Ask your general election candidates what a woman is: results

Wow, what a response! Very unexpected. At least the whole party isn’t entirely captured, even if the ones in the public eye seem completely captured.

Has he read what Bridget Phillipson has said?

A man. I don't really want to name him - it was a candid response in a one-to-one communication so it would feel wrong to put his name to it publicly. He's not high profile.

And do they post here, or just lurk attentively?

Wow! Was that a woman, or a man?

We are in a safe but seemingly not invincible Tory seat. I received the following reply from our Labour candidate and almost fell off my chair.

"There are two sexes which are observed, not assigned at birth. Very rare chromosomal abnormalities do not change this basic fact of biology. One may not change one’s sex. Gender is a social construct and changes over time and between societies. The two should not be used interchangeably.

I feel very strongly that the inclusion of trans athletes in women’s sport is wrong. A male bodied person should not be able to use women’s changing spaces. Women’s services like prisons, counselling services, hostels etc. should be for women only.

The equality act should make very clear that ‘woman’ and ‘girl’ are biological categories that must be protected if they are to have any meaning.

Freedom of speech is critical. Throughout history, men have made demands of women, and when women do not meet these demands, men resort to violence and threats. His is misogyny. My position on the ‘trans debate’ has been evolving over time. It was a website called ‘terf is a slur’ which really cemented my position. Page after page of the most horrible language, often violent and of a sexual nature directed against women merely for expressing an opinion. Add in assaults against women, women losing their jobs and reputations. I’ve always been a feminist. I simply can’t stand on the side of those who abuse and threaten women for exercising their right to free speech.

I’ll be happy to meet with gender critical groups.

Young children don’t need trans education. They certainly shouldn’t be encouraged to go behind their parent’s back!

I recognise the right of transgender people to live in freedom. I certainly don’t hate trans people. I recognise the cynical moral panic being spread by very unpleasant elements of the right.

Speaking to friends and family, many people in Labour feel the same way I do. People are worried about being seen to be a bigot or far right. People want to be understanding and supportive of minority groups. I feel like we are turning a corner though. People are waking up to some of the more unpleasant elements within trans activism. A more balanced debate is going to emerge I believe.

If sex is fixed, but gender is constructed, surely the more progressive thing to do is to challenge what it means to be a ‘man’ rather than pretend that a man can be a woman and vice versa.

Finally, Labour’s manifesto was released yesterday. I hope you will agree that it balances the rights of trans people and women. We pledged to protect single sex spaces, retain the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a qualified doctor before being issued a gender recognition certificate and implement the findings of the Cass report."

Yes, I've heard that. At least he has come out and said something though. I'm quite surprised that my local candidate can't be arsed to reply. My question was fairly Terfy so perhaps he's a Trans ally who knows I'm a lost cause.

I'm girding myself to contact my labour candidate again as he hasn't replied to my previous two emails 😡. I feel like Wes Streeting gets it and Keir Starmer doesn't. If my labour candidate gets back to me I'll base my vote on what he says, if not it'll be a spoiled ballot paper. There is a Transform candidate who I might contact to see what she says although her website says they are against both homophobia and transphobia so I'm not sure anyone has thought very much about it. No independents. No SDP.

Well, no response so far from the labour candidate that I emailed on Monday. I get that he's busy. However, either it's gone into the junk box and not been found (it was a gmail address), has read it and is going to reply but has just got caught up, or is totally ignoring it.

I'm also in your area. Tory Greg comes across as a nice chap- he came into work and chatted with us when a government initiative was launched a few months ago.

I got doorstepped by a lib dem canvasser this week...

"Have you any questions for me?
Me- yes, what's the lib dems position on male born people in women's single sex spaces?
"Lots of bland waffle
Me- ok, so what's the party's view?
"...Starts to talk about toilets
Me- I'm not talking about toilets. What about prisons, refuges and rape crisis centres?
Her - bit pale, well the lib dems believe TWAW and so should be where their gender dictates.
Me- well that's unfortunate. You've lost my vote through this issue. Please pass it on that I cannot vote for a party that can't recognise and safeguarde my sex, as a survivor of male violence this is an important issue for me.

I'm hoping I get another one, I didn't manage to collar the labour one outside work the other day but their presence meant we had a quiet day as they were seen and avoided 🤣

I've just got a leaflet through the door from my Labour wannabee. My constituency is marginal, currently Tory. It's likely to go to the LDs. Anyway I've just emailed the Labour candidate

Dear xxxxxxxx

I never thought I would be in this situation. Even though my constituency has always been a bit of a two horse race between the Tories and the LDs, I've always kept the faith and voted Labour. Even during Corbyn's tenure!

Now I find myself contemplating the previously unthinkable. Obviously I can't vote LD ('Of course a woman can have a penis!') and the Greens are, if anything, worse. I have a letter from xxxxxxxx (my current MP) who's clear on the difference between sex and gender (previously a polite synonym for sex, now apparently means clothes, makeup and hair and is apparently much more real and important than actual immutable biology).

So, although I'm not blind to the many, many failings of the Tories. I still hope to vote for someone I consider to be sane. This is my litmus test. If you, a woman, considers that to be no more than a feeling in a man's head, you don't have my vote. If you, a former educator, are blind to the damage being done to vulnerable children (see the Cass report) you don't have my vote.

Women* and girls make up 50-odd percent of the people in this country. Considering the above, tell me why, as one of them, should I vote for you?

Regards

X Xxxxxxxxx

*none of whom have a penis, perhaps you could let Keir know?

If I get a response I'll update.

I have also written to my local Lib Dem and labour candidates about their manifestos and how disappointed I am in their policies which will harm women’s rights. No replies from either as yet.

I am attending local hustings this week to ask a question about it. I am nervous. But I feel like I must be brave and do it. I don’t want the parties to get away with ‘no one ever raises this in constituencies’ type rhetoric. I realise I’ll probably get a rubbish answer to my question, but at least they’ll hear that some of their constituents do care about this stuff.

Had Labour knocking on the door yesterday. Not the local candidate, but someone on his behalf. Had an interesting chat about women, women's rights and women's space, and the guy I was chatting to seemed to share my opinion (which is exactly the same as the people on here).

He did suggest I email our local candidate, Lee Barron, so I did that yesterday afternoon. No reply as of yet, but I'm sure he's busy knocking on people's doors. I'll be disappointed if I don't get any kind of reply though.

None of the candidate have shown their faces and Labour have not put in any appearance yet.. However we have been canvassed. and asked if we'd vote for tories and lib dems. Rather than asking the lib dem canvasser what a woman was she got a lecture about how there is no way I'd vote for them. Her party were supporting child abuse because children are being encouraged to think they could change sex, to harm their bodies pretending (some harms got mentioned) and her party had actually taken a considerable amount of money from the company promoting puberty blockers. To be fair she said she didnt know, looked shocked and said she'd raise it with the candidate. I was at one stage a member of the Labour party, hoping they come when I'm in.....

I wrote a few weeks ago to my Labour and Tory candidates to ask them about this issue.

Tory reply was supportive of trans people who faced discrimination, but not accepting the belief that they could change sex, and had a focus on protecting women’s spaces, services & sport.

Labour reply was, as I said upthread, disappointing, largely outsourced his thinking to Dodds, and is extremely similar to other posters. More interesting though, my daughter & husband have had letters from the Labour candidate asking for their vote. My letter is conspicuously absent - he’s obviously decided I’m not worth it!

Bumping this thread to see if anyone else has had any responses?
I emailed the following to the candidates for the LibDems, Labour, Tories & Greens, couldn't find contact info for Heritage, Reform or Workers Party. Thanks to Sex Matters, as I based my email on their template here

I am a constituent in Chesham & Amersham and am contacting you about an issue that particularly concerns me - the impact of gender ideology on the rights of women and girls - which I have not seen addressed in the campaign literature in this constituency. I hope that by contacting you directly I will find out whether you are prepared to defend women's rights to single-sex spaces which are so vital, especially to the most vulnerable of women and girls.

Whilst there are many important issues in this election, this is an issue that I care passionately about and it will greatly influence how I vote in this election. The issue of single sex spaces is too important for me to vote for a political party that will not protect women's rights in this matter.

Please can you give me clear, brief answers to the following questions:

Do you recognise that there are two sexes, male and female, that these are biologically determined and that the law should recognise that there are situations where this matters?
If elected, will you stand up for single-sex services and sports and that eligibility for these should be based on biological sex alone?
Do you agree that the Equality Act should be made clearer, to provide protection against discrimination based on biological sex?
Will you commit not to lower the requirements for gender transition?
Do you agree that freedom of speech about sex and gender is important and that those engaging in respectful debate on both sides should not suffer harassment or discrimination?
Will you meet with groups and constituents from all sides of these debates if you are elected to Parliament?
Will you support the retention of the 'spousal exit clause', allowing spouses whose partners wish to transition time to exit the marriage before their partner's legal sex is changed?
Do you agree that when gender identity is covered in the school curriculum, that it should not be taught as fact that everyone has a gender identity, but as a belief, and that other opinions on this exist and are equally as valid?
Do you support the banning of cross-sex hormones for minors as recommended by the Cass report?

If any of these are issues you’re not familiar with, you might find these briefings for MPs useful.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to receiving your response. The issue of upholding women and girls' rights to safety and opportunities in our society is very important to me and knowing where you stand on this will help me decide where to cast my vote.

So far I have had one reply. I can't find a report of the hustings he mentions to see what the gender question was or what the other responses were.

Dear redsplodge,

The answer is yes to those questions. At a hustings yesterday I was the only one who defended biology in the gender debate. All the other candidates completely disagreed with me. If protecting hard won rights for women and girls is important to you then I suggest you let anyone you know who agrees with you know where I stand!

Many thanks
Gareth

Gareth Williams
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Chesham and Amersham

They've gone some way to the right since I last looked.

And won't be standing here.

I'll be voting for the SDP - I was delighted to find they were fielding a candidate in my constituency. I don't agree with everything they propose but I agree with enough of it, and they are at least clear on women's rights.

Judging by his speeches, mine seems.likely to be a 'be kind'er rather than a true believer.

He does at least ask pertinent questions about which organisations have been contacted in various consultations, specifically referencing women's groups and those representing survivors of various types of abuse. But then wonders what the difference is between Ireland having separate gender recognition rules from England and Scotland doing so.

Once again proving that you never have to wait long before they reveal themselves as Not Very Bright.

Labour always win here. I would usually vote for them but for some time have considered spoiling my ballot by writing "Woman = adult human female" on the paper.

Had a quick look on theyworkforyou.com using the search speeches function searching for "gender". Labour candidate is Chi Onwarah. She mentions being contacted by constituents on both sides of the debate (but clearly sounds sympathetic to women's rights) and wants the additional evidence collected as set out in Cass Review and for young people to receive "the healthcare appropriate to them".

(Link)
Hmm. May get my vote after all, although as mentioned doesn't really need it!

What are the chances eh?!

Oh well I'm sure the 2 Gregs will have exactly the same answer to your question.....