This is really good to see - it was something that was really apparent when I was at university and the snobbery to people that had a Glaswegian, Fife or Highland accent was really prevalent.

I have emailed my MP asking where he expects me to pee when in public, given his party’s support of my urinary leash. Darkly funny for someone with a PhD, published papers, a job - the sort of person that Labour seem to want for their precious GDP and economy - to be needing to email their MP to find out where I am expected to piss.

The ruling is abhorrent and the carve outs which basically forbid trans people from any space like toilets or hospital wards is sickening to the extent I am now looking for jobs in Ireland. The interpretation isn’t even one of forced detransition, it is entirely eliminationist for transgender people while also excluding feminine men and masculine women from shared spaces that are interpreted as single sex. It is the bigoted fantasy of what the worst elements of the evangelical right wanted in the US.

If this doesn’t sit well with you, there is a protest this Saturday in George Square 2pm to 5pm: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthetrans.com/post/3lmyfzhiag22c

Christ, what an asshole

Why would an American be mentioning GDPR?

Yes, I was aware though under the impression of improving geospatial and mapping models. There are many ways in which we are now entwined into these systems and so it’s a matter of deciding, on a personal level, what you are comfortable with.

I am certainly not comfortable with the data going to Saudi Arabia where access to such is used for active suppression and harm.

Maybe it was a naive viewpoint at the time, but the climate of 2016 was very different to what it is now.

Yip, absolutely. Which is why I’m moving away from big tech products (one of the reasons I’m on Lemmy!).

Saudi Arabia is considerably worse though for LGBT rights so I don’t think there is any benefit in pushing whataboutism in this case. Both are awful, one is definitively more so.

Location data? Yeah, naively I was since I’d previously been fine with Niantic’s work with Ingress. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

Yes, absolutely, which is why I’m moving away from those services. This just speeds things up in the case of PoGo since Saudi Arabia has has been much, much more blatant and apparent with this in prior years (c.f. The tragic case of Eden Knight).

For myself, it is much more about the ties to Saudi Arabia given that the country and government aren’t all too happy with LGBT people.

Niantic and Google are (were?) not companies with very strong links to the Saudi Arabian government.

I’ve seriously reconsidered how much I use Google in recent months, but Google and Niantic aren’t owned by a government that is incredibly repressive and discriminatory of people like myself.

I’m a level 50 Pokémon Go player, who has played since release day, and that’s the app deleted.

Next up will be requesting removal of my data under GDPR.

Thank you for making this post.

You’ve outlined exactly why allowing the far right to resolve perceived social issues isn’t the way forward, especially when it comes to any sort of “minority” (which seems to be anything that isn’t non-immigrant white Christian cis straight men) issues.

It’s honestly disappointing to see these sorts of expressions stated here on Lemmy. It was the shitty, uninformed, “I don’t care for the science or data”, reactionary right wing views that contributed to me leaving Reddit and here we are again.

I suppose continuing to dehumanise trans folk with the most important issue being a tiny number of trans people competing in a subset of activities, that are inherently unfair, is so much more important than avoiding demicide.

Got to placate the far right! They are really well known for being reasonable, not demanding more and having positions based wholly on logic without an ounce of hatred slipping through.

I honestly cannot fathom how you can be looking at the situation of the US currently and not realising how wedge issues based on lies and bigotry work and the absolutely deletrious effect it is having on minorities.

I suppose you’ll still be equivocating and making excuses when it’s gone past travel bans (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/marco-rubio-state-transgender-visa-b2704734.html), erasure of LGBT literature (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/banned-books-lgbtq-transgender-black-people-of-color-pen-america-rcna193879), banning of social and medical transition (https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map, https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/texas-not-for-freedom-house-bill-could-ban-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-adults/ar-AA1AjTF5), the creation of specific crimes for the existence of transgender people (https://msmagazine.com/2025/03/03/montana-hb-446-criminalizes-trans-existence-social-contagion/), the removal of protections in law (https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights) and we’re in camps waiting to be “purified”.

Why are you falling for wedge issues that are designed to wipe out a group of people in a way that absolutely parallels actions taken by Nazis? Is a discussion about 10 athletes out of hundreds of thousands that important?

What conversation do you want exactly?

If you want to pretend there is nuance you will be fully aware that the evidence that supposedly supports banning trans athletes, which is an initial step of control used to further limit transgender people by e.g. preventing them for entering the country, are meta studies based on comparisons of cisgender men and cisgender women, right?

There isn’t a nuanced debate to be had and I’m sick of pretending that people like myself who just want to live our lives are a subject for debate.

So yes, worrying about tens out of hundreds of thousands of athletes when there isn’t clear evidence of an advantage is bigoted and not calling that out leads to situations where conservatives and the far right try to introduce bills like that which was recently struck down (thankfully) in Montana.

Now, question for you - why is it so important to you that a minority of people should have their basic humanity and ability to participate in society be questioned in the way that transgender people are? Why do you support that? Why do you consider that to be an okay thing to do, when the consequences of allowing it are so plain to see?

I am not sure what you don’t understand about the statement that walking back support is, in fact, walking back support.

Walking back support in one area is walking back support.

It ain’t that complex. As soon as concessions are made, the far right demands more because there must always be an enemy to crush completely for the in-group. Who will then pick a new enemy when it comes politically convenient.

That is because “the left” might have a few members that just so happen to be better read and have considered some of Popper’s writings.

On such a note, I presume these right-leaning opinions aren’t about the virtues of conservative fiscal policy?

There are many right wing views, views that are now sadly becoming more and more mainstream, that should not be tolerated. If right wingers had faced actual consequences when espousing their hatred of minorities, we might not be looking at a US government that wants to cozy up to Putin and distance their long term allies while stripping away the rights of US citizens.

They aren’t and, if they were, is that a problem?

Look at what right-wing echo chambers have led to. Look at what the “centrist” internet has led to.

Its 2025 and there are still people on the Fediverse convinced that the problem is the “left”. Utterly divorced from reality.

Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. Pushing Ice. Semiosis trilogy. Ninefox Gambit. Schild’s Ladder. Firefall.