CALL FOR ACTION Women&Equalities committee calling for evidence on GRA reform - again?!?

[Cwenthryth]

committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/291/reform-of-the-gender-recognition-act?fbclid=IwAR2OBw5dDqd0oWBzQrZOjcxb7N0S34f_rEWw7QVnOuzeQfI55co_w0CvFsc
Not quite sure why they’re asking all these same questions again, but looks like we all have more homework to do!

ChattyLion
jj1968 Posters on here are listening to all your points.

Well, some of them may be. To some of them. Many of us are probably making gingerbread instead, it being Halloween.

Oh, and carefully attending to the actual subject of this thread, which is nothing to do with your personal (and frankly by now a bit boring) perceptions of how everyone else looks, behaves and ought to think.

That last post was not addressed to ChattyLion.

One of the questions asks whether gender dysphoria is necessary to change your legal status. Is there any good peer reviewed research into why anyone would feel the need to identify as a member of a different sex class to their own if they didn't have gender dysphoria?

By suggesting that the Lords should look at these issues, that’s definitely not saying it’s not worth responding to the Women and Equalities Commons Select Committee call for evidence. It’s really important.

But it’s going to be essential that they allow evidence to be submitted and published with guaranteed anonymity, so more individual people can respond.

I think my previous post about there being an overarching committee to appeal to, about this aspect of submission process was wrong, I had misunderstood the explainer on the Parliament website. it says ‘If you're having trouble, you can contact the House of Commons Enquiry Service:

Email [email protected]
Call 0800 112 4272 (Freephone) or 020 7219 4272
Talk through Text Relay on 18001 020 7219 4272.’

publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/written-evidence-guidance.htm

So I guess if there’s enough of us asking about this to them, then the Enquiry service can raise that as an issue outside of the Women and Equalities committee. It does seem like the committee itself aren’t really grasping this point which doesn’t say much for their overall understanding of the issues.

There is an overarching committee: the Liaison committee, which is a committee made up of all select committees’ chairs. But their brief is wide so I don’t know if they’d make a comment on anonymity in committee submissions as a theme, without them collating numerous examples from different select committee calls for evidence.. which could take forever. Still worth contacting them to raise it maybe, because it might cause someone with influence to ask the Women and Equalities Chair why they don’t apparently consider these issues to be ‘personal’ and ‘sensitive’.

Hopefully someone with actual Parliamentary knowledge will come along..

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

ChattyLion jj1968 Posters on here are listening to all your points.

Well, some of them may be. To some of them. Many of us are probably making gingerbread instead, it being Halloween.

I'm not Haven't ever seen any indication the listening/reading is going in the other direction so I just skim over now.

Also, as enshrined in the Equality Act 2010, transgender people can access single-sex spaces that align with their gender identity. This includes public toilets and changing rooms.

This is a lie. There is nothing "enshrined" in the EA relating to this.

AskingQuestions 👻🎃

I thought there were specific exceptions (in the GRA?) that things like changing rooms could be exempt. No man has a right to change with women.

On second thoughts, I notice that the Commons Liaison committee does say they will look at:

• Matters of public concern: To consider matters of public concern where there is a need for accountability to the public through Parliament, including the actions of organisations or individuals with significant power over the lives of citizens or with wide-reaching public responsibilities.

committees.parliament.uk/committee/103/liaison-committee-commons

That seems to be summing up exactly what is going on here- because it is a culture war, which goes well beyond issues of the GRA.. into threats to free speech, to freedom of expression, into genderist belief being taken as a justification for harassment, for women losing their usual paid work, for NHS and private doctors prescribing by ‘affirmation’ ie children being given experimental treatments with permanent effects that they can’t consent to (by any normal understanding of consent), for specific harms to the lesbian community, for specific harms to detransitioned people, into organisational/regulatory capture where men’s needs are centred and which refuse to recognise the needs of women as service users or staff.. into our national statistics no longer being properly collected about women with long term effects on future policy, into kids being taught genderist beliefs messages in schools as facts and losing access to single sex toilets, into Women prisoners being sexually assaulted in prison, into women’s competitive and/or contact sports being ruined by people with male bodies competing in these, into women and girls overall being less free to participate in normal life because of loss of single sex spaces, into normal standard safeguarding rules being ignored and so on..

Also, as enshrined in the Equality Act 2010, transgender people can access single-sex spaces that align with their gender identity. This includes public toilets and changing rooms.

It does the reverse. It enshrines that where women may reasonably object, spaces such as changing rooms can be single sex, even if a GRC is held, though the threshold if it is becomes higher.

This is a straightforward lie. If it were not a lie, Stonewall et al would not be campaigning to have those single sex exceptions removed.

@334bu

One of the questions asks whether gender dysphoria is necessary to change your legal status. Is there any good peer reviewed research into why anyone would feel the need to identify as a member of a different sex class to their own if they didn't have gender dysphoria?

This is a really important question. What possible reasons could there be?

I can think of a few...

Always find it interesting that the Equality Act is always misquoted like this in order to exaggerate perceptions of one group's protections while concealing the other group's altogether.

"334bu

One of the questions asks whether gender dysphoria is necessary to change your legal status. Is there any good peer reviewed research into why anyone would feel the need to identify as a member of a different sex class to their own if they didn't have gender dysphoria?"

I have often said that I would prefer to be in a female prison than a male prison if given the choice (I've worked in prisons)

PSA for everyone responding to this consultation:

TinselAngel has produced a powerful piece of guidance for thinking about when writing submissions: It’s here www.transwidowsvoices.org/news
and see MN discussion thread on it here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4071101-guidance-for-new-gra-consultation-spousal-exit-clause

Tinsel says of this: Guidance for how to respond to the new consultation on the GRA in respect of Trans Widows and the Spousal Exit Clause can now be viewed on the Trans Widows Voices website.
I hope women find this useful as it can be tricky to understand due to all the previous misinformation.
We are still interested in hearing from trans widows who may have ideas for our own submission to the enquiry.

Also if anyone hasn’t read this yet, another powerful piece of writing:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4069208-late-transitioners-domestic-abuse-and-trans-widows

That Davina Cooper article's a real whiny shocker, isn't it, Escapeplanning? (When you've got a plan let me know, by the way, because I want to escape too). The utter incomprehension at idiot women still, despite all the competing feminisms, insisting that sex matters — when people like Davina have risen above their bodies and know better. She goes on my list of traitors to her own sex. It's getting long.

Bumping. Submissions need to be made before 27 November (next Friday)

Bumping. Submissions need to be in be next Friday. Personal accounts of your experiences — having to fight to prevent your workplace loos from being made unisex/ being pressured to provide pronouns at work/ watching your children struggle with their identities/ experiences as a trans widow / experiences as lesbians/ running women-only services that are under attack/ anything else — are welcome. 2000 words max. Tell them your story.

shedbuilder 2000 words seems very short to put in all our stories, reasons. I am also concerned about what “evidence” means if we can’t refer to other published articles or current or pending court cases. Planning to do this over the weekend but it’s hard to know where to start, without ranting with rage !

You can add links to other articles etc. As I understand it, the big organisation (Fair Play for Women, WPUK, the Scottish and Welsh groups, Transgender Trend, Safe Schools Alliance, LGB Alliance) will be making the major, legally-orientated submissions. Maya Forstater suggested we submit personal stories to illustrate the reality on the ground for ordinary women. It needs to be short because apparently the members of the committee will try and read all submissions and with a bit of luck there will be thousands. If you can tell a compelling story and keep it short there's more chance they'll read it to the end.

Done...but it was hard to do while saying that the GRA should be repealed and the GRC abolished as all the areas seemed to depend on these being agreed to . Oh well let’s see.

Done.

I’ve been putting it off, but would kick myself if I didn’t send my response, then women were penalised.

I made a general statement, well informed by the women of this board and inserted a couple of personalised impact assertions. I appreciate the idea of it being a wholly personalised account, but those upon whom the personal impact is low should still submit, in my opinion.

My understanding was that the well informed responses from women to the original consultation had quite an impact. Caring enough to thoroughly research the situation demonstrates that this is an aspect of social justice that really matters to us.

Need to do this today.

Oops!!