Janet Murray
@jan_murray • 40,137 subscribers
Freelance journalist | Writing on women, culture & public policy | Director @JournalismSEEN | Promoting accurate, impartial reporting on sex & gender
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This gentleman says he will continue to use women’s single-sex spaces in public settings. Despite knowing it is lawful and legitimate for service providers to exclude him. Why? Because he believes he is entitled to be there. And because he thinks minimum-wage staff will eventually get tired of challenging men like him and simply look the other way. Women know this pattern. Some men don’t accept “no”. They keep pushing boundaries, believing that if they persist for long enough, women will eventually give in. They know how difficult it can be for women to be taken seriously. They know how uncomfortable it is to keep objecting. And they rely on eventually wearing women down. Women warned this would happen. If men were told that calling themselves women gave them access to female spaces, some would push those boundaries as far as they could. This video - and I’ve seen many like it - shows some are still trying to wear women down. Even after the law clarified that service providers can lawfully exclude men from women’s single-sex spaces, they are openly saying they’ll ignore those boundaries. But respecting women’s boundaries shouldn’t be optional.
Janet Murray246,063 просмотров • 1 день назад
I've been sitting on the evidence for this Girlguiding story since March. Even then, it took months to persuade a mainstream publication to cover this aspect of the investigation. For an independent journalist, pursuing a story like this without the backing of a national newspaper's legal team carries obvious risks. But I persisted because I believe there is a strong public interest in asking whether organisations entrusted with the care of girls are putting safeguarding first. This investigation involved months of conversations, verification and painstaking work. Unsurprisingly, some people have suggested that concerns about these issues are exaggerated. That is why I'm sharing some of the publicly available material I found online. To be absolutely clear, there is no suggestion that this individual has done anything wrong. Indeed one could argue he has also been failed by a system that affirmed and accepted him as a Girlguiding leader and later appointed him to a 16-person advisory committee - apparently without sufficient scrutiny of his suitability for the role. The greater failure, however, was towards the girls and women who should never have been expected to accept males in a single-sex organisation. I hope this story helps explain why many women believe this debate has never simply been about being "kind". It is about safeguarding, boundaries and whose interests are prioritised. I'm grateful to everyone who helped bring this story to light, including women who spoke to me privately and helped with research. And Graham Linehan who reminded me how important it was to tell this story. And I do think we should ask why it was so difficult to secure national coverage of a story that many people would regard as being firmly in the public interest.
Janet Murray1,036,977 просмотров • 16 дней назад
Man tells the internet he intends to continue using women’s single-sex spaces despite knowing service providers can lawfully exclude him. Man says his feelings are hurt because some people called him a “predator” for saying this. Man claims he has been threatened with sexual assault. Man cries and says “we” are going to lose women’s spaces if people keep telling him he is a man. There is no “we” about it. He is a man. Women’s single-sex spaces are not his to lose. They exist to protect the privacy, dignity and safety of women. And this man needs professional support - not encouragement to disregard other people’s boundaries.
Janet Murray26,702 просмотров • 1 день назад
From Sadiq Khan’s TikTok account this afternoon. Given that many women now regard the Progress Pride flag as representing an ideology that undermines women’s rights, I find this footage quite unsettling. Did anyone even question whether publishing footage of central London lined with row upon row of political flags might convey a message beyond simply “celebration”? Or is City Hall so ideologically captured that nobody even notices how this looks?
Janet Murray91,316 просмотров • 17 дней назад
Insufferable, self-absorbed person explains “allyship”. Apparently the ‘ally’ label is something for her - and her alone - to decide that you are. (Tip: leave “intersex” off your Progress Pride flag at your peril.) Apparently, though, buying trans and non-binary people a pint or contributing to a GoFundMe counts too. Because nothing says “social justice” quite like ticking off a list of approved gestures.
Janet Murray53,919 просмотров • 11 дней назад
A heterosexual young woman is asked why she wouldn’t date a trans man. Her reaction is painful to watch. Because what you’re really watching is someone trying to navigate the pressure - particularly on younger people - to deny biological reality, while also trying desperately not to offend anyone. And this is ‘inclusion’. Apparently.
Janet Murray321,531 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад
So Katie Hopkins got booted out of a pub during an England match. A crowd of men were chanting “out, out, out” - like something from a medieval town square. I don’t know all the details and perhaps more information will emerge. But if she was simply minding her own business and watching the football, did she deserve to be thrown out because the landlord disagrees with her views? People often talk about bullying and intolerance. So who’s the bully here?
Janet Murray130,501 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
Apparently dads get postnatal depression now. And this brave chap is raising awareness of it via a Times article. I’m not saying becoming a father isn’t a big adjustment for men. Of course they should get help if that leads to depression. But it’s women whose bodies are, literally, changed by conception, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Not just by the physical changes and challenges, but by the hormonal changes that go with them. And this feels like just another example of women not being able to have anything for themselves - including the very thing only their bodies can do. Not every aspect of female experience needs a male equivalent.
Janet Murray68,621 просмотров • 18 дней назад
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do a video where we got cis comedians to go to toilets and say, ‘There’s nowhere for me to go.’” Hilarious. The Guilty Feminist and friends discussing the entirely fictional “bathroom ban” - featuring the author of that dreadful Amnesty report, and a woman with pink hair who says she’ll “beat the shit” out of anyone who tries to stop her trans friend using whatever toilet they want. This is feminism, apparently 🙄
Janet Murray22,662 просмотров • 6 дней назад
A Muslim mother speaking about a book that Ladybird is promoting during Pride Month. The book is aimed at children as young as two years old and features two women - who appear to be a couple - with a baby, one of whom is wearing a hijab. Her comments echo what many parents - of any faith or none - would likely agree with: that some topics are simply too adult for very young children. She also states, quite openly, that while Muslims can of course live peacefully in a society where LGBTQ values are present, those values are not compatible with her faith. So many questions. But the one uppermost in my mind is this: will anyone dare to call this woman bigoted or transphobic? For being honest about what she believes is appropriate for young children. And for being honest about her faith. Or are such accusations reserved for other groups of people who express similar views? I’d also be very interested to hear what Zack Polanski has to say on this 🤔
Janet Murray118,815 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
Former Green councillor Matthew Poulton speaking at the recent protests against Girlguiding’s ‘no boys’ policy. This is two minutes of a four minute speech. His microphone is held by what appears to be a guide leader - in uniform. Any parent watching this spectacle would surely think twice about enrolling a little girl or young woman in Girlguiding. Meanwhile the organisation allows this to continue.
Janet Murray239,537 просмотров • 3 месяцев назад
‘They just want the dignity of being confirmed in their sex … or their ‘adopted sex’, if you like.’ I wonder if this is the kind of person the BBC’s Nick Robinson had in mind when he made this comment during a recent BBC Radio 4 interview about the EHRC’s guidance on single-sex spaces. And I wonder whether he realises that, if people were entitled to have their ‘adopted sex’ recognised under equality law, women would be unable to exclude men like this from their changing rooms, toilets and even domestic violence refuges. I also wonder whether he would want that for his wife or daughter. Or feel it was ‘dignified.’
Janet Murray139,440 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
This woman - who was in the audience at the BAFTAs on Sunday evening - takes a fair and compassionate stance on the guest with Tourette's shouting a racial slur at two black actors. She provides important context: the audience had been briefed about John Davidson’s Tourette’s and his vocal tics had already been evident earlier in the evening. She also articulates something we don’t hear often enough. Words can cause discomfort. They can hurt. And they can do so for many reasons. But that alone does not make someone “wrong” or prove ill intent. Nor does it justify destroying someone’s reputation. Sometimes we have to hold two truths at once - that harm can be felt and that intent and context still matter. And sometimes we have to set aside our own feelings and consider the needs and vulnerabilities of others. A principle worth remembering in many areas of public life.
Janet Murray340,355 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
Watch this smug political commentator get put in his place by GB News presenter Michelle Dewberry Who asked Samuel Sweek FOUR times whether it’s reasonable to expect women to get undressed “in front of a male”. Sweek visibly squirmed - unable to provide an answer - until finally telling Dewberry they would have to 'agree to disagree'. I mean what kind of numpty has to 'agree to disagree' on biological sex? 🫣
Janet Murray180,865 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад
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I’ve always liked Dr Amir Khan. I follow him on TikTok - he seems warm, kind, and clearly adores his mum (“Mama Khan”) - which is usually the sign of a decent guy. But his recent debate with Piers Morgan on ITV's Lorraine show left me cold - and genuinely concerned from a safeguarding perspective. Because Khan - a practising GP: - Says he “identifies” as male (rather than simply is male) - Dodges the question about whether trans women (i.e. biological males) should use women’s toilets - Claims men - not trans women - are the problem when it comes to male violence towards women (seemingly unaware that trans women *are* male) Women cannot know which males pose a risk. So the rule has to be simple: all males stay out of women’s spaces. Women know this. Piers Morgan knows this. Yet Khan - a highly trained medically trained professional - seems unable to grasp this basic common sense. Many women prefer female doctors - particularly for 'women's' issues - but sometimes that just isn’t possible. Which means trust matters even more. But how can women trust a male doctor who can’t clearly say what a woman is - and who appears to think women’s sex-based rights and spaces are less important than men's feelings. Honestly? I’d much rather see a male GP who wasn’t half as “nice” as Khan - but at least knew what a woman was.
Janet Murray417,637 просмотров • 8 месяцев назад
Dr Cass appears to suggest that this 11-year-old should be given puberty blockers. A child whose parents reportedly decided he was a girl at the age of two and socially transitioned him. We are told that his social anxiety is now so severe that he rarely leaves his bedroom or attends school, and that he has developed low bone density - before even being given puberty blockers. And the response from politicians is “hear, hear”, as though Dr Cass has just said something profound. To me, it sounds like one of the most extraordinary and troubling things I’ve ever heard a doctor say. Why is no one asking questions about the adults in this situation? How was a two-year-old boy allowed to be socially transitioned and raised as a girl? The outcome described is a child with such severe anxiety that he cannot attend school or participate in ordinary life, and who is already experiencing serious physical health problems. The question shouldn’t be whether this child needed puberty blockers. It should be how so many adults failed to protect him.
Janet Murray44,583 просмотров • 23 дней назад