I've written a letter to the UK's Conservative Party because I'm concerned about the ongoing policy capture and astro-turfing that is undermining the rights of women under the Equality Act 2010. Here it is:
The letter
I am concerned about the institutional capture of the political
establishment by lobby groups such as Stonewall and Mermaids. This is
evidenced by the mantra-chanting of the members of the Labour and the
Liberal parties, "Trans rights are human rights. Trans women are women.
Trans men are men."
The
Tory Reform Group
positions itself as a liberal, progressive force in the Conservative
party. It promises to ensure fresh thinking anchored in the centre
ground of British politics and to win the support of the British people.
Its embrace of transgender ideology guarantees it is neither liberal
nor progressive, it is not in the centre ground, and will not win the
support of the British people. While the Tory Reform Group (TRG) crows
about how it helped to win seats in key battlegrounds across London, it
seems to forget how Labour lost its Red Wall seats in the North of
England. When both the Conservative Party and the Morning Star agree on
anything, it's worth paying attention to what they are agreeing upon.
What they agree on is
this: that
identity politics
eviscerated support for Labour in the Red Wall seats. Labour isn't helping itself by
pledging to expel
anyone deemed to have expressed transphobic views, i.e. stating that
claiming trans status does not effect a change of sex from male to
female.
The lies they tell
In a recent
article, the TRG made some specious points, which I will break down for you as follows:
- People
who are trans have been allowed to use the bathrooms or domestic
violence refuges which match their gender for many years. This was then
enshrined in law in the 2010 Equality Act and so, for over a decade,
trans women have already been using bathrooms and female changing rooms
at, for example, John Lewis.
This is not true. First of all, per Stonewall, "trans"
encompasses a variety of identities and behaviours that includes cross-dressing,
and does not require a diagnosis or experience of dyshoria. The
Equality Act 2010 (EA2010) specifically refers to transsexuals, e.g.
people who have undergone or intend to undergo gender reassignment,
which occurs following a diagnosis of dysphoria. Moreover, EA2010 states
that female-only spaces and services are lawful and that
exclusion of transsexuals (a term used in the Act, along with ‘gender
reassignment’) does not equate to ‘gender reassignment discrimination’,
provided it is a proportionate means to achieve a legitimate aim, e.g.
to give women who have suffered sexual abuse a space away from male
people. To uphold the protected characteristic of sex does not roll back
anyone's rights. The misinformation provided to trans-identified people
and their subsequent consternation is Stonewall's fault for
misrepresenting the law to them.
- ...
in the British Attitudes Survey, 72% of women said that they were ‘very’
or ‘quite’ comfortable with trans women using women’s toilets, and 64%
of men said the same thing about trans men.
-
The second part of the debate is around reforming the current system to
allow trans people to get a certificate, which confirms their gender, in
an easier and more straightforward fashion.
This is misleading. The certificates are intended
for transsexuals, and we already have gay marriage so having it (or not)
does not prevent them from marrying whom they wish. The TRG wants to
hand them out to anyone who asks for one with no gatekeeping.
-
The Government’s own consultation found that the current system for
certificates is expensive, outdated and incredibly slow. Reforming the
process of obtaining a certificate in a simpler and more practical way
is in keeping with the Government’s 2018 LGBT Action Plan.
This was not the
experience
of my online acquaintance @iamtranssexual. The fee can be waived in
circumstances of hardship and "Lonely" is waiting for her case to go
before a panel. Since she has provided all that was required of her, she
expects to receive her certificate when the panel has rendered its
decision since she is a post-op transsexual.
-
Allowing trans people a more straightforward and practical way of
obtaining their gender certificate is common sense. It’s easier and
quicker. Ultimately this isn’t to its core about the rights of
transgender people, this is simply about efficient and effective
Government.
This is pure gaslighting. They are conflating
sex and gender, and pretending the certificate is issued to support a
gender identity. It is not. It confirms the transsexual status of a
given individual.
-
By allowing the errors in the debate on trans rights to go uncorrected
and the media to continue to inflame discriminatory views, there is a
real risk of causing not only untold damage to the trans community but
real reputational damage to our Party.
The errors
here are the TRG's, and the inflammation of allegedly discriminatory
views are due to pushback against the erosion of women's sex-based
rights under the Equality Act 2010 to spaces of our own. The damage to
the trans community is being done by the lies being told to them and the
behaviour of people who purport to be acting on their behalf. As for
reputational damage, take a look at the Labour party and its drop in
support among women. That awaits the Conservative party if you fall for
these deceptions.
- True libertarians and real
Conservatives understand this and value an individual’s right to live as
they choose, have their rights protected and to live their lives in
peace. Forwards, not backward. This is the essence of Conservatism.
I
could almost hear the martial music playing in the background as I read
this. It's the "No true Scotsman" logical fallacy coupled with an
appeal to emotion. Notice that none of these rights are extended to
women or religious folk. The essence of Conservatism has always been the
upholding of traditional values. It's why I describe myself as
conservative.
- Any revision to the Equality Act would be seen by our One Nation
members as a rollback of progress.
We women have been campaigning against the revision of the Equality Act, and so have they. This is disingenuous.
-
Failing to allow for reform of the
Gender Recognition Act in line with the Government’s own consultation is
deeply concerning.
The Government's own consultation
revealed that people think of "trans" people as pre-op or post-op
transsexuals, not cross-dressers and non-binary.
- The recent debate around the trans community has many of the same
aspects of the gay marriage debate. To use language from that debate,
Conservative should support trans rights not in spite of but because we
are Conservatives.
It does not. The idea of gay marriage was
to permit people of the same sex to marry and enjoy the same rights as a
couple as heterosexual couples do. Trans people already have the same
rights as everyone else, and when asked what rights they don't have,
they can never answer, as a rule. When someone does answer, they want us
to treat people who claim trans identity the same way we treat
transsexual people. The difference between them is that transsexualism
is a quantifiable, provable medical reality while a gender identity is
not. I can claim to be non-binary; who could prove I'm actually a
heterosexual woman instead?
- We absolutely must defend freedom and equality at all costs.
Except
the freedom and equality of women, who are automatically transphobic if
they don't use the word "cis" to describe themselves and who don't
accept being reduced to "mentstruators" or "individuals with a cervix,"
etc.
Institutional capture
The transgender ideology we are seeing take root in public discourse at
the moment denies half of the population a name of its own as a
distinct, discrete sex class. Instead, it relegates women to a subset of
their own sex via the use of the word "cis," which includes
biologically male people who identify as women. "Cis" and the use of new
pronouns is a shibboleth test to decide who is among the faithful and
who is an infidel. The growing use of the "voluntary"
use of pronouns
in email signatures and the self-description of people who do not claim
trans identity as "cisgender" can easily be used to discriminate
against people who do not wish to use them, and as it has been made
clear from the monstering of JK Rowling, anyone who does not embrace
this ideology will be described as a bigot and is almost certainly at
risk of losing their job or if not, any chance of promotion within their
organisations. Note that this is purportedly in support of the trans
community. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, disabled, and religious
communities have never been offered this kind of support, but then this
has nothing to do with equality.
I am waiting for the results of an FOIA request I made about who had input into compiling the advice in the
Bench Book, which was used in Maya Forstater's case against her former employers. Meanwhile,
the police and the
BMA
have been captured and are making policy based on advice provided by
Stonewall et al based on gender identity which contravenes the law on
the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act 2010. According
to the Fair Cop report on policing, the training provided is to get
ahead of the law in anticipation of the reform of the Gender Recognition
Act. In practice, this meant that women holding a protest in Leeds were
arrested and fined because
the police believe that women's rights is not an issue that warrants a protest.
We have videos and testimony of this. When did the police have the
authority to decide which issues do or do not warrant a protest? If we
absolutely must defend freedom and equality at all costs, each of those
fines should be refunded at once.
Freedom and equality for all
If
you want to win the next election, the Conservative Party must be the
one that stands with and for women. The Tory Reform Group must be
confronted about its lies and misinformation and politically homeless
women like myself must be welcomed into a party where they can be sure
that their rights and freedoms will be respected and upheld. Trans
rights are human rights, and women's rights are human rights too. In
order to maintain the balance so that all of our rights are respected,
there must be debate and all stakeholders must be permitted to speak and
be heard. All policies must be based on evidence, or they will fail.
I
appeal to you to thoroughly investigate the Tory Reform Group to find
out where it gets its talking points from. Please also investigate
Stonewall and Mermaids. If, as I contend, they are misrepresenting the
law, their funding should be ended and the institutions that take
training from them must do so no more.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Wendy Cockcroft
There's more to do
I urge all of you who are concerned about these issues to write to your MPs. If the trans lobby can gain this much traction over our political parties, so can others. As we discovered today, pressure works. In a statement today, Minister Liz Truss said:
It is the Government’s view that the balance struck in this
legislation is correct, in that there are proper checks and balances in
the system and also support for people who want to change their legal
sex.
However, it is also clear that we need to improve the process and
experience that transgender people have when applying for a Gender
Recognition Certificate – making it kinder and more straightforward.
Our changes will address the main concerns that trans people themselves
tell us they have about it. - Response to Gender Recognition Act (2004) consultation
This came about because women formed groups and organised online to make their voices heard. We relied on evidence provided by Stonewall itself that it was misrepresenting the law as provided to us by the police, the judiciary's Bench Book, and other institutions. We pointed out the risks to women of letting any man identify as a woman and the harms that have already occurred. And we got the backing of the press, academics, and politicians — anyone who would listen to us, and we pushed until we got this over the line. Needless to say, trans lobby outlet Pink News had this to say:
They've been misrepresenting the law in anticipation of the reform of the Gender Recognition Act, which, had they won, would have erased the protected class of sex by making it meaningless, since they conflate it with gender, by which they mean "gender identity."
A new battle front: hate speech legislation
Alarmingly, it seems Truss has thrown them a bone. Per the Spectator:
Under the ‘further information’ section at the bottom of the press release, this appears:
'The
Government has asked the Law Commission to review the coverage and
effectiveness of current hate crime legislation, which includes
exploring whether transphobic hate crime should be considered an
aggravated offence.’ - Is Liz Truss seeking to emulate Scotland’s hate crime bill? by Stephen Daisley for the Spectator, 22/09/2020
I'm not in favour of hate crime legislation as a rule because I've seen it being abused. In this case, anyone who doesn't chant the TWAW (trans women are women) mantra with all the other cultists risks being punished by the law as well as by the mob. The only way I'd let that go unchallenged is if misogyny was added to the list of groups protected by such a law.
Whether you agree with me or not, such legislation is dangerous and inimical to democracy and the democratic process. Please don't let the totalitarians win.
Update:
It seems that common sense has prevailed. However, the organisations pushing the trans agenda aren't going to give up just like that. They are going to redouble their efforts, claiming that we are working to remove their rights. We're not, we just want to ensure we don't lose our own. They are already planning their fightback. We need to be ready for it.
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