SwearyGodmother

A consultation has happened from which women were excluded, and at present the government are stalling on further consultation. This isn?t just about the changes to the GRA and Equality Act, it?s about the effect of service providers implementing self ID policies without applying any common sense. I am clearly a woman and when I stated that I identify as a man I was allowed access to the men?s changing room and swim. The implication is that any man could do the same. He wouldn?t have to legally change his sex, just tell a receptionist that he?s a woman. We?ve all been cowed into silence by the screams of ?transphobe, bigot? so I wouldn?t expect a receptionist to risk being abused by refusing someone access to a changing room, nor would I expect them to feel able to go against official policy. Now what kind of man would lie to get to watch women undressing? I mean, we?ve never heard of or experienced anyone do this ever. And they can do it in plain sight now.

It?s not that only women should be consulted. It?s that we should be consulted too. A consultation was done already with trans pressure groups so theirs are the only voices that have been heard in Parliament on this matter. We want our seat at the table and our say too. I know the issue goes far beyond changing rooms and voyeurism, but this has shone a light on self ID in a way we haven?t been able to before. To steal a quote from mumsnet - all it took was for two (wo)men to go swimming.

We absolutely weren't complaining about men only swimming sessions, or about transpeople, but about how easily self ID could be abused. And I think we showed how ludicrous current positions on self ID are. This is something that hasn't been brought into law but is being brought in by many organisations and service providers at the expense of women's and transpeople's safety and dignity. All I needed to say to access a men only space was to state "but I identify as a man". There was no process, no probing, just a blanket acceptance. This is probably in part due to Swim England's guidance that people should use the facilities they feel more appropriate to them but is also a shift towards gender being more important than sex in a very small, very vocal, part of society. I didn't have any untoward intentions in accessing the men's swimming session or changing area (unless you count showing up the ludicrous implications of self ID) but anyone who had more sinister intentions could have got into the opposite sex changing rooms without issue or challenge. Anyone who doesn't see this as a huge issue is being disingenuous. Predatory men have taken huge steps in the past in order to get close to potential victims - they have trained for the priesthood, become black cab drivers, become football coaches, teachers, school caretakers, run children's homes. Allsorts. By enshrining self ID in law we allow predatory men an easier route to their victims. If I don't know what a "woman" looks like anymore (as no physical or hormonal changes are necessary to be a legal woman) how would I be able to tell them from a predatory man in the changing rooms? Predatory men don't come with a badge! At present we have protections in place because we have same sex changing, loos, hospital wards, refuges etc and if someone who is not the same sex (and it can be read very easily by pretty much all humans) is in a place they ought not to be then we can take steps to have them removed, or recognise them and remove ourselves. This ability to keep ourselves safe is being taken away from us. There is so much evidence of men taking advantage of relaxed gender identity laws, or gender neutral spaces, in other countries to abuse or spy on women. Target had an increase in incidents of voyeurism of more than 50% when they made their changing rooms gender neutral. A man in Canada identified as a transwoman to access a domestic violence refuge and raped two women. One woman being disadvantaged by these changes in law, and changes in practice is too many. Self ID erodes women's rights. Women's rights that we've fought hard for, and need because of the overwhelming problem of male violence (and yes, I know, NAMALT). There is no need for anyone else's rights to impede another's so dialogue has to be had. I'm sure we can find a third space, or a middle ground but that wasn't possible before this weekend as we were told that there is no threat to women and there is #nodebate. We've started that debate, and we want a seat at the table when changes to laws that will affect women are discussed. That we need to petition for this in 2018 breaks my heart. We are fighting to be heard and to discuss, not shut anyone down or exclude anyone. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/214118