Thread by @FiLiA_charity

🧵 @FreyaVanadiss is attending the debate for #FiLiA. Women from @Womans_Place_UK, @SexMattersOrg, @AllianceLGB here too, as women who have been impacted by gender ideology. Been chatting to a nurse forced from her job for stating #SexMatters #MakeTheEqualityActClear #EqualityAct

For those unable to attend, you can watch live from 4.30pm, BST.

▶️ parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/60…

#EqualityAct #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻

.@ToniaAntoniazzi, a member of the Petitions Committee, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. MPs from all parties can take part, and the Govt will send a minister to respond. Follow the Committee on Twitter & join the discussion using #EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

MPs will debate the following two petitions:

“Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex”

“Commit to not amending the Equality Act's definition of sex”.

#EqualityAct #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters #PetitionDebate

.@ToniaAntoniazzi opens the #debate with her speech.

#MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters #TakeTheDebateToWestminster #EqualityAct #PetitionDebate

Tonia is putting forward what both sides of the #PetitionsDebate say, what the impact is, what problems the grey are causes.

#EqualityAct #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

MPs have left for 15 minutes as a division has been called.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

parliament.uk/about/how/busi…

This is a Westminster Hall debate. Westminster Hall debates give MPs an opportunity to raise local or national issues & receive a response from a govt minister. Any MP can take part in a Westminster Hall debate.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

The MPs are back and @ToniaAntoniazzi continues opening the #debate.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻♀️♂️

She is talking now about the @EHRC being asked by @KemiBadenoch for their views. You can read their response here:

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻♀️♂️

equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/ne…

She is now detailing each of the petitioners positions, including @MForstater and @SexMattersOrg

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

We are now onto the debate proper, and firstly Ranil Jayawardena MP from the @Conservatives speaks on why he believes #SexMatters

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #sexmattersinlifeandlaw

Next up we are hearing from @joannaccherry who states that her constituency had one of the highest signatures to the petition to #MakeTheEqualityActClear & she stresses that we are not asking to *change* the law, we are asking for it to be clarified.

#PetitionsDebate #SexMatters

She makes the point that lesbians are same-sex attracted, and should be allowed to exclude males from their dating lives, their single sex lesbian groups, their clubs etc. She supports the first #petition.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Now @miriam_cates is speaking and giving some real life examples of how gender identity interacts and interferes with the rights of women to #singlesexspaces & services & how we all know what a woman is!

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻♀️♂️

We are hearing from @angelaeagle who criticises the prev. speakers, esp those who say the #EqualityAct affects who we can date, & says they have been provocative. She is supporting the 2nd petition & calls it a 'war on woke'.

#PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

She evokes the memory of Section 28 & claims this mirrors this. She also references the high number of laws coming in the US & that any change would lead to discrimination to gender non-conforming women & trans people.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear

We now hear from @AJRichardsonMP who is supporting the petition to #MakeTheEqualityActClear and she explains why. She is concerned about the unintended consequences of not clarifying the #EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #SexMatters 🚻♀️♂️

She makes the great point that providing facilities does not mean converting the women's into unisex & leaving the men's alone! Being a woman is a specific experience & we need protection on the basis of the protected characteristic of sex.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

Now @jessphillips is drawing on her experience in the MVAWG sector & how it's mainly women who need to access single-sex services. Making the great point about decommissioning DV services to generic ones. How orgs are afraid of losing funding.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

She says it is up to the government to #MakeTheEqualityActClear and services should be able to provide #singlesexservices and other specialist services, inc. for disabled people, women of other races etc. She supports sex specific services.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

Peter Bottomley MP references @HJoyceGender and @Docstockk's books and then moves onto the problem in women's sports, prisons and #singlesexcare #savewomenssports #fairplayforwomen

Now the fantastic @RosieDuffield1 who mentions the toxic debate and how it has affected her. She details the many ways in which women are affected by discrimination, violence and under the law, so why we need to #MakeTheEqualityActClear #EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #SexMatters

She lists a long list of people who have contacted her who have shared how they have been affected by the current debate on #SexNotGender #SexMeansSex and how the #EqualityAct was not passed for the reasons it is now being weaponized.

#PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear

Rosie says she will continue to speak out, "death threats or no death threats!!" 🔥🔥🔥

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters @RosieDuffield1

Nick Fletcher MP supports the first petition & talks about #safeguarding of children, of women's sports & respecting ALL rights, esp. our young children, who are entitled to be safe, to access fair sports etc.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Dame Nia Griffith from @LabourParty is talking about how sports are decided by sports bodies & is confused why so many are confused about this. She feels the clarification would be a blanket ban on trans people using the spaces they are entitled to

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

She states that anyone can pretend to be anything to access spaces, e.g some police are criminals, some meter readers, and trans people are being demonized. Dame Nia Griffiths says trans people need our support.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

We missed who this speaker is but he is talking about specific services where #SexMatters inc. health, religion, privacy, dignity etc. When we state we want female only care, we should be entitled to it. He now reads from the infamous @NHSConfed guidance!

#EqualityAct 🚻♀️♂️

.@joannaccherry asks whether the @NHSConfed guidance breaches the #EqualityAct and various articles of the #HumanRights act.

#MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters #PetitionsDebate 🚻♀️♂️

Luke Pollard MP now talks and repeats his belief in gender identity and how much trans people need our support. He feels the law as it stands is fine as it is and there is no need to #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters #PetitionsDebate

Please note, there is no live tweeting in Westminster Hall, so we are tweeting via the live Parliament TV link:

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/60…

He references women's sports, how much this has been impacted and talks about the work of @fairplaywomen and @sharrond62 - you can watch their latest video #InclusionDelusion here:

Lloyd Russell-Moyle mentions how sex is not binary and how complex it is, we need to be careful. He gives way to someone who talks about chromosomes but unclear why...

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻♀️♂️

He mentions unisex facilities and @jessphillips speaks up for women, saying many of us still want #singlesexspaces and changing areas.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters 🚻♀️🧵

We now have a break for another division.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

The debate is also streaming live on @YouTube here:

youtube.com/live/7-9MsJo6-…

We are back with Russell-Moyle who wants local control, fair balance & the real crisis is the lack of spaces for women, trans people & 12 years of austerity of the Conservative government & not this "dogwhistle".

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Jonathan Gullis MP wants to speak in favour of the petition to #MakeTheEqualityActClear, it is obvious that sex is biological, that a woman is an #AdultHumanFemale - he talks about the courage of @jk_rowling & other women speaking out.

#SexMatters #EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate

He is asked about sex in the #EqualityAct and whether it also covers sex 'assigned at birth'. He vehemently refutes that sex is assigned, states it is observed and he invokes Occam's Razor.

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters ♂️🚻♀️

Now we are hearing from @JNHanvey who states it is shocking that we would seek to lie to patients and deny them their privacy. He is very passionate about how women & children need our rights protecting by equalties legislation & therefore should be able to describe everyone!

He @JNHanvey states that children need protection from those who would force gender stereotypes on them and ends with a reference to #Aristotle 🔥

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Now Peter Gibson MP speaks in favour of the second petition to keep the status quo. He claims we are ok the way we are, what purpose would it serve, except to make discrimination easier?

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

We now hear from @theSNP @KirstySNP who rebuts the previous speakers & goes on to say no-one has been able to define biology, she does not know what chromosomes she has & "cis people" (sic) are again debating "trans people".

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear

Missed who this speaker is but she speaks to support the first petition, says the fact we have TWO court cases trying to work this out makes it obvious that we need to #MakeTheEqualityActClear and that @MForstater had to spend years & thousands of pounds because of the confusion!

Believe it was @Caroline_Ansell and she references 'Maria' who shared her story in the news last week, where she was hounded out of @Oxfam due to her support for @jk_rowling. You can read, @bindelj on this here:

unherd.com/2023/06/i-quit…

Anna Firth MP @Anna_Firth now speaks on her support to #MakeTheEqualityActClear and she focuses on #singlesexspaces and makes it clear that a woman is someone born female and a man is someone born male. Case by case does not work!

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #SexMatters

She finishes by talking about Fallon Fox and the damage this trans boxer caused to Tamikka Brents.

Read about the fight to restore fairness in female sport here at @fairplaywomen #fairplayforwomen #savewomenssports ♂️🚻♀️

fairplayforwomen.com/a-progress-rep…

Kirsten Oswald MP SNP now says her rights are not diminished by giving others rights. She says she would like to be talking about sex discrimination, buffer zones, things that would make our lives better

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Kirsten Oswald says what is happening here is mirroring the situation in the US, she refuses to give way on any of the points, despite being asked many times. Biological sex is complicated, intersex people are again mentioned, despite this not being relevant.

#EqualityAct ♂️🚻♀️

So now @AnnelieseDodds who is the Shadow Women & Equalities Secretary and we await to see which petition she supports being from the @LabourParty - read what @LabWomenDec think here:

labourwomensdeclaration.org.uk

She says the @LabourParty supports the #EqualityAct and does not want this undermined. She says LP want to both protect trans people and #singlesexspaces for women. Any change must be very carefully done and must provide clarity.
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/labo…

She wants to know if the govt has completed detailed legal analysis of any changes to the #EqualityAct and will they be replying to the @EHRC. If so, she wants to read this and then the @LabourParty will reply. She details the impact of years of #austerity on women's lives.

Now @mariacaulfield is speaking about how any law needs to be functional and we must be able to admit when it needs some clarification. She is the Minister for Women and Mental Health for the @Conservatives

#EqualityAct #PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

She says it is only right that both women and trans people are protected but that we can see that maybe the law is not clear. This is why @KemiBadenoch wrote to the @EHRC for advice. She also quotes @rishisunakmp1 saying that women's single sex spaces need protecting.

The @EHRC has said the #EqualityAct can be clarified but it could also bring in ambiguity so it is important to take the time to get this right. They have taken the @EHRC's advice and are now considering the next steps.

#PetitionsDebate #MakeTheEqualityActClear #SexMatters

Two interruptions, one to reference @victor_madrigal and @joannaccherry stating that he does not represent all of those who are same-sex attracted. @mariacaulfield is now talking about the protections under the #EqualityAct and who can be excluded at the moment.

She @mariacaulfield is saying most women are not saying that trans people are predators, most women want single sex spaces to be with women, for privacy, dignity and safety. Please refer to the @EHRC guidance as this makes it clear who can be excluded under the #EqualityAct

She is now detailing the changes being made for trans people to access healthcare and GRCs.

She is closing the debate by referencing the amount of signatures on the petition.

The government recognises the importance of biological sex and the government will come back with answers once they have done a the needed legal analysis and research. She thanks all for attending.

Finally we hear from @ToniaAntoniazzi who states that intersex is nothing to do with this discussion, that they have asked to be left out of this. Single sex spaces are about risk management, we must have this discussion, it is important for us to debate for our constituents.

"The question is that this House has considered e-petitions 62324 and 627984. As many are of the opinion say "aye", on the contrary, say "no". The ayes have it, the ayes have it"

/ends

#EqualityAct #PetitionDebate #SexMatters @SexMattersOrg ♂️🚻♀️

committees.parliament.uk/publications/3…

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