Trans debate gets voice of reason

ENCOURAGING signs that the tide is beginning to turn in the ongoing ‘Terf’ warfare between trans activists and those of us who, while deeply sympathetic to the rights of trans people, are equally determined to preserve those of women and girls.

Baroness Jenkin last week spoke out about why she no longer believes in Government proposals to change the law on self-identification so that anyone who merely states they feel they are the opposite sex must be accorded the rights of the sex they choose.

No surgery, no hormones, no gender dysphoria diagnosis required – a move that could have serious repercussions for vulnerable women, particularly in places like jails, where there have been several incidences of trans women abusing their rights. Jenkin’s intervention is significant because she has in the past been lauded for her work on gender equality by groups such as Stonewall, the once highly respected gay rights organisation, whose chief executive, Nancy Kelley, likened ‘gender-critical’ beliefs (that is to say, the belief that biological sex cannot fundamentally be changed) to antisemitism.

Brave of Jenkin to stand up to the bullies – and good to have a voice like hers on the side of reason in this maddest of modern debates.