Gender Neutral Toilets

In the news, there has been a case reported of a girl who was sexually assaulted in a gender neutral toilet at her school.  It appears that some are now arguing against them, the case about this being not the first of similar issues in school.

People who have read posts by me know that I am a transphobe as I consider men to be men, women to be women, TransWomen to be TransWoman and TransMen to the TransMen.  Not everyone thinks of me as such, my children for one have said that I am not one, but many others do think this.

I am of the view that we should have more gender neutral and unisex toilets but by getting rid of all segregated ones.  The same applies with communal showers and open dressing areas where I think that segregation should be based on genitalia.  I do not think that there needs to be someone checking up on this, but there is a difference between someone using a space in private with no one seeing their genitalia and someone showing their bits to girls when they pretend to be a woman. Basically I think that people should have the option to use facilities which are segregated, not necessarily by genetics, but by genitalia instead, but that gender neutral and unisex facilities should exist, ideally in addition to segregated ones.

I think that calls to ensure cyber-flashing becomes a crime are heeded.  But I do not think that we should make it easier for women to be flashed in person. 

PMQs and housing

Housing was an issue which was brought up in a fairly boring PMQ's today. Keir Starmer was great before being Labour leader, but he has not been as inspiring as Jeremy Corbyn. However, he has not been as controversial and has got many voters to switch to Labour.  He is, to put it bluntly, boring.  In PMQ's while he did have a few good lines and asked important questions, he makes it too easy for his questions to be ignored by not learning a lesson from Corbyn. That is the use of real human examples.  It is much harder to avoid a question when it relates to an actual person and Starmer should use this Corbyn tactic in PMQ's.

I had described him as dependable and reliable, but recent issues have changed that perception with more people that Labour keeps changing its views.  The most recent one is on housing, and rent controls.  I have seen issues with people renting in private accommodation, which is the right thing for many tenants.  But I have seen too many people having to move from place to place when landlords have to remove them, for one reason or another.  

After my parents divorced, I grew up in a council flat and then later, a house. A huge advantage of this was that we did not need to move, and when we did, it was across the road.  Too many people have had to move from one area of Colchester, to another.  This has big issues for children who are in school as either they have to change schools, or spend more time travelling.  I know that this also is an issue for those who own homes, but it is an issue which I think, is harming the education and development of too many children.  

Changing a policy before elected based on changing circumstances, or being made aware of the effects of such a change is important.  I would love to see a change to a Labour policy which favours the building of council homes again, and ideally, gets rid of the right to buy.    

The silence

Apparently the children are still not talking to each other.  I am at work so have yet to see if this is true or not.  We are to see Lana Del Rey next month and I hope that this is resolved before then. 

Prettyfields Vineyard

In addition to our trip to London yesterday, my wife and I spent time with two friends earlier in the day before they head to America for the summer.  They have been to Prettyfields Vineyard before, we had not. We were very grateful that we came as the views were amazing.  The food looked spectacular, but not as good as the views over the vines.  They are dog friendly and our friends were surprised at how well behaved Leia was.  Part of this is because she is a good dog, but I also think that the walk I took her on beforehand helped.

But the best bit was the wine.  We bought a bottle of Rosé and I look forwards to drinking it later this summer.

Meeting Ravinder Bhogal and Gurdeep Loyal

My wife and I are on the train back to Colchester. We have spent an amazing evening at Cafe Murano at an evening hosted by food writer Mark Diacono featuring a talk by Ravinder Bhogal and Gurdeep Loyal, including a Q&A session. The restaurant hosts such events most months and after the fabulous night we have just had, we are considering returning next month.

Fighting children

I was a terrible brother at times. I did look after them when they were younger, but I could be inventive when it came to being mean. My children have a much better relationship with each other than I did and do with my brothers. They fight, they squabble but yesterday they went to a place I never went with my brother. 

The Weeping Willow

Our trip back yesterday was mostly uneventful. We stopped at a beautiful restaurant on the way back, but my wife got tired on the A14 when we hit traffic. The kids were glad to see us, Leia being the most welcoming!

Good food, great company and now back at home. The Weeping Willow was an amazing place to eat, good service and great food. The only improvement I can imagine would be having chess sets so that people can play on the tables that have a chess board design!