House of Lords- Women Spaces Hurrah

[Harshmallow01]

hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-02-24/debates/D9459D1B-FADF-4765-AB3F-F55D4B322060/details#contribution-2670DB0F-6187-447E-AAC2-492C68088654

Indeed. The left has become too ‘right on’ and has lost sight of its roots.

I consider myself to be a Lib Dem, I consider many of those currently running the party to be neither liberal nor democratic.
I am happy to support education and health by paying more taxes, I want a society with decent life chances for all.
I don't want an illiberal, authoritarian, anti female state. I am happy to listen to opposing views to mine and expect the same curtesy in return.
I refuse to accept that the center let alone the left ground of British politics has to be given up has to be given up to this "kimono wearing, baseball bat wielding" group.
I am not conservative.

There are occasions when one accompanies someone of the opposite gender, such as when I am looking after my daughter or when a carer is looking after someone of the opposite sex and wants to use a facility where both of them can go. But people who are genuinely advantaged by this change are essentially the woke administrators of public institutions. I see very few people who would genuinely benefit from having universal gender-neutral toilet provision.

I've found myself agreeing with a few Tories, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and now Lord Lucus, despite my politics being on the far left of things. I think you can find allies in the strangest of places. (It's 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' sort of idea, I suppose.) I've considered myself a Lib-Dem since I was 12 and first became interested in politics, now I'm 31 and they're a mess.
Either way, he gets it, and Tanni Grey-Thompson's contribution to the discussion was brilliant. ❤

Like @SapphireSeptember I do find myself agreeing with both some conservatives and also Tony Blair quite often.
Maybe I'm just growing up and realizing not everything fits into one neat box?

I read the whole thing and am happy to see that the issue is finally being debated by sensible people but what does such a debate mean in real, practical terms?

Have you noticed he has not been called a Terf AT ALL?!

“there is considerable evidence that LGBT people, especially transpeople, are more likely to be attacked, more likely to suffer abuse and hate crime and more likely to be at risk of suicide because of the pressure”

Very tired of this myth being trotted out at every possibly juncture.

I liked this from Lord Blencathra: This excessive nonsense has to stop. I repeat that I deeply respect those who want or need to change their sexual identity, but I want the Government to stand up to the militant, fascist transgender lobby—the small militant minority—particularly those who try to change the sex of children. I and many doctors are deeply concerned about the work of the Tavistock clinic, which is giving puberty-blocking drugs to children aged 11—children who may not know at that young age what their sexual identity will be in later life. Giving sex-change drugs to young children might completely destroy their lives if, later on when they mature, they come to a different view on their sexual identity.

Going well beyond mixed sex toilets

We all need to write to Lord Blencathra.

RedToothBrush

Went to open door to a cubicle which was 'green' only to find a man in his 60s with his pants around his ankles.

Sounds like a potential flashers' charter. "Sorry, officer, I must have forgotten to lock the door".

Very tired of this myth being trotted out at every possibly juncture.

Full Fact runs a live factcheck during PMQ and sometimes during BBCQT or for the latter they post one the next morning.

We could do with a women's charity running a Full Fact style factcheck of zombie claims around women's issues plus sex/gender discussion zombie claims (like the hate crimes, murder/suicide statistics).

Sounds like a potential flashers' charter. "Sorry, officer, I must have forgotten to lock the door".

Quite.

Think labour have got further and further towards the student politics end of the spectrum - even when I was a student I would have thought this lot to be a bit naive, unrealistic and reactionary

That is because Momentum coalesced around Jeremy Corbyn, isn't it?
He has spent his life as a campaigning for every left wing cause imaginable......and was never a leader. More of an ideologue.

Lord Lucas has managed to kick-start a response from government.

Here is an excerpt from today's Telegraph, headlined:

"A win against wokeness: Women have a right to female-only lavatories

Government to ensure proper provision of separate facilities for women and for men

Increasing numbers of publicly accessible lavatories - like those at The Old Vic theatre in London - are being converted into facilities that can be used by all.

However, public authorities have a duty to provide safe spaces for women in the lavatories in their buildings, and making all facilities gender-neutral may fall foul of building regulations.

Several peers complained this week that gender-neutral lavatories - which one Tory peer, Lord Lucas, said had been introduced by “woke” public bodies - had women feel uncomfortable.

The Conservative hereditary peer called on the Government to explain the terms of the existing law better so managers of public buildings recognised they were able to make lavatories male or female only.

Civil servants in the Department for Communities and Local Government have now been asked to write to the British Standards Committee to ask whether technical guidance on building regulations needs to be clarified to make it explicit that women must have access to female-only facilities.

A Government source said: "It is clear that there needs to be a public service provision for everyone in our community and all people should be treated with dignity and respect.”

"The Government is committed to maintaining safeguards that protect women.”

"Proper provision of separate toilets for both men and for women, which has long been a regulatory requirement, should be retained and improved."

Here is the link to the full article although it is probably behind a paywall.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/28/win-against-wokeness-women-have-right-female-only-lavatories/