Sex Matters in the media – 2024 (January to June) archive
5th January to 25th June 2024
28th June
This week’s coverage began with Michael Searles’ story for The Telegraph on the ongoing influence of activist group TransActual on NHS England, including programmes linked to Pride Month. Helen Joyce said that NHS England bosses need to act firmly to remove all traces of gender-identity ideology throughout the healthcare system.
Sex and gender dominated the national conversation in relation to the general election for the rest of the week. Writing for The Telegraph, Daniel Martin covered Bridget Phillipson’s refusal to confirm that she would keep the schools guidance published by the government earlier this year, despite agreement that such guidance is necessary. Maya Forstater said that it was encouraging that Phillipson prioritises the wellbeing of children, but was disappointed to hear her refer to questions about the government’s work on this topic as “culture wars”.
Julie Burchill for The Spectator mentioned Sex Matters’ review of the Green Party’s manifesto, while Neale Hanvey, writing for The National, mentioned Sex Matters among a group of gender-critical campaign groups that exposed deep flaws in the Scottish government’s plans to reform the gender-recognition law.
Sex Matters did several broadcast interviews on the election in relation to sex and gender, with much of the media focused this week on Labour Party policies and positions. Helen was interviewed by Channel 4 and by Ian Collins for TalkTV, Naomi Cunningham appeared on Mike Graham’s show on TalkTV, Maya was interviewed by Camilla Tominey for GB News, and Fiona McAnena appeared on Kevin O’Sullivan’s show on TalkTV.
Several more broadcast interviews focused on the news that actor David Tennant expressed a wish that Kemi Badenoch would “shut up” during a recent awards ceremony. Helen appeared twice on TalkTV, with Julia Hartley-Brewer and Jeremy Kyle, and was also interviewed by Tom Swarbrick on LBC. Fiona was also interviewed on the story by Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV.
In other news, Madeleine Kearns for the US-based National Review covered the police investigation of Maya Forstater for “malicious communications”.
Amelia Brand wrote for HR Review on the legalities of single-sex toilets in the workplace. Looking at the Office for National Statistics as a case study, Fiona was quoted as saying that it was perfectly reasonable for a woman not to want to encounter a male colleague in the women’s toilets or changing rooms, yet this has been treated by the ONS as if it is unreasonable.
Marion Scott for the Sunday Post covered For Women Scotland’s report revealing a shocking failure to provide adequate single-sex facilities for both boys and girls across Scottish schools. Maya said that it was clear that updated guidance for Scottish schools is urgently needed to halt this state-sanctioned failure to safeguard children of both sexes, but especially girls.
Next, Alex Ward for the Daily Mail reported on Wiltshire police’s refusal to specify the biological sex of convicted rapist Lexi Secker, who is male and identifies as a woman. Fiona said that it is concerning to see the police pandering to the feelings of trans-identifying males, and that it does not give confidence that they are policing without fear or favour. Lara Wildenberg for The Times also covered the news.
Alex also broke the news that hundreds of gender-critical accounts on Twitter/X were temporarily suspended. Naomi said that she thought we were through the dark days of people being banned from social media for speaking the truth about sex and gender, but that there has been a recent surge in the silencing of dissenting voices.
Finally, Sex Matters board member Michael Biggs was quoted by Benjamin Ryan in the New York Sun, writing that Jolyon Maugham’s claims of a surge in suicide among gender-questioning children is undermined by the findings of the Cass Review. Michael’s 2021 paper analysing suicide deaths among GIDS patients was referenced as conflicting with the Good Law Project’s claim of one suicide death prior to the Bell v Tavistock judgment.
21st June
Beginning this week’s coverage, Jamie Hamilton, writing for Roll On Friday, mentioned that Maya Forstater has lodged complaints about Victoria McCloud, a male judge who identifies as a woman, in an article on McCloud featuring rainbow-coloured kittens in election posts made on LinkedIn.
Writing for The Critic, Jean Hatchet included a tongue-in-cheek reference to Sex Matters in an article on Sir Keir Starmer’s reference to women’s rights being part of the “culture wars”. Jean said it was unlikely that Starmer’s comments will lead to Maya and other women involved in campaigning deciding to quit.
Also writing for The Critic, Sarah Phillimore mentioned the banning of Sex Matters and other gender-critical accounts from Instagram in an article on how social-media platforms are stifling debate. Caroline Ffiske mentioned the work of Sex Matters in an article which argued that the Conservative Party deserves credit for the evolution in its work on sex and gender.
In an interview by Kevin O’Sullivan on TalkTV on Tony Blair saying that only men can have a penis and only women can have vaginas, Maya said that his comments about the “muddle” we find ourselves in now can be traced back to the Gender Recognition Act, which came in when Blair was prime minister, in 2004. Maya was also interviewed on TalkTV by Julia Hartley-Brewer on the Labour Party’s election promises on sex and gender, and the treatment of Rosie Duffield.
James Beal and Jonathan Ames, writing for The Times, broke the news that Maya is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police for the crime of “malicious communications” after a post on social media about Dr Kamilla Kamaruddin, a male GP who identifies as a woman. In a number of interviews and articles, Kamaruddin had talked about having more opportunity to carry out medical examinations on female patients than when he identified as a man. The story was also covered by Arthur Parashar for the Daily Mail, Cameron Henderson for The Telegraph, and Georgina Cutler for GB News.
Jo Bartosch wrote for Spiked on why the police are hounding Maya when bullying and harassment from transactivists get less police attention, while Maya wrote for UnHerd, arguing that the state apparatus meant to safeguard women has been turned against those who stand up against abuse.
Finally, Fiona McAnena was quoted in an article by Robbie Meredith and Matt Fox for BBC News on the removal of guidance for primary schools in Northern Ireland telling children that they can become “transgender”. Fiona said that everyone should be free from stereotypes and that children should not be encouraged to think that if they don’t conform to stereotypes they are the other sex. Fiona was also interviewed on the topic by Sarah Brett and Chris Buckler on BBC Radio Ulster and quoted in coverage by Adam Kula for the News Letter.
14th June
This week’s coverage began with an article for Reduxx by Bryndís Blackadder on Instagram’s decision to ban Sex Matters for breaching “community guidelines”, in an apparent wave of censorship of account users with “gender critical” beliefs who are critical of trans activism.
In an article for The Scotsman, Susan Dalgety mentioned Sex Matters’ election campaign in an article on the lack of women fronting political parties in Scotland and the wider UK this election.
Martin Beckford for the Daily Mail broke the news that Sex Matters, Women’s Rights Network, LGB Alliance and retired police officer Cathy Larkman have written to the National Police Chiefs’ Council about flaws in its review of guidance that allows trans-identifying officers to strip-search women. During the meeting, the groups were told that a participant in another session had said there were 72 recognised genders.
The Liberal Democrat Party was the first to launch its general-election manifesto this week, with pledges to make it easier for people to get gender-recognition certificates and granting legal recognition to “non-binary” identities. In an article by David Wilcock for Mail Online, Helen Joyce said that the Lib Dem proposals would be disastrous for women’s rights. Maya Forstater wrote to the editor of The Times, expressing disappointment that the paper’s detailed coverage of the Lib Dems’ manifesto did not include mention of the party’s major proposals on sex and gender.
Maya’s case was referenced by Alex Mizzi in The HR Director in an article on how employers can deal with conflicts of rights at work, and by Nicolas Shepherd for Sky News Australia on the turning of the tide on trans-rights activism, while Naomi Cunningham was interviewed by Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV about Exeter University’s insistence on staff using preferred pronouns.
Next, in the Daily Mail, Alex Ward reported that public support for people’s ability to change the sex on their birth certificate has fallen from 58% in 2016 to 24% in 2023. Responding to the NatCen report, Fiona McAnena said that the huge swing in opinion is down to the fact that the more the public understand the real-world impact of pretending that people can change sex, the less they like it. Helen appeared on TalkTV with Mike Graham to discuss the story.
Tim Sigsworth for The Telegraph reported on support for the Conservative Party for not including a ban on so-called conversion therapy in its election promises. Helen said that the Tories’ decision reflects growing evidence that such measures are unnecessary and even harmful, and that campaigners have misled many politicians, in all parties, by conflating historical outrages inflicted on gay and lesbian people with ethical, evidence-based talking therapy for the growing number of children and teenagers experiencing gender distress today.
The Labour Party’s manifesto was widely covered by the media following pledges to introduce a ban on conversion therapy and “simplify and reform” the process of obtaining a gender-recognition certificate, which would amount to self-ID by the back door. Quoted by Fiona Parker in The Telegraph, Claire Ellicott in the Daily Mail and Sam Lister in The Express, Maya said that the party’s election pledges relating to sex and gender are deeply worrying for anyone campaigning for sex-based rights. Maya also had an article in the Daily Express which said that Labour’s manifesto was silent on how it would protect women-only spaces and services.
Finally, James Beal for The Times broke the news that UN Women described gender-critical activists as an “anti-rights movement” in an Instagram post earlier this week. UN Women made the outrageous claim that campaigners are “putting … “the lives of LGBTIQ+ people at risk” and “falsely portray” the rights of LGBTIQ+ people as competing with women’s rights. Fiona said that it’s a sad day when UN Women lectures women’s rights campaigners on the need to include trans-identifying men in our work.
7th June
Writing for the Daily Mail, Alex Ward kicked off this week’s coverage with an article on the UK government updating statutory guidance on keeping children safe in education. The change will make it compulsory for teachers to inform parents if a pupil is questioning their gender, except in very limited circumstances where there are already serious concerns about the child’s safety. Maya Forstater said it was a relief that the guidance had been updated, especially since the official response to the government’s consultation on its guidance on gender-questioning children in schools has been delayed by the general election.
Sanchez Manning wrote for The Telegraph on female ice-hockey players as young as 14 being made to play against men who identify as women, who have been permitted to participate in female leagues. Fiona McAnena said that it is not just unfair, but is unsafe for girls to play ice hockey against biological males.
Also in The Telegraph, Charlotte Gill wrote about the chair of NHS England’s national clinical network of sexual assault and abuse services calling for more gender categories in the NHS. Helen Joyce said that it is imperative that everyone involved in the care of patients needs to be clear about their actual sex, and that doctors don’t need lists of self-declared identities to treat everyone with courtesy and respect.
Next was the announcement that the Conservative Party pledged to amend the Equality Act to make it clear that “sex” is about biology, not paperwork. Martyn Brown for the Daily Express and Daniel Martin for The Telegraph quoted Maya saying that politicians should be in no doubt that women will hold those who fail to protect their rights to account.
Helen was interviewed about the Conservatives’ announcement by Nick Ferrari on LBC, Julia Hartley-Brewer on TalkTV, and Jayne Secker on Sky News. Maya was interviewed by Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 and Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster. Fiona was also interviewed by Stephen on BBC One’s Nolan Live.
Martin Beckford for the Daily Mail quoted Helen in an article on Labour’s response to the Conservatives’ pledge. Helen said that it would be disappointing to see Labour dismiss the need to amend the Equality Act and that the next government, whichever party is in power, should show leadership and fix the muddle, rather than claiming there isn’t one.
In an article questioning whether free speech at the University of Cambridge really is under threat, Calum Murray for Varsity mentioned the transactivist protest Helen faced when she spoke at Caius College last year.
Sex Matters was mentioned in a piece by Lola Salem for The Critic on what children are being taught in sex education, with reference to the withdrawal of various Whitehall departments from Stonewall’s diversity scheme following pressure from gender-critical campaigners.
Maya’s case was referred to in an article by Danielle Summer in the International Business Times. After describing the case of a receptionist who lost an employment claim following dismissal for failing to correctly pronounce the name of her law firm, the article went on to give an overview of notable employment-tribunal rulings, including Maya’s.
Daniel Martin for The Telegraph and Shaun Wooller for the Daily Mail broke the news that public-health charity Ovarian Cancer Action marked Pride Month with a post on social media that asked whether men can get ovarian cancer. Fiona said the post was an insult to women who have suffered from the disease, and that to suggest men can get ovarian cancer is both misleading and dangerous, particularly when it comes to the health of women with learning difficulties or those who speak English as a second language. The story was also covered by Ali Mitib for The Times and Richard Ashmore for the Daily Express.
31st May
This week’s coverage began with mention of JK Rowling’s sharing of Sex Matters’ election campaign in an article by James Beal for The Times (print only). Maya Forstater was quoted as saying that the next government must stand up for single-sex services, and that it has to know what a woman is and be willing to say it.
Sex Matters’ campaign was also mentioned by Susan Dalgety in The Scotsman, who wrote that Keir Starmer’s “snub” of one of his own MPs suggests he still has a gender problem, and by Sam Lister for the Daily Express, who covered the five key questions party leaders must answer on sex and gender.
Maya wrote a piece for the Daily Express alongside Lister’s, which outlined why voters’ concerns about sex and gender cannot be ignored. She mentioned that polls show that only a minority of people want access to single-sex spaces to be granted on the basis of self-declared gender, and that the election campaign gives voters the opportunity to ask clear questions in everyday language when candidates come to their doorstep.
Fiona McAnena was interviewed by Emily Carver and Patrick Christys on GB News about the Labour Party’s position on sex and gender, and by Alex Phillips on TalkTV on how 26 nurses are considering legal action after being forced to share single-sex changing facilities with a man who identifies as a woman.
Colin Fernandez wrote for the Mail Online about the rejection by BMJ Online of articles by Sex Matters board member Dr Michael Biggs and fellow academic Dr John Armstrong because of their gender-critical activism. Also writing for the Mail Online, Jonathan Brocklebank referenced Sex Matters’ report on trans ideology’s capture of the women’s sector in an article on the “Kafkaesque nightmare” at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre.
Maya’s case was referred to in an article by Jean Hatchet in The Critic that also covered Roz Adams’ successful employment tribunal against the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, and described how women are not permitted to speak the truth about the two sexes because transactivists cannot bear to hear it. Maya also appeared on Andrew Doyle’s show Free Speech Nation on GB News to discuss the case.
Fiona was quoted in an article by Craig Simpson for The Telegraph on how Karla Sofia Gascón, a male actor who identifies as a woman, won a best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Fiona said that this is yet another illustration of the way trans ideology takes from women and gives to men.
An extract from the essay by JK Rowling in the newly published book The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht was published in The Times, in which the author wrote about how Maya’s case gave her the impetus to speak out on women’s rights. This was then picked up by Rachel Amery in The Scotsman, as well as The Telegraph and Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. Ellie Iorizzo’s coverage for PA was picked up by the Evening Standard, the Irish Independent and the Daily Record, in an article co-written by Ruth Suter. Lauren Smith also commented for Spiked.
Helen Joyce was referenced in an article by Wilf Vall for Varsity on the University of Cambridge’s new free-speech code, which included concerns from Professor Pippa Rogerson, Master of Caius College, who claimed she “couldn’t say no” to the decision to invite Helen to speak in 2022.
Helen’s latest column for The Critic covered the way some public figures are seeking to save face following the publication of the Cass Report, including Keir Starmer, Wes Streeting and Ruth Hunt.
Finally, James Beal and Eleanor Hayward, writing for The Times, covered emergency legislation banning the supply of puberty blockers from both via the NHS and private clinics. Helen said that this decisive measure will protect vulnerable children from private clinics, both in the UK and abroad, that offer vulnerable children life-altering treatments without any evidence that this will resolve their distress.
24th May
This week’s coverage began with an appearance by Helen Joyce on Kevin O’Sullivan’s show on TalkTV, where she discussed Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s comments on gender recognition.
News of Roz Adams’ victory in her claim of constructive dismissal against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre followed. In an article by Mike Wade for The Times, Helen was quoted as saying that sex-based boundaries matter for everyone, but most especially women who have experienced male violence and sexual assault. Maya Forstater said that the centre employed a man who wishes he was a woman as CEO, and allowed that to corrupt the whole purpose of the organisation. Conor Matchett for the Scottish Sun also quoted Helen in his coverage of the story.
In a follow-up article for The Times, Mike quoted Helen as saying that Wadhwa’s position was clearly untenable, and that the unlawful harassment of Adams and policies that fuelled that harassment can all be traced back to Wadhwa. Helen’s comments were further quoted by Martyn McLaughlin for The Scotsman. Adams’ barrister was Sex Matters chair Naomi Cunningham, who was referred to in articles by Scottish Legal News and Ann Henderson for the Morning Star.
Next was an article by Alex Ward for the Daily Mail on the NHS pregnancy app ‘Badger Notes’, which prompts expectant mothers to provide their pronouns and gender identity, with the option to select “male”. Maya said this is yet another example of the NHS getting it wrong, and that asking mothers-to-be if their “gender” is the same as their sex, which is supposedly “assigned at birth”, bakes in activist assumptions.
Annaliese Dodds’ surprise announcement that the Labour Party plans to “simplify” the process of obtaining gender-recognition certificates dominated the news early in the week. Writing for the Daily Mail, Helen said that sign-off by a single GP amounts to self-ID through the back door, and that it is not feasible to ask doctors to undertake safeguarding checks on top of their current workload. She also said it would not be right for trans-widows to be denied notice that their partner was seeking to transition. Helen was also quoted in articles by Alex Ward and Claire Ellicot for the Daily Mail, Jack Elsom for The Sun, and Geraldine Scott for The Times.
Writing for the Daily Express on Labour’s announcement, Fiona McAnena warned that one ideologically motivated online doctor could allow thousands of men to get false birth certificates that hide their previous identities. She also said that radical change to the status of a marriage should not be allowed without both partners’ consent. She argued that what’s needed isn’t to make it easier for men to claim the same rights as women, but to make it clear in the Equality Act that sex really means sex. Maya then appeared on Patrick Christys’ show on GB News to debate the announcement with Joanne Lockwood, a man who identifies as a woman.
In The Critic, Elijah Granet referenced Maya’s case in an article on the Scottish Greens’ announcement that they have expelled thirteen members for gender-critical beliefs.
Sex Matters board member Dr Michael Biggs was featured in an article by Jack Grove for Times Higher Education on how BMJ Open’s rejection of articles by Michael and fellow academic Dr John Armstrong was linked to discrimination over their gender-critical beliefs. Email correspondence obtained through subject access requests revealed that BMJ staff had raised concerns about Michael as “known for being transphobic” and John’s social media account “colouring” their impression of his work, as he was “very outspoken on issues relating to EDI”.
Sex Matters launched our election campaign on the afternoon that the general election was called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Alex Ward for the Daily Mail and Douglas Dickie for the Scottish Daily Express covered JK Rowling’s sharing of Sex Matters’ campaign on X. Maya was quoted as saying that the next government must stand up for single-sex services, meaning that it has to know what a woman is, and be willing to say it. She said that standing up for single-sex services is not a political “gotcha”; still less is it waging a “culture war”: it is a serious, real-life issue for all women and girls.
Finally, Alex also covered the news that Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has committed to banning private gender clinics from prescribing puberty blockers to children under rarely-used provisions from the 1968 Medicines Act. Fiona said that Victoria Atkins’ use of political muscle to ban puberty blockers will be welcomed by all those concerned by the devastating impact of so-called “gender medicine” on children.
17th May
This week’s coverage kicked off with the news that Stonewall has failed in its bid to have the EHRC stripped of its A-status by UN body GANHRI (Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions), with Maya Forstater quoted in articles by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph and Alex Ward for the Daily Mail. Maya said that GANHRI’s decision vindicated both the EHRC and Baroness Kishwer Falkner’s leadership, and must end the transactivist lobby’s spiteful campaign to undermine the EHRC.
Jo Faragher referred to Maya’s case in an article for Personnel Today on how HR professionals should approach the gender-critical debate. The article concluded that the recent flurry of decisions in gender-critical cases could mean fewer such cases in future, as it becomes increasingly clear to employers that gender-critical beliefs are protected.
Writing on Minister of State Esther McVey’s crackdown on gender ideology in the civil service, Dominic Penna quoted Helen Joyce in The Telegraph as welcoming McVey’s acknowledgement of the extent of ideological capture in the public service. Helen said that efforts to increase diversity and inclusion, while well-intentioned, have been co-opted by activists with a fringe agenda.
Next, Fiona McAnena appeared on GB News with Martin Daubney to discuss the fallout from JK Rowling referring to a male football manager who identifies as a woman as a “bloke”. Rowling’s comment came in response to a post which celebrated his appointment as a mark of diversity. Helen later appeared on Spectator TV with Natasha Feroze alongside Debbie Hayton, who had written for The Spectator in criticism of Rowling’s tone.
In an article for The Critic, Victoria Smith quoted a section from Helen’s book Trans: when ideology meets reality which asked what those who believe “transwomen” are women would do if they needed a gestational carrier. Victoria argued that everyone knows what a woman is when a man wants something only a woman can provide, and that no-one knows what a man is when this would inconvenience men.
Coverage for the rest of the week focused on the UK government’s publication of new guidance on sex education in schools. In two articles by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph (here and here) published before the draft guidance came out, Helen said that Sex Matters wants to see schools told in no uncertain terms to stop giving any credence to evidence-free claims that everyone has a gender identity, or that sex is a spectrum or can be changed.
Sex Matters appeared in several broadcast interviews on the new guidance. Helen was interviewed by Eddie Nestor for BBC Radio London and Ian Collins on TalkTV, and Maya by Julia Hartley-Brewer for TalkTV, while Fiona was interviewed by Jeremy Kyle on Talk TV and Emily Carver and Tom Harwood on GB News.
10th May
The news that Stonewall failed in its bid to have the EHRC stripped of its A-status by UN body GANHRI kicked off this week’s news coverage, with Maya Forstater quoted in articles by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph and Alex Ward for the Daily Mail. Maya said that GANRHI’s decision vindicated both the EHRC and Baroness Falkner’s leadership, and must end the trans activist lobby’s spiteful campaign to undermine the EHRC.
Jo Faragher referenced Maya’s case in an article for Personnel Today on how HR should manage the gender-critical debate. The article concluded that the recent slew of decision in gender-critical cases could mean a decline in their frequency because it’s increasingly clear to employers that such beliefs are protected.
Writing on Minister of State Esther McVey’s crackdown on gender ideology in the civil service, Dominic Penna quoted Helen Joyce in The Telegraph as welcoming McVey’s acknowledgement of the degree of ideological capture in the public service. Helen said that efforts to increase diversity and inclusion, while well-intentioned, have been co-opted by activists with a fringe agenda.
Next, Fiona McAnena appeared on GB News with Martin Daubney to discuss the fallout from JK Rowling referring to a male football manager who identifies as a woman as a “bloke” in response to a post which celebrated his appointment as a mark of diversity. Helen later appeared on Spectator TV with Natasha Feroze alongside Debbie Hayton, who had written in criticism of Rowling’s tone.
In an article for The Critic, Victoria Smith quoted a section from Helen’s book Trans: when ideology meets reality which asked what those who believe “transwomen” are women would do if they needed a gestational carrier. Victoria argued that everyone knows what a woman is when a man wants something only a woman can provide, and that no one knows what a man is when it inconveniences men.
Coverage for the rest of the week focused on the UK government’s publication of new guidance on the teaching of sex education in schools. In two articles by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph (here and here) before the guidance came out, Helen said that Sex Matters wants to see schools told in no uncertain terms to stop giving any credence to evidence-free claims that everyone has a gender identity, or that sex is a spectrum or can be changed.
Sex Matters appeared in several broadcast interviews on the new guidance. Helen was interviewed by Eddie Nestor for BBC Radio London and Maya by Julia Hartley-Brewer for TalkTV, while Fiona was interviewed by Jeremy Kyle on Talk TV and Emily Carver and Tom Harwood on GB News.
3rd May
Beginning coverage this week was an article by Mary Wright for The Times on how the Scottish government was one of the leading funders of Stonewall last year. Fiona McAnena was quoted as saying that the Scottish government should read the room and distance itself from Stonewall in order to regain credibility and objectivity when it comes to sex and gender.
Writing on Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s move to no longer say “transwomen are women”, Jo Bartosch for The Critic quoted Sex Matters’ research which found that 79% of secondary-school teachers said that their school had at least one pupil on its roll who identifies as trans or non-binary.
The most prominent news of the week was the announcement that the updated NHS constitution will mandate sex-based language in healthcare, provide access to single-sex wards, and allow patients to request intimate care from a healthcare professional of the same sex. Maya Forstater was quoted in a preview article by Camilla Turner in The Telegraph, saying that the changes represent a major step towards reversing NHS England’s capitulation to gender extremists. Her quote was later covered by Alesia Fiddler for the Daily Mail, Chay Quinn for LBC, and Lola Christina Alao for the Evening Standard.
Once the NHS constitution was launched, coverage featured a quote from Maya welcoming the definition of sex as biological in the update, including articles by Laura Donnelly on the front page of The Telegraph, Katherine Lawton for the Daily Mail, Poppy Koronka, Oliver Wright and Max Kendix for The Times, BBC News, Sky News, ITV News, and Storm Newton and Daniel Keane, whose piece for PA ran in the Evening Standard.
Storm and Daniel’s piece was also published by regional papers including Haringey Independent, Thetford & Brandon Times, The Lowestoft Journal, St Helens Star, Ayr Advertiser, Jersey Evening Post, North Norfolk News, Bury Times Series, Dudley News & County Express, Halstead Gazette, Oxfordshire Herald Series and The Courier, as well as current affairs magazine Perspective.
Maya, Fiona and Helen Joyce did several broadcast interviews on the NHS constitution story. On TalkTV, Helen appeared with Mike Graham, Maya with Julia Hartley-Brewer, and Fiona with Ian Collins. On GB News, Maya appeared with Martin Daubney and Helen was interviewed by Patrick Christys.
Follow-up articles quoting Maya included a piece by John Ely for Mail Online on how the NHS had little choice but to make the historic shift to declare sex a matter of biology; Katherine Lawton for the Daily Mail on the Health Secretary’s warning that patients who ask for same-sex doctors should not be treat like racists; and Dan Woodland for the Daily Mail on Sir Keir Starmer’s statement that gender issues “start with biology”.
In other news, writing for Personnel Today, Ashleigh Webber quoted Maya’s case in an article on social worker Rachel Meade being awarded £58,000 compensation following her successful employment tribunal.
Fiona was interviewed by Kevin O’Sullivan on TalkTV on the news that George Watson’s College, a private school in Edinburgh, reported to social workers the parents of a teenage girl who began to identify as “transgender”.
Finally, writing for The Telegraph, Daniel Martin quoted Maya in an article on how six trustees of the breastfeeding charity La Leche League GB have been suspended by La Leche League International for trying to defend sex-based services in the UK.
26th April
This week’s news began with coverage of Akua Reindorf KC’s legal opinion for Sex Matters on the promotions policy at King’s College London (KCL), which requires candidates to demonstrate allegiance to the university’s equality, diversity and inclusion policies and programmes. Daniel Martin for The Telegraph, Alex Ward for the Daily Mail, and Tom Williams for Times Higher Education covered the news that KCL’s policy is potentially in breach of the law, and quoted Helen Joyce as saying that universities need to return to their fundamental principles, recognising that diversity of thought is essential in a pluralistic, liberal society. The news was later covered by Cally Brooks for the Daily Express and James Saunders for GB News.
Next was Gwyneth Rees’s coverage in The Telegraph of the potential illegality of the Welsh government’s proposal to ensure that half of all election candidates are female, given that the plan doesn’t define what a woman is and uses the word ‘gender’ instead of sex. Maya Forstater said that the Welsh government appears to be trying to introduce gender self-ID by the back door and should listen to the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the matter.
Writing for The Scotsman on Humza Yousaf’s role in stirring up a culture war, Susan Dalgety quoted Helen’s incredulous response to a recent post made by Yousaf which suggested that a man who threatens to rape a woman is unlikely to know whether the intended victim was born a woman or is a “transwoman”. Helen had said: “Tell me he isn’t seriously claiming would-be rapists are unable to tell which potential victims are male and which are female?”.
Writing on the Scottish Prison Service’s updated maternity and paternity policy, which removed the term “mother”, Simon Johnson for The Telegraph quoted Fiona McAnena as saying that this is yet another assault on the rights of women by the service, which seems intent on erasing the status of women from all areas of policy and practice.
Reflecting on the Cass Review, Jo Bartosch mentioned Maya in an article for Spiked on how whistleblowers, detransitioners and gender-critical activists took on trans ideology and won. She referenced Maya’s appeal to scientist and Humanists UK president Dr Adam Rutherford to comment on the Cass Review – and his dismissive response.
Lionel Shriver mentioned Helen in an article for The Spectator on how it rarely pays to be ahead of your time, and said that Helen and fellow gender-critical activists are unlikely to benefit from any retroactive recognition as the tide turns against gender-identity ideology.
Next, Dominic Penna for The Telegraph covered Labour MP Dawn Butler’s admission in parliament that she may have misled the House of Commons by quoting a briefing by Stonewall in response to the Cass Review. Helen welcomed her correction and said it was a relief that anti-science narratives will be removed from the parliamentary record.
Also writing on the Cass Review, Michael Curzon for The European Conservative covered the safety warning given to Dr Hilary Cass about travelling on public transport following the publication of her report. Maya responded with her own experience: while she gets the occasional scowl, she more often gets thanked by people on public transport.
Next, James Beal for The Times covered the publication of a new journal article by Sex Matters trustee Professor Michael Biggs on flaws in the 2021 UK census data on the number of trans-identifying people. Commenting on Michael’s finding that the Office for National Statistics used a question invented by trans lobbyists which was already known to confuse people, Maya said that she hopes the statistics regulator will declare that the figures on gender identity are not fit to be recognised as ‘national statistics’. The news was also covered by Alex Ward for the Daily Mail and George Bunn for GB News.
Daniel Martin quoted Maya in an exclusive for The Telegraph on Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s declaration that she will no longer use the phrase “trans women are women”. Welcoming the clarification, Maya said that for several years, transactivist lobby groups pushed the use of phrases such as “trans women are women” as a tactic to silence debate and evade questions about how gender self-identification clashes with women’s rights.
Finally, Helen wrote an article for The Critic on how the Scottish government and police seem determined to turn themselves into a laughing stock with the introduction of the new hate-crime law on 1st April. Helen made a series of factual statements on the status of women and children in relation to sex and gender, and said that if a man who identifies as a woman finds any of these statements “abusive”, it is his responsibility to not put himself in situations where women’s rights depend on stating his sex, rather than dictating our language or compliance.
19th April
Beginning this week’s coverage, Andrew Doyle, writing for Spiked on how the Cass Review shames the gay-rights establishment, quoted Helen Joyce on the notion that “gender medicine” is underpinned by the belief that we each have a “gender identity”, which Helen has previously described as something like a “sexed soul”.
Helen was also quoted by Gabriella Swerling and Daniel Martin in The Telegraph, reporting that Jon Arcelus, professor emeritus at Nottingham University, was on WPATH’s internal message boards discussing surgeries that give men fake vaginas alongside their penises, or women fake penises alongside their vaginas, or even removing all sex organs. There is “no evidence that these risky and bizarre procedures are ever clinically indicated”, Helen said, and added that Arcelus has questions to answer: “Will the clinic he’s linked to start offering these surgeries? Does he think the NHS should be paying for them?”
Writing for The Telegraph, Ben Rumbsy quoted Fiona McAnena in an article on the International Olympic Committee’s funding of research into transgender athletes that claims they are at a physical disadvantage to biological females. Fiona pointed out that as part of the study, trans-identifying males participated in subjective tests, such as being asked to prove that they can’t jump very high or blow into a tube for long. She asked why they would try their hardest, when trying less hard gets them into women’s sport.
Next, in a review of Judith Butler’s new book for Quillette, Holly Lawford-Smith cites Butler’s promise to consider and analyse the arguments of Sex Matters, JK Rowling, Kathleen Stock and Holly herself in the book. Butler doesn’t reference Sex Matters again in the book.
Writing on the BBC’s poor coverage of sex and gender issues, Charlie Walsham noted in The Spectator that three years after her book was published, Helen was finally invited on to the BBC for an interview following the publication of the Cass Review.
Sex Matters board member Emma Hilton was quoted in a story by Charlotte Gill for The Telegraph on how taxpayers are funding a PhD researcher to explore “transphobia” in archaeology, raising the matter that “when an archaeologist finds human remains, it is a fact that there [sic] only two choices for gender identification”. Emma said that a female Viking warrior buried with male-typical war possessions tells us only that some women successfully broke through early glass ceilings. The news was also covered by Holly Bishop for GB News.
Writing on how adult NHS gender clinics have bowed to pressure to share missing data following their initial failure to do for the Cass Review, Eleanor Hayward and James Beal for The Times quoted Sex Matters, Transgender Trend and LGB Alliance’s letter to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, which said that public-sector bodies deliberately withholding information is disgraceful and a dereliction of duty.
James also wrote an article on a letter to The Times from Sex Matters, Transgender Trend, LGB Alliance, Fair Play for Women, Conservatives for Women, Labour Women’s Declaration and Merched Cymru, which called on Stonewall to withdraw claims against Baroness Falkner of Margravine, chair of the EHRC, following Stonewall’s comments about the “toxicity” of debate.
Writing on the problems of having a “non-binary” marathon class in The Telegraph, Mara Yamauchi mentioned that one of the key figures in the New York “non-binary” running scene, Justin Solle – who plans to run the London Marathon – tweeted “f— these terfs” about Maya Forstater.
On Talk TV, Julia Hartley-Brewer talked to Fiona about a new survey of female athletes showing that most do not want males of any identity in their sporting categories.
In a powerful article on how truth was sacrificed for status by centrists in the public eye such as TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp, Mary Harrington for UnHerd mentioned Maya’s call for science communicator and Humanists UK president Adam Rutherford to defend systematic scientific reviews against transactivists who are spreading misinformation about the Cass Review.
Arguing in the New European that an aspiring Labour government cannot avoid the questions raised in the Cass Review, Matthew D’Ancona paid tribute to Maya and Helen in a list of “courageous” women who have demonstrated extraordinary work and persistence in promoting the biological reality of sex.
Finally, Alex Ward, writing in the Daily Mail on the announcement that Scotland’s Sandyford gender clinic will pause the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to under 18s, quoted Maya as saying that she hopes this will be the beginning of a long-overdue winding back of NHS Scotland’s ideology-based approach to so-called gender medicine.
12th April
This week’s news began with coverage of the announcement that Sex Matters has been granted charitable status. Harriet Whitehead for Civil Society and Emily Harle for Third Sector covered Sex Matters’ objectives to promote human rights where they relate to biological sex, advance education about sex and the law, and promote the sound administration of the law in relation to sex and equality in the law.
Next was an article by Hayley Dixon for The Telegraph on the withdrawal of Church of England schools guidance from Bath and Wells Multi-Academy Trust, which told teachers that they would probably be breaking the law if they said a person cannot change their biological sex. Maya Forstater said that it was shocking that the policy, which undermines safeguarding and breaches the Equality Act, was agreed by the trust.
Also writing for The Telegraph, Charlotte Gill covered the news that Kate Luxion, a researcher who claims that “trans womens’ milk is as good as breast milk”, has taxpayer funding. Helen Joyce said if Ms Luxion’s claim that inducing lactation in trans-identifying men results in milk that is “better” than mother’s milk is representative of the quality of her research, then that research has been a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
Next was coverage of the news that Layla Le Fey, a man who identifies as a woman, was spared jail on account of mental-health struggles after threatening to attack and kill Helen and Kellie-Jay Keen. The story was covered by Eirian Jan Prosser for the Daily Mail, Jo Wadsworth for Brighton and Hove News, and The Argus.
In a preview of the Cass Review, Katherine Lawton for the Daily Mail wrote about expectations that the report would rule that children who are socially transitioned could face psychological repercussions. Maya was quoted as saying that doctors are having to deal with gender-confused children who have already been socially transitioned at school for years, and are, as a result, very disturbed by the idea of going through puberty.
The Cass Review dominated media coverage for the remainder of the week. Helen’s comments that the report demolishes the entire basis for the current model of treating gender-distressed children, and that it is a shameful day for NHS England, were covered by Eleanor Hayward, James Beal, Lucy Bannerman and Steven Swinford for The Times, Alex Ward, Shaun Wooller and Harriet Line for the Daily Mail, Michael Searles, Laura Donnelly and Daniel Martin for The Telegraph, Jack Elsom for The Sun, and George Bunn for GB News.
Maya wrote for The Sun on what the Cass Review means for parents and teachers, and said that the report should give parents and head teachers the confidence to say no to demands to socially transition children. She said that many health professionals lost sight of the principles of normal practice, and that gender-distressed children and their families were failed by services that were supposed to support them.
Eleanor, James, Lucy and Steven quoted Helen in an article for The Times on Cass’s assessment that GPs are scared off treating children over gender identity. Helen said that report is the nail in the coffin for the so-called ‘gender-affirming’ treatment model, and that the total lack of evidence base is laid bare for everyone to see.
Putting a spotlight on cowboy private clinics that provide children with puberty blockers, Alex for the Daily Mail and Michael Searles and Genevieve Holl-Allen for The Telegraph quoted Fiona McAnena as saying that Dr Cass did her best to tackle private clinics, but shutting them down is beyond the scope of her review and ministers must now act urgently.
Next came the news that Health Secretary Victoria Atkins is launching a review into adult gender clinics and has met with the head of NHS England to demand that clinics cooperate with research, after failing to do so as part of the Cass Review. Eleanor for The Times quoted Helen as saying that adults, just as much as children, deserve evidence-based care and the evidence is equally as lacking in adult gender medicine as it is in paediatric services. Alex and Shaun for the Daily Mail and Daniel and Michael for The Telegraph quoted Sex Matters board member Professor Michael Biggs, who said it was disgraceful that gender clinicians employed by the NHS wilfully obstructed Hilary Cass’s attempt to undertake research as part of her review, and that it was a dereliction of duty for these NHS clinics to refuse to provide patient information.
Shaun also wrote for the Daily Mail that the BBC continues to direct parents and children to Mermaids on its website, suggesting that the charity can be contacted for information and support. Fiona said that it is a scandal that the national broadcaster is still promoting the discredited charity Mermaids, which promotes the false claim that gender distress elevates a child’s risk of suicide and that puberty blockers are “life-saving”.
Maya and Helen did several broadcast interviews on the Cass Review, with Helen appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast with Rick Edwards, and in two interviews on TalkTV with Kevin O’Sullivan and Alex Phillips, and JJ Anisiobi. She also did an extended interview with veteran Australian broadcaster Mike Jeffreys on Sydney’s 2GB. Maya was interviewed by Tom Harwood and Emily Carver for GB News and also appeared on Julia Hartley-Brewer’s show on TalkTV.
Writing for The Telegraph, Michael and Laura revealed that Dr Derek Glidden of the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health and Dr Laura Charlton from the Leeds Gender Identity Clinic were two of the clinicians who refused to participate in research as part of the Cass Review.
Meanwhile, writing for The Times, James and Steven covered the Cass Review’s suggestion that doctors and psychologists should not be criminalised for exploring a child’s gender distress, amid concerns over a ban on conversion therapy. Maya clarified that the Cass Review says that children should have exploratory therapy, which falls within what some people think is “conversion therapy”.
Members of the Sex Matters team were mentioned as being part of JK Rowling’s “sex-based rights squad” in an article by Jon Brady for the Daily Mail on the author’s close network of supporters.
Finally, Fiona was quoted in coverage of the International Olympic Committee’s funding of research that claims that male athletes who identify as women are at a physical disadvantage to women. In an article by Ben Rumbsy for The Telegraph, Fiona said that it is disappointing that the committee is still looking at how to allow males to access women’s sport when that can only disadvantage women, who already get less funding and less access to sport.
5th April
This week’s coverage began with an exclusive by Will Hazell in the Sunday Telegraph on how a leaked HR policy on “gender identity” revealed that female employees of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) could face disciplinary action if they object to trans colleagues using their lavatories. Fiona McAnena said that the staff documents were inaccurate and inflammatory, and that they help explain why the ONS made a mess of the 2021 Census question on sex and “gender identity”. The news was also covered by Alesia Fiddler for the Daily Mail and Amelia Brand from HR Review.
Fiona was the feature interview on Nana Akua’s show on GB News on Sunday, and spoke about how she came to be a campaigner on sex-based rights, why men don’t belong in women’s prisons, and the status of men in women’s sport.
This was followed by an article by Steph Spyro for the Daily Express on how changing gender on official papers is too easy amid a record high in changes to driving licences. Maya Forstater said that the ease at which official documents can be altered is concerning, and that altered paperwork may be used by trans-identifying people to put pressure on service providers – such as gyms – to allow them into facilities for the opposite sex.
Next was an exposé by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph on how a transactivist civil service staff network, a:gender, that had produced training comparing gender-critical activists with the Ku Klux Klan was given £200K of taxpayers’ money. Maya said that all these workshops really do is encourage civil servants to bully and silence anyone who understands that sex is real and sometimes it matters. The news was also covered by Georgina Cutler of GB News.
Alex Ward for the Daily Mail and Jonathan Ames and Catherine Baksi for The Times covered Maya’s letter to the Lady Chief Justice and the Justice Secretary regarding comments made by High Court judge Master Victoria McCloud, a man who identifies as a woman. Maya said that McCloud, who is the subject of two complaints to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, has been engaging publicly and inappropriately in debates on sex and gender.
The launch of Scotland’s hate-crime measures dominated the news this week. Helen Joyce did broadcast interviews with presenters Jake Berry on TalkTV, Julia Hartley-Brewer on TalkTV, and Peta Credlin on Sky News Australia.
JK Rowling’s social media post in support of Maya was referenced in several articles on the author’s commentary on Scotland’s hate-crime laws coming into force this week, including Billie Schwab Dunn for Newsweek, Andy Gregory for The Independent, Jennifer Jones for the Scottish Sun, USA Today, and Ryan Smith for Newsweek.
Finally, covering Roz Adams’ employment tribunal against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, Mike Wade for The Times referred to barrister Naomi Cunningham’s role as chair of Sex Matters in an article on how the tribunal heard that the centre hid the sex of its counsellors from victims of sexual assault. The news was also covered by Georgina Cutler of GB News.
29th March
This week’s coverage began with an article by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph on Sex Matters chair Naomi Cunningham’s letter to BBC director-general Tim Davie in November 2023 making an offer of a process of strategic engagement with experts on sex and gender, which Davie did not not take up. Fiona McAnena said that considering the extent of the BBC’s engagement with trans activist lobby groups in recent years, it’s a shame he didn’t want to hear another perspective. The news was also covered by Jack Walters for GB News.
The news on NHS England’s decision to allow 15-year-olds to access cross-sex hormones was covered by Meg Byrom and Chris Pollard for the Daily Mail, with Helen Joyce quoted as saying that the NHS must urgently rethink before any more children are harmed by medical practices that are driven by ideology rather than evidence of clinical benefit.
An article by Patrick West for Spiked on why it took so long for NHS England to ban puberty blockers included comments from Helen on how the radical trans movement persuaded people that giving blanket rights to trans people was simply the next step in a narrative of liberation.
Maya Forstater was interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC on the news that Elspeth Duemmer Wrigley, a lawyer working for an arms-length body to a government department (part of the Civil Service), is being sued for her gender-critical beliefs, including expressing the belief that only women menstruate.
Connor Stringer for the Daily Mail covered the news that CBBC presenter Dr Ronx Ikharia led protests outside CAN-SG’s conference at the Royal College of General Practitioners. Helen said that Ikharia is somebody with an influence on children, and that adults at the protest were behaving like tantruming toddlers. Writing on the protest for Spiked, Jo Bartosch quoted Sex Matters board member Professor Michael Biggs as saying that all the protesters achieved was to emphasise why CAN-SG’s mission is vital.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Alex Ward covered the news that St John Ambulance is pressuring job applicants to include pronouns in their job applications, with a prompt on the significance of pronoun use appearing if applicants choose to decline to enter pronouns. Helen Joyce said that this feels like an opportunistic way to “educate” unsuspecting people that so-called gender identity matters more than sex, and toes close to the line in terms of compelled belief.
Finally, Alex also broke the news that a grandfather who identifies as a woman attempted to breastfeed his granddaughter as part of a Duke University study on treatment protocols relating to “gender medicine”. Maya Forstater said that babies cannot consent to being participants in such a study, and that men should not be permitted or supported to get between babies and their mothers. The story was covered by Melissa Koenig for the New York Post.
22nd March
This week’s news began with coverage by Jack Maidment, Nick Gutteridge and Daniel Martin in The Telegraph on Liz Truss’s proposed reforms on sex and gender not being debated in Parliament due to lengthy speeches by Labour MPs on pets, including ferrets. Fiona McAnena said that the lack of debate was very disappointing, and that Parliament must now legislate urgently to prevent private clinics from continuing to expose children to harmful treatments in the name of “gender medicine”.
Daniel Martin followed this up in The Telegraph with coverage of Judy Murray’s retweet of a Sex Matters post on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to clarify the Equality Act. Murray asked the Prime Minister what he is waiting for, and urged him to act now. The story was also covered by Douglas Dickie in the Scottish Daily Express.
Writing for Conservative Home, Maya Forstater called for the Prime Minister to show leadership by supporting Kemi Badenoch to amend the Equality Act. Maya argued that this could be done with a simple piece of legislation: a one-line amendment to make clear that the definition of sex relates to biology, as proposed by Truss.
Following last week’s news on NHS England’s ban of puberty blockers, Sex Matters board member Dr Michael Biggs wrote for The Telegraph on how he took on the puberty-blocker orthodoxy and won.
The BBC’s treatment of sex and gender was back in the news this week, with Fiona’s recent quote on the treatment of presenter Justin Webb used in an article by Robin Aitken and Liam Kelly for The Telegraph. BBC director-general Tim Davie’s remarks to MPs that the BBC must be kind, caring and nice to people on matters of sex and gender were widely derided, as covered by Henry Bodkin, James Warrington and Anita Singh for The Telegraph. Fiona was quoted as saying that the job of the BBC is not to be kind, caring and nice, but to be factual and impartial. She added that the statement from BBC’s head of editorial standards, David Jordan, on the sensitivity of calling men who identify as women “male” got to the heart of how the BBC is damaging its reputation and credibility.
Maya’s case was referenced in an article by Georgina Calvert-Lee for People Management on how to handle philosophical belief investigations; by nurse Amy Gallagher, who appeared on Sky News Australia with Rita Pahani to speak about the silencing of debate in relation to the Tavistock Clinic; by Lauren Smith for Spiked on the damage caused by diversity initiatives in the workplace; and by Jill Foster for the Daily Mail on the silencing of university researcher Laura Favaro.
It was also mentioned by Rob Moss for Personnel Today, who was covering the news that the co-chair of the civil service’s gender-critical network SEEN is being sued for saying that only women have periods. Writing about this case for The Times, Katie Gibbons quoted Maya, who said that civil servants should not expect to be kept “safe” from encountering ideas or people they don’t agree with. Maya also went on LBC Radio with Nick Ferrari to discuss the case.
Writing for Northern Ireland’s News Letter, Adam Kula covered DUP MP Carla Lockhart’s call for the removal of transgender-themed children’s books from libraries and included comments from Fiona that it is irresponsible to encourage children to wonder if they’re male or female because they like the “wrong” clothes, or to say that a boy might be a girl inside.
Finally, Sex Matters board member Dr Emma Hilton was quoted by Craig Simpson in The Telegraph in relation to the news that the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery has produced a trail guide that says that pheasants are “queer” and can change sex. Emma said the claims were nonsense and that we would not say that older women had changed sex if they have a bit of a moustache. The news was also covered by Ed Holt for the Daily Mail.
15th March
This week’s news coverage began with Greg Heffer in the Daily Mail writing on Liz Truss’s call for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to back her private member’s bill, which would change the legal definition of sex to “biological”. Maya Forstater said that the bill focuses on the three areas where clarity in the law is urgently needed to combat the influence of lobby groups that have captured institutions and are misrepresenting the law.
Next was an article by Oliver Brown in the Sunday Telegraph on Sir Keir Starmer’s comments which recognised the importance of biological sex in sport. The article quoted Sex Matters’ survey in 2023 showing that fewer than one in three people in Britain believed that men identifying as women should be permitted in women’s sports, changing rooms or bathrooms.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Oliver Price covered the news that police may have recorded transactivist India Willoughby’s complaint against JK Rowling for ‘misgendering’ him as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI). Maya was quoted as saying that Rowling’s comments did not meet the bar for a recording of a NCHI and that Northumbria Police needs to defend its decision to record a woman speaking in factual terms about a man who has persistently hounded her as a “hate incident”.
The big news of the week was NHS England’s announcement that it would ban the prescription of puberty blockers for children. Maya told Michael Searles in The Telegraph, Denis Campbell in The Guardian and Eleanor Hayward, Lucy Bannerman and Charlotte Alt in The Times that the news was a momentous development in the course correction of NHS England’s approach to treating childhood gender distress. Predictably, Stonewall continued to call puberty blockers a “reversible” treatment in its response to the news, which underscored Maya’s comment that the significance of NHS England’s statement that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty blockers cannot be overstated, given the success that activist lobby groups have had in portraying them as a harmless and reversible treatment.
Maya appeared on TalkTV twice: first to talk to Julia Hartley-Brewer about the Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill due to be debated on Friday 15th March and secondly to discuss the news on puberty blockers with André Walker.
Sex Matters board member Dr Michael Biggs was quoted in a follow-up article by Eleanor Hayward and Lucy Bannerman in The Times focusing on calls to close the loophole on private clinics prescribing puberty blockers to children, which Maya described as a “wild west” operation. Michael said that private clinics must be stopped from exploiting vulnerable children and adolescents as a matter of urgency, and that if this does not happen, those clinics will continue to provide these drugs on demand. This story was also covered by Iwan Stone in the Daily Mail.
Lucy Bannerman wrote a further article in The Times on how puberty blockers for teenagers became normalised in the NHS, which mentioned Sex Matters’ supporting role in the publication of the WPATH files.
In other news, Helen Joyce was quoted in an article by Mary Wright for the Scottish Daily Express on how Police Scotland is recording thousands of “hate incidents”. Helen said that reporting ordinary words as “hate incidents” has become a standard move of extreme transactivists who want to silence campaigners for women’s rights, and that Police Scotland’s recording of these suggests that the force is ignoring guidance intended to ensure that police treat such claims in a less biased and credulous way.
Writing for The Guardian, Richard Adams covered the call from unions for the government’s guidance for schools on sex and gender to be clearer, with teachers and school leaders concerned that they could be vulnerable to losing court cases. He quoted Sex Matters’ consultation response which said that schools are not clinics, and teachers are not clinicians.
Finally, in an article for the Daily Mail, Shaun Wooller and Alex Ward reported on how new NHS England guidance said that “not everyone who experiences menopause is a woman”, before the document was quickly deleted. Fiona McAnena said that the new guidance is the latest example of the NHS deliberately ignoring instructions from the health secretary last year to return to sex-based language, and causes particular confusion for people with learning difficulties or English as a second language.
8th March
The week began with Helen Joyce’s analysis of gender insanity in The Critic, charting the legal cases fought by gender-critical women since she first met Maya Forstater, five years ago. Drawing an analogy with the Crusaders, Helen wondered how long it will take to restore sanity given how many people make their living, one way or another, from gender ideology.
Lauren Smith, writing for Spiked about Justin Webb’s reprimand from the BBC for saying that transwomen are “male”, wondered why the BBC is spreading misinformation. She quoted Fiona McAnena from last week’s Telegraph article pointing out that Webb was simply doing his job and explaining to listeners terms that we know are widely misunderstood.
Reporting on the same case in The Sun, Thomas Godfrey also quoted Fiona, who pointed out that disciplining a presenter who had simply stated biological reality means that “the BBC has lost all credibility”.
Michael Murphy wrote in The Telegraph about a claim that trans-rights activists in the civil service have been undermining policies. The claim was made in a 30-page letter sent to the Cabinet Office by SEEN (Sex Equality and Equity Network), a group of 700 gender-critical civil servants. He quoted Maya, who called the letter “devastating” and said that gender ideology was embedded across Whitehall and there was bullying behind closed doors.
Also in The Telegraph, Tom Morgan reported on a girls’ football league in Yorkshire “at risk of sanctions” for refusing to let a boy play. Fiona was quoted pointing out that the Football Association claims to be supporting the women’s game, but is allowing the demands of one boy to override girls’ needs. The law is clear that female-only sport is allowed, she said: “It’s sex discrimination for the FA to tell girls they must accept a male player.” Daisy Graham-Brown reported on the same case for the Daily Mail, with a picture of Fiona alongside a quote.
In a shocking article about the mistreatment of female survivors of violence at a council meeting in the Brighton and Hove News, Jean Calder listed Maya as an example of gender-critical beliefs being protected in law.
For the New York Post, Yaron Steinbuch reported on a poll finding that 29% of scientists at UK universities disagree with the statement that sex is binary. Helen Joyce commented on how muddled supposedly bright people seemed to be about very basic facts, and on the striking confidence displayed by the almost two-thirds who agreed that “gender is fluid”, which she characterised as “a strikingly confident statement about a nebulous concept”.
The Daily Mail celebrated International Women’s Day with an article by Rosie Duffield and Jill Foster featuring stylish photographs of Sex Matters’ three directors alongside other “battle-hardened campaigners”. Artist Sonya Douglas, a member of Sex Matters’ advisory group, was also featured.
Also in the Mail, education editor Eleanor Harding wrote about an analysis of 44,000 stories written by under-12s that found a surge in tales about “left-wing issues”, including transgenderism. Maya described this as a disturbing indication of how much children in primary schools have been indoctrinated in gender theory. She also pointed out the serious safeguarding concerns raised by this: “the pathology of gender dysphoria is being promoted to children as a way to be special”.
On TalkTV, Helen talked to Julia Hartley-Brewer about the significance of the leaked WPATH files. “It’s literally not medicine that’s going on, is what these files show,” Helen said, citing as an example the entire chapter of WPATH’s standards of care devoted to eunuch identities.
The WPATH leaks were also discussed on The Reaction, a talk show launched by the Daily Mail in January. Sarah Vine and Andrew Pierce interviewed Maya, who said that the files show that doctors advocating for the use of puberty blockers were well aware of the potential risks to children.
On GB News’s ‘Good Afternoon Britain‘, Maya spoke to Tom Harwood and Emily Carver about the row on Twitter in which trans-identifying man India Willoughby claims to have reported JK Rowling to the police for referring to him as a man. “People are free to use their own words,” she said, adding that Willoughby’s remarks about kidnap – which referred to Rowling, Maya and Joanna Cherry MP, and which read like a threat – were deeply alarming.
And finally, writing for the Daily Express, Katie Harris and Sam Lister quoted Helen saying that an “awful” scene between a 12-year-old girl and a much older trans-identifying man in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks “should have been scrapped in the writers’ room”.
1st March
This week’s news coverage began with Sean Rayment’s article for the Sunday Telegraph on the fact that 70 per cent of transgender prisoners are in for sex offences or violent crimes. The article featured the testimony of a former female remand prisoner who said that one male prisoner housed inside a female high-security prison continuously bullied female prisoners. Maya Forstater was quoted as saying that presence of men in women’s prisons immediately makes every female inmate feel unsafe, and that HM Prisons needs to finish the job and ensure all prisons are truly single-sex.
Next was an exclusive by Mary Wright for the Scottish Daily Express on Aberdeenshire Council’s plan to survey primary-school children on the design of toilets for future council buildings, including the provision of gender-neutral or mixed-sex facilities. Helen Joyce said that child safeguarding is the responsibility of adults, not children, and that it is disgraceful to see adults abdicate responsibility by surveying children like this. The news was also covered by Simon Johnson for The Telegraph and Ivan Prothero for the Daily Mail.
Tim Sigsworth followed with an exclusive for The Telegraph on the news that Stonewall funded the Church of England schools guidance that said primary-school children can be transgender. Helen said this was proof of Stonewall’s influence behind the scenes, and a wake-up call for the church – and all other school leaders – to put safeguarding first and refuse to take money from or work with any organisation that does not.
Next, Ewan Somerville and Gabriella Swerling for The Telegraph covered JK Rowling’s frustration that judges had been told to refer to male cat killer and murderer Scarlet Blake as a woman. In her capacity as a barrister, Sex Matters chair Naomi Cunningham was quoted as saying that the advice on personal pronouns and identity in the Equal Treatment Bench Book is ideological, dangerous and anti-women.
Ewan and Gabriella followed up this story with an article that confirmed that the crimes of Scarlet Blake would be officially recorded as having been committed by a woman. Maya said that the government should tell police forces to stop affirming criminals’ fantasies and get back to their day job of investigating crime and bringing wrongdoers to justice.
Maya made further comments on the story in an article for the Daily Express, which argued that calling men women and women men within the justice system distorts the principle of telling “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
Writing for PinkNews, Amelia Hansford covered Sex Matters’ statement on Helen being stalked and photographed on the train with colleagues while researching the role of fan fiction in young women’s adoption of trans identities. Sex Matters told PinkNews that the research was part of her ongoing work to counter the pernicious influence of gender-identity ideology.
In an article for the Daily Mail, Dan Grennan covered the news that police officers with a trans identity will only be allowed to strip search suspects of the same biological sex under new government plans, following concerns that women’s safety was being compromised. The article mentioned Sex Matters’ previous comments that the current policy would lead to “state-sanctioned sexual assault” and the “humiliation” of female suspects.
Finally, in an article for The Telegraph, Daniel Martin covered the news that BBC presenter Justin Webb was being disciplined for calling men with a trans identity “males” on air. Fiona McAnena said that ruling clearly shows the BBC has lost sight of its statutory duty, as the national, taxpayer-funded broadcaster, to be impartial. She said that Webb was simply doing his job, since a third of the population are uncertain what the term “trans women” means.
23rd February
This week’s coverage began with Alex Ward and Oliver Price’s coverage in the Daily Mail of John Lewis’s new staff magazine Identity, which gave advice on breast binders for children. Helen Joyce said that the newsletter demonstrates how far brands are willing to go to placate the vocal minority of activists on their staff.
Next was an article by Sanchez Manning for the Mail on Sunday on the Scouts’ plan to hire a diversity officer on a £75K salary. Maya Forstater, who has been an assistant Cub Scout leader, said that the Scouts have serious issues with class, race and religion because traditionally they are white and middle-class.
Writing for The Observer, Sonia Sodha quoted the People’s History Museum in Manchester’s public apology for hiring out a room to Sex Matters last year in an article on how modern-day censors are posing a danger to artistic expression.
The news that an NHS Trust in Sussex claims that milk produced by men who identify as women and take drugs to induce lactation is as good as a mother’s breast milk was covered widely by local and international news outlets. Michael Searles in The Telegraph and Katie Gibbons in The Times quoted Maya as saying that it was deeply disturbing for NHS executives to prioritise trans identities over what is best for mothers and their babies. International outlets including The College Fix and Nikolas Lanum for Fox News also quoted Maya in their stories.
In a story on JK Rowling’s donation of £70K to For Women Scotland for their Supreme Court appeal, Emily Jane Davies for the Daily Mail mentioned Sex Matters’ submission to the case last year. The case concerns whether a biological man can be counted as a woman if he has a gender-recognition certificate.
Writing for The Spectator, Laurie Westall quoted Sex Matters in an article on how identity politics has infiltrated the judiciary. Laurie referenced Sex Matters’ call for reform of the Equal Treatment Bench Book on the basis that it is ideologically biased towards transgender ideology.
In a frustrating development, Labour MP Ben Bradshaw’s false claim in Parliament that Sex Matters and Transgender Trend are “fringe groups” that “actively campaign against transgender rights” was reported by 21 media outlets as a result of a Press Association Newswire story. Coverage of his remarks included Yahoo News, Daily Mail, The Standard, Kent Online, Belfast Telegraph, Sale & Altringham Messenger, Rhyl, Prestatyn & Abergele Journal, North Wales Pioneer, Richmond & Twickenham Times, Runcorn & Widnes World, Chard and Ilminster News, Gloucestershire Gazette, Whitchurch Herald, South Wales Guardian, The Courier, Bury Times, Stourbridge News, Cumberland News & Star, Hereford Times, The National, Irish News and Northwich & Winsford Guardian.
Bradshaw was later interviewed by James O’Brien on LBC where his remarks above were played back on air, and he went on to assert that both Sex Matters and Transgender Trend are “anti-trans groups”. O’Brien appeared to agree.
Next were stories by Emily Braeger for The Express and Aidan Radnedge for the Daily Mail on the news that Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is set to review guidance stating that military personnel born as men can live in female-only accommodation. Both quoted a tweet from Helen which said that this situation is a court case waiting to happen, and expressed her hope that a claimant comes forward.
Finally, writing for the Daily Mail, Alex Ward covered Baroness Diana Barran’s concern that some charities are pitting parents against schools by encouraging them to dispute government guidance on sex and gender in school. The article quoted Sex Matters’ previous criticisms of trans lobby group Mermaids’ template letter for parents to send to schools.
16th February
The House of Lords debate on conversion therapy kicked off this week’s news coverage, with Amy Gibbons for The Telegraph quoting Maya Forstater as saying that the debate showed how poorly the idea of banning conversion therapy has been thought through.
Next was coverage of Shahrar Ali’s court battle with the Green Party, with BBC News and Stewart Carr and Lauren Haughey for the Daily Mail both quoting Maya’s case in their news stories.
Writing in The Times, Janice Turner quoted Helen Joyce from a past interview as saying that “there isn’t a way in which a man can become a woman, except linguistically” in her column on the use of language when it comes to sex and gender.
Martin Beckford for the Daily Mail wrote about the axing of NHS England’s Stonewall-backed six-figure Rainbow Badge Scheme, which rewarded trusts for ditching “gendered language”. Helen said that the move was a huge step towards rooting transactivism out of our public institutions.
Next was coverage of the news that 77 doctors have changed their “gender” on the General Medical Council register. Charlotte Gill for The Telegraph quoted Maya as saying that in a similar way to the issue with male police officers searching women, this policy disregards women’s human rights and put women at risk of state-sanctioned sexual assault. The news was also covered by Xantha Leaman for the Daily Mail.
Helen was quoted in an article by Mary Wright for the Sunday Post printed edition on the Scottish Prisons Service’s refusal to reveal survey responses from female prisoners on the inclusion of men in women’s prisons. Helen said that female prisoners have suffered in silence as violent men have been housed alongside them and at a bare minimum deserve the respect of having their voices heard.
Next was coverage by Alex Ward and Jo Bartosch for the Daily Mail of a pensioner who faces a potential £2,500 fine for putting gender-critical posters on her front door, including the cover of Helen’s book Trans: when ideology meets reality.
Finally, Alex also wrote for the Daily Mail on the launch of John Lewis’s new in-house magazine called Identity, which offers tips from Mermaids and Stonewall, and gives advice to parents on chest binders. Helen said it is a contemptuous dismissal of staff members who – like most people in this country – believe that sex is binary and more important than identity, and value sex-based rights.
9th February
This week’s coverage began with a comment from Sex Matters board member Emma Hilton in an article by Charlotte Gill for The Telegraph on a “queer ecology nature tour” for LGBTQ+ history month at London’s Chelsea Physic Garden. Responding to the tour, which focused on “the interconnectedness between nature and LGBTQ+ history”, Emma said that plants show the fundamental binary nature of all sexual reproduction.
Helen Joyce appeared on GB News’s ‘Free Speech Nation’ with Andrew Doyle to speak about a Newcastle United fan’s suspension from games due to her gender-critical views. Helen said that it was one of the most sinister things she has seen in the five-plus years she has been following the gross overreaches of transgender ideology.
Next was an article by Daniel Martin for The Telegraph on Sex Matters’ letter about Stonewall’s targeting of Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which was co-signed by 38 women’s groups. The letter to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) said that Stonewall had subjected her to the same sort of unreasonable and vexatious complaints used to harass ordinary women at work.
Daniel followed this up with an article in The Telegraph on Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch’s powerful letter regarding evidence that gay young people are being told they are transgender. Helen said that the misguided framing of gender non-conformity as a potential sign of a trans identity is today’s version of the historic atrocities of gay conversion therapy.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Alex Ward covered the news that library staff at Swansea University scrambled to remove Helen’s book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality from an LGBT history month display after one complaint. Helen said that it was outrageous censorship and that her book should be displayed alongside books promoting gender ideology, so that readers can get the full picture and make up their own minds.
Next was an article by Jeremy Wilson and Gabriella Swerling for The Telegraph on Parkrun’s decision to remove all records in response to calls for transgender athletes to be recorded by sex rather than self-identified “gender”. Helen said that the physical advantages that male puberty brings mean the only way women can have fair competition, or be properly recognised for exceptional performance in amateur and participation events, is for their results to be recorded separately from men’s.
Finally, Maya Forstater’s past comments on the involvement of boys in Girlguiding were quoted in an article by Iwan Stone for the Daily Mail on the introduction of a new “inclusive” uniform for Guides and Brownies.
2nd February
Coverage this week began with mention of Maya Forstater’s case in a column by Janice Turner in The Times on the malice of academia following Jo Phoenix’s employment-tribunal victory against the Open University. Maya’s case was also mentioned in an article by Steven Downes and Juliette Rowsell for People Management on what Jo’s win means for employers, and an article by Nina Welsch for The Critic on JK Rowling’s conflicted fandom.
Writing for the Sunday Telegraph, Will Hazell revealed that the Office for National Statistics circulated a memo which suggested that staff might not feel “safe” due to scrutiny of the faulty question on gender in the 2021 census. The memo was written by the ONS’s director of population statistics, Jen Woolford, who is also the “sponsor” of the ONS LGBT staff network. Maya said it was concerning that the same person responsible for defending the unreliable census data is part of a culture that allows emotional blackmail, compelled speech and ideological beliefs to corrupt ONS work.
Alex Ward and Martin Beckford wrote for the Daily Mail on Mermaids’ launch of a template letter drafted by solicitors for “concerned parents” to send to schools following the publication of the Department for Education’s draft guidance on gender-questioning children in schools late last year. Maya said that this campaign is a glimpse of the kind of bullying schools will be subjected to unless the DfE brings out a model policy as part of its new guidance. Sex Matters was also mentioned in an article in Derren Hayes for Children and Young People Now, saying that we disagree with transactivist lawyer Robin Moira White’s views on the new guidance.
Alex also wrote for the Daily Mail on Network Rail’s controversial “Pride Pillar” at a London tube station. Maya said that Network Rail’s investment in flags representing fringe sexual preferences, such as polyamory, and the erasure of sex in favour of gender, is a slap in the face for women and gay people. Maya’s quote was also covered by Jack Walters for GB News.
Writing on the potential conversion-therapy ban looming in Scotland, the Christian Institute referred to Sex Matters’ critique of a 2017 survey which was recently cited by Green councillor Blair Anderson as justification for a ban. Ross Hunter mentioned Sex Matters in an article for The National on gender-critical opposition to a conversion therapy ban in Scotland, which featured voices in favour of a ban from Malta and Germany.
Meanwhile, writing for The Telegraph, Daniel Martin quoted Helen Joyce in coverage of the news that Keir Starmer would outlaw all forms of conversion therapy if Labour wins the election. Helen said that Starmer seems more interested in virtue-signalling about identity politics than protecting children’s wellbeing.
In The Telegraph, Chelsie Henshaw quoted Helen in an article on the news that Dundee Women’s Aid is advertising a position to people who “identify as women”. Helen said that the law is clear that jobs can’t be restricted to people who merely “identify” as one sex or the other, and that the ad is a plain case of unlawful discrimination. Writing for The Critic, Shonagh Dillon referred to Sex Matters’ recent report on the impact of gender-identity ideology on women’s services as one of the key documents she would file in a time capsule for historians who may one day study the absurdity of the gender wars.
Finally, Kate Pickles wrote for the Daily Mail on a study from the University of Manchester which was published in The Lancet on the mental health of people who identify as transgender, which has unreliable figures at its core. Maya pointed out that the data at the heart of this study is from a survey that asked the same problematic gender-identity question as the 2021 census, which is currently being reviewed by the national statistics regulator.
26th January
This week’s news coverage began with mention of Sex Matters’ polling in the report on the impact of gender-identity ideology on the women’s sector in an article by Scottish MSP Meghan Gallacher for the Scottish Daily Express. The report was also highlighted in an article by Susan Dalgety for The Scotsman on how Scotland’s rape-crisis centres are in turmoil, with gender ideology threatening female-only services.
In further Scottish coverage, Mary Wright quoted Helen Joyce in an article for the Scottish Daily Express on the news that Police Scotland is defending its policy to allow male officers who identify as female to conduct strip searches on women. Helen said that the force risks permitting state-sanctioned sexual assault and putting police officers in situations that mean they are breaching the human rights of members of the public.
Next was a powerful article by The Telegraph’s chief sports writer Oliver Brown, who argued that it is time that golf crushed noisy trans ideology with common sense. Oliver quoted Naomi Cunningham’s comments in a recent LBC interview in which she said that trans activists seemed to decide that they didn’t have to do any of the usual persuading or marshalling evidence to bring about seismic social and cultural change: all they needed to do was to assert a new reality.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Connor Stringer and Martin Beckford revealed that the Welsh Government handed £100,000 to Stonewall last year and speculated about whether Keir Starmer may follow suit if he becomes Prime Minister. Helen said that given that Stonewall has morphed into a transactivist lobby group that routinely gives incorrect advice on equality law, it is ludicrous any government would hand it a sizeable chunk of public funds.
In an article for Spiked, Jo Bartosch quoted Maya Forstater’s case in relation to the news of Jo Phoenix’s employment-tribunal victory against Open University. Maya’s case was also mentioned by Susanna Rustin in a powerful piece in The Guardian on how women are still being punished for having legal views on sex and gender.
19th January
Coverage began this week with Edward Malnick’s article for The Sunday Telegraph on police strip-searching guidance. The article highlighted Sex Matters, Women’s Rights Network and Fair Play For Women’s letter to policing minister Chris Philp, which challenged his assertion that men with a gender-recognition certificate should be allowed to search women.
Connor Stringer quoted Maya Forstater in an article for the Daily Mail on new staff guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office which says that employees can show their support for trans-identifying colleagues by “thinking of the person as being the gender that they want you to think of them as”.
Sex Matters’ new report on the impact of gender-identity ideology on the women’s sector was picked up widely in the media, beginning with articles by Alex Ward for the Daily Mail and James Beal for The Times. Further coverage included Douglas Dickie for the Scottish Daily Express, Holyrood Magazine, Julie Bindel for The Telegraph and Georgina Cutler for GB News.
Helen Joyce was quoted in a report by Mary Wright for the Scottish Daily Express on the Scottish Prison Service’s plan to suppress data on trans-identifying inmates, and called the move “indefensible”.
Maya’s case was cited by Mandy Rhodes in an article for Holyrood Magazine on how good law needs robust debate, and in an article by Haroon Siddique for The Guardian on how a growing number of organisations have been found to have discriminated against women because of their views.
Finally, Helen was quoted in an article by Craig Simpson for The Telegraph on the reworked exhibit on sex and gender at the Science Museum, which she claimed is even more insidious than the controversial display that was removed last year.
12th January
This week’s news coverage began with an article by Craig Simpson in The Telegraph, which exposed that Sussex firefighters have been told that biological sex is “just a label” and “runs on a spectrum”. Helen Joyce was quoted as saying that it was infuriating to see public funds wasted on “training” that forces an evidence-free ideological position on people working in essential services. The story was also picked up by GB News.
Coverage of the appointment of trans-identifying male Munroe Bergdorf as a UK Champion for UN Women UK continued this week, with Maya Forstater appearing on GB News’s Free Speech Nation with Andrew Doyle to discuss the issue.
Next was an article by Charlotte Gill in The Telegraph, which warned that education charity Governors for Schools is telling school governors to use “new names” and “correct pronouns” when addressing “trans pupils”. Maya Forstater was quoted as saying that school governors cannot ensure safeguarding if they forget that boys cannot become girls, and girls cannot become boys. The news was also covered by Eirian Jane Prosser for the Daily Mail and sector publication Education Executive.
Writing for The Telegraph, Daniel Martin quoted Helen in an article on UN special rapporteur Reem Alsalem’s letter to the World Health Organisation, which accused the health body of putting women’s “dignity, safety and security” at risk if it pursues plans for new guidance that calls for the right for people to self-identify as the opposite sex. Helen said the letter was a powerful intervention and that Alsalem is a heroic defender of women’s freedom of belief and speech.
Helen appeared on TalkTV with Julia Hartley-Brewer to discuss the Scottish government’s plan to introduce a ban on “conversion therapy” which would see parents face up to seven years in jail if they don’t take an “affirmative” approach to gender confusion.
Maya’s case was quoted in news that social worker Rachel Meade won a landmark employment tribunal against her employer and the social work regulatory body this week, with coverage by Jonathan Ames in The Times and Jo Faragher in Personnel Today. Maya was quoted by Alex Ward for the Daily Mail as saying that it is hard to overstate the importance and likely impact of Meade’s win.
5th January
Coverage over the Christmas and New Year period began with a feature article by Ken McLaughlin for Spiked on how trans ideology has taken over the UK social work sector. The article quoted Helen Joyce’s comments to the Telegraph on how new guidance for social workers is “dangerous and unscientific”.
Dominic Penna quoted Maya Forstater in a Telegraph article on how the official BBC Twitter account for the Doctor Who programme was hiding gender-critical tweets about a trans Doctor Who character. Maya noted that the BBC’s own guidelines state that the moderation of social-media accounts should be “light touch”, focusing on personal attacks and offensive language, not actively hiding matter-of-fact comments stating biological truths.
Also writing for The Telegraph, Mary Harrington mentioned Sex Matters’ response to the UK government’s new schools guidance in an op-ed on how ‘Terf island’ took on trans ideology in schools – and won.
In an article for the Daily Mail, Jonathon Brocklebank and Mary Wright mentioned that Helen welcomed Police Scotland’s plan to end the practice of recording trivial cases as “hate incidents”.
Martin Beckford quoted Helen in a Daily Mail article on the response to Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s social-media post that “Female single-sex spaces are not yours to give away”. Helen said that the furore from Labour councillors, local branch leaders and young leaders reveals the extent to which extremist trans ideology has taken hold within the party, and called on Keir Starmer to state that the Labour leadership agrees with Antoniazzi.
He also wrote for the Daily Mail on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) controversial plan to develop guidance based on self-ID in consultation with a group of biased activists and medics, and quoted Helen as saying that there is a disturbing pattern worldwide in which trans healthcare guidance and programmes are written by small, ideologically driven groups behind closed doors, and then presented as definitive.
In an interview on Talk TV, Julia Hartley-Brewer was shocked when Helen revealed that one of the experts brought on board to develop the WHO guidance has previously stated that all children should go on puberty blockers. Helen was also asked about new plans by Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch to tackle self-ID through stealth in the changing of sex markers on passports and driving licences, and USA Boxing’s decision to allow men to compete against women.
The Daily Mail ran a short brief on a report by Sex Matters and partner organisations to the Council of Europe, warning that the UK is in breach of the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to combat violence against women, because of confusion over how sex is defined in law.
Media coverage in the new year was dominated by UN Women UK’s appointment of trans-identifying male model Munroe Bergdorf as “UK Champion” for women’s rights. A letter signed by Sex Matters calling for the appointment to be reversed was covered by James Beal in The Times, Joe Hadden in The Sun, Liz Perkins in The Telegraph, Claire Duffin for the Daily Mail, Hannah Grossman for Fox News, and Georgina Cutler for GB News.
Sex Matters was mentioned in feature articles that followed, including two articles by Tom Cotterill for the Daily Mail. The first focused on Bergdorf’s controversial past relating to racism and the second on his previous comments on the suffragettes being “white supremacists”. Meanwhile, GB News presenter Nana Akua mentioned Sex Matters in an article for the Daily Mail on how the appointment was an appalling decision.
Maya appeared on GB News to discuss Bergdorf’s appointment with presenters Emily Carver and Tom Harwood, and said that UN Women UK was trolling women by choosing a man for the role. Maya and Emily outlined why accurate pronouns are important in response to a challenge from Tom, who posited that it would be more impactful for gender-critical campaigners to call men “women”, if that’s how they identify. Maya’s interview was later covered by Ben Chapman for the GB News website.