Sorry, another NC as I'm paranoid. Penis beaker, bum fun at Centre parcs and all that. Can some of you have a look at my letter and offer advice please? I've tried not to waffle on (!) and I know the whole gender/sex debate is missing. It's my first approach so I've tried to go softly softly. Are there any inaccuracies? First draft so needs some work.
Dear Mr Blah Blah (Conserv young MP),
I write to you as a concerned parent within your constituency. The recent events with regards to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) consultation are troubling, and I am worried about how the matter is currently being addressed (or not, as seems to be the issue). Firstly, a little about me: I am your average (nearly) middle aged woman, post graduate qualified, working hard on my career and raising my daughter. Some other stuff here which is identifying I would like to make it clear that I have every sympathy for those experiencing gender dysphoria and believe that transsexuals should be afforded protections and support. I work with people from all sections of society and appreciate the richness that differences bring. However, having spent much time in the past months researching the different sides of the debate with regards to the GRA, I am deeply concerned by the way women have been treated throughout the consultation process. The topic is certainly provocative, and I do not intend cover all aspects, but I would be keen to hear your views on the following:
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The lack of consultation with women’s groups with regards to the proposals. Sex is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. Due to this, the government must carefully consider the impact the changes to the GRA may have on women before attempting to bring them into law. I understand that there have been very limited opportunities for women’s groups to be involved in the process. Yesterday, Fair Play For Women, Women’s Place UK and Transgender Trend invited MPs to talk to them about women’s concerns. This was done in private, without press coverage, and the names of the MPs who attended were not published. It is being reported that this was due to MP’s concerns about the potential impact this could have on them if it were known that they attended. It is worrying when MPs are scared about the repercussions of listening to people’s concerns. How did we get to a point whereby we are scared to talk and listen? I am aware that both Maria Caulfield and David Davies have aired their concerns about this, and I am keen to hear your opinion. Unfortunately many women have been receiving standard reproduced responses from MPs which have only served to heighten our anxieties that we are not being heard.
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The lack of understanding surrounding the GRA. It is being suggested that this change is to solely simplify the bureaucratic system around having one’s gender formally recognised. The changes suggested look towards a ‘self-identification’ process, reducing the need for medical professionals to be involved and enabling people to reflect on their gender identity and decide whether they wish to be male or female. The difficulty with this suggested proposal is that it will allow people to change their birth certificate depending on their feelings about their identity. As you know, this is a legal document, and once it is changed, the old one ceases to exist. I would like to know how the logistics of this will work. What safeguards would be in place to prevent people from walking away from their pasts, including any criminal activities? That person would legally no longer exist. How do we safeguard against people who have ill intentions? The new process relies on feelings and a promise that they’ll live as the opposite sex, how will we legislate to ensure people’s feelings are legitimate and that they’ll keep their promise? Particularly if we are reducing the need for professionals to be involved in the process. This is not about being transphobic, this is about those people who will happily abuse the process to their own end. We have already seen the devastating impact the current, allegedly more secure, law has had: Karen White. If you are not aware, this is the man who posed (?) as transgender to be accommodated in a women’s prison and then went on to sexually assault and rape women in the prison. He already had a long history of abuse against women and children. People are claiming that he was not ‘a real transgender person’ and it is unfair to use them as an example. But then logic must follow, how do we know if someone is ‘really’ transgender? We cannot brush these questions under the carpet in the name of ‘equality’. We cannot blindly allow people to decide what gender they want on their birth certificate without the appropriate checks and balances. And we cannot allow one person’s feelings to trump others; this is where inequality lies.
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If we follow this argument to its end point, we must consider the somewhat emotive ramifications for our children. As parents we want our children to be safe and to achieve. The current proposals will allow ill-intentioned people to self-identify, and have access to single sex spaces. If their birth certificate indicates that they are female, and they show this, any previous sex based exemptions are eradicated. So we must ask, how will we keep our daughter’s safe? The average decent man respects the need for single sex segregation. They want their wives and daughters to have their dignity and safety respected, and they don’t question that right. The new proposals will erode these much needed boundaries, which are a necessity to ensure women and girls are safe. As an aside from this, what about our daughter’s feelings? What are we supposed to say to them? I’m sorry you feel uncomfortable with a male body in the changing rooms but it’s the law? (80% of transgender people make no physical changes to their genitals) Why does one person’s feeling about their identity trump my daughter’s feelings? How do I explain that to my daughter? How can I tell her that her feelings don’t matter?
In terms of achieving, we are already witnessing the erosion of women in sports. This has been well documented in America (where they have self ID), and the latest Rachel McKinnon debacle is only further inflating concerns about where we are heading. Men who dress as women part time are winning women only awards (see Phillip Bunce). What message does this give to our daughters? Work hard and men will beat you anyway, even in supposedly single sex categories? Women fought hard for our rights, for equality. We are not there yet, we are still not equal, and these proposals undermine and erode the rights we do have.
There is much more I could say. And I have purposely avoided the politics between the conflation between gender and sex – it becomes too controversial and plays into the hands of those who wish to view women with concerns as transphobic.
There are swaths of women out there who are talking about this. We do it in private, scared what may happen if we come out in a public forum. We talk in code and have developed our own language to avoid abuse. It has become akin to ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ with messages being passed, hopefully without detection. We are being ridiculed for our ‘hysteria’, but facts show this ‘hysteria’ is not unfounded. Particularly when MPs are replicating our covert behaviours. We have no one to vote for any more. Labour’s stance is ludicrous, as is the Green party’s. We need a party that we can have confidence in. That will hear our concerns and answer our questions. We need a party who will apply some critical analysis to the situation and not just listen to those with the loudest cry and the most money. We are your average women, sat in living rooms on our day off, writing to our MPs, appealing to be heard.
Yours Sincerely,
Blah blah