Ad in the UK Metro Opposes Women’s Privacy and Legal Rights
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.
Absolut
Action For Children UK
Albert Kennedy Trust
All About Trans
Amnesty International
Angles
Aon
Asos
Attitude
Aviva
Barclays
Barnardo’s
BCN
BiPhoria
Bi Pride UK
British LGBT Awards
Brook
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Cardiff University
Channel 4
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service
Children in Scotland
Chwarae Teg
Cicero Group
Citi
Dazed Digital
Diva Magazine
Diversity Role Models
EBay
Equality Network
European Diversity Awards
EY
Family Planning Association
FFLAG
Freshfields
Galop
Gay Star News
Gay Times
GCHQ: Government Communication Headquarters
Gendered Intelligence
Gentoo
Glitter Cymru
IBM
Imaan
Intellectual Property Office UK
Iris Prize
ITV
Jan Trust
LGBT+ Conservatives
LGBT Consortium
LGBT Foundation
LGBT [indeterminate]
LGBT Labour
LGBT+ Lib Dems
LGBT Youth Scotland
Liberal Judaism
Liberty
Llamau
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyd’s
London LGBTQ Community Centre
Mermaids
Mesmac Newcastle
The Mix
Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre
My Work
NN [indeterminate]
National Union of Students
Oasis
One Body One Faith
OnRoad Media
Opening Doors London
Out NAW
Out News Global
Ozanne Foundation
Peter Tatchell Foundation
PinkNews
Pride Cymru
Pride In London
Proctor & Gamble
Proud Trust
QX Magazine
Race Equality Foundation
Rainbow Noir
Roundhouse
Scottish Trans
Shine
Stonewall
Sussex Police
St. Mungo’s
Tender
Terrence Higgins Trust
Tesco
Touchstone
Trans Forum Manchester
UK Black Pride
UK Pride
Umbrella Cymru
Unison
Unique
Vice
Virgin Money
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.