Equalities Act parliamentary debate 12th June

@Needmoresleep thank you for the nudge.

I have now written and sent a response to my MP's letter (that he sent me in March, following my initial contact with him) in which I have also cited the good work of his colleagues, including Miriam Cates and Kemi Badenoch.

In my letter today, amongst other issues, I have highlighted the importance of a key phrase in the opening paragraph of the counter petition (where it is clear that the ambiguitity of the current wording means that the petition signatories believe that they can currently access single sex spaces and services based on gender identity.

Also, I have drawn his attention to the importance of the EHCP April letter to Kemi Badenoch.

I have urged him to attend the debate and state the case for why the clarity is necessary.

Fingers crossed he agrees that it is important - he has made it clear to me already that he personally values the importance of single sex spaces. Hopefully he can now appreciate that this needs to be fought for.

Also it is worth contacting earlier rather than later. Diaries fill up.

I got an email yesterday, so wrote to my MP. I got a reply back almost instantly that he would try and make it.

The line I used was that this was an issue on which the Conservatives had a good story to tell and where they had wide public support. Some of his colleagues were making important progress.

Conservative MPs will be worried about the up coming General Election following the recent local election bloodbath. They should be interested in knowing more about an issue where the Government has a (relative to other parties) good story to tell.

I've just seen the email and came to look for the original thread. I am crossing my fingers, in the hope that more people will become aware of the issues involved.

Little point contacting my MP , he's SNP and captured, though at least I would be registering my viewpoint

Yep, exactly this.
I'm trying to think about how to wake my MP up so that he attends! He's Tory in a safe Tory seat. I've never felt so happy to be in such a constituency 😁

Suspect most members of the public wont really be clear or that interested as to what this is all about.

Sadly I think this is spot on @IwantToRetire
I've been talking to my husband about exactly this point. The reasons behind the need are so nuanced and varied that it's almost inaccessible to anyone that hasn't taken the time to digest it. Some arguments are easier to access than others e.g. sterilising confused children (puberty blockers, "time to think", cross sex hormones.. lifelong decisions made at a young age) and fairness in sport are pretty simple to grasp for anyone. But the awful experience of trans widows, the homophobia directed towards women who won't accept girldick and gay men who are told they should be trans or the risks in not protecting women's spaces seem less tangible somehow. If you're not fully immersed in it all.

By contrast, Emma Watson's "trans people are who they say they are" makes it all sound so simple. Therefore no point caring about it.

I've been wracking my brains to think how the public conscience can be helped to care.

When you put it all together, the chronology is pretty interesting

Sorry being a bit slow here. You mean that it must have been set up in November 2022?

And the Sex Matters one in October 2022?

I suppose they would wouldn't they.

Yep, loads more.
But it's an incredible step forward that debate is being called for.
I can't imagine the Houses of Parliament accepting statements that shut down debate. When Lloyd Russell tried it against Miriam Cates he ended up looking rather ridiculous.
Yes, let's see a proper debate! 👏👏

The wording on the counter debate petition is quite interesting. I read it as "please don't change anything as we can currently identify in to any spaces etc that we like and it would be discrimination to change this".

It looks quite strange when you read it next to the EHRC clarification that was sent after a) both petitions were started and b) both petitions had an interim response.

When you put it all together, the chronology is pretty interesting.Counter debate

I meant to add that as others have said writing to MPs to attend and support amending the EA is going to be really important.

I suspect to many MPs will not want to be seen to have an opinion and will just say looks like the majority of voters dont want the EA changed.

I never know whether this bigger public support is because trans networks are so well resourced they get more people to sign etc., or whether it reflects public opinion.

Suspect most members of the public wont really be clear or that interested as to what this is all about.

Excellent.

I've been wanting to write to my MP (Jeremy Hunt) about the evils of gender ideology for a while but didn't want to sound like a monomaniacal lunatic. This is an ideal topic to write to him about.

The counter petition is on the same day, is still open to be signed, and already has more signatories.

Ah yes, of course. Sorry, I misunderstood.

The clarification letter that she wrote is available as a download on the link that you added above. If you scroll down, it's just below the grey box that has the excerpt 👍

So much for #nodebate

Yes, I still need to write to my MP. I've been far too lazy about it but I can work with a template 😁

I was thinking of the whole EHRC letter to K. Badenoch explaining why the EA should be amended to make clear ‘sex’ is biological. I am sure lots of MPs know nothing about the issue and are more likely to listen to (believe) the EHRC than a constituent.

The other Sex Matters template letter is good too and I posted the link previously on this thread. Arabella posted the one that finds all the people to write to called “WriteToThem”.

.. it even has the email address of your MP. You just select your constituency.

Is it the email template I mentioned that you're looking for? It's on another thread but I can dig it out. It was very well put together and easy to use.

That isn’t the whole letter.
Please would someone link it if you can.

Skyellaskerry · Today 12:27*
It’s a pleasure. Let’s hope this debate will help.

Here is the EHRC letter anyone might like to alert their MP to - is this it @BonfireLady · Today 12:23?
as what you said seems a good idea.

https://t.co/hJpX9Ug7AU

@ScrollingLeaves thanks for the reminder and link.

Perfect. Anything else would have been bonkers.

I wrote to my MP using the helpful email template that was provided (I added a few bits of my own too) and got a very wishy washy template-style reply saying that no changes were needed. That was before the EHRC clarification was announced so I'll write back and ask if he's reconsidered his views since then 🤞

Yes, both petitions have been given the same debate date, so I expect it will be one debate examining the issue from different sides.

I think I’ll write to my MP again. I’ve written a few times in the past, mainly about the NHS, but once about women’s rights. The latter issue was the only one my MP actually responded to.

The Equality Act refers to 9 protected characteristics, including sex and gender reassignment. When I looked at what the government definition of those were, I was pointed towards the EHRC definitions.

So it's more of an indirect link, albeit an important one as far as I can see. Definitely happy to be corrected on that though as there are many people on here who know more on this stuff than me!

Considering the EHRC had recently made a clarification statement on sex and gender, I was surprised to see it so muddled when they describe the protected characteristics.