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@joannaccherry @WingsScotland @iconbooks Happy birthday!

This 60th birthday just gets better and better. 🍾🥂Copies of my memoir #KeepingTheDreamAlive have arrived! Published by ⁦@iconbooks⁩ on 23 April advance orders here uk.bookshop.org/p/books/keepin…

@AudreySuffolk @ProfAliceS @RebeccaLeek_ @CUSocOfWomen It is a thing of beauty - even down to the elegantly hand written envelope!

I am a patron of the arts! I contributed to a crowdfunder by poet, teacher and Quaker @RebeccaLeek_ to publish her poem Elizabeth Fry Stops By, about the legacy of Elizabeth Fry and following the formation of the @CUSocOfWomen. I now have five copies of this beautiful booklet

Dear friend (who thinks I’m unkind - or even homophobic), Remember how much we loved Boy George and Marilyn when we were growing up? Our parents weren’t thrilled by men in make-up and dresses - but we thought they were cool. They were expressing individuality and challenging rigid gender stereotypes. You and I both grew up supporting gay rights for a simple reason: people shouldn’t be punished, excluded or shamed for who they love. That belief hasn’t changed. But being gay, lesbian or bisexual is about who you’re attracted to. Gender identity is about how someone understands or describes themselves. Those are not the same thing. And treating them as if they are puts women and girls at risk. Here’s the crucial difference. Many of the pop stars we grew up with played with gender expression - flamboyant clothes, make-up, theatrical performance. David Bowie made a whole art form out of it. But we still understood they were men - and so did they. They weren’t demanding entry to women’s spaces. They weren’t claiming women’s awards or competing in women’s sporting categories. And women weren’t being forced to agree that the man standing in front of them was a woman - or risk social or professional consequences. We both have daughters now - young women just starting their adult lives. I’ve taught mine that no means no and I’m sure you’ve taught yours the same. But that message becomes meaningless if our girls are also being told they must say “yes” to any man who says he’s a woman - even when their instincts say otherwise. If a girl isn’t interested in make-up or stereotypically feminine things, she may be told she’s actually a man - rather than simply a strong, independent young woman who dresses and behaves as she pleases. And if she’s same-sex attracted, she may face pressure from men who identify as “lesbians” and expect access to her spaces - and her body - something we'd never have accepted as progressive or 'kind' when we were younger. Single-sex spaces - toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards, refuges, prisons - exist because women need them. Not because all men are dangerous, but because male violence is a reality and sex-based boundaries reduce risk. Women cannot know which men pose a threat and which don’t. That’s why all must stay out of women's spaces. Good men understand this - without question. I know you want to be kind. So do I. But kindness isn’t asking women and girls to surrender their privacy, dignity or safety in order to prove they’re “tolerant”. Or calling them 'homophobic' or bigoted for saying no. With love, Janet

@runthinkwrite @playthegame_org As it happens, the DP guy (Marcus something) has a point on the GDPR point re consent and change of purpose: but he's missing out that testosterone testing is part of drug testing.

@runthinkwrite @playthegame_org Ok I bit. The paper was paywalled, but I lost my evening to the video. I've watched lots of seminars on my legal specialism that have me tearing my hair out at inaccuracies, but tonight has taken the prize for swearing at the screen. My blood pressure doc does not thank you.

There's a new paper out in BJSM arguing against sex testing. It's authored by some of the usual suspects, including Pape and Pielke (link at the end). Rather than going through it in detail, I'll refer you to this video from @playthegame_org ... castr.com/showcase/36607…

@WingsScotland Am watching in France. Hope the neighbours aren’t too offended by my shrieking….

This might be the best Scottish rugby performance I’ve ever seen. 40-14, a man up, France absolutely *clobbered*.

Breathless first 40 at Murrayfield - five tries, could have been more, French scrum misfiring and discipline falling apart, but two momentary losses of concentration from Scotland keeping it close at 19-14. France ALWAYS dangerous, but every Scottish attack looks a threat.

@DreyfusJames @Thebiglade When mam was particularly fed up with us she’d lock us out all day with just a peanut butter sandwich each. Brilliant days!

@Thebiglade “Oh, bored, are you? If you’re bored, I can easily find you some things to do around the house” was the cue to get out whilst you could. And stay out. All day.

Be Honest.. Did parents really just let their kids wander the neighborhood all day with no phone and just say... be back before dark??

@legalfeminist Excellent. The ‘raise a grievance’ section is particularly good (and applies to any grievance). The ‘send an email summarising the conversation’ tip is one I give all the time: they will find it hard to argue against your ‘version’ if they didn’t email back to contradict it.

Naomi Cunningham on what you can do if your employer is letting men use women's facilities in the workplace. legalfeminist.org.uk/2026/02/09/men…

@BettsCaro @iocmedia Yes 100% this.

Possibly. And (hear me out a min) it’s incredibly irresponsible of sporting organisations (incl @iocmedia ) to put males with medical conditions into the world wide spotlight Yes, I know Imane is a man. I know Caster is a man. Yes, they are both cheats, and blame lies at their door But can we also blame the people who have not just allowed this, but encouraged it. The scouts & officials in this for cash who will walk away with their pockets stuffed and no care for the harm done

@juliet_turner6 @janeclarejones Great job! I remember majorly eye rolling at some of the reactions you got. Looking forward to reading this.

My thesis has been published! 🐜 🎉 Not sure if anyone is still interested, but my inexplicably controversial PhD thesis ‘The Evolution of Cooperation and Division of Labour in Insects’ is now available online 😊 ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1… It’s around 4 years worth of research, so there’s a lot in there, but I’ll give an overview in the thread below:

@WingsScotland That’s an excellent professorship title!

Many years ago, a good friend of mine was 100 feet up in a poorly-anchored tower in Niger doing some weird botany shit (it’s okay, he’s a botanist), when the whole thing toppled over and smashed into the ground, breaking most of his bones including his neck and back. Somehow he was still conscious, and as the rest of his team (who were locals) rushed towards him, he used all his strength to scream “DON’T TOUCH ME!” at them, because he knew this. He waited in extremely considerable pain until professional medics arrived on the scene, and was in hospital for weeks, during which his treatment was mostly “lie there and eat your dinner through this straw and try not to move”. (He made a complete recovery and is now a Professor of Weird Botany Shit at a major Scottish university.)

@runthinkwrite I hope you are right. Hard to imagine anyone ever thought it ok for the IOC to defend a man punching a woman for sport.

The inclusion of Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting in the boxing at Paris was an utter disgrace, and an assault on women's sport. It disgraced the IOC. I'm here to say that I think some at the IOC now understand this. I'm a million miles from being an IOC insider. But I sometimes chat to those who are. This doesn't mean Khelif will be stripped of the gold. There's an obvious problem of retrospective changing of the rules, whatever we think of Khelif. But it does mean this won't happen again. Imho.

@hannahsbee @zeno001 Very well phrased review - and does indeed get to the heart of it. Hopefully this will lead more readers to your important book.

It’s been three years since ‘Time to Think’ was published, so I haven’t read a review in a while. However, these reflections posted yesterday really got to me, especially in the current climate. Whoever posted has, I think, captured the essence of the book. Thank you

@anyabike @joannaccherry And that’s how we know that they understand that they’re talking about men.

@joannaccherry And what if vulnerable woman prisoners feel suicidal being locked up with a male rapist or murderer? Oh wait, we already know the answer: the Scottish government couldn't care less if women feel suicidal.

I am so weary of the feelings of these violent manipulative men being centred above those of truly vulnerable women

@MartinSLewis Indeed - and try getting HMRC to accept a Scottish POA “we only accept the code”…

An open letter to the Scottish Government asking it to improve the Power Of Attorney system…

@AudreySuffolk Cactus Man - Julio Gonzalez (Valencia) - being the most interesting art I’ve seen lately. Sending calm breathing vibes…

In bed recovering from another asthma attack. Please send jokes, anecdotes and art

@LucyHunterB @Joanna__Hardy My kids used to call beer “Daddy juice”. Strangely, neither of them drink beer now they are grown up.

@Joanna__Hardy At one memorable point, my then toddler, also used to going shopping with my husband, from a sedentary position in a supermarket trolley pointed down an aisle and called out loudly "Beer! Daddy! Beer!"

Just picked up the wine list in a family friendly restaurant and my toddler yelled ‘MUMMY’S BOOK’ at it which is damning

@sophiescott Oh weird - it’s like the right legs are on back to front.

From the Forum in Bath: I don’t know much about art, but these bottoms are all wrong.

@runthinkwrite @city @OpenUniversity Absolutely vital - as with any social or scientific issue.

Very much looking forward to this event @City St George's, University of London next month. It's important to be able to discuss sex and gender freely, openly, accurately, and without harassment @OpenUniversity.

A reminder that it has now been 73,974 days since Elizabeth Fry secured the rights of women to female-only prisons by the passing of the Gaols Act 1823 Yet here we are 🤷‍♀️