Big research project to decide if we still need sex as a legal category

[PencilsInSpace]

Reforming Legal Gender Identity: A Socio-Legal Evaluation

It started in February and runs for 3 years.

... should gender remain a legal status assigned at birth; and what would be the implications of reforming this?

Our project addresses this question. It critically assesses different options for reform and their complex implications for law, policy and NGO agendas, focusing on the legal jurisdiction of England & Wales, but drawing also on developments in Scotland and overseas.

Research is organised into three consecutive work packages.

The first draws on international developments and activist arguments to outline possible options for reform (for instance, birth certificates with more than two gender options; allowing people to choose a legal gender on maturity; or modes of regulation that are more like sexual orientation and religion which are not, for the most part, formal statuses in English law while still identifying protected equality grounds).

The second work package explores the implications of different reform options. It focuses on what different options mean: for gender-differentiated provision, such as single-sex schools, domestic violence shelters, and women's groups; for diverse equality agendas including ethnic, religious and other equality grounds as well as transgender and women's equality; and for how gender is codified in law, including the key technical and administrative challenges new legislation would face. This second work package also explores public attitudes to reform, and what this can tell us about the significance of legal gender in everyday life.

The final work package draws the research together to understand key points of disagreement and tension regarding reform; and to assess the best reform option for going forward. This recommendation will be elaborated as a draft Bill in light of the data and legal principles of "good reform" to emerge from the research.

I don't know what to say about this yet, it came up on a different thread and looked important enough to have its own thread.

For some time now I have been crossing out gender on forms and writing "I think you mean sex". Whenever someone says gender to me I correct them if they are talking about sex.

We all need to do this All the time

This scares me shitless. Where are our legal campaigns? Have we heard back from any of our allies in MSM?

The project does say it's going to consult 2. GRASSROOTS AND POLICY CAMPAIGNING ORGANISATIONS; SERVICE PROVIDERS.

We shoudl see how to get manfriday and sex matters involved in the consultation.

I don't know Davina Cooper from Eve, but that article linked above contains several references to "anti-trans feminists" (not gender-critical feminists), and also references "trans-positive" organisations (not trans-accommodating or pro-trans organisations) which suggests to me a value judgement on opposing the TWAW line.

That said, it's a co-authored article with Flora Renz that's been through peer review (both of which can involve compromise in language expression) so it's hard to be certain they are DC's preferred descriptors. It does suggest an ideological standpoint that is not gender critical, however.

The best thing would be for a Woman's Place UK (or who's that other group with the leaflet on sex vs gender?) to approach Cooper as PI of the grant and ask to be involved in the consultation stage as a representative of gender-critical grassroots campaigners.

Grassroots will surely mean those organisations that have already been infiltrated.

Hello everyone, I am looking for the tweet that Davina Cooper has deleted which said some outrageous things about gender critical feminist views. I don't know when she deleted it, but she posted it I think on 12 October, at least that was the day that I saw it and responded to it. This is my response to the tweet: twitter.com/bindelj/status/1183379219839102976 if anyone has the original DC tweet I would appreciate it. Cooper is publicly funded to do this research, and it is glaringly obvious that she has already made up her mind. Best to all, Julie

@Bindelj

Hi Julie

There have been a number of threads on this project the most recent one is here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3732308-Future-of-Legal-Gender-academic-talk and in that there are links to all the other threads.

But may be worth posting your comment there.

I do know that the project has been deleting comments on their blog post summarising the response to their survey that are critical. Even relatively mild ones, like did anyone check that your survey questions are valid eg you have to agree to gender before you could complete the survey!!