On the one hand we have the biological argument that you cannot change the sex you were born into, and on the other the rights of individuals who feel that they were born into the wrong body and wish to live life as the gender they feel applies to them, free from bias and discrimination.
Both arguments have merit, but it is illogical and unfair on very many people to restrict ourselves to just one of these extreme views. I strongly disagree with either approach. As with most things in life there is a scale, and it is normally best to take the middle ground.
Before the recent Supreme Court ruling that sex is based on biology we had clearly gone way too far in the opposite direction regarding Trans rights, with some ridiculous examples such as individuals with male genitals allowed in to female prisons, refuges and biological women literally getting battered by Trans females at the boxing Olympics.
But since the ruling it seems that Trans females will once again have to go into hiding and that is simply not fair. They will be barred from female toilets and changing rooms when they consider themselves to be female, and live their life as a female not harming anybody.
In the London Marathon, quite rightly in my opinion Trans females were not allowed to enter the elite race as women. However, following the ruling Sharon Davies, who I previously had a huge amount of time for argued that Trans females should not be allowed to enter at all as female in the general running categories – even fun runners raising money for fabulous charities. I would agree with this if there was money or titles at stake and biological females would be deprived of these but there are not.
Whereas previously Trans rights campaigners were far too demanding and unreasonable, not least Stonewall who managed to alienate the very people they were set up to represent, it now feels like payback time for the other extreme who will not be satisfied until they have removed every last scrap of dignity from Trans females.
Let’s allow the Trans community, who afterall have to endure some awful treatment in addition to all the obvious psychological and physical difficulties of being Trans, some dignity. Remember, biological males who are Trans form the highest proportion of male suicides in the country. It is not an easy life for them!!!
The middle way is easy – allow trans females to live as females except where the risk is too great such as in Refuges or prisons, or it would result in unfair outcomes such as in competitive sport. But likewise, don’t subject the 99% plus of the population to have to consider Trans in every act or decision they make for fear of discriminating, being ‘cancelled’ or dismissed from their jobs.
Yes, there will be occasional predators but there are with all walks of life and that should lead to caution but not to extreme decisions. I don’t know the figures for rapes in female toilets by Trans females in recent years but I suspect that such incidents are vanishingly rare.
The new guidelines that Trans females need to use male toilets is ridiculous, especially as (as far as I am aware) all female toilets are within a lockable cubicle. It is just so cruel – and likely to lead to significantly more hate incidents and violence than the alternative. Likewise, Trans people are not disabled so should not be required to use disabled toilets.
Through my work I have known and supported several Trans females and they are decent, honest, hardworking people who do not have the extreme views that many campaigners have. They just want to live their life as a female, without wanting the whole world to dance to their tune. In a civilised society we should afford them that right.
Finally I would like to clarify something regarding my above views. They only apply to those who wish to change gender permanently and are some way through that process e.g. by having a ‘Gender recognition Certificate’ or equivalent. They do not apply to individuals who flip flop between genders depending on how they feel on a given day, I can’t get my head around that.
Banter & Behaviour in the Workplace
This new e-learning course describes the various forms of harassment and discrimination in an easy-to-understand format so organisations can appreciate where the bar is at work between acceptable behaviour and that which is likely to lead to a grievance or successful Tribunal claim.
