Stephen Pickles

former librarian. grandparent and gardener

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

@QcWynter @SarahRockell Because there could well be another after it……

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

My position is that gender dysphoria is a real, painful condition and that for some adults, the only way they may feel able to resolve that inner conflict is transition. If that’s the road they choose I wish them long life and happiness and I would vigorously oppose any discrimination against them when it comes to employment, housing or voting rights.

I do not believe children have the capacity to consent to treatments that may leave them infertile and, in some cases, anorgasmic. Multiple studies have shown that gender dysphoria in childhood and adolescence is not uncommon, for gay kids particularly, but it also occurs in, for example, straight girls who hate the idea of becoming women and sometimes, tragically, in children who’ve been abused. The available evidence shows that in the majority of cases, gender dysphoria resolves after the person has gone through adolescence. I am strongly opposed to the experimental treatment of blocking puberty in dysphoric children. I believe trans activists have behaved hugely unethically and irresponsibly in pretending that there is good evidence that these treatments are beneficial (there isn’t), that puberty blockers are completely reversible (there is a mounting body of evidence to suggest they aren’t) or that children are likely to kill themselves if denied blockers (there is no evidence to support this and suicide prevention charities warn against making such statements, due to the very real danger of suicide contagion.)

Of course, not all trans-identified people are dysphoric. Erotic transvestism, also known as autogynephilia, (getting a sexual thrill out of dressing as/pretending to be a woman) has been around for a very long time. I believe lesbians are entitled to exclude straight, cross-dressing men from their dating pools without being accused of bigotry and worse (same goes for gay men with trans-identified women). It’s profoundly homophobic to attack gay people for being same-sex attracted.

I don’t believe anyone, adult or child, is ‘born in the wrong body.’ That is an unfalsifiable, quasi-religious belief. A person may *feel* as if they’re in the wrong body, but humans cannot literally change sex. However they identify, men don’t belong in the single-sex spaces for which women fought so hard.

[Jon Pike @runthinkwrite]

@BenMclaine @ModernShy ... I am sick of you charlatans, posing as the Left, who are, in fact anti-science sexist bigots, who express contempt for women. You haven't got a clue what you are talking about. Fortunately those in positions of responsibility in sport ...

[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.

[Fr Paul @revpaulwhite]

As a priest, who has celebrated Holy Communion twice today and is departing for a Cistercian monastery tomorrow, can I just say that this 'Easter Egg rage' is nonsense.

If you care that much, get yourself to church, and then perhaps you will realise that our faith is not based on confectionary or its packaging.

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

@QcWynter @crackinggems It’s like car engines - used to be so simple and understandable ( with a book in hand perhaps)

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

Yes « Truth » and « serious solutions »

[Brilliant Maps @BrilliantMaps]

The 66th and 67th (Six Seven) Most Populous Countries On Earth Both Have The Same Flag! Coincidence?

Also see the only countries without red or blue on their flags: https://t.co/MCxK1qVbEd

[Gethin Chamberlain @newsandpics]

One hundred years after the publication of Mein Kampf, the National Library of Scotland still holds four copies in its collection. But a book in which women document their fight to preserve their rights is regarded as so dangerous that staff feel “unsafe”. This is madness.

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

Let’s hope it continues https://t.co/1UZpX6rD9n

[Dan Neidle @DanNeidle]

So how to raise more tax, if that's what we want to do?

I published a long list of potential tax increases, but there is no way to raise lots of money painlessly. There’s never a free lunch. https://t.co/6vS3laG3qi

[Otto English @Otto_English]

Spotted in a Brooklyn doorway by a friend this afternoon

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

Hey @MarshadeCordova what have you tried to do about this?

[Jean Hatchet @JeanHatchet]

It is 12 days until England v Afghanistan in @ICC championship.

@natiqmalikzada - who has been calling for a boycott in support of the women of Afghanistan - has been stabbed by Taliban activists.

This is how much Taliban need that game to go ahead.

You’re playing a very bloody game @ECB_cricket

#BoycottAfghanistan.
#BoycottAfghanCricket

[Jean Hatchet @JeanHatchet]

It is 12 days until England v Afghanistan in @ICC championship.

@natiqmalikzada - who has been calling for a boycott in support of the women of Afghanistan - has been stabbed by Taliban activists.

This is how much Taliban need that game to go ahead.

You’re playing a very bloody game @ECB_cricket

#BoycottAfghanistan.
#BoycottAfghanCricket

[Jean Hatchet @JeanHatchet]

This tells you everything you need to know. The Taliban are using this cricket team to build global acceptance for the way they rule and the way they brutalise women under that rule.

“Glorious nation, victorious team”

The cricket team and the brutality against women are linked @ECB_cricket and you endorse it if you play against them.

#BoycottAfghanistan

[Julian Armstrong @Brasfort49]

This was a truly remarkable film, and whether or not you are remotely interested in the music, you should watch it. Those who made it offer us a memorable reflection on music’s power, even in the hands of those who would manipulate that power for evil ends https://t.co/I1BI2NaC4A

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

Yes, absolutely. It took me quite a time to read - I had to explore @googleearth to view all the mine etc locations and photos. the only happy thing I learned is that copper mine spoil heaps are soon to be richer sources of copper than the huge holes in the ground they came from

[Julian Armstrong @Brasfort49]

Agreed. This definitely a book I would recommend to anyone and everyone…

[Jean Hatchet @JeanHatchet]

So you think “the experts know more about this” @josbuttler? Do tell us… what more is there to know?

@ECB_cricket he’s passing the baton to you. You’re passing it to @ICC and @ICC are passing £17m to the Taliban.

Seems like you’re all spineless, misogynist cowards not experts

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

@antonhowes Try asking the library you have identified. If it really will take 5 seconds, then they will probably be happy to try and be your proxy - you could pay them something as well . Win- win

[Stephen Pickles @stephenjpickles]

@IOELibrary Happy Christmas to you all