In the future all zoo trips will look like this.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

Pop stars in the making.

(Pretty sure the one on the right has been up for three nights in a row and the drugs are now wearing off.)
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

The Gender Recognition Act was brought in in 2004 because the UK lost a court case at the ECHR in 2002.*

The court said:
"In the twenty first century the right of transsexuals to personal development and to physical and moral security in the full sense enjoyed by others in society cannot be regarded as a matter of controversy requiring the lapse of time to cast clearer light on the issues involved. In short, the unsatisfactory situation in which post-operative transsexuals live in an intermediate zone as not quite one gender or the other is no longer sustainable."

This is under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to a private life.

Placing "trans women" in a generally** different category than "women" is definitely putting them in an intermediate zone. And expecting them to make their assigned gender public is definitely taking the "private" out of "private life".

The UK is still a signatory to the convention. Cases can still be taken to its court. Leaving it would mean a *major* falling out with the EU. I suspect that if the UK tries to nudge things far at all that they will find the court takes a dim view.


*Fought, and lost, by Labour. Because they have never been onside in this area.
**It is possible to carve out exceptions in the current system. But they have to be justified on a case by case basis. A general finding that trans people are not of their legal gender is almost certainly not that.

I've read throught the judgement and written up a summary of the judgement. I've linked each point to a quote from the judgement.

As you might be able to tell, I'm furious about this.

1) The Gender Recognition Act (GRA) means your gender changes unless (1.1) a law specifically say it doesn't.
2) They knew that when they wrote the Equality Act.
3) Nothing in the equality act specifically says that the GRA doesn't apply.
4) Aaah, but can we say that something *indicates* that?
5) Everyone knows what "sex" means.
6) We can't think of a good reason why the politicians who passed this would want rights to apply to trans people. Even if they didn't say they didn't.
7) Particularly if we assume that every example in the Equalities Act has to apply to a person for it to work.
8) Therefore they *must* have meant biological sex.
9) Therefore a GRC doesn't apply, even though the GRA says it does.
10) Oh, and by the way trans people shouldn't be allowed to use any services at all that are for their lived gender.
11) Also, particular thank you to the lawyer for the transphobes who explained all of this.

*1* "the effect of section 9 of the GRA 2004 on the meaning of the words “man” and “woman” in the EA 2010. Section 9 (set out at para 75 above) provides both for a rule that on receipt of a GRC “the person’s gender becomes for all purposes the acquired gender” (subsection (1))"
*1.1* "If section 9(3) does not apply, then the section 9(1) rule does apply and sex in the EA 2010 must have an extended meaning that includes “certificated sex”. "

*2* "There is no doubt that the EA 2010 was enacted in the knowledge of the existence of the GRA 2004"

*3* "There is no provision in the EA 2010 that expressly addresses the effect (if any) which section 9(1) of the GRA 2004 has on the definition of “sex” or the words “woman” or “man” (and cognate expressions) used in the EA 2010. The terms “biological sex” and “certificated sex” do not appear anywhere in the Act. However, the mere fact that the word “biological” is absent from the EA 2010 definition of “sex” is not by itself indicative of Parliament’s intention that a “certificated sex” meaning is intended. The same is true of the absence of the word “certificated” in the definition of “sex”."

*4* "The question that must therefore be answered is whether there are provisions in the EA 2010 that indicate that the biological meaning of sex is plainly intended and/or that a “certificated sex” meaning renders these provisions incoherent or as giving rise to absurdity"

*5* "The definition of sex in the EA 2010 makes clear that the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man" - "Although the word “biological” does not appear in this definition, the ordinary meaning of those plain and unambiguous words corresponds with the biological characteristics that make an individual a man or a woman."

*6* "We can identify no good reason why the legislature should have intended that sex-based rights and protections under the EA 2010 should apply to these complex, heterogenous groupings, rather than to the distinct group of (biological) women and girls (or men and boys) with their shared biology leading to shared disadvantage and discrimination faced by them as a distinct group."

*7* "a strong indicator that the words “sex”, “man” and “woman” in the EA 2010 have their biological meaning (and not a certificated sex meaning) is provided by sections 13(6), 17 and 18 (which relate to sex, pregnancy and maternity discrimination) and the related provisions. The protection afforded by these provisions is predicated on the fact of pregnancy or the fact of having given birth to a child and the taking of leave in consequence. Since as a matter of biology, only biological women can become pregnant, the protection is necessarily restricted to biological women. "

*8* "The interpretation of the EA 2010 (ie the biological sex reading), which we conclude is the only correct one"

*9* "The meaning of the terms “sex”, “man” and “woman” in the EA 2010 is biological and not certificated sex."

*10* "There are other provisions whose proper functioning requires a biological interpretation of “sex”. These include separate spaces and single-sex services (including changing rooms, hostels and medical services), communal accommodation and others"

*11* We are particularly grateful to Ben Cooper KC for his written and oral submissions on behalf of Sex Matters, which gave focus and structure to the argument that “sex”, “man” and “woman” should be given a biological meaning, and who was able effectively to address the questions posed by members of the court in the hour he had to make his submissions.

(I should note at this point that no trans representative group or transgender person was allowed to talk to the judges. They took evidence only from the various transphobic groups, the Scottish Government and Amnesty, not from anyone who would actually be affected on the other side by this ruling.)

Plot me a route to my destination, taking into account that I am *already* on a bus.

I grabbed Planet of Lana out of my backlog because I fancied something with a bit of a challenge, a bit of a plot, that looked gorgeous. And I got exactly that!

The art is painted, and looks it. It's set on a luscious moon where everything looks beautiful, and everything is just fine:


Well, maybe not *fine*:


Shortly after The Bad Thing happens you set off with your trusty friendly cat to Save Everything.

And then it's a lot of side-scrolling adventure as you head relentlessly rightward, climbing over things,distracting robots, avoiding being eaten by wild animals, until you find the source of The Bad Thing and Save The Day. If you've played Limbo or Inside then you know exactly the kind of thing you're in for. Only more Ghibli.

There's almost no dialogue, and what there is is in an alien language. But it's enough to pull you in. The plot is told through the things you encounter along the way. And it's explained as much as it needs to be, which isn't much.

The different environments work very nicely, whether you're trying to keep your cat dry:


or you're exploring underground caverns:


Or trying to prevent hordes of robot spiders from giving you an unfortunate hug:


The game lasts about 5 hours, but as it's on sale for over 50% off right now (£7.65 in the UK) I can happily say it's well worth picking up.

The challenge is fairly light - there were two puzzles I had to check walkthroughs for, but generally I could work my way through them, and it required very little in the way of reflexes.

Oh, and the music/sound design is gorgeous. You can listen to it over here.

Overall, highly recommended.

1. What's the opposite of DEI?

(tags:usa politics OhForFucksSake comic )

2. Edinburgh Trams introduces Tap-On Tap-off... soon

(tags:Edinburgh trams buses transport )

3. These game case animations are gorgeous

(tags:animations game art )

4. The Wisconsin cartographer who mapped Tolkien's fantasy world

(tags:lotr fantasy maps )

5. China's 'dreamy' new ship aims to drill 7km below the ocean floor

(tags:ocean research geology )

6. NHS England is holding back a report on suicide in trans kids that was finished a year ago.

(tags:suicide LGBT transgender children NHS UK OhForFucksSake )