John Strong

Believer in common sense. Anti Fascist #WokeAndAwake #LetWomenSpeak No to Self ID

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

Wow! This is ridiculous and scary!

[Sall Grover @salltweets]

Today, I was given a permanent ban of posting on my Facebook page, @Meta. The page can exist - apparently - but I am not allowed to post on it anymore. The page has been deemed controversial due to the Giggle v Tickle case and increased popularity of 25,000 new followers in a week. I don't want to labor the irony of being banned on a social networking platform while fighting in court for the right to ban men from a woman only social networking platform, it is what it is. Frankly, I'd love to have the same right that you do, @Meta.

Women are routinely punished for not accepting men as women. It doesn't turn those men into women. Nothing will.

[Maya Forstater @MForstater]

LGBT+ Labour should start a campaign for inclusion of transwomen in all-male spaces.

That would be inclusive and accepting.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Follow the logic.

Women are deluded and naive for thinking predatory and violent men can be kept out of women-only spaces. ‘They can rape you anywhere.’

However, trans-identified men can only be safe in women-only spaces, because no abuser would ever follow them in there.

[Sall Grover @salltweets]

“In a free society, people can believe whatever they want. If you want to believe men can be women or you’re a man who wants to call himself a woman, that is your business. What you cannot do in a free society is force anyone else to accept it. What is at stake here is the ability to lawfully acknowledge reality.

If you care so much about “trans rights” you can work out a way to get them without destroying the category of women in law, female spaces, sport, services, the entire reality of lesbianism, and punishing citizens for acknowledging reality. The fact that you haven’t even tried makes it appear that destroying the rights of women is the goal.

Any politician who will look an Australian citizen in the eye and tell them that a man can be a woman is admitting that they will lie about anything and everything because the most obvious lie has already been told.

If no one in this room can acknowledge reality and fix an obvious problem you are either malicious or incompetent. The days of dismissing this issue are over. This is not a culture war. It’s reality.”

- my words, read by Alison Penfold MP, in parliament today.

Contact politicians are tell them to BACK THE BILL - “Sex Discrimination Amendment- sex based rights bill 2026”

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

This

[Jill Foster @JournalistJill]

@LordWalney Genuinely…sincerely..no one wants to put anyone at risk. But women are not shields for men like this. They need to campaign for their own spaces if they feel uncomfortable in male spaces. Feel free to help them.

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

@owenjonesjourno If men use women's toilets, they will be subjected to possible rape, abuse, death. Anyone with any sense knows this. Stop encouraging it

[Tina M ♿️ @serenstar4]

As a transsexual who's always followed the actual law of EA2010, there is nothing in ECHR code that pushes me out of public life nor violates my rights. Your sexist mysogynist wilful misrepresentation of the law violates the rights of all F to single sex spaces, sports & services

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

@LabourKeriHowe @Martina @PeterTatchell Possibly both

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

@PeterTatchell It's not new guidance. It finally boundaries the 'confused' men who want to invade women's spaces. Stay in your lane... fair is fair

[Martina Navratilova @Martina]

@PeterTatchell Nope. I have short hair, no makeup, wear blue jeans and a t- shirt and yet no woman looks twice …. It’s not too complicated,Peter. And don’t worry about us
“Tomboys” , we can take care of ourselves…

[Sonia Sodha @soniasodha]

It’s extraordinary that the BBC consistently platforms men upset they have to use gender neutral toilets instead of women’s toilets over the female rape survivors who have been unable to access a female-only support group, in relation to the EHRC guidance. It says it all, really.

[John Strong @johnstrongviews]

@yonners

[Trevor Phillips @TrevorPTweets]

My thoughts on the @EHRC guidance laid yesterday; this is not about non-existent "rights". It is about the safety of women - mothers, sisters, wives, daughters. We men need to hear their voices. Virginia Woolf : "Though we see the same world, we see it through different eyes".

My intro on @TimesRadio yesterday:

Where I live there are two different routes to and from the tube station. One, let’s call it Acacia Avenue, is quiet and residential. The other, London Road, is a busy major route with lots of traffic. At all times of the day, I automatically head for Acacia Road. It’s just much nicer.

The women in my family, on the other hand, will never willingly make that walk after dark. They live with an anxiety that most men find it hard to imagine, and frankly, rarely think about unprompted.

Last year 739,000 women were sexually assaulted in Britain. Virtually all such assaults - nine out of ten - are perpetrated by men. One in four women have been attacked at some time in their lives. Acacia Avenue is exactly the sort of place in which most women fear that they become vulnerable, and they are right.

As the author Virginia Woolf once wrote " Though we see the same world, we see it through different eyes".

I think this is the right context in which to understand the furore over the guidance being laid today by the government, over the meaning of the words man and woman when it comes to providing services and facilities in workplaces.

Many men think this is about a rather arcane dispute about who gets to use what loo. For their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters, it isn’t.

In a previous life, as Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, I had a hand in writing this country’s equality laws, in particular the 2010 Equality Act. It never occurred to any of us that there could be any confusion or dispute over the meaning of the words man and woman. But it has taken a decade of campaigning, a Supreme Court judgement and now hundreds of pages of guidance to settle the issue.

This is not about so called trans rights, which are completely unaffected by this guidance, since no-one has ever had the right to walk into a changing room reserved for teenage girls.

What it does mean is that women and girls are guaranteed the protection they deserve, and that their safety, which we spent half a decade drafting law to ensure, is protected.

But the whole business illuminates some serious issues in our politics.

First that many of our institutions, in spite of the fact that they always knew what the right thing to do was, decided to ignore the fears of their women customers and employees, under pressure from noisy pressure groups. Instead, the people who were supposed to be the grown ups behaved as though the law said what campaigners wanted it to say, rather than what it actually said. They settled for what they hoped would be a quiet life.

In a democracy, there’s little point in Parliament deciding anything if the law is then made an ass by activists intimidating bosses in companies, schools, universities and the media into doing something different.

Second, at the heart of the campaign to undermine the Equality Act is an idea that we specifically rejected in 2010, so called self-identification. That is to say, that it should be up to the individual to decide whether they have what’s called a protected characteristic - are you male or female, are you black or white. The problem is that self-ID would destroy the operation of any law against discrimination.

Look, it would almost certainly have been to my advantage as a young man to self-identify as a handsome, white public schoolboy. None of those things is true of me. And at various points I am pretty sure it’s been to my disadvantage. It is certainly statistically likely to have been to my disadvantage.

But according to the logic of those who say that self-ID should be the rule and that anyone should be able to decide for themselves whether they are male or female, black or white or Asian, were I to complain about racial discrimination, it would be difficult for anyone prove that I’d been discriminated against because of my race since anybody to whom I’d lost out could just tell the courts that they too were black.

I know that sounds like Alice in Wonderland but you can google the case where a chap, both of whose parents are white, insisted he should get money from the Arts Council because he so identified with the black struggle that he considered himself black, and everyone should accept his point of view. In the United States and Brazil exactly such outlandish claims have been made and people rewarded to the disadvantage of people actually born into minority families.

I have even been told about firms who, when reporting their gender pay gaps have put men who just happen to like wearing dresses at weekends - nothing wrong with that, let me be clear - into the female column and told their women employees that they really haven’t got anything to moan about because statistically they are paid equally, and they should get back in their box.

So today’s guidance isn’t just another tiresome chapter in culture wars. It is , I hope, a halt to the efforts to undermine one of the most important pieces of legislation on the statute book, by people who, for their own reasons, would prefer us to be living in the 1950s world of Mad Men.

[Ruth Lewis @brupe]

At Leicester Victoria #parkrun to support @EloiseSchultz_ and @UoLWSS with @WomensRightsNet @WRNDerbyshire @Caterin00138072 @HallisseyC
#SaveWomensSport
@parkrunUK
Lots of support including from people who still didn't know that parkrun allows men in the women's category!

[Sall Grover @salltweets]

“Australia’s first female Prime Minister will dine out on her historic status, commanding her usual speaking fee to lecture the world on what it means to be a woman in public life. All while, back home, women and girls continue to clean up the mess her government created…”

[Sall Grover @salltweets]

I want to say a really big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to message or email me over the past week. I literally have thousands to open. I will read & respond to every single one over the coming weeks.

Today I had my first day off since the decision & spent it with my daughter. It was lovely.

Tomorrow, it’s back to work.

I’m not giving up & you shouldn’t either. If you’re wondering what you can do: email politicians. They’re elected officials, not Gods, and they have to listen to us.

🩷🩷🩷

[Dogs On The Streets @dotslondon]

HEATWAVE MODE: ACTIVATED

These soaring temperatures don’t just affect people , they can have a huge impact on Dogs everywhere. From the Dogs safely in our Sanctuary to those struggling out on the streets, and beloved pets at home, this heat can become dangerous incredibly quickly.

At Dogs on the Streets, our amazing Team has gone above and beyond to make sure every Dog in our care stays safe, cool, hydrated, and comforted during this extreme weather.

Our Team were in EXTRA early this morning starting 6AM walks to avoid the dangerous midday heat.
💦 Pools are out.
🌊 Sprinklers are on.
🧊 Frozen enrichment treats are packed in the freezers.
🥣 Electrolyte water bowls are topped up constantly.
🚿 Kennel runs and floors are being hosed down throughout the day.
And believe me ,this is FULL ON.

While many people are trying to stay cool indoors, our Team are out there working tirelessly, checking on vulnerable Dogs, answering emergency calls, supporting worried Owners, and staying on standby for any Dog in need.

We are also proud to be working in partnership with the London Ambulance Service. If they attend a callout where a patient has a Dog and no immediate support, they contact us so we can step in and help protect that Dog too.

Extreme weather, whether bitter cold or intense heat ,brings a whole new level of concern, care, pressure, and responsibility. It means longer days, sleepless nights, emergency rescues, welfare checks, and constant monitoring.
Today, we just want to say a massive THANK YOU to our incredible Team. The compassion, dedication, and relentless hard work you show every single day is nothing short of amazing.
You are the reason so many Dogs are safe.
Please everyone:
🚫 Never leave Dogs in cars
🚶 Walk early morning or late evening only
💧 Keep fresh water available at all times
🌳 Seek shade wherever possible
🐾 Check pavements before walks
And please spare a thought for the homeless Dogs trying to survive this heat with nowhere cool to go. I’m hoping that councils will implement swept so that our street homeless and also Dogs can access inside cool areas.

https://t.co/EgvWWRSQtK

#DogsOnTheStreets #Heatwave #DogRescue #AnimalWelfare #RescueDogs #StreetDogs #TeamWork #DogsMatter #StaySafe #DogSafety #London #AnimalRescue #HeatAwareness

[Carl Bontoft @CarlBontoft]

The sun is shining on those of us who want fair categories for everyone, including women and girls.
Have a good run everyone. @parkrunUK #SaveWomensSports

[Aja ♀️🇬🇧 @AjaTheEmpress]

The boys in dresses are doing another piss protest. How predictable.

[Janet Murray @jan_murray]

“I bite TERFs.”

This photo was publicly posted on social media by Girlguiding’s Head of Girl Experience - a day before December's announcement that boys who identify as girls would no longer be allowed to join. It's still there now.

I have tried to place this story, so far without success. Understandably, there is nervousness in the media around reporting on an individual.

But this is not really about one individual, is it? It is about organisational culture - and what is considered acceptable within a major girls’ charity.

Given the seniority of the role - and other material I have seen relating to the wider internal climate within Girlguiding - surely this is something that merits scrutiny in the public interest?

As ever, my inbox is open: [email protected]

[Rebecca Bull @RebeccaMKBull]

I’m actually quite shocked that Burnham said women started a culture war.

Women met to discuss sex based rights and needs and an angry baying mob yelled intimidation outside the only exit from the building.

Blaming women for men’s bad behaviour much Andy?