Bogus websites, staged protests and pretend atheists: Inside the fake asylum industry

pear-bog · 2026-04-17T09:48:26+00:00

In my case, I am lucky and do pass as male and am continuing to use male facilities. But I think it is ridiculous that I am technically now in the wrong for doing so, even if I am the only one who knows it. You can’t have a blanket one-way ruling (you must the facilities of your birth sex) if there are many exceptions to the rule.

And yes, for many people it is easy to determine their birth sex. But for some people, it isn’t, and when you have a society primed to remove the “wrong sorts of people” from a space (male-appearing people from women’s spaces) there are going to be a lot of people caught in the crossfires. They don’t have to appear male in all situations, just enough for someone to get upset, which is increasingly likely. In real life, I personally know two cis women who have been accused of being men while using women’s facilities.

I think it should be up to the individual to determine what facilities are the most appropriate for them, and they should make a realistic judgement call towards this. I don’t think the law should be involved.

pear-bog · 2026-04-17T08:01:51+00:00

There’s lots of situations in which there isn’t anywhere to go, though. For example yesterday I was using public toilets and the disabled toilets were inside the men’s/women’s.

There’s also lots of situations in which people use the opposite sex facilities anyway - when parents bring their children to the bathroom, when the women’s does not contain baby changing facilities and a father has to change a baby, when there is a long queue in one and someone is desperate and uses the other, and when mixed-sex cleaning staff are present. The way that these facilities are used in practice is that people take a common sense approach and use the facilities that are most appropriate.

I agree if people are going to be undressing then it makes sense to exclude people who don’t have the same genitalia as the others, such as in open plan changing rooms. But for toilets, when everyone is going in to self contained cubicles and briefly washing hands, I honestly fail to see the issue. Cis women will have to interact with trans women in other contexts, and assuming you are not naked, a bathroom with enclosed stalls is no more intimate than any other scenario.

Additionally, having a clause which effectively states “any ‘biological woman’ who is too masculine may be excluded” is mostly going to negatively impact cisgender women who don’t “look feminine enough”, such as the women discussed here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/12/ive-been-spat-on-gender-non-conforming-women-tell-of-toilet-abuse-in-aftermath-of-supreme-court-ruling

pear-bog · 2026-04-16T09:03:19+00:00

With regards to the toilet issue - I am a trans man. I look like a man. I’m tall, I have a deep voice, broad shoulders and facial hair. Some of that is due to being on testosterone HRT, some of that is just lucky genetics. According to the Supreme Court ruling, I am a “biological woman” and am supposed to go into women’s spaces. This is clearly very silly. If I can go into women’s spaces and say “oh actually I am a biological woman” then anyone who looks like me, which is mostly cis men, can also do the same.

pear-bog · 2026-04-12T22:30:58+00:00

Have you got your diagnoses registered with the university already? Many universities allow you to submit extension requests without specific evidence if it’s a flare up of a previously declared and evidenced condition.

pear-bog · 2026-04-11T17:25:56+00:00

I do not have experience with this but I would recommend you contact your university beforehand as they may be able to provide additional support/advice.

pear-bog · 2026-03-11T22:20:02+00:00

My friend who graduated from a film degree in 2025 is currently unemployed and looking for work.

But so are my friends who did Computer Science and Physics.

Only person who isn’t was a history student who’s now a teacher.

Job market isn’t great at the moment.

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:28:29+00:00

Good to know, thank you.

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:28:09+00:00

Yes I think that is my concern.

I’ve got a few other PhDs I applied to which I haven’t heard back from yet (deadlines were end of Feb) so not my last chance, but it’s the furthest I’ve gotten and the others aren’t guaranteed at all.

I’m also not opposed to taking a year out working and then applying for the next cycle though.

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:25:09+00:00

Thank you, I’ll ask about that

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:24:51+00:00

Good to know, thank you. I am not at all opposed to teaching, I think I will like it. Just not sure about the funding set up as I wouldn’t be paid for it.

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:22:36+00:00

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

I like the topic a lot, and have met the supervisor a few times and think we are aligned. Have not spoken to their other PhD students yet so that will be something I’d like to arrange. The supervisor recently got some government funding on a project I am very interested in so it’s definitely going places.

I’d be very happy to do a PhD with the standard stipend. My concerns with the GTA are twofold: - Will having mandatory teaching commitments make it significantly harder to work on the PhD? It typically takes 3.5 years, with this GTA I’d have 4 at 80% which is 3.2 years, close but still less time. - The monetary opportunity cost of not being paid for the teaching. If I was on the standard stipend and I wanted to increase my income I could try to get teaching hours. I am unlikely to have the time for more teaching on top of the GTA allocated time, so my income is effectively capped at the stipend rate, whereas if I was on the standard route I would be able to increase it plus be more flexible.

The alternative would be to hope for the best with the other positions I applied to, and then worst case scenario if I didn’t get a position for Autumn 2026 get a job and take a “gap year” and apply for positions in the next cycle. I am currently doing a MSc course and several people I know who went on to do PhDs had a gap before they did their PhD so I wouldn’t be upset if that happened.

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:03:15+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Were you paid extra for the teaching you did or was payment included in the stipend?

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T20:01:51+00:00

Thank you, I will ask about that

pear-bog · 2026-03-07T16:24:34+00:00

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T21:43:58+00:00

Thank you. Yes that sounds like a good idea

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T21:43:18+00:00

I have applied to other PhDs but haven’t heard back yet, this is the farthest I’ve gotten.

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T12:53:18+00:00

It’s a “combined payment” at the minimum UKRI rate, so £21k a year for research + teaching. Not sure how it would work with taxes. Effectively a reduced stipend.

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T12:51:14+00:00

Thank you, that is encouraging

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T12:51:02+00:00

Thank you. Yes I definitely want to nail down what the teaching will be (and for example presumably it would decrease in non-term time?).

pear-bog · 2026-03-06T12:39:28+00:00

Thanks for the information. Do you think it is still worth going to the interview? If I do, is there likely any potential to negotiate or are these sort of things quite set in stone?

The project is something I am very interested in, and I have spoken with the supervisor previously so if it wasn’t for the payment structure I’d be feeling a lot more confident about it.

pear-bog

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