Bristol Council insists women be called ‘people with ovaries’

[IwantToRetire]

The comments were made in a 39-page response to a consultation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on updates to its guidance, following the ruling that sex in equality laws refers to biological sex.

It wrote that “not all pregnant individuals would use the pronouns ‘she/her’” so it could lead to “emotional and psychological distress” for “trans men, non-binary, gender diverse or intersex individuals”.

“We strongly advise the use of more inclusive language such as using ‘they/them’ to refer to all individuals, or include other identities to reflect the diversity of individuals who access maternity or paternity services,” officials said.

“This could include ‘people with ovaries’ or the term ‘people who use paternity services’. We also recognise that individuals may not identify with the word maternity and prefer paternity as it is gender neutral.

“Additionally, it is unclear what support will be available to trans people who chest-feed to ensure they are protected from discrimination.”
Protections based on biological sex are “too vague”, the response added, as: “It is unclear whether it refers to anyone capable of pregnancy, or only those who were assigned female at birth.”

Council officials complained that the new guidance implies that “trans women are not ‘really’ women” and risked “creating a hostile environment in public services”.

Full article at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/22/council-says-women-called-people-with-ovaries/

And at https://archive.is/TOgKA

Even if I could contort myself into accepting “paternity” as being gender neutral, I would still assume it means the parent not giving birth as in your / the government examples. If I was a birthing parent (read, woman, but I’ll go with their delusion temporarily), I’d still assume paternity care wasn’t for me.

Also maternal does not have the same root as the word woman. So if we’re redefining paternal as gender neutral, let’s also redefine maternal as meaning birthing parent and everyone’s happy.

But as I’ve said before, I take huge issue with saying you’re a man, and then getting pregnant and having a baby… ie doing the only thing that is truly the preserve of a woman. Even if I believed in gender identity, I couldn’t square being so adamant you’re not a woman and then choosing to do womanly things.

Bristol, the Brighton of the west. You'd think giving the bloody awful state the council is in they would have more important things to focus on

Foreskin Bearer sounds a bit royalty adjacent.

The Lord High Foreskin Bearer to His Majesty. A very sought-after position with a stipend and a pension. And possibly a barony at some later date.

Unmitigated bollocks.

And people with penises. Fairs fair

Out of curiosity, what did they name the men if women are people with ovaries?

Are you working in Bristol maternity services?

If so does this mean even in Councillors publish something like this, it doesn't mean everyone is compelled to use it?

What about the ‘emotional and psychological distress”’ to women! And how can it be called ‘paternity’ services. The mind boggles.

The Righteous don't care about "emotional and psychological distress" to the partially-sentient service bipeds. And despite their claims of puzzled vagueness, The Righteous have absolutely no trouble identifying which half of the Homo sapiens species are the partially-sentient service bipeds.

"Protections based on biological sex are “too vague”, the response added, as: “It is unclear whether it refers to anyone capable of pregnancy, or only those who were assigned female at birth.”

Some people not assigned female at birth are capable of pregnancy?????

Easy. Let's use 'cisgender women' and also explain that other people may have ovaries like trans men and non-binary people. Boom, woman is back! And I'm not joking. I do not get why this board hate cis, it literally solves your problem 🤷🏻‍♀️ same way we don't have homosexual and 'normal' we have heterosexual. If you want to advocate for the rights of cis women (including me), go for it! Bristol clearly recognise that if a trans man used their service it would not be acceptable to refer to him as a woman. Female at birth but as an adult, not a woman. Would you in all seriousness refer to a trans man as a woman to his face, if you were working in this setting? Do you think that would help?

I know I'll get nowhere here so will see myself out. The paternity service thing is weird, agree - pregnancy services would be gender neutral and "sex based". Birthing parent, also cool.

And I'm not joking. I do not get why this board hate cis, it literally solves your problem
There is no need for "cis", because men cannot be women. This is only a "problem" because some men can't accept reality.

Very dangerous IMO. Health information has to be clear. If non-binary people or trans men are pregnant, I believe that they will need to accept that the services are:

-maternity
-for women
-use female pronouns for communication.

I would be perfectly happy with a footnote saying that “we apologise if any trans/nb/gender diverse person has felt distressed by the language used: it has been written this way for understandability and safety”

Lots of people with English not as a first language need to read the info. If a trans/nb person has become pregnant, that person knows that their body contains female reproductive organs, whether that is how they express themselves or not.

This needs to be tackled without intolerance for those who have issues with gender, but prioritising safety for all.

It's like a circus has let all the clowns and mines be in charge.

Women on this board including me do not like cis because it tries to categorise us as a subset. I am not a subset of my own sex class. I am a woman, a female. If there was a Venn diagram of women and trans women, they would not cross over. Because trans women are men and therefore they are a subset of the male sex class. Of men. Cis is therefore unnecessary and frankly not wanted or needed. We are just women. That's it.

I get the meaning of all the letters except Q ,what does that stand for

Queer

Why does this ideology make people so fucking stupid?

Because they are trying to be so progressive and open minded that their brains have fallen out.

They won’t cancel the word women/woman.

It’ll just say something like “women and people with ovaries”, which is already what it says in most trust and council literature.

The problem with "woman and people with ovaries" is that logically it implies that women generally don't have ovaries. For anyone unsure what ovaries are (eg with English as a second language, special educational needs, etc), that's extremely confusing.

Most women have ovaries. So "women and people with ovaries" is a bit nonsensical.

I suppose you could have "women and other people who also have ovaries", but it sounds even more ridiculous

It's really stupid, but I can't help wondering why Brixton has escaped the syndrome affecting Bristol and Brighton.

Queer, so it pretty much stands for whatever someone wants it to stand for.

Is that word not offensive

Maybe cause and effect are the other way around