Oh FFS!
There was I thinking that this would be my first and last word on the UK general election until all the results were in and I could write my usual commentary on the turnout and the growing mood of disengagement with electoral politics: Here we fecking go... 24.5.24. That was the case until Saturday June 8 when this came up on my newsfeed: Kellie-Jay Keen is candidate in Bristol Central - Martin Booth | B24/7 | 8.6.24. My initial reaction to this news is the same as the title of this piece. The reasons for that will become apparent as you read the rest of this post.
Who is Kellie-Jay Keen you may well ask? I'll endeavour to give a brief explanation. Kellie-Jay Keen a.k.a. Posie Parker founded the Let Women Speak (LWS) movement which has been active since 2016. In their words, this is what they're about:
We are a global constituency of women. We focus specifically on the word "woman", and other female language that clearly defines us, and our rights. The purpose of our campaign is to raise funds in order to promote the fight back against this global assault of women.
Throughout the legal framework of women's sex based rights and protections we use the word "woman". It is essential that this word is retained to mean "adult human female" only. Without this word all of our rights and protections are lost. Our rights were never created for our "gender" but our sex.
Our sex is female. The sex that bears children. The sex that requires maternity rights, privacy rights, equality with the male sex in the work place, specific health care issues, reproductive rights, and so on. If our rights become dependent upon "gender" then they are no longer women's rights, they are "feminine" rights.
Since their foundation, LWS have organised a number of events where women in the audience are invited to speak about their experiences of dealing with the impacts of gender ideology. Many of these events have been targeted by militant trans rights activists with the aim of disrupting them and making attendees feel uncomfortable. It should be noted that LWS are not the only organisation hosting meetings where women can voice their issues with and concerns about gender ideology, there are others such as Woman's Place UK. Their events have also often been targeted by militant trans rights activists.
Why is Kellie-Jay Keen standing in Bristol Central seen as controversial by some people? In part, this is down to an outdoor event LWS held in Bristol in the summer of 2022 which was subject to a lot of intimidation by counter-protesters, with Avon and Somerset Police holding back from any serious attempt to stop what was going on: A mob threatening women is not a ‘protest’ - and police in Bristol should have known that - Ian Acheson | CAPX | 20.6.22. Keen choosing to stand in Bristol Central could be seen by some as returning to the fray to sort out what could be described as 'unfinished business'. Given what took place at the LWS event in the summer of 2022 and the demographics of the constituency, it could even be seen as a deliberate provocation. If Keen was after votes, she would have picked a suburban constituency where maybe, she could have picked up enough votes to save her deposit. Standing in Bristol Central, which is being tipped as a constituency that could be taken by the Green Party candidate, Carla Denyer, is not about picking up votes, it's about making a point about the impact of gender ideology. Whether Keen is the right person to make that point is a matter of some considerable debate.
While arguably, the Let Women Speak events organised by Kellie-Jay Keen have provided a welcome space for ordinary women to talk about their experiences, Keen herself has not been universally welcomed by gender critical and radical feminists. She has been viewed by a number of them as being somewhat of a loose canon. These concerns massively increased after Keen and a group of some of her supporters attended a recent march in London called by Tommy Robinson to protest against 'two tier policing'.
Here is a selection of three threads from X by gender critical and radical feminists voicing their concerns about Kellie-Jay Keen:
Mel @meljomur
Diane Jones #NoPronounsThankYou Diane Jones #NoPronounsThankYou @dianjo
Harvey Jeni @GappyTales
There used to be a consensus that spanned the political spectrum.
It would be nice to think that in the coverage of Kellie-Jay Keen standing in Bristol Central, there would be some nuanced comment acknowledging that she does not speak for all gender critical and radical feminists. It would be nice to think that the coverage of Keen's candidacy would include perspectives from those gender critical and radical feminists who have some serious concerns about her strategy and tactics. However, I will not be holding my breath waiting for that. Based on what I've seen so far, it looks like the coverage will be about Keen and some of her dodgy associations. A consequence of this will be the conflating of any concerns and criticisms about gender ideology with the 'far right', with anyone sticking their heads above the parapet being labelled a 'bigot' and worse. This is why I have serious reservations about Keen standing because it will end up being about her and not the serious questions that need to be raised about gender ideology. In other words, it's going to be a bit of a f**king circus.
Anyone who knows me will be aware that when it comes to gender ideology, my sympathies lie with the gender critical and radical feminists who are taking a stand against its impact on women. That has cost me quite dearly as I wrote last year in this piece: Why do I do this to myself? 12.4.23:
I could have taken the easy path of not questioning gender identity politics and simply gone along with it. The thing is, if I had chosen that path, I would have been living a lie. I may still have had a few more 'friends' but I would have been getting sucked ever further into something my conscience and intellect could not go along with. At the end of my life, I want to look back and think that as far as was possible, I did the right thing, regardless of the cost. Although to be honest, losing 'friends' with an almost Maoist adherence to their beliefs wasn't exactly a loss! 'Friends' who often exhorted people to 'be kind' but who made no effort to practice that themselves.
That's why when I saw that Kellie-Jay Keen was going to be standing in Bristol Central, my initial reaction was 'oh FFS!' Given that all of this is happening not many miles down the road from where I live, I couldn't not comment on it and be honest about my take on the issues involved. However, by honestly commenting on it, I'm opening myself up to a potential shitstorm. Suffice to say, genuine, honest debate and discussion are welcome. Abuse will be deleted. Any threats will be dealt with in the appropriate manner so basically, don't bother...
Well said. I hope your fears don't come true and Kellie's standing and concerns are debated reasonably and maturely. But I too fear censorship and shut-down by activists shouting "Bigot!" at people who haven't abandoned biological reality.
A timely warning. I just happened to read something on another ‘Stack (Laura Dodsworth) on govt manipulation which mentioned the following technique:
“ ‘Consensus cracking’, which involves immunising people against opposing arguments by using a fake account to post a weak version of their argument and then having many other accounts take it apart, making your side of the debate look strong.”
Apply this from social media bots to electoral candidates with unpalatable associations, and you get the situation where the messenger is shot instead of the message… But I suppose for as long as I can remember (half a century) election time has been more about the colour of the candidate’s tie or haircut or favourite hobby or whatever than their actual manifesto.