I'll be honest, I'm getting tired of all this! When I read this article on the BBC website earlier (Wednesday 5th April 2023) I just wanted to leave this God forsaken Country and move somewhere civilised Law change could aid single-sex spaces - watchdog - BBC News
Whilst I can understand that this, like so many other stunts by the Government is all about deflecting attention away from their appalling record in just about every field, it does nothing to make it any the less bad. This is quite simply an attack on my right to exist! It is appalling that the EHRC and our own Government, the very people who are charged with protecting our safety are deliberately putting many of us at risk. ~ It is irrelevant that this will never be able to be operated even if it is enacted. Let me explain, if I have to go into hospital for some treatment that will involve an other night stay ~ I am admitted as a woman, my NHS records show me as a woman, my birth certificate shows me as a woman, a cursory medical examination will show me to be a woman. On what grounds is anyone going to be able to come to the conclusion that I should be put in a men's ward? Are all women to be subject to an internal gynaecological examination before having dental work done, or a broken arm reset? Who is going to make the call? what is going to happen to gender nonconforming cis women? Are we going to force trans men into women's spaces?
Clearly none of this has been thought out, but it does stoke the fires of the worst type of culture war, When I went out this morning and popped into my local shop I was confronted with headlines in all of the daily papers on display telling the world that I am not a woman and should not be treated like one ~ this feeds hate, anger and probably violence. We have already had one trans woman murdered and several others attacked in the UK this year ~ these are the people the Equalities Act is meant to protect but this crazy idea is designed to put them at increased risk. How many people have to be murdered, hurt, discriminated against before an Equalities Minister will do their job and stand up to protect us, the most reviled of minorities?
It feels deliberate, it feels like a concerted war, and it's not just feelings this sort of thing does have consequences, real life consequences for real life people.
We know that this Government is not fit for purpose and needs to be replaced, clearly the EHRC is now in the same position. We need leaders who will take a moral stand and will lead, we need an equalities minister who stands up for equality and we need an EHRC that believes in Human Rights and equality.
Yes I'm angry and that seems to be happening all too often recently, but can you blame me when my own Government is attacking my very right to exist within society?
There's not much I can do, I can write to my MP, but last time I did that Steve Reed didn't even bother to reply ~ he'll just toe the Labour Party line anyway, so pretty much the only other thing I can do is sign a petition, so I have, and I ask all of you to as well! If we can get to 100,000 signatures it will force a parliamentary debate ~ maybe then somebody will choose to make a stand.
Commit to not amending the Equality Act's definition of sex - Petitions (parliament.uk)
On January the 25th the Government responded to it with
This Government believes in individual liberty. There are processes with appropriate checks to allow for those who wish to legally change their gender. Changes to the Equality Act are not necessary.
I wonder what has happened since then to make them change their mind ~ I know that the article and the statements are all stuffed full of anti trans lobbyist dog whistles, I know that Kemi Badenoch and Baroness Faulkner are well established leading trans haters, but surely there must be some grown ups somewhere explaining to them the meaning of the word "equality" and that Human Rights are immutable and universal!
The 2010 legislation has safeguards and addresses a lot of the issues so why the change of mind. May I also draw your attention that in 2022 the EHRC has already issued guidance to organisations that transgender persons can be excluded from women spaces, toilets, gyms, refuges and anywhere if it was deemed 'appropriate' for safeguarding women, it went under the radar as it was guidance. We didn't see this coming with the extension of the sex issue and becoming law.
ReplyDeleteA while back everything was about all the different genders and rights to enter womens spaces. To me the transgender community was sucked into all this so gender/sex became an issue and then the fears that a male can self identify and enter female spaces for nefarious reasons stoking fear. Then the prisons fiasco where the prison authorities did not do the safeguarding or risk assessments, self identification and finally the Scottish legislation. As a consequence of pandering to one side the other now holds sway and the right to have sex recorded as female will be withdrawn along with other rights. I wonder how that will apply to those who already have it? It smacks of discrimination and segregation which is reprehensible, we will be second class citizens.It's not about party politics as none of them have a clue. I have full support to safeguard women and as a transgender person would be at the fore but we are being lumped into a whole mass of gender diversity and have been lost in the debate. If a transgender person has undergone an accepted process backed by professional interventions and safeguarding then what objection should anyone have, It's worked so far. I wrote to my M.P. this morning and was amazed he replied within hours saying he was not aware of what was in the legislation but assured me he would look into it and would not vote for discrimination.
I was also appalled at the headlines and did a bit of reading up. Indeed the 2010 legislation has safeguards and addresses a lot of the issues so why the change of mind. A while back everything was about all the different genders and rights to enter womens spaces. To me the transgender community was sucked into all this so gender/sex became an issue and then the fears that a male can self identify and enter female spaces for nefarious reasons stoking fear. Then the prisons fiasco where the prion authorities did not do the safeguarding and risk assessments, self identification and finally the Scottish legislation. As a consequence of pandering to one side the other now holds sway and the right to have sex recorded as female will be withdrawn along with other rights. I wonder how that will apply to those who already have it? It smacks of discrimination and segregation which is reprehensible. We will be second class citizens.It's not about party politics as none of them have a clue. I have full support to safeguard women and as a transgender person would be at the fore but we are being lumped into a whole mass of gender diversity and have been lost in the debate. If a transgender person has undergone an accepted process backed by professional interventions and safeguarding then what objection should anyone have, It's worked so far. I wrote to my M.P. this morning and was amazed he replied within hours saying he was not aware of what was in the legislation but assured me he would look into it and would not vote for discrimination.
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