Urgent BH terfing- write to your MP TODAY 5th May on the Data Bill

[CriticalCondition]

I think this should have its own thread for visibility. The Data Bill is being debated this week and will introduce self ID by the back door unless an amendment is made. Sex Matters has a template letter on this to send to your MP. It will only take a few minutes but it MUST be sent today (Monday 5th) so please make this your Bank Holiday terfing.

https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/urgent-action-email-your-mp-today-on-the-data-bill/

Thanks - done. I will expect back some more TRA style word-salad same as last time, but I've sent it anyway.

yeah, very true...

I heard back from my (Lib Dem young male) MP. Got my Bingo card dabber at the ready:

Thank you for writing to me about Amendment 21 of the Data (Use and Access) Bill.

<strong>I understand the concerns you have over data regarding ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’.</strong>

At the moment, the conversation around trans-people remains emotionally volatile, and can easily become quite toxic. We are yet to have proper clarity over the implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling on wider life in the UK.

<strong>Until we have received the updates to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), I don’t think we should be making any decisions which could undermine the Gender Recognition Act, or the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’.</strong>

In regard to the amendment itself, we need to ensure that any data collected regarding a person’s sex is proportionate, collected for legitimate reasons, and properly takes due consideration to the rights of individuals

Anyone else heard back? I will send this on to the SM team.

(edited for weird formatting - still can’t make it display properly 🤬)

I responded on another thread, but responding here too for the bump because it’s not too late!

Another bump, a few hours left!

ChatGPT is your friend here. I pasted the template into it and asked it to rewrite to make it more personalised and adding in my take on the Sullivan Report. It was great! Took less than 5 minutes 👌🏻

I don’t use ChatGPT, never really felt that had anything to use it for, must try to remember this for future reference 👍

My (still wet behind the ears) Labour MP has responded- trans, trans privacy, the conservatives are meanies, this is the manifesto we were elected on, would invalidate GRC, trans sad face

🙄 but he responded which was a surprise

No response here from my Labour trans-word-salad MP. Auto response also said no response if there's no name, address and phone number, but I didn't send the latter and explained why.

No reply from my Tory MP who is knowledgeable on this issue

I emailed my female Labour MP with this a couple of days ago as did DH. I added an introductory para of my own.

https://www.rutland-times.co.uk/national/mps-reject-bid-to-force-authorities-to-record-sex-data-on-biological-basis-145838/

Well that’s just peachy.

Ffs.

Also how? How can this possibly work within the constraints of the SC ruling?

Not a legal expert but the judgement is solely for the purpose of the equality act, not sure if or how that interacts with this bill

Grr. No response from my MP either

Yes, no that’s fair enough. But it must interact at some level - otherwise we’re going to have digital ID saying people are the “sex” they identify as, which will make it impossible to maintain actual single-sex spaces.

Ugh, I just despair.

MPs rejected new clause 21, with 97 voting in favour of it, 363 against, majority 266.

I wonder how many of them bothered to read the Sex Matters briefing. I've just gone back and re-read it. It really couldn't be clearer, and the dangers it points out are obvious. Did they just think, yeah, fuck all that?

Someone posted on one of the other threads about this:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5329443-urgent-write-to-your-mp-today-about-back-door-self-id-data-bill-tomorrow?reply=144120902&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

It seems that they didn’t pass it because not because they think recording sex is evil and wrong, but because they’re already trying to incorporate the Sullivan Review into the data bill, and this amendment would confuse things? I’m not sure I completely understand…

Well that's a punch in the gut, how could so many of them vote against it, it wasn't even close.

I emailed my MP (Labour) but I didn't hear back, do we know if the party whip was used to make them vote against it because if so mine would have done what he was told.

From @TwoLoonsAndASprout 's link:

Thirdly, the new clause is unnecessary, because it is very unlikely that digital verification services would be used in many, if not all, of the cases specifically raised by or with hon. Members, such as within the NHS to gain access to single-sex wards or for screening or to enter other female-only spaces. We expect digital verification services to be used primarily to prove things such as one’s right to work, or one’s age, address or professional or educational qualifications, which are not matters where sex or gender is relevant at all.

Some rather weaselly words there, I think.

An opposition amendment will almost certainly always fail.

It never had a hope of passing

It's Self ID by the back door, next it will be Conversion Therapy and a blasphemy law.

Depressing result.

Not quite convinced by Chris Bryant's 'nothing much to worry about here'. We've seen a fair bit of politicians thinking they know better than the courts lately.