At the time of writing [that trans women are women], I didn’t have any direct experience of this topic and took advice on how best to respond, given the complexities surrounding individual cases. Having now spoken to experts and professionals, like many, my understanding has evolved.
I think this is a really odd statement to make.
You don't need to have direct experience of being a trans person, or direct experience of dealing with trans people, to understand whether a trans woman is a woman or not.
You don't even need to have direct experience of being a woman, although Gillian Keegan is a woman, and so does have that direct experience.
She's making it sound as though she previously only had a simplistic understanding of what a woman is and whether a trans woman is one, and now "having spoken to experts and professionals" her understanding has evolved and become more sophisticated.
But that's not true, is it? It's not that the answer to the question, "What is a woman?" is a complex one. On the contrary, the answer is really very simple, but it is one that Stonewall and their ilk don't like.
There is absolutely no need to speak to experts or professionals in order to understand what a woman is and why a trans woman is not one.
I think, in order to really shift the debate to where it needs to be, people who previously said "trans women are women" need to acknowledge that it was not true and they never actually believed it to be true, and reflect upon why they said it when they knew it wasn't true.
It would be far more honest to say, "I have previously said I believe that trans women are women. I apologise for saying this. It was not my honest belief. I repeated a statement I knew was untrue because I believed that it was the kind and respectful thing to do. I didn't have any direct experience of this topic and took advice on how best to respond, given the complexities surrounding trans people's identities. Having now spoken to many people, including experts and professionals, I now believe that this was not the right way to respond, and that in repeating a statement I knew to be untrue I unwittingly contributed to a culture where the honest discussion of biological sex has become taboo. We need to be able to talk about sex and gender using clear and unambiguous language to ensure that the rights and needs of all groups are fairly balanced. Saying that trans women are women, and by implication, that there is no valid reason to distinguish between these two groups, makes that discussion more difficult. Trans people's rights and identities are important and should be respected, but so are women's. It is wrong to prevent women from having the language they need to define and discuss themselves as a biological sex class."