I will never stop arguing for women's rights – even when the trans lobby call me the enemy
A couple of them were people I once put myself on the line to stand up for, but now they cannot stand up for women's fundamental rights. In 2003, when Chris Bryant was being smeared in the tabloids – a picture of him posing on Gaydar in his knickers had been published – I wrote pieces defending him, even in the very Right-wing papers that were trying to bring him down. It seemed to me it was his business, he harmed no one. He spoke about what a horrible time that was, he didn't sleep, journalists were doorstepping his family, friends of his were being abused. All this behaviour I found vile and still do.
The man has never spoken to me – I am not important enough – but there you go.
In 1997 when Angela Eagle no longer wanted to hide her sexuality, she came to me. I knew her and her girlfriend through mutual friends and respected her as a hard-working MP and as a feminist. I knew how to make it into a lovely, happy story and did so. It was a sunny day when we went out for the pictures. My main concern was to get Angela to take off her boxy jacket – in those days a lot of Labour women wore hideous suits. It all worked very well and she got very little kickback. The world was ready to embrace a lesbian MP. Things had changed since the only other 'out' lesbian MP, Maureen Colquhoun, had been deselected for her sexuality in 1979.
What I wanted to do was to make sure that this was a 'coming out' where we supportively controlled the narrative. The last time I saw Angela, she was having a terrible time under the Corbyn regime and burst into tears.
My commitment to gay rights has never wavered, but now I find myself cast as the enemy of such people who have signed up to the trans agenda. It's weird frankly but there are a lot of them in the party and this is why despite last week's win, we still have to argue for women's rights.
Trans people lost no rights last week, but heterosexual men can no longer barge their way into lesbian spaces. Does Dame Angela really think this is a bad thing? I would love to discuss it with her.
Last weekend we saw the reaction of those angry at the Supreme Court ruling. It is obvious that their understanding of it is as good as their understanding of biology. They are utterly clueless, regurgitating slogans rather than having read the judgment. That is not dangerous, but their rage is. Keir Starmer, having recently discovered 'toxic masculinity' by watching the drama Adolescence on TV has said nothing. Yet this toxicity was on full display on our streets. There were the usual calls to murder JK Rowling and now Wes Streeting, placards about lynching Terfs and mass urination. Why oh why would women not want to share private space with these p---y men?
Two women were assaulted and on X, some have said it's a shame they were not killed. But what has got both the Met and Yvette Cooper worried is that statues – including the one of Millicent Fawcett – a symbol of female suffrage were defaced and peed on. They have appealed for information on this. They are more concerned with protecting statues than actual women. This is par for the course.
Whatever they say, violence against women is not a priority for this Government. We saw it with the refusal to hold an inquiry into grooming gangs and we are seeing it again now.
Those who have fooled themselves that trans rights are the new civil rights movement – so 2020! – cannot climb down. They must scurry about to organise. What exactly? Breaking the law. Does Starmer, a man of the law, condone this?
Meanwhile union bosses and various nutjob MPs join demos where men in horrible dresses call for violence against women who disagree with them. How much more clear does it need to be? These activists are Men's Rights Activists using the trans issue to spill their misogyny everywhere. And yes, of course there are women who are their support animals endorsing this because they naively think the world should be a nicer place. Their feminism is as deep as the greeting on a hallmark card.
I haven't spent a decade being threatened to give up now. Indeed, the last week has been one of mood swings. Victory yes, but why did we have to go through this? What does solidarity mean to these Labour MPs I wonder?
When the chips were down, I knew what I stood for: that no one should ever be persecuted for their sexuality.
Now I have seen though that none of this was reciprocal. Solidarity is transitory and conditional to ambitious politicians. Those now in government who think my sex-based rights are something to be ignored can have as many secret meetings as they like.
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