finally, a story that ends well (online group for lesbians ejects man)

I was cotton ceiling-ed by a trans-identified male on Facebook by DM. He was wanting to come up and hang out with me. I wasn't interested, I said 'No, I am same-sex attracted', and that I'm only interested in being friends. The next thing I'm being called a genital fetishist and a transphobe! I have never had this happen before, so I contacted an admin of the lesbian group he was on, and complained. Then I called my friend and told her about this trans-identified male trying to come onto me, and I sent her a picture of him. There was a long silence on the phone, and then my friend told me his real name, and exclaimed that he was married to her neice and was a father of three children! My friend called her daughter-in-law and showed her the photo, and she agreed that it was her cousin's husband. After that, my friend contacted the admin of the lesbian group on Facebook and told her he is not a lesbian as he has a penis, and the admin removed him.

#australia #virtualgroups #onlinespaces #lesbian #lesbiangroup #facebook #catfishing

rape & the 'sex by deception' offence

The following is an excerpt from Julie Bindel's piece 'When Is A Rape Not A Rape?' in the July 2021 issue of The Critic. Full article here.

Josie* (not her real name) is a university student in England who was raped in early 2018. Last year Josie’s mother Elsie* contacted me to ask for advice and support following the collapse of her daughter’s rape trial. During a night out with some female friends, Josie, a lesbian, started chatting to Marsha* who later joined the group in going on to a lesbian nightclub. Marsha could not find their hotel at the end of the evening and seemed quite drunk and somewhat disorientated.

Marsha “passed very well” for a woman on the night of the rape, according to Josie. Conveniently, however, Marsha did not “pass” during their attendance at court, but was dressed and presented in a far more traditional male way. With the benefit of hindsight, this makes complete sense given the defence strategy used during the trial.

The defence used in court, which led to an acquittal, was that Josie was well aware that Marsha was a trans woman, and that Josie reported Marsha for rape as a result of being “transphobic”. The defence claimed that if the jury couldn’t be persuaded that the defendant in court passed convincingly as a woman, then Josie must have consented, and therefore a rape cannot have taken place.

“Marsha gave no indication that she was trans and kept referring to a couple of YouTube bloggers who are lesbians,” Josie said. “You don’t get to use your femininity to gain the trust of a female and then use your masculinity to destroy them,” she added. “I felt and still do feel an extra sense of violation, at being accused of being transphobic in court after being brave enough to speak my truth as a victim of rape.”

Elsie told me she and her daughter often wonder if the rapist might have been found guilty if the case had been presented as rape by deception. “Stacked alongside the many myths about rape, my daughter didn’t stand a chance in court without that vital element of deception having been at the forefront of the prosecution’s case. Without deception, the case was as strong as a chocolate teapot.”

#unitedkingdom #england #rape #crime #sexbydeception #trans #lesbian

australian girls' school sports

This is not a personal story but an observation. I am a male high-school teacher. I am old enough to remember when girls' sport at school was very much an afterthought and the boys were celebrated to a greater degree. Girls were blocked from participating in "boys' sports" such as cricket and rugby. My colleagues and I have worked very hard for decades to encourage schoolgirls to participate to the best of their desire and ability in all sports. I fear our work will be undone.

#australia #sports #girls #womenssport #highschool #school #teacher #participation #sexnotgender