Ad in the UK Metro Opposes Women’s Privacy and Legal Rights

uk ad.jpeg

In the lead-up to the end of the consultation on the UK’s Gender Recognition Act —where PM Theresa May’s Conservative government now proposes to obliterate women’s rights to single-sex accommodations by allowing self-identification of sex on birth certificates — over 100 nonprofits, corporations, and public sector organizations have stepped forward with an ad in the Metro, opposing women’s rights to be recognized in the law as more than a feeling in a man’s head.

Listed are several UK government agencies, including two police forces, the UK Intellectual Property Office, and GCHQ. GCHQ is the UK’s signal intelligence agency, supporting the government and military. Even British Transport Police have offered encouragement. Is this why over half of UK members of parliament polled on the topic have said they’re afraid to speak about gender identity in public?

It’s rare to see a coalition with half so much money and influence organizing around the rights of women or girls for any cause or reason.

As with the massive coalitions that boycotted, or threatened to boycott, entire US states over allowing men to access single-sex accommodations for women, it would be astonishing to see this sort of support for any or all of: abortion care access, women’s equal pay, an end to child marriage or female genital mutilation, universal child care, elder or disabled care, women’s domestic and sexual violence services, women’s homeless shelters, lesbian rights, or food assistance to women, infants, and children.

This is as complete a list as we could gather, and may be updated with two names from logos that were ilegible at the available resolution, of the 103 organizations having logos pictured in the ad.

  1. Absolut

  2. Action For Children UK

  3. Albert Kennedy Trust

  4. All About Trans

  5. Amnesty International

  6. Angles

  7. Aon

  8. Asos

  9. Attitude

  10. Aviva

  11. Barclays

  12. Barnardo’s

  13. BCN

  14. BiPhoria

  15. Bi Pride UK

  16. British LGBT Awards

  17. Brook

  18. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

  19. Cardiff University

  20. Channel 4

  21. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

  22. Children in Scotland

  23. Chwarae Teg

  24. Cicero Group

  25. Citi

  26. Dazed Digital

  27. Diva Magazine

  28. Diversity Role Models

  29. EBay

  30. Equality Network

  31. European Diversity Awards

  32. EY

  33. Family Planning Association

  34. FFLAG

  35. Freshfields

  36. Galop

  37. Gay Star News

  38. Gay Times

  39. GCHQ: Government Communication Headquarters

  40. Gendered Intelligence

  41. Gentoo

  42. Glitter Cymru

  43. IBM

  44. Imaan

  45. Intellectual Property Office UK

  46. Iris Prize

  47. ITV

  48. Jan Trust

  49. LGBT+ Conservatives

  50. LGBT Consortium

  51. LGBT Foundation

  52. LGBT [indeterminate]

  53. LGBT Labour

  54. LGBT+ Lib Dems

  55. LGBT Youth Scotland

  56. Liberal Judaism

  57. Liberty

  58. Llamau

  59. Lloyds Banking Group

  60. Lloyd’s

  61. London LGBTQ Community Centre

  62. Mermaids

  63. Mesmac Newcastle

  64. The Mix

  65. Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre

  66. My Work

  67. NN [indeterminate]

  68. National Union of Students

  69. Oasis

  70. One Body One Faith

  71. OnRoad Media

  72. Opening Doors London

  73. Out NAW

  74. Out News Global

  75. Ozanne Foundation

  76. Peter Tatchell Foundation

  77. PinkNews

  78. Pride Cymru

  79. Pride In London

  80. Proctor & Gamble

  81. Proud Trust

  82. QX Magazine

  83. Race Equality Foundation

  84. Rainbow Noir

  85. Roundhouse

  86. Scottish Trans

  87. Shine

  88. Stonewall

  89. Sussex Police

  90. St. Mungo’s

  91. Tender

  92. Terrence Higgins Trust

  93. Tesco

  94. Touchstone

  95. Trans Forum Manchester

  96. UK Black Pride

  97. UK Pride

  98. Umbrella Cymru

  99. Unison

  100. Unique

  101. Vice

  102. Virgin Money

  103. Women’s Equality Network Wales

In our Benevolent Patriarchy series, we’ll be looking at people and institutions who are either liberal or mainstream, and are promoting extreme attacks on women’s rights in the guise of being secular or progressive. Misogyny isn’t less harmful for neither being ostensibly conservative nor attached to a religious perspective, and feminists have long been too afraid of losing support from the left to say so.

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