Debbie Hayton Debbie Hayton

How to respond to the latest gender recognition inquiry

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee launched yet another inquiry into Gender Recognition Act reform last week. Either they are gluttons for punishment, or this really matters to someone. This is the third time since 2015 that Westminster has asked the public what they think about gender recognition. When you add this to the two separate Scottish consultations, it becomes apparent that transgender inquiries are now an annual event.

For those new to all this, the Women and Equalities Committee opened the recognition debate in 2015. Their subsequent report – informed by only 208 responses – called for the checks and balances to be removed from the gender recognition process, effectively making legal sex a tick-box exercise. But that was not all. They recommended the process be opened up to under-18s and that women should lose any vestigial right to protect the boundaries of their spaces and associations from trans women who had filled in a form and ticked a box.

Written by
Debbie Hayton

Debbie Hayton is a teacher and journalist. Her book, Transsexual Apostate – My Journey Back to Reality is published by Forum

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in