A Week in the War on Women: Monday 8th August - Sunday 14th August GOOD NEWS SUPPLEMENT

Aug 16, 2022

Another very positive week on the gender beat. Here are just a few of the good news stories. Enjoy!

Brava Braverman

Attorney General, Suella Braverman MP, made a ground-breaking speech on schools policy, single-sex spaces & legal responsibilities relating to gender identity ideology.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange, she clarified the law pertaining to protected characteristics under the EA2010, single sex spaces and schools policy. Her speech was summarised on Twitter in two excellent threads by Fair Play For Women and TransgenderTrend.

FairPlayForWomen @fairplaywomen

THREAD: Summary of the law on single-sex spaces by Attorney General @SuellaBraverman "Both public and private bodies are struggling to understand their obligations. My aim today is to provide clarity on the law". /1

gov.ukEqualities and rights: Conflict and the need for clarityAttorney General Suella Braverman spoke at Policy Exchange about equalities and human rights

Here is a quick precis of the main points:

A Gender Recognition Certificate does not confer self-identification and does not automatically allow entry to the single-sex services intended for the opposite sex. “A right not to suffer discrimination on grounds of gender reassignment is not the same thing as a right of access to facilities provided for the opposite sex.”
Schools are not under a legal obligation to treat gender questioning children as if they are their preferred gender and schools are lawfully able to maintain a single-sex approach.
No child should be punished for not using the preferred pronouns of a trans-identified pupil.
Allowing trans-identified boys to use the girls’ toilets might constitute indirect discrimination against the female children and break the law. “Protecting girls’ privacy, dignity and safety are eminently legitimate aims.”
“Social transition is not a neutral act” and can only be permitted after extensive consultation with parents & clinicians.
“Schools and teachers who socially transition a child without the knowledge or consent of parents or without medical advice increase their exposure to a negligence claim for breach of their duty of care to that child.”
Primary schools should not require children to know the meaning of words such as transgender, gender fluid, asexual and should not teach 4 year olds that they can choose their gender.
Parents have a right to access teaching materials being used in their children’s schools.

Stonewalls Come Tumbling Down

The Government's Legal Department (GLD) is withdrawing from Stonewall's ‘diversity champions’ scheme

“The GLD today became the latest in a host of high profile bodies to abandon the project, including the BBC, Channel 4, Ofsted, the Cabinet Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. A spokesperson said: ‘GLD will not be renewing its membership to Stonewall's Diversity Champions programme this year’”.

A Level Playing Field

Irish Rugby has announced new guidelines which will prevent trans-identified males from playing contact rugby on women’s teams.

Irish Rugby @IrishRugby

IRFU updates Transgender guidelines. ‘This is a particularly sensitive area, and it is important that respect is shown to all members of our rugby family and the wider community.’ irishrugby.ie/2022/08/10/irf…

“Recent peer reviewed research provides evidence that there are physical differences between those people whose sex was assigned as male and those as female at birth, and advantages in strength, stamina and physique brought about by male puberty are significant and retained even after testosterone suppression.

The new policy, which is in line with that of World Rugby, the RFU and other governing bodies, will mean that contact rugby for players in the female category is limited to those whose sex was recorded as female at birth.”

The Bleedin’ Obvious

NHS Wales has confirmed that a public-funded website which offers advice about periods and menstruation will be using female-specific language instead of the current dehumanising phrases.

In a statement NHS Wales Health Collaborative said, “We have listened carefully to recent feedback on our use of language. Having considered a wide spectrum of views, we will be making some changes to include referring to young women and girls rather than ‘people who bleed’”.

One For Your Reading List

You can now pre-order signed copies of Andrew Doyle’s forthcoming book, The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World.