence and circular arguments from your X feeds, because the day is fast approaching when you'll want to pretend you always saw through the craziness and never believed it for a second.
@WomenReadWomen I moved into a property early 2004 and was getting quotes for replacement gutter, my brother was visiting and the guy who came only made conversation with him, my brother told him it's her house not mine. He still carried on ignoring me, still pisses me off I didn't kick him out
If you're worried about what uncontrolled mass immigration is doing to your children's future, or hold concerns about a hotel filled with young foreign males in your town, or you see how your community has changed right in front of your eyes over the last decade - never feel alienated, or like you're having thoughts you shouldn't. None of this is normal. You're not the one who should be ashamed.
Our incompetent political establishment has allowed this to happen, and wants you to feel guilty for their repeated failures. The blame lies squarely with our inept governing class - both Conservatives and Labour.
British people are fundamentally decent. We want to help others, but we have reached a tipping point.
This cannot go on.
We cannot solve the world's problems, when our own country is in such a dire state. It's that simple. It's just not possible.
There is nothing wrong, racist or whatever else about wanting to put the British people first. Don't let anyone tell you, or make you feel, otherwise.
Eleven years ago today my story was published in The Times newspaper.
I named not only Arshid Hussain as the man that groomed and exploited me but I also named Labour politician, Jahangir Akhtar and police officer PC Ali for their involvement in a no ‘prosecution deal’.
My story opened the criminal investigations which is now the biggest child abuse investigation in our history and still ongoing but it also commissioned the Alexis Jay report which showed 1400 children were groomed, abused, raped, trafficked and tortured and authorities turned a blind eye.
The next few days will also mark the ten year anniversary of the report being published.
Not one professional has ever been held to account for failing us.
I later went on to successfully sue South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Borough Council for negligence. I also fought and won against CICA.
Professionals and others have tried everything in their power to stop me. They have tried to have me arrested on countless occasions, served me with gagging orders and even tried sueing me to silence me. They failed.
I still to this day have to fight the system to protect me, my son and grandson.
It should never be this hard for victims of abuse and exploitation.
My fight continues
https://t.co/wspgmq3Amt