Nathan Williams
@nathankw
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I make films about science and history. Humanist, vegetarian, NB, board-gamer, urban-paddleboarder with 2 cats. Views are mine.
London, UK
Joined January 2009
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Pinned Tweet
This seems like a good idea - a set of rules to improve online discussion from
@school4thought
. I'm going to attempt to put these principles into action in my tweets and suggest anyone I end up in discussion with does too. I may not always succeed, but at least I'll try.
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The sad story of the GIDS and the Tavistock should lead us all to seriously reflect on how a dysfunctional organisation was allowed to carry on for so long. Many should hang their heads in shame but it's my own sector - the science comms industry - that bears particular guilt...
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To be fair, switching America off and then back on again might be worth a try.
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After I retweeted this statement calling for mutual tolerance of differing views, many replied asking if I'd heard of Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance. I'm lucky enough to have studied Philosophy of Science at Cambridge so yes, I do know it and have read lots of Popper. 1/x
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This morning on
@BBCr4today
@NicolaSturgeon
stated that under the new Self-ID law - to get legal recognition as a female you just have to "live as a woman" for 3 months. Can anyone explain what it means to "live as a woman"? I struggle in 2022 to understand what that means.
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A quick thread on this new paper which it has been claimed refutes the notion of social contagion in trans adolescents. Even by the poor methodological standards of this topic it's remarkable how weak the evidence is compared to the claims being made. 1/x
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Over and over again I'm reminded of the Lincoln quote:
‘If I should call a sheep’s tail a leg, how many legs would it have?’
‘Five’
‘No, only four; for my calling the tail a leg would not make it so.’
You can change the meaning of words - but don't think you've changed reality.
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Science journalists and scientists in the public eye should have been at the forefront of raising questions. Instead, many actively participated in spreading disinformation and attacking those who did try to investigate. Almost all others just ignored the issue, turned away...
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A few weeks ago I wrote an article on how the Green Party is breaking its own legal advice in the way it treats people with a different view of sex/gender. Things have only got worse since then, and now I too have now been suspended from the party. 1/3
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anyone (but particularly your own side) who tries to suppress the rational discussion of ideas. Because remember, however certain you are that you are on the right side, you may be wrong. And the only way you'll know is through rational debate with those you disagree with 10/10
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even though it was obvious that the evidence was poor and alarm bells were ringing. Fortunately a few persisted -
@deb_cohen
&
@hannahsbee
deserve particular praise. But the most damning thing, as
@lecanardnoir
has pointed out, is the lack of any contrition. We all make...
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But Popper, drawing on Plato, recognises a paradox. If one side refuses to allow debate, suppresses any contrary view and answers any verbal challenge with violence - they may succeed in stopping all debate. This is then fatal as ideas can no longer be challenged. 5/x
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Does one side threaten violence against those they disagree with? "Answer arguments by use of their fists" as Popper put it? If so, that is the side we shouldn't tolerate. If you think Popper has something useful to say (and I think he does) then your duty is to challenge ... 9/x
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@deb_cohen
@hannahsbee
@lecanardnoir
mistakes, or miss important stories. Now is the time for those who were wrong in good faith to look again at the evidence and admit it. If
#scicomm
is to regain any credibility it needs to own up to its failings and embrace openness and evidence as it always should have done.
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I've written a couple of articles on the topic, this on sex denial and this specifically on puberty blockers: - Would love to do more and in particular make a documentary on the topic but so hard to get anyone to commission it.
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I've written for
@TheCriticMag
about the bullying of Green Party members by the party itself, for the "crime" of believing in the importance of biological sex. It's a sad indictment of a party that should be focused on fighting climate change not itself
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It's not about being intolerant towards views you see as utterly reprehensible, or even views that you believe would harm people. It's intolerance against those who would prevent any rational debate. Remember, "what if you are wrong and they are right?" 7/x
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This is a superbly detailed analysis by
@jessesingal
of the new paper on the treatment of transgender youth. It's now undeniable that the evidence for the effectiveness of hormone treatment is at best weak and likely non-existent. This confirms the the Cass and NICE reviews. 1/2
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This is true even if (indeed particularly if), the side suppressing free speech believes it is on the moral side. So any side that is intolerant of dissent, that refuses to engage in that vital debate, should itself be treated with intolerance. This is the paradox 6/x
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Popper's answer to this problem is that, however certain you are, you should always subject your ideas to constant challenge: by experiment (in science) and through rational debate (in politics). This means that freedom of thought and speech is absolutely central to Popper. 4/x
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The key to Popper's philosophy is the fallibility of human thought. However convinced we are that something is true (in science or politics), we should always recognise that it may be false. "What if I am wrong and you are right?" we should constantly ask ourselves. 3/x
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The central argument is that according to a single survey source, the rate of trans identification is going down (2017 vs 19) disproving the social contagion (SC) hypothesis. It's pretty obvious that inferring a trend from 2 data points is virtually meaningless. It reminds me 2/x
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Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 2 to 3 women are killed by men per week in the UK. Yet this gets a tiny fraction of the coverage that other issues do. I see no flags flying. Very few organisation are marking it. Please don't forget.
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In contrast (& I hope I'm not being mean), I suspect many of those who asked had only heard of Popper from a cartoon graphic that's popular on social media. It's therefore not surprising that they are grossly distorting Popper's argument. I hope they'll find this 🧵 useful 2/x
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I've written an article about the science of sex. Not everyone is going to like it, but please do read it and let me know what you think.
Those who deny biological sex are dangerous and disingenuous; it’s time the rest of us stood up to them, writes Nathan Williams
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explanation for all trans identifying young people. But Jack's paper doesn't come close to ruling it out as a factor. What we desperately need is good impartial research open to finding complex answers, not simplistic activism aiming to shut down legitimate inquiry. 9/9
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Sadly
@TheGreenParty
is continuing its mission to alienate as many people as possible and control what its members can say and think. A bizarre new official document is the final nail in the coffin for the party's credibility. Read the sad story here:
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But the survey only asked for sex - so we have absolutely no idea whether respondents were replying with their sex before or after transition. Bafflingly Jack just decides they must mean SATB. I've looked at the references he quotes and can't find anything to back this up. 5/x
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A member of GPRC (Green Party Regional Council) made an anonymous complaint about me and then GPRC held a trial in secret where they acted as accuser, judge and jury. No defence - I didn't even know it was happening. Is there any regime in the world that would do this? 2/3
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of the bogus argument used by climate deniers who claimed warming had stopped by looking at a short trend (though to be fair to them even they didn't just use 2 years). Furthermore, even if Jack's right and the rate is now reducing that doesn't disprove SC. It simply 3/x
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You'll often see references to sex being a spectrum - whilst others say its binary. I think this is just a matter of words. I hope this graphic makes it clear (feel free to share / post anywhere)
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Proud to have signed this, condemning the horrible abuse of JK Rowling. Awesome people like
@thehistoryguy
,
@SLSingh
@whjm
@tony_robinson
and thousands of others have supported. Hoping some of the other great presenters I've worked with will sign too.
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Certainly all the online discussion I've seen makes it clear that many trans youth do not understand their sex now to be their sex assigned at birth. Isn't that the whole point of the "assigned at birth" terminology? But again, if we give Jack the benefit of the doubt and 6/x
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Problem is, their own legal advice says this counts as victimisation. I believed and continue to believe, that the legal advice (which simply states what the law it) should be available to all members. I urge you to read and share it: 3/3
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underlines the key point that much more (& better) data is needed. Another argument is about the sex ratio. Here the paper gets properly bizarre. In this paper Jack is careful to refer to "sex assigned at birth" - to distinguish between the sex that they now identify as. 4/x
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assume his analysis of the survey is correct. What does that tell us? Well, that something interesting is going on. The proportions and rate of change in adolescents identifying as TGD in a survey is very different from the population visiting clinic (see the UK GIDS data) 7/x
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PS - One good thing to come out of it, the party has now officially confirmed that the document I recevied is genuine - it is legal advice the party received. This is from the evidence against me. Perhaps now they accept it's real, they'll make some efforts to listen to it?
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So that tells us these two populations are different - which is not at all surprising. There are undoubtedly many different overlapping phenomena here. "Being trans" is a not a single thing and there will not be any single cause. I don't believe social contagion is the only 8/x
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This is such a powerful article by
@alexmassie
on the continuining threats against JK Rowling. - I have many friends and colleagues in the media and painfully few of them have been brave enough to speak up and condemn this hateful abuse. Now is the time.
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@imarajones
@jessesingal
@nytimes
Imara, I'm a UK based science journalist. It's a pretty basic rule of journalism that if you accuse someone of making errors, you point out what those errors are when asked. I've looked at the thread and can't see where you've done that. Could you point to them? This is important
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Deal of the day is Trans by
@HJoyceGender
for £1. If you're at all interested in the gender controversy or if you know nothing about it and wonder what all the fuss is, get this. Whether you agree or not it's an articulate and well researched book.
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You can download and share the legal advice here: -
@TheGreenParty
has disgracefully kept this advice, that members have presumably paid for, hidden from the membership. If the party wants to obey the law it should make clear what the law says.
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I'm so proud of my local green party which unanimously agreed this statement. Sadly there are some who want to silence women who dare to speak up on this issue. In Brent Greens we want to put any differences aside and work together for greener, better world.
@LonGreenParty
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Whilst writing my article I contacted
@RoyalSocBio
multiple times to ask why they called a biologist transphobic for a tweet which stated basic facts. They refused to answer. If you're a member perhaps you could ask them?
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If you see an article or an activist claim that we know that hormone treatments improve trans-youth mental health, or that denying such treatments is going to push them to suicide, that's pure misinformation. I hope the
#scicomm
community will now help to debunk those claims.
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@TwisterFilm
Hi - don't suppose you remember me. We actually worked together on Horizon (I think I was a researcher then!) I read your tweets with great interest. You might like this article I've written from a fellow science filmmakers perspective:
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Sorry - forgot the link to the actual analysis! Here it is - - Well worth reading both parts 1 & 2
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I've written another article for
@TheCriticMag
- this time about the sad goings on at
@ScienceBasedMed
and the even sadder state of research into youth gender dysphoria. - please do read, share and let me know what you think.
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If you're wondering why on earth the supposedly progressive Green Party would shut down its Women's Group - this article I wrote for
@TheCriticMag
might help: - Anyone still claiming that Gender Ideology doesn't harm women?
BREAKING NEWS: Green Party Standing Orders Committee has ruled to disaffiliate Green Party Women as a special interest group - silencing representation for approx 25k female members in the party. Causing detriment to members on the basis of sex is ACT OF UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION
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The Green Party should aspire to being a party of rational science-based policy. Putting out stuff like this makes us look ridiculous. To say that "biological sex" is a dog-whistle is as unscientific as dismissing climate change as a hoax or saying the Earth is flat. This is..1/2
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One thing I find gratifying is that sex-denialists like
@pzmyers
wibble on about sex being socially constructed and bimodal. But when they actually want something done (in this case breed spiders) - they suddenly know there are exactly 2 sexes and it's the females that make eggs!
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To those that try to pull the "both sides are equally at fault" argument when it comes to the sex/gender debate,this is the final word from
@ProfAliceS
. I could name several cases of GC academics being harassed or cancelled just from the past fortnight. How many the other way?
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@salltweets
@kokokopek
@ewendj
@suzanne_moore
And if I were saying "the most offensive, stupid, misogynistic & homophobic shit on Twitter" then I would doubtless lose my livelihood like Glinner has done. But I'm still working, which suggests that your accusations are unfounded.
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I recently wrote an article for
@TheCriticMag
about the shameful goings on at
@ScienceBasedMed
. Now an Emeritus Editor of SBM has written a truly extraordinary open letter. It's worth a read. - I doubt SBM can ever recover its reputation. So sad.
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@GreenFemsUK
@TheGreenParty
I'd say I shared it rather than leaked it. Nothing in the document I received said it was confidential. I thought members needed to see it so shared it (having asked the party for comment first).
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Look at this awesome video of male seahorses giving birth. Shows the wondrous diversity of nature and raises a fascinating question. Why do we call them males when they give birth? The answer: they produce sperm not eggs (ie small not large gametes). Because gametes define sex.
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@IFLScience
It's so sad that sources like
@IFLScience
that should be part of the fight against scientific misinformation are (on this issue at least) spreading it. This does so much harm to the status of science and scientists. It has to stop. See:
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I've written an article about sex, science and pseudoscience. It's also about how the very groups you'd expect to be fighting against nonsense, like
@RoyalSocBio
and
@TheSkepticMag
are helping to fuel it. Please do read and share:
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@jack_turban
@aap_peds
Sorry
@jack_turban
but I don't see how your data in any way justify your conclusions - See thread:
A quick thread on this new paper which it has been claimed refutes the notion of social contagion in trans adolescents. Even by the poor methodological standards of this topic it's remarkable how weak the evidence is compared to the claims being made. 1/x
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Quick update - as above, a crucial question is whether trans identifying people replied to the sex question with their sex or gender.
@jack_turban
says he knows that they answered with their birth sex. But here's a paper by Michelle Johns, the lead LGBT researcher for the CDC ...
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I interviewed John Maddox on the subject of pseudoscience for the BBC. What he would have made of the current wave of sex denial misinformation (including from scientific publications) I can only imagine.
I'm proud to have been shortlisted for the 2023 John Maddox Prize for advancing public discourse with sound science, and hearty congratulations to the winner, haematologist Nancy Olivieri, and early-career award-winner epidemiologist Chelsea Polis
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@jeymccreight
Sorry but I'm confused by what you mean when you say biological sex is not meaningful. I'd agree "biological" is unnecessary since sex is a biological category by definition. But sex is a fundamental and well defined concept. Rare edge cases don't invalidate it, just add to it.
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To clarify - I think it was the interviewer who used the phrase but Nicola affirmed that was the proposal. So my question remains - what does it mean to live as a woman (or indeed a man)?
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How can anyone who cares about science & truth not see there's a huge problem here? This is a thread entirely based on the premise that there is no male advantage in sport. This makes the claims of young-Earth creationists look credible! Yet it's actually being spread by ... 1/2
1/n 🧵
I want to address a narrative that we see around women’s sport and inclusion (particularly from those who seek to exclude trans women & women with sex variations from women’s sport), and how this narrative is part of a bigger pattern that functions to keep women small
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Sadly
@ScienceBasedMed
have now gone full on sex-denialist in their latest article - a confused, badly written mess. SBM has now completely lost its way. When the very places supposed to fight pseudoscience are spreading it, we're in a bad place.
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.
@helenlewis
&
@hannahsbee
are two of the most intelligent, rational and compassionate writers on the topic. If you think they're wrong then listen to them and explain why. Or ignore them - that's fine too. But to stop others hearing them? Cancel culture not existing... yet again
Sorry to say that despite selling out immediately, this event has now been cancelled.
The organiser offered all kinds of compromises—a trans voice on the panel, a separate rebuttal event, even a statement disassociating the Skeptic Society from our views—but it wasn’t enough.
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@GreenJennyJones
@chescawalton
If you're wondering how we've got to a place where a co-chair of Green Party Women would vandalise a banner defending women's rights, do read my article: How can someone represent women in the party if they want most of them expelled?
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@IFLScience
It's extraordinary that this essay is getting republished in so many places when it's a jumbled mess of misinformation and confusion. It gets the basic maths wrong (by a factor of 10!) And claims to be a discussion of biological sex that doesn't mention gametes (or egg/ sperm)!
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To understand why the NHS must never give in to activist demands around trans youth medicine, this quote says it all. They have no interest in whether the treatment actually works. No area of medicine works like this: "Give pills to whoever wants them. No evidence needed".
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@openDemocracy
This completely misrepresents Popper's paradox. If you believe in democracy you believe in the right for people to debate the balance between different groups. If you don't understand that you aren't a democract. See
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@francesweetman
@helenlewis
The time gap between something being parody and becoming reality is now days. Soon it'll be hours!
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@EricRoyalLybeck
I think you've got it the wrong way round. It's the sex denialists that refuse to engage in good faith with their critics:
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@jessesingal
Thanks for the RT. The way
@jack_turban
treats the question about sex is just astonishing. He admits that an unknown proportion of people he classifies as AFAB might in fact have been AMAB and v.v - but just says it doesn't really matter. I mean why bother with any data at all?
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@billybragg
@ThePosieParker
Simple question Billy - do you condemn the violent attacks against her and the women who wanted to speak in NZ?
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@chescawalton
Eveyone Chesca? Do you have solidarity with the violent men who threw metal barriers at women? Do you have solidarity with the men who shouted misogynist abuse? I think you should reconsider this tweet. Support for VAWG has no place in the party.
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@Conviction19c
@bengoldacre
To be fair to Ben he's been busy with his data project though I agree - his Bad Science approach was sorely needed. But there are so many other still active in science communication who were silent or worse.
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One of the most influential people in the sex/gender debate is Anne Fausto-Sterling (AFS). For instance she's quoted by
@thealiceroberts
and
@robinince
. Both excellent science communicators but I don't think the way they've presented AFS gives the full picture. So here's a🧵 1/x
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@GreenPartyWomen
I agree with this. The law often conflates sex and gender which is unhelpful for trans people as much as anyone. Being clear about what is meant by terms such as sex is vital if we're going to have a rational dialogue about trans rights and womens rights.
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@HannahMusgrave2
@FondOfBeetles
@PopSci
I'm a science journalist and would love to know more about these additional sexes. Would make a fascinating article. Can you send me those references? Plus can I ask at which medical school you teach about these extra sexes?
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Superb review of
@hannahsbee
book in the Observer. This paragraph really struck me. Because dismiss it exactly what the Observer's sister paper
@guardian
has done. For the past week no mention of this vital book & years of downplaying concerns. Shameful.
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@runthinkwrite
This was written by a friend of mine when HR suggested adding pronouns. Not scholarly but written by an academic. Happy to send text if you follow me
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@gorskon
@michaelshermer
@HJoyceGender
David, you keep embarassing yourself with this ridiculous comparison. Vaccines have been confirmed as safe & effective by RCTs involving millions of patients. How many RCTs have been done on adolescent gender affirming treatment?
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Had a great day at the
#Ed4WomensLib
conference yesterday. Packed with ideas & discussions on how to balance everyone's human rights in a fair and lawful way. Huge kudos to
@ucl
for hosting this. I'm sure they came under huge pressure to cancel but they stood up to the bullies👏
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@RichardDawkins
You probably know about what happened at
@ScienceBasedMed
- I wrote about the sad affair here
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@pzmyers
@TrabalhoMaterno
@erciliamanda
@zaelefty
That's cool. So could you post a graph of sex showing the 2 modes? (One with properly labelled axes based on actual data, not just a made up sketch). Thanks!
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@SexMattersOrg
@void_if_removed
@PHMMcr
Seems they've now taken legal advice. Perhaps they should have taken that advice before issuing their statement?
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Why would
@TheGreenParty
suspend (without due process) a hugely popular local environmental campaigner who had been democratically selected by her local party? Here's my explanation -
Today is the anniversary of
@TheGreenParty
suspending me. Allegedly I'm a risk to the Party's reputation for believing, like most UK voters, that sex & gender aren't the same thing. I bet prospective constituents in Ledbury & Bungay agree. This is grown-up politics, reinstate me.
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@CarolineLucas
Can I ask what do you think the word sex refers to in the EA? If you oppose change it's presumably because you think it's clear what act is referring to. I'm curious to know what you think that is?
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@robinince
@WhitworthArt
Robin, I hope that as a satirist yourself you're aware that Fausto-Stirling's key idea was meant to be satire - not to be taken literally. However very many people misinterpret her work as somehow providing evidence against the 2 sexes. So it's important to make clear the intent
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@danieldennett
Can't wait to read it! You might also be interested in this article I've written on the way science in this area is being abused:
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... a scicomm account w/90k followers. Sex denial is one of the most widespread areas of pseudoscience. Where are
@GoodThinkingSoc
,
@TheSkepticMag
or
@SenseAboutSci
? Why are so few skeptics challenging this nonsense? Fear? Ideology? It's so damaging to the fight against misinfo
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This tweet from Joe is I think an excellent summary of the trans-activist mindset and demonstrates why it is so harmful and has poisoned the entire topic to the detriment of all. Joe is arguing that you have to agree with his belief or otherwise you are guilty of harassment. 1/x
If you say that you don’t believe for example that trans-men are men, you are undermining or rejecting trans-people’s lawfully protected and self-described identity and that is degrading, humiliating, and offensive. That surely meets the definition of harassment.
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The Mystery of Simon Fraser is revealed thursday 7pm at - find out whether the bones we discovered in the tomb
@WardlawMaus
really do belong to the last man beheaded at the Tower!
@HistoryHit
@thehistoryguy
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totally meaningless. See which interestingly is written by researchers who ideologically align with JT. The
@jack_turban
paper is even worse than I thought (and I thought it was truly awful before). Thanks to
@jessesingal
for the link.
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@EricRoyalLybeck
Well I've had the exact opposite experience. In researching my article it's the Sex Denialist side that refused to engage or answer basic questions. Stonewall literally has the slogan "No Debate". I've not seen the GC side trying to shut down discussion.
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@CooperativeBank
@VeniVidiLaughed
I've banked with you for years. You've never asked my gender identity. So if it's important why aren't you asking existing customers? And if it's not important you shouldn't be collecting it and it's a potential breach of GDPR. Please clarify.
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@skepchicks
I'm sorry but this grossly misrepresents the evidence on puberty blockers. You rely on the Hormone Research in Paediatrics paper quoting from section 5 saying PBs are reversible and don't impair fertility. But this section is talking about using PBs to treat precocious puberty...
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