Jess Phillips warned that the 'status quo doesn't work' as Labor appears to have clarified its stance on transgender issues after months of confusion. Photo: Andrew Crowley.
Single sex shelters must be protected,” Jess Phillips insisted in comments that would be seen as a challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.
Ms Phillips, shadow minister for domestic violence, warned that ” the status quo is not working” as Labor appears to have clarified its stance on transgender issues after months of confusion.
This comes after Health Minister Maria Caulfield warned it would “take time” before the government will make some final decision to change the Equality Act.
“What we don't want is to create additional problems by changing or clarifying the Equality Act, which is unforeseen,” said Ms. Caulfield.
During the debate on potential reform, Ms. Phillips said that It is “highly disruptive” that some specialized women's services have been scrapped in favor of all-or-nothing offerings.
Anneliese Dodds, the party's chairman, added that Labor “supports the protection of certain places reserved for biological women, such as shelters for vulnerable women.” Ms. Dodds argued that this is already provided for in current legislation.
Ms. Phillips told MPs: “Sex and gender are different. I have never met a transgender person who denied this, or in years I had a very heated debate with him.
“In my life, the discrimination that I was subjected to by institutions, and not just your everyday sexism , has always been linked to my biology.”
The government has sought the advice of the equality watchdog on changing the wording. of the Equality Act to clarify that it protects “biological sex” rather than “gender”, and the Commission on Equality and Human Rights said it would “bring legal clarity” to eight areas, including same-sex spaces.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, said in April that “99.9%” of women are penisless and promised last year to “update” the Gender Recognition Act despite warnings that it could allow predatory men gain access to single-sex spaces. .
In 2020, Sir Keir said: “Trans rights are human rights and I support the right to self-identification.” Members of his shadow cabinet have also given varying definitions of a woman over the past year.
Labor Party sources said the party agreed with Ms Phillips that gender is different from gender and pointed to parts of the Act in force about equality, which they said they were already defending separate-sex spaces.
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