Anne Coombes

@iutba.bsky.social

I post when I feel like it.

IANAL, but here’s something important for anyone fighting for trans inclusion. The Equality Act does allow a toilet for women and transgender women. It’s simply not labelled “single‑sex”, but that’s no barrier to inclusion.

I’ve said this before and got a lot of pushback, so here it is in black and white from Dr Mary‑Ann Stephenson, Chair of the EHRC, giving evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee:

Text from transc

Can we stop saying it’s “against the law” for a trans woman to use the ladies’ toilet. It isn’t. There is no law, and never has been, that dictates which toilet anyone must use.

Calling in the EHRC guidelines is necessary, but it’s not enough. The real fight has to run on two tracks: 1) challenging the Supreme Court ruling at the ECtHR, and 2) pushing Parliament to revisit the GRA and restore the principle that we can legally change sex.

The EHRC guidance tabled last Thursday is causing a lot of understandable noise on social media, but we’re missing the deeper issue. The real problem is not the guidance itself; it’s the fact that the Gender Recognition Act 2004 has been stripped of its core meaning by the For Women Scotland ruling

Following some confusion about whether or not I had been referred for speech therapy at Frimley Park my local surgery have just responded to me with this message:

It's a prime square © day. Today is the 349th day of the year, a prime number, and there are 16 days left, a perfect square. Talking of perfect squares, how did I not know this before this year? Not only is that a lovely equation but both sides, obviously, add up to 365!

An image of an equation that reads: ten squared plus eleven squared plus twelve squared equals thirteen squared plus fourteen squared.

It's a prime square © day. Today is the 349th day of the year, a prime number, and there are 16 days left, a perfect square. Talking of perfect squares, how did I not know this before this year? Not only is that a lovely equation but both sides, obviously, add up to 365!

An image of an equation that reads: ten squared plus eleven squared plus twelve squared equals thirteen squared plus fourteen squared.

I had a long chat with a good friend on Friday and she recommended that for the sake of my mental health I get off the bird place. Consequently, I have deactivated my account. Which means I have more time to dedicate to here and mastodon .

Off to by mincemeat in order to make mince pies this afternoon. Should I buy rum or brandy to add to the mincemeat? I am going to be using the recipe from Jeanette Winterson's book Christmas Days but I am too late to make my own mincemeat. Next year.

Yesterday: Christms meal in London with a few trans friends. Today: Christms meal in Reading with a few trans friends. Sat 16 Dec: Christms meal in Oxfordshire with a few LGBTQ+ friends. Wed 20 Dec: Christms meal in West Berkshire with a few trans friends. Do I need to widen my net of friends?

Just shy of what looks like a wet and dismal Cheltenham Spa. Couldn't get my laptop to connect to the GER WiFi so all the work I thought I would get done will have to wait until I get into the office. Oh, and I've forgotten to bring *any* toiletries 🤦🏻‍♀️

This trans person is going to go to training with her swimming club this evening for the first time since the end of July. I have been swimming competitively for 55 years yet I am nervous.