Shall we move on now? I’ve heard enough about y ty bach…

We’ll use our imaginations, Stan!

Indeed, Gaynor. The cause of many an argument in homes throughout the land.

Seat up or down? I would always follow the lengthy advice in the attached link aimed at international students in the UK, basically telling them how they should properly conduct their excretory functions whilst our guests.

http://studylinks.com/using-the-toilet-in-the-uk-a-guide-for-international-students/

The relevant bit about lifting the seat is as follows:

“Unlike in public toilets, toilets in UK homes do not have urinals. Men must use the toilet that is designed for sitting on. If you prefer to stand whilst urinating, you must lift the entire seat (lid and seat) beforehand. You must aim for the centre of the bowl. If you miss, you must wipe up any spills on the floor, toilet seat and toilet bowl. You can use toilet paper to do this and flush it down the toilet afterwards. If you have lifted the toilet seat, you must replace the seat so that the seat is down after you have used the toilet”.

The publication has a cracking sketch of how squatting on a UK loo is not advisable. Regrettably I’m not sure how to copy this for Jac’s readers.

At least Adam Price dwelt on a few of those problems in his leader’s speech, and rightly pointed the finger at ‘Welsh’ Labour. But will he walk the walk?

On a smaller scale, Helen Mary Jones bangs on about the non-existent threat that trans people pose to children. I know of only one trans person on the Gwendraeth and she’s a fine lady, respected by all. Yet HMJ fails to comment on the real threat to the children of the area, when Gwalia Housing Association imported a commune of paedophiles from London. Too much ‘identity politics’ and not enough work to protect our native communities.

That’s a different matter from the toilets issue, and certainly one to be taken seriously. The excrement will almost certainly make contact with the ventilation system once this becomes part of the ‘national’ curriculum, and will more than likely become an electoral issue across England-and-Wales, unlike transgender toilets.

Thanks Brychan. Interesting read. I hadn’t even appreciated the differences between a person who is transgender and one who is transsexual. Good to see some ideas of figures even though they are very much a moving feast it seems to me.

Have always been of the opinion that sex is a private business and public gender is equal.

On sex, if it’s not consensual then it is a crime, and a suspect can only be convicted of what they do, not what someone thinks they might do. On gender, if I treat women and men as equals, why would I have an issue with a person changing from one gender to the other? Concerns by Greagsby and HMJ, arising from their membership of Womans Place campaign group, on things like public toilets and changing rooms (including schools) can be solved by intelligent design.

I’ve tried googling examples of the fears expressed by HMJ and Greagsby and I found only one person convicted of a sex crime in Wales where the offender was ‘pretending’ to be of the opposite gender. This was Jordana of Rhyl who was born a woman but was pretending to be a young man in order to perform sex acts on girls. I did, however, find numerous examples of male to female transsexuals being abused, beaten up, attacked, and one murder. This puts the ‘ishoo’ in perspective.

I only found estimates from Northern Ireland as laws and policing there are devolved and there is ongoing political debate over abortion, gay marrage as well. ONS does not collate figures for Wales or England. Some of Anne Greagsby’s re-tweets originate from unionist hate groups in Northern Ireland, which may have prompted disciplinary action. One re-tweeted by HMJ was quickly deleted, I suspect for its origin, once revealed, rather than its content.

https://www.gires.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GenderVarianceUK-report.pdf

There has been a study was commissioned by the Scottish Government relating to NHS planning (can’t find it now) but it confirmed what was found in a UK wide medical study in 2009 prior to general NHS provision. It is incidences of 20 per 100,000 population per lifetime (80% MtoF, 20%FtoM) so if we project that on Wales, that would be 600 individuals (3m population) over an average lifespan, which is projected to be about 80 years.

Seems to be a case of double standards there, doesn’t there, Brychan? Maybe Leanne could shed some light on it, as a parting gift.

In trying to see the arguments of both sides in this transsexual business, I’ve been trying to find out just what the percentage or numbers of transsexuals there are in Wales. The statement you linked to referred to bullying and self harm statistics within the transsexual population, but what numbers are we talking about because I have never seen figures quoted anywhere? Are we talking hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands?