Liberal Democrats’ Grassroots Challenge to Policy on Women’s Sex Based Rights

I am not a natal woman I am not a cis woman I am not a person who menstruates or a person with a cervix I am a woman - an adult human female.

I have joined the party since the 2015 motion and it seems to me that the closing down debate on a policy which carries the real risk of harming the women's liberation movement is illiberal.

Deeply disappointed that 2 leadership candidates have closed down any debate and understanding of sex based rights by repeating a “Trans Women are Women” mantra Trans are Trans.

Excellent. Keep up the fight.

It really is a simple thing to understand. When a child is born without one clear defining sex characteristic then the matter is complex and not open to policymakers but open to medical people, parents and the child / young person themselves. The law we have based around protected sex characteristics should not be muddied or confused due to a medically termed condition such as I understand gender dysphoria to be. If a 3rd space is needed; if a 3rd protected character is needed then do it but not at the expense of any other sex. I am a woman and I do not know what it 'feels' like to be a woman; I just am. I similarly do not know what it feels like to be my neighbour, my mother, my sister, my daughter - all women - because they are not me. There is no 'feeling' like a woman. You either are or you are not, the only exception being the complexity of the child born as both. Please please see how simple this is. Please please understand how needed sex based rights & protection are.

'Woman' must retain the original meaning.

Freedom of speech and the right to explore and debate all issues however controversial is an essential aspect of Liberalism. It worries me very much that my party seems to be content to forbid discussion and vilify those with legitimate concerns in this very contentious area, with hugely important implications for women including those of all ethnicities and faiths. That is not Liberalism.

Concerned that this is still policy. Thought I must have missed something.

It’s shocking how Jo Swinson mouthed about this issue ( as a woman) that appeared to suggest she had come across not having any indepth knowledge about the complex issue for women and girls and people freely able to change sex just by ‘saying so. Self Identification ( SI) as the opposite sex without a change in the law has already presented problems in our prisons where dangerous sex offenders have used SI to gain access to women’s prisons and sexually abuse already vulnerable women prisoners. The idea that womens sex based rights and protections as enshrined in current laws can be watered down to include any man who want to SI as a woman would be dangerous policy error. Currently transsexuals who hold a GRA certificate are included in Women’s protections but to include men who have not undergone any form of treatment into the legal category of women is not only fraught with abuse but places women and girls at high risk of sexual attack from men who SI for the illegal purpose. Current GRA is should continue and Womens Sex based rigjts as stated within the current Equalities Act must as a priority be safeguarded and not altered.

Liberals believe in free speech. The debate around women's rights v trans women's rights, seems to be putting paid to free speech. This is the canary in the mine of free and open debate and I would expect all liberals to defend wholeheartedly the right to speak one's truth.

I’m currently a Lib Dem member, but on this issue I will not exchange the truth for a lie. Transwomen are not women.

This law will give no protection to women and girls and it's a right that they should have safe spaces to prevent potential peeves having access to there spaces I.e changing rooms and toilets.

Unless Jo Swinson agrees to these reasonable statements and requests, I will not be voting Lib Dem.

Women's bodies matter. Never allow self ID. Stop any male from going in our spaces. Stop all prostitution.

Women's safety is more important than men's feelings.

Extremely disappointed in party policy on self ID and in Jo Swinson’s lazy and foolish comments on Andrew Marr.

This petition is mentioned in this article. Thank you all for speaking out https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/women-are-rising-and-will-not-be-silenced?fbclid=IwAR3baJs1LG0NeUHQI1Kbrjle-KGAKPxWKiG1RVQrrb2J66cn1oqZSTh16vE

There is a need to define male in the context of this declaration. Preservation of womens' sex based rights in all areas is essential and women must have the right to refuse male bodied individuals in their spaces.

I have mentioned this petition in this article on sex-based rights. Well done for speaking out. https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/women-are-rising-and-will-not-be-silenced

Please rethink the policy on gender recognition to consider the safeguarding implications for women's sex (not gender) segregated spaces