Thread by @fairplaywomen

Thread 1/ Powerful interview of @Libdems leader @joswinson by @Emmabarnett on @BBCWomansHour today.

You can listen here from 12 minutes 50 seconds in. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 2/ "Do you understand why some women are very concerned about this? [#sexselfID and GRA reform]" @Emmabarnett

"We have a real problem here that there are many vulnerable transwomen and transmen" @joswinson

No acknowledgement at all that some women want & need male-free spaces

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 3/ @joswinson was asked how many trans people there are.

"not millions" & "probably in the thousands".

Jo, you want to allow any male a new birth certificate saying he was born female but you have no idea of scale or the resulting impact on the legal sex status of female??

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 4/ "We could go and look it up in the census" says @joswinson

No you can't Jo. In the last census trans people were allowed to self-identify their sex. This means males who identify as women are being counted as female and not trans. Trans groups want the same again this year.

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 5/ "every shelter needs to be able keep people safe and do so on the basis of risk" @joswinson

Being female-only is the most effective & reliable safeguarding measure for a women's shelter. Replacing this with individual risk assessments is unworkable

womansplaceuk.org/2019/11/25/why…

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 6/ "I reject the assumption that transwomen are more likely [than ciswomen] to be a risk"

Its no assumption Jo. Transwomen are male. Males are overwhelming more likely than females to be perpetrators of violence. There's no evidence gender identity alters male pattern violence.

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 7/ "The answer is to have proper risk assessments to prevent abuse"

But Jo, the principle of self-ID means there can be NO assessment of which males get new female birth certificates. You want to wipe away the existing gate-keeping like a doctors diagnosis of gender dysphoria

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 8/ "How will you guarantee women's sex based protections when you reform the GRA?" @Emmabarnett

"Transwomen are women" answers @joswinson

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 9/ "Equality law does not work if ... it doesn't recognise people have multiple characteristics" @joswinson

Yes Jo! Transwomen have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment but are legally male. They CAN be excluded from female-only spaces but few dare use this law

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 10/ When you allow any male to become legally female and for it to be a criminal offence for people to be told they were born male, how will you guarantee women's existing right to access to male-free space?

This needs answering @joswinson

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 11/ "I recognise there is controversy" and "much of the reporting is sensationalised" says @joswinson

That's not answering the question Jo.

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 12/ "I ask you again @JoSwinson how will you guarantee women's sex-based protections" @Emmabarnett

"I don't believe there is a problem" says @Joswinson

Jo needs a reminder. The answer is that yr manifesto doesn't guarantee to protect sex-based rights

womansplaceuk.org/2019/11/22/gen…

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 13/ Thank you to @BBCWomansHour and the courageous @Emmabarnett for holding the @LibDems to account on this important issue for women.

Women can now make up their own minds about @joswinson

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour 14/ This interview, combined with the excellent interrogation of @Sarahwollaston by @maitlis on @BBCNewsnight has revealed just how weak the @LibDems are on this topic when asked to justify their stance.

Watch starting 29 mins in
bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…

@LibDems @joswinson @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour @sarahwollaston @maitlis @BBCNewsnight 15/ We hope @Joswinson & @sarahwollaston read this info thread.

But @Sarahwollaston blocked us after yesterdays thread challenging her assumptions.

Thank goodness for strong interviewers like @maitlis and @Emmabarnett holding them to account / end.

https://twitter.com/fairplaywomen/status/1202909529886867457?s=20