There are many myths being spread by trans activists, often couched in very complicated language that changes all the time, and makes ordinary people confused.
For anyone who is wondering, you cannot actually change your biological sex (in other words, if you were born in the body of a woman you won't be able to change into a body into exactly that of a man, or vice versa).
Here are the definitions you need to know:
Trans person - anyone who says they are trans, including cross-dressers, and people who live as a man or woman part-time (known as gender-fluid). Please check the Stonewall umbrella for the longer list, which includes identities like people who say they are neither a man or a woman (even though they were born in bodies that are clearly that of a man or woman).
Trans woman - anyone who was born a man (with the biological make-up that makes them MALE) who says they are a woman. This person may or may not take hormones, they might not have any diagnosis from a professional, they might not even have any discomfort with their physical bodies whatsoever. Most trans women have a penis, and many have no intention of having it operated on. Some trans women still have full beards. Some trans women look exactly like men. It could be a person born a man who truly believes they ARE a woman, or it might be someone who is doing it for other reasons. But we can't tell, because the statement "I am a woman" is the only thing that matters now when it comes to self-ID. The idea that everyone has to put in a lot of effort is simply not true.
Self-ID - Trans activists are lobbying the government to turn changing LEGAL gender into a process as simple as an online form. That means the government has to pretend as though anyone who fills out a declaration was born as something something other than their actual biological body. There will be no checks or balances on this system.
Woman - adult human female. Females are born with the biological make-up that make them women.
Removing any checks and balances, means that ANY MAN WHO SAYS THEY ARE A WOMAN can legally declare themselves a woman and demand access to women's facilities, if the reformation of the gender-recognition act goes through.
If it isn't obvious to you, that would mean the end of: women's changing rooms, women's sports, women's prisons, women's refuges, women's associations, etc. Because these would now not be for women-only. They would be for women and any man who says he is a woman i.e. trans women. There is no gate-keeping.
Many trans people who have medically changed their bodies oppose these changes, because it opens their identities up to be hijacked by actually dangerous people like Ian Huntley (who says he is a woman now).
This is why there is a conflict.
Trans women are not "just men who want to invade women's spaces." But every trans women is an all adult human male. Trans women were all born men. Otherwise they wouldn't be trans. THEREFORE they are not a "type of" adult human female (i.e. woman), they are actually a type of adult human biological male. That makes a difference for political representation, because women's issues like reproductive healthcare (abortion, gyneacological cancer, pregnancy), will never affect trans women personally. Plus many trans women lead lives completely the same as any man for many many years, and then later transition. Such as Caitlyn Jenner. Is it fair to say that Caitlyn knows what it's like to live as a woman athlete, given that when she was known as Bruce she won the Men's Olympic Decathlon? Women don't even have a decathlon at the Olympic level!
If you think every man should have the legal right to say they are are a women and demand access to all women's spaces without any sort of common sense/boundary, then by all means support self-ID.
However, if you think that actually in some places there are very good reasons to separate men and women, then you must oppose self-ID. There are no common-sense limits to this policy. We have seen high-profile cases in the media of a clear abuse of the existing systems by rapists and paedophiles. The British Psychological Society and others have WARNED about this, because changing gender not only makes offenders seem potentially less threatening, but they also get to take on a new identity. The GRA makes it more difficult to link a previous criminal history and with a current identity.
It's not about "trans women". Just like it's never about all men being dangerous. But males/men, as a group, commit most of the violent crime and the overwhelming majority of sexual offenses. This is about whether we want to keep single-sex spaces for women. They are there to protect women, and give them privacy, dignity and comfort.
In my view, we need to look at this carefully and support third-space solution where appropriate (especially for prisons). We need trans people to be safe and to flourish without discrimination. Trans people have every right to believe what they wish and live accordingly. So do women. So does anyone who defines their terms by biological reality.
This is a competing rights issue, and one that needs to be discussed carefully.
Women are an equal stakeholder in this question.
We have every reason to believe that self-ID presents a huge problem. Safeguarding principles, common sense, forensic experts, and most-importantly WOMEN are saying THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. We know that people who protest this potential change to the law are getting terrible abuse from the trans lobby. We know it is already very difficult to keep women's spaces women-only. We know some trans activists already say that the dictionary definition of woman is considered "transphobic" hate speech.
Reforming the GRA to a simple matter of self-declaration will make this situation worse.
Let's start talking some common sense, look carefully at the facts, embrace freedom of thought, speak honestly about basic biology, and defend women's rights.
Please say NO to self-ID.