Email received from AD the day before the election:
In regard to women’s rights Labour does not support self-ID, and we would retain the need for a specialist medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria for the purposes of obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate. I have always been crystal clear that sex is not the same as gender - and that we do need to protect single sex spaces. As you may be aware, for more than fourteen years, Labour’s Equality Act has protected people from discrimination because of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. This includes protections for women from discrimination on the basis of their sex, and for service providers to maintain spaces exclusively for females. I remain committed to protecting and upholding this Act, including its protected characteristics, its provision for single-sex exceptions, and the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Conservatives voted against the Equality Act in 2010.
I believe that treating biological women with respect and dignity (and protecting their right to single sex spaces) is compatible with ensuring that trans people are also treated with respect and dignity. We’ve seen a lot of heat from the Conservatives on these issues, but not much light. The Conservative Government spent months promising guidance for schools on children questioning their gender, only to call an election before it came into effect. It talked about the importance of single sex wards in hospitals while allowing the use of mixed sex wards to soar, with women made to spend the night on wards alongside male patients 44,000 times last year. The current Prime Minister has also attacked the Equality Act as a “Trojan Horse”, yet now claims to cherish its protections for biological women.
It's clear that only Labour can be trusted to defend the Equality Act, and to ensure that service providers understand how to apply its single-sex exceptions, such as refuges for vulnerable women. That is why Labour is committed to issuing new statutory guidance on the single sex exceptions if we enter government – a common-sense approach that provides clarity for service providers for when trans people should be included and when excluding them is proportionate and legitimate. Our manifesto is also clear that: “Labour is proud of our Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women; we will continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions”.
We share the same concern about women’s rights. After fourteen years of the Conservatives, maternal mortality has been increasing in our country, gynaecology waiting lists are the worst in our NHS, rape convictions are appallingly low, and women’s incomes have fallen precipitously. I strongly believe women deserve better, and that the only way they’ll get a better deal is with a Labour government.
Thank you once again for contacting me to share your views.