Sh_ts and Giggles

I spent a recent Saturday afternoon in the far northwestern corner of San Francisco. It’s part of what I call “the real San Francisco,” not remade by high tech and not crawling with tourists. The main reason I went there is that the Veterans’ Hospital has reopened to my DAR Chapter’s monthly Bingo games for the residents, and helping put those on is a fun and rewarding exercise. The games were put on hiatus during the whole Covid thing, and kept there thanks to some kind of outbreak of something among the residents.

This time around, we have to wear face masks, so I used the little PA to call the numbers instead of relying on my loud mouth as had been my practice. Each round continues till there are three winners. Their prizes are books of coupons good at the Hospital canteen. I don’t know whether back in the day they could have cashed them in for cigarettes. All I know is that the veterans enjoy the games, and we enjoy thanking them for their service with a bit of fun.

The VA Hospital is not far from the Palace of the Legion of Honor, founded in 1924 as a memorial to Californians killed in World War I. It’s a full-scale replica of the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur in Paris, with one cast of Rodin’s The Thinker in the courtyard (and more Rodin inside). I wonder in how many wedding party pictures The Thinker shows up, as opposed to the colonnades; it’s a popular spot for such photography. Just below the main parking is a spot with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The collection is fabulous, and includes a couple of recreated French mansion rooms. The special exhibits downstairs tend to be a tad on the small size; the de Young gets the larger ones. This day I viewed the new exhibit on the Etruscans, who flourished as city states during the first millennium B.C. until Rome took them over. The art objects are beautifully crafted, and the statues and funerary images have what’s called the Etruscan smile: the people depicted look like they’re happy to see you. Women had high status in Etruria, and “Roman” numerals and aqueducts were their inventions.

The museum closed at a good time to take advantage of being close to the Pacific Café, a wonderful little seafood bistro. They don’t take reservations; you sign up and get handed a glass of wine to drink while you wait. I checked the menu on my phone, and saw they are looking for a buyer so the founders can retire at the end of the summer. I can’t imagine nobody would jump at the opportunity, but may have to make more opportunities to make the long trek out there just in case. I had the parmesan-encrusted halibut, which was ambrosial.

Meanwhile, it seems I can’t stay on top of the news, via alt media (usually more comprehensive than traditional media these days), without the trans controversies bullying their way in, or being commented upon. A story came up about a woman convicted of stolen honor crimes getting moved into a halfway house, but objecting to having to share a room with “a man pretending to be a woman.” For wanting common privacy, she was sent back to prison for another six months. While looking for a link to a version of the news story with a less blunt description, I discovered he had been sent to prison on child pornography charges. Ewwww!!!

There is a lot of nastiness on social media coming from both sides, and I’d like to stand up for women’s rights without getting down into the gutter—though getting gutter-adjacent may be unavoidable. I prefer terms like “trans-identified male,” which is perfectly descriptive without the undue dignity of “transwoman” or “transgender woman,” or capitulating to the false equivalence of “cis” woman. I think this is important because, as George Orwell pointed out, those able to tell you what you may say are capable of telling you what you may think. I like “cosplayers” because it’s descriptive of the people who want to live as women and be accepted as women but still keep their penises.

My bottom lines have to do with respect for women’s boundaries, as regards private spaces and athletics. There’s also leaving be tomboys and girls struggling with female puberty (who doesn’t?) instead of pushing them toward social and medical transition, and leaving children be in general. This certainly isn’t too much to ask, and yet even polite requests get met with hostility from trans rights activists.

Most of the boundaries are clear and simple. Some of them have gotten more complex, thanks to a general refusal to acknowledge that women are, and are by right, the best judges of our boundaries. By the time you read this, Australia’s highest court will have handed down a decision in the appeal of a high court panel’s declaratory judgment in Tickle v. Giggle—an event that is apparently going to be livestreamed on YouTube, which has some law nerds rubbing their hands together in glee. And, yes, being one of them, I will do some kind of deep dive.

Giggle for Girls is a woman-only social media created by Australian Sall Grover. Roxanne Tickle is an Australian transsexual whose application for membership was rejected, on principle and with the aid of facial recognition technology. As an AI search will tell you, “The court determined that the app’s requirement for users to appear visibly female disproportionately disadvantaged transgender women and was not a reasonable condition.” Thus, the verdict of “unlawful indirect discrimination” on the basis of gender identity.

Tickle is a midlife transitioner who, sad to say, looks like a man in a dress, as a good number of midlife transitioners do. Moreover, Grover says that even the beta version of Giggle was “swamped by men,” by whom I presume she means the obvious dudes who’ve wrecked lesbian dating sites and apps for the rest of us. And yet, Tickle’s had surgery that presumably included vaginoplasty, and has been issued an updated birth certificate. Legally, Tickle has a case.

And yet, Grover has a case, too. She alleges the panel misinterpreted of the legal definition of “sex” under the Australian Sex Discrimination Act, “which extends beyond biological reality in a way that risks diluting the legal protections specifically designed for women and girls.” She claims a failure to recognize the Giggle App as a lawful “special measure” under the Act, designed to achieve substantive equality for women by providing a female-only space. Obviously, she means female at birth. A further ground for appeal is that the panel denied her side’s ability to fully present the broad social and legal consequences of the ruling, thereby risking setting a precedent that could erode the ability of women to lawfully maintain spaces and organizations based on sex.

Obviously of interest to lesbians.

In the U.K., the Supreme Court has held that transsexual women may have female citizenship, but with limits (such as access to redress under anti-sex discrimination laws). We may see a parallel Australian decision in this case, one that could be said to be both fair and unfair at the same time. We may be watching the burning down of the self-ID and automatic affirmation scheme that has enabled so much mischief at women’s expense. Collateral damage will likely be involved.

At any rate, the decision webcast will be at 10 AM Sydney time, which means 9 PM of the previous day here in the Pacific Time Zone. I’ll be tuned in, and cocktails will be served.