The United Kingdom women and equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch has promised to amend the Equality Act to redefine sex and permit establishments to prevent transgender women from accessing gender-specific areas like hospital wards and sports events.
According to her, this will clarify that the protected characteristic of sex refers to biological sex, allowing those who want to exclude male-bodied individuals from groups or events to take action.
Badenoch mentioned that this clarification would offer comfort for services like those supporting domestic abuse victims.
“Whether it is rapists being housed in women’s prisons, or instances of men playing in women’s sports where they have an unfair advantage, it is clear that public authorities and regulatory bodies are confused about what the law says on sex and gender and when to act – often for fear of being accused of transphobia, or not being inclusive,” Badenoch said.
“That is why we are today pledging that, if we form a government after the election, we will clarify that sex in the law means biological sex and not new, redefined meanings of the word. The protection of women and girls’ spaces is too important to allow the confusion to continue.”
The equalities watchdog said the new definition would make it possible to exclude trans people from same-sex spaces even if they hold a gender recognition certificate (GRC)
Announcing the change, Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said that he wanted to enshrine the right to single-sex spaces in law.
“The safety of women and girls is too important to allow the current confusion around definitions of sex and gender to persist,” he said.
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