Women’s rights were given away by Irish feminists

Together they all lived under the motto: “The time for change is now – join us.” There was even a hashtag for the day, because doesn’t that always exist?

It was #NoWomanLeftBehind.

One can only assume that this was some kind of private joke, since there were always groups of women who were completely left behind by the Federal Women’s Council and where any attempt to join the rally would have been crying loudly that they didn’t are welcome.

It used to be conservative, anti-life or Catholic women. Now it’s so-called “gender-critical” feminists who hold sex immutable and believe that hard-won gender-based rights are in jeopardy when women are redefined to include every Tom, Dick and Harry who “identifies” as such.

Last year the NWC – which rakes in huge amounts of taxpayers’ money each year by claiming to represent all women – signed a letter from Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni) urging the government to ensure that gender-sensitive women ” denied legitimacy political representation”.

A working sense of irony is clearly not a strong point with these folks, and there are plenty of them. Tuesday is International Women’s Day (IWD) again, although most people in Ireland, including most women, will probably not realize it. Years ago, patriarchy may have been blamed for this disinterest. It’s certainly welcomed these days because it means that few outside of the chosen few see what’s really going on.

Like the NWC, the organizers claim the IWD is “diverse” and “inclusive” and advocates a “world where differences are valued and celebrated”. In both cases the opposite is actually the case.

Differences are not appreciated, they are condemned. There are no officially recognized events for those who believe girls and women are entitled to their own safe, secure spaces.

One of the side purposes of IWD is to encourage people to get involved in “women-centric charities.”

Among those being promoted this year are the Girl Guides, among whose Guidelines for Admission of Transgender Membersthe words “girl” and “woman” have now been changed to refer to anyone who “feels that the sex they were assigned at birth does not match their own gender perception” and who “lives their life as a girl or a woman”.

This wording was determined after consultation with Teni and includes both adult leaders and underage girls.

It was put in place, the Girl Guides say, “to ensure they are not intentionally or otherwise discriminating against prospective or current members”. The practical aspects of such a decision are spelled out explicitly: “For trans members, this includes sleeping in the same area as the other members if the trans girl/trans woman is herself comfortable… For sleepover events, the leader should discuss with the member who it is trans, what their preference is.”

There’s not a single word in the seven-page document about girls’ and women’s feelings or fears about sharing their spaces, or asking them about their sleeping preferences or what makes them comfortable.

The Taoiseach himself subscribes to this approach. In December Michael
Martin spoke of the need to “consult young trans people to hear their views” and “educate their peers” about anything that is being agreed.

In other words, the views of the trans lobby are being prioritized while girls and women who are most affected by the new reality simply have to accept them unquestioningly. “Like it or lump it” is the new progressive battle cry.

There are small, encouraging signs that the tide is finally turning. One of the front lines that has emerged in recent years is the women’s sport, which is being opened up to participants born in male bodies. The obvious unfairness of this situation is matched only by the absurdity that it is being aggressively funded by taxes from people who have no idea what is happening.

For a while it seemed that Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, who won the silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the World Short Track Championships last December, would go head-to-head with Lia Thomas, an American male, in a major event this month who is now identified as a woman and has set new pool, school and Ivy League records in women’s collegiate swimming.

Now it looks unlikely, but it’s only a matter of time.

This dystopian future for girls could soon be heading for every Camogie spot in the country, as girls are forced to compete against boys suffering from gender confusion who have been encouraged to believe they were “born in the wrong body”.

Not only will this erode the girls’ precious self-esteem, but it will also put them at real risk of physical harm.

So far, the debate has been abstract because it suits activists and NGOs to fly under the radar and get privileged access to influential ears, while the voices of critics who only have common sense on their side don’t get millions of public funds and others Sources are excluded.

Eventually it will become public knowledge in Ireland.

The hope must be that this finally leads to a mature debate on sex and gender identity that brushes off these concepts from the sort of extreme trans activist who now dominate the increasingly misnamed feminist establishment in Ireland, from the NWC down, and allows us Again to say that women are women, trans women are trans women, trans men are trans men and men are men. That would be true difference and diversity.

What good is an International Women’s Day if people are now too scared to say what a woman even is?