Gender, That's Just Common Sense
Gender, That's Just Common Sense
“A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense”. These are the words of our Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at last year’s Conservative conference in Manchester. He later also went on to state that “trans women are not women and that trans men are not men”, not to mention his transphobic jibe at Prime Ministers Questions when the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, who was transgender, was also in Parliament. This is the same man asking for your vote. In a country built upon freedom of expression and liberty, how does the leader of the supposed party to stand on these very principles justify removing these freedoms, ones that everyone else takes for granted. If you are a member of the TQI+ section of the LGBTQI+ community, should you be worried? Are the leaders of the other party’s any better?
Firstly, I would like to point out where the Prime Minister seems to be misinformed regarding gender. Yes, sometimes a ‘man’ is a ‘man’, and sometimes a ‘woman’ is a ‘woman’, and for some this is not always the case; furthermore, some people identify as neither and both at the same time. Not to mention Sex and Gender are not always mutually exclusive. However, there is an additional argument at play here. We live in a modern society where freedom of expression and liberty are the cornerstones of our democracy. So, I would put forward the case that it is not for any single person to dictate how an individual should be free to identify as, whether you personally agree the principal should be irrelevant. Prime Minister or not, in this democracy it is not his place. Now that’s just common sense. Rant over.
So, we know where Rishi stands, what about Labour’s Kier Starmer? Sadly, the picture is less clear as Kier seems to play hot and cold to this important topic. He has previously stated “trans women are women, and trans men are men”, however Kier and Labour have later shown support for legislation to the contrary. Kier has also previously supported the gender-critical Labour MP Rosie Duffield whose views are such that “women have a cervix”. Kiers response to this statement when questioned on Good Morning Britain was “Biologically, she of course is right about that.” However, in 2021, he said such a statement was “not right”. Hardly a concrete ally.
The Liberal Democrats thankfully have a much clearer and more inclusive approach to gender and the wider community. Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the party, has said on LBC “Women 'quite clearly' can have a penis”. Furthermore, their website proudly states “trans people are entitled to the same rights as everyone else”, and even have a dedicated page to trans rights “Trans Rights 101”. Additionally in 2020 the party passed a motion exclaiming that “trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities are non-binary”. I have also been unable to find any recent evidence to contrast this largely progressive attitude, with the only outlier being a previous leader (Tim Farron) in the 2017 general election suggesting that being gay equated to ‘sinning’. Though he later went on to rescind this comment, he then went on to say that this was only due to the pressure from within the party and did not reflect his true personal views.
The last major party at Westminster is of course the Scottish National Party (SNP). Under Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in 2023. The Bill would have changed the process one undertakes to get a gender recognition certificate. This would have been easier and less intrusive for individuals to legally change their gender, extending the new system of self-identification to those aged 16 and 17. However, Westminster later applied section 35 of the Scotland Act (1998) to block this Bill becoming law. To her credit, Sturgeon took this to court to try and fight section 35, but this was unsuccessful due to the nature of devolution. The current leader, John Swinney, has pledged his support for this issue but has officially dropped the policy citing it “cannot be implemented”. It’s also notable that shortly after taking office, when asked on the issue of gender he stated "I believe a woman is an adult female born as a woman and I also accept that transgender women are defined as women”.
So, the four major parties at Westminster have a vast difference when it comes to gender and gender reform. For some its bleak, others its positive and progressive and for one, frustrating. Frustrating is my key takeaway from this. How can we be in 2024 in an election campaign for a liberal democracy built on freedom of expression with this as our options. The two biggest parties at Westminster signalling worrying messages, of whom are the most likely to be able to govern on our behalf. The Liberal Democrats, with possibly the best stance, having a long road to 10 Downing Street with the last time they enjoyed a majority in the commons being 1915. Lastly the SNP, frustrating again having spent the political capital weaving a progressive law only for Westminster to block it. Furthermore, it is unclear if a future Labour government would do the same again given the mixed messages their leader holds. Frustrating.
By Paul-John Hanafin
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