DUP challenge opponents on protecting women and girls’ spaces

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Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Speaker. This morning I want to talk about the Northern Ireland

00:03Women's Rights Network, which is a UK organisation committed to defending and

00:09bringing clarity to the discourse around sex and gender-based rights. Their work

00:14has been all the more critical in recent years as moves have been made by

00:19governments to alter equality legislation. Some initiatives to promote

00:22self-ID and equality law have had an alarming effect on respect for women's

00:27spaces and provoked a backlash across the political spectrum. Last week they

00:33attended the Executive Office Committee but their evidence was highly criticised

00:37by three of the political parties present. The Alliance Member for East Antrim

00:41said their remarks would be traumatising for trans people. It's however from a

00:46party and I quote, need evidence before deciding on whether a three-year-old can

00:51know whether they are transsexual and their Justice Minister isn't sure how

00:55many genders there are. Sinn Féin branded their arguments and support for single

01:00sex spaces disgraceful. The SCLP stated that not everyone fits neatly into

01:05male and female and said that they did not agree with the evidence presented. So

01:10what could be so controversial and contentious that these comments were

01:13made in the aftermath by committee members? Well I will quote directly from

01:18their oral evidence, when it comes to toilets, changing rooms, health care,

01:22sporting and job opportunities, it is sex that matters and many women have been

01:27forced into silence on these issues in the workplace, family and public life by

01:33the fear of challenging gender ideology. Mr. Speaker I want to apologise for the

01:39unparliamentary and highly provocative language in this next statement. They

01:44stated there were just two sexes, male and female. Now people can define

01:53themselves how they like but the logic of demanding that rights follow is

01:58precarious. In 2022 an able-bodied trans woman from Norway announced that she had

02:04felt disabled since birth. She now defines herself as disabled and spends

02:09every day in a wheelchair, even though she doesn't need one. After this was

02:14reported in the press, disabled rights groups in Norway went apoplectic.

02:20Yesterday the Scottish Express was reported to the police for referring to

02:25transgender woman Dr. Beth Upton as a man during the Sandy Peggy Employment

02:30Tribunal. The largely discredited stonewall is still funded by the

02:35Minister of Finance in a Northern Ireland Assembly. Well in this party we

02:41know what a woman is, we know how many sexes there are and seemingly unlike

02:46most other parties in this chamber we are wholly committed to protecting

02:50women's and girls spaces. Thank you Mr. Speaker.