Bloke Appointed Boss Of Womb Health Charity

A bloke has been appointed as the boss of a womb health charity in a move that has been described as “insulting.”

According to The Telegaph:

Endometriosis South Coast faced backlash on Monday after appointing 71-year-old trans-rights activist Steph Richards, who has repeatedly clashed with feminist campaigners, as its chief executive.

The charity announced the appointment on social media with a picture of Ms Richards and a banner saying “Meet our new CEO” alongside a quote which stated: “Isn’t it ridiculous that I’ve got to my 40s before any medical professionals even mentioned endometriosis?”

The announcement was met with criticism as users pointed out that it was impossible for someone who was born male to suffer from endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere inside the body.

The organisation, which runs support groups for women who suffer from the debilitating condition, later apologised for the “misunderstanding”.

“This quote is from a person that our charity supports. Not from Steph herself,” the organisation wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Steph is a huge advocate for what people in the endo community go through. This is why they were appointed, not because they have their own endo journey.”

But they continued to face backlash, with one person writing: ‘You have failed every single woman who is currently using your services.’

Another posted: “As a woman who suffered with endometriosis for decades, I simply cannot fathom why you’d think this appointment is appropriate.”

Ms Richards has repeatedly clashed with women’s rights advocates, some of whom she has described as “terfs”, and was previously involved in a protest outside the FiLiA feminist conference.

They have faced criticism for stating that men, women and children are “social constructs” and for telling a survivor of child sexual assault that “no one groomed you”.

On LinkedIn, the activist, who is also a Women’s Officer at Portsmouth Labour Party, lists their professions as journalist and publisher, having started the website and blog Steph’s Place UK.

Steph’s Place UK was one of the trans rights organisations which unsuccessfully attempted to have the Equality and Human Rights Commission stripped of its international accreditation after it warned about changes to legal gender recognition and conversion therapy.

The new chief executive described the questions over their appointment as “transmisogyny” and said that they did not apply for the role but were asked to take it on.

They said on X that they had begun “researching issues around pregnancy and women’s health well over two decades ago”.