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Liberal Democrats – It’s Time to Campaign for What We Believe In – Amend the Equality Act and Remove Sex as a Protected Characteristic

George Cooper avatar

George Cooper

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8 comments on Liberal Democrats – It’s Time to Campaign for What We Believe In – Amend the Equality Act and Remove Sex as a Protected Characteristic

George Cooper argues that the party should have the courage of its convictions.

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The back of a person cloaked in a rainbow flag and wearing a black baseball cap backwards. The word "EQUALITY" is printed on the front of the cap.

Editor’s note: This article was submitted anonymously. George Cooper is a pseudonym. He informed me that the article was previously submitted to another Liberal Democrat supporting website but he was told that it would not be published if he did not reveal his name. He is unable to do this. After reading the article, I decided to publish it in the interest of open debate. At Liberal Voices we aim to showcase all strands of opinion in the party. It could be argued that the views in the article are close to reductio ad absurdum. That is for you to decide.    

I have been getting increasingly frustrated with the approach taken by many campaigners in the party recently. Let’s be blunt, last year’s Supreme Court ruling was a huge blow and the recently published EHRC guidelines only serve to confirm what we already knew. Powerful forces are at work across the land and they are determined to reverse the gains that trans people have made in society in recent years. Brutally, they want to push everyone back in the closet.

There is currently an Early Day Motion opposing the adoption of the EHRC guidelines before parliament that is gaining signatures, including those of many LibDem MPs. This is pointless.

Even if it succeeds, it will not change the law. The law will still be in place and the law is the problem. Sex is a protected characteristic and as long as this remains the case, people will argue that sex matters and that some people who care about biological sex will push for special exemptions that prevent trans people from living a full, normal life.

As a party we should be campaigning to amend the Equality Act and removing sex as a protected characteristic within it. The law needs to recognise that gender and gender identity matter. If we all have an internal identity that may conflict with our outer appearance, this must be clear in law and superficial physical characteristics that imply a sexual identity must be disregarded. Only by amending the law in this way, will the future of trans people in our society be assured. We have been on the back foot for too long. It is time for the LibDems to adopt a clear policy to amend the Equality Act in our campaign literature and future manifesto. Nothing less than this is acceptable. We have a proud history of campaigning for human rights. It is part of our DNA. There is no time to waste.

George Cooper is a longtime armchair LibDem supporter and sometime leaflet deliverer. Employment restrictions currently prevent party membership.

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8 responses to “Liberal Democrats – It’s Time to Campaign for What We Believe In – Amend the Equality Act and Remove Sex as a Protected Characteristic”

  1. Mike Sammon avatar
    Mike Sammon

    Removing sex as a protected characteristic from the Equality Act would be a monumental step backwards and would make women and girls less safe.

    It would do more harm to the Liberal Democrats’ electoral hopes than almost any policy in Liberal or Liberal Democrat history. It would not only send potential voters running for the hills, but would reduce our membership and activist base too.

    Trans people should also be protected and treated with respect. They are already protected under the Equality Act through gender reassignment. But that does not mean removing sex-based protections or allowing access to single-sex spaces or women’s sport.

    It is in our party’s interests, and the country’s interests, to stand firm on protecting single-sex spaces for the safety, privacy and dignity of women and girls.

    Reply
  2. Alex Hosking avatar
    Alex Hosking

    I’m not sure the Equality Act can replace a clearly definable and falsifiable characteristic with an abstract concept.

    Reply
  3. Toby Keynes avatar
    Toby Keynes

    This is so unapologetically extreme that I strongly suspect it is a put-up job, so I won’t try to argue the case against it.

    However, I really would appreciate reading any responses from Plus supporters explaining
    * EITHER why this really isn’t what they want at all;
    * OR why this is exactly what they want.

    And it would be really nice if we could hear from both sides of that debate.

    Reply
  4. Anne Williams avatar
    Anne Williams

    This is a perfect example of the sort of thinking that led directly to (so-named) Isla Bryson, convicted double rapist, being incarcerated in a women’s prison. Fortunately, moral sense and rationality resurfaced, but only after his victims went through the punishment, in the court room, of having to refer to ‘her penis’.

    Reply
  5. Andrew MacGregor avatar
    Andrew MacGregor

    The premise of the article is to lie about the judgement and the rights of trans people.
    The judgement was in favour of a women’s group who successfully challenged the Scottish Govt over its plans to exclude women who are biologically female from roles in what was clearly discriminatory policy decision. What the judge men did was not only to clarify what it meant by man and woman for the purposes of provision of services etc, but it also confirmed the basis of biological sex using precedent judgements. It further confirmed the rights of trans people to a life free from discrimination.

    The call for removing sex from the Equality Act 2010 is not merely an attack on women’s rights. It is a specific danger to life and health of women, and whoever George is, ‘he’ is clearly content to figuratively and literally put women at risk.

    There is no excuse for this kind of vile hate-filled misogyny.

    Reply
    1. Kayed Al-Haddad avatar
      Kayed Al-Haddad

      Couldn’t disagree more with this article! To deny someone their sex protected rights, ironically, is like someone denying the very same rights that Trans activities are frighting for. You can’t have your cake and eat it!

      Reply
  6. Toby Keynes avatar
    Toby Keynes

    I’m sorry that not a single person has been willing to take up the challenge of defending this piece.
    On the one hand, we see LibDem Voice regularly publishing pro-trans-activist stories but actively suppressing comments that challenge those positions; and making a nasty habit of publishing sometimes vicious attacks on gender critical party members but suppressing their responses…
    And on the other hand trans activists absolutely refusing to engage with LibDem Voices.
    This is why positions become so extreme.
    However, at least one side IS willing to engage – mine. Maybe that’s because we believe we can actually persuade people using reason and evidence – if they’re even allowed to hear what we have to say.

    Reply
    1. Andrew MacGregor avatar
      Andrew MacGregor

      It’s hard not to treat with utter contempt never mind hard to support an article that denies the truth and seeks to deny the rights of one group of people in order to satisfy a tiny minority of extremely selfish individuals.

      Reply

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