Sorry, I'm sure this has been done elsewhere but possibly mid-thread so I can't find a specific thread about it.
Discussing GRA issues with DH last night, and he is starting to see the issues (the turning point being that Millwall - MILLWALL! - were bullied out of hosting the meeting subsequently held at the HoC.) We're in Wales, in a Plaid constituency, and DH asked what Leanne Wood says about it, so I directed him to her tweets. She's someone we generally think pretty well of (we used to live in David Davies' constituency and detested him so the news that he hosted the HoC meeting, standing up for free speech, was also a pretty big deal).
So there's the tweet in which LW (who has worked with women's refuge organisations) says she doesn't consider the GRA to be a problem because exemptions under the Equality Act will still apply. I need to get my head round this; I know that there are plans to change the protected characteristic from 'having a grc' to 'gender identity' (is that right?).
So does this mean the exemptions become a nonsense, in that eg, a refuge might advertise a position for women only, and this male-bodied person applies, but the exemption can't be used because this person is legally female?
Or is it that the exemptions exist but are not used properly because of pressure from TRAs and organisations wanting to be progressive?
Or is it something else that I'm missing?
DH is aghast at the whole attempts to shut down debate (Millwall!) and has signed the petition because he totally gets that there is a debate to be had, but I'm a bit stuck on the Equality Act stuff, and throw myself upon the wisdom of you lot.