Aontú leader: ‘The definition of woman is an obvious scientific fact’

The leader of Aontú has criticised TDs for allowing debates on gender confusion to be “driven by ideology”.

Speaking in opposition to a Labour Party motion pushing for a national clinical programme of “gender-affirming care”, Peadar Tóibín noted that while Ireland “remains wedded” to policies leading children to “puberty blockers and irreversible surgeries”, other countries are “reversing from this ideological approach”.

But the party leader was repeatedly interrupted during his comments, which were branded “disgusting” by Labour TD Marie Sherlock.

‘Science and evidence’

Tóibín stated: “For far too long, this debate in this Chamber has been driven by ideology, and that ideology has been damaging to both children and women. Evidence and science are not optional extras. They are critical in the development of a just and fair society.

“A woman is a female adult. That sentence is based on logic, science and evidence. It is a sentence that comes with ease to most citizens in this country but, incredibly, very few TDs in this Chamber are able to say it.

“Over the past ten years, this Government, its predecessors and campaigning groups have embarked on a significant campaign of social engineering. Incredibly, the Government has tried to delete the word ‘woman’ from many different aspects of society. It has even tried to delete the word ‘woman’ from maternity legislation.”

The Aontú leader also warned that as a result of the Gender Recognition Act allowing self-identification, men who have been “jailed for horrific sexual offences” have been housed in women’s prisons. In light of this, he has tabled a Private Member’s Bill to allocate prisoners on the basis of biological sex.

‘Dangerous ideology’

Last month, the Dáil was told that improved measures are needed to help keep children safe from “dangerous ideologies and political activism”.

Campaign groups representing teachers, women, families and parents urged Deputies to do more to protect children from the “harmful influence” of transgender ideology, pornography, and explicit sex education material.

In a letter to the Dáil, the Natural Women’s Council, Parents Rights Alliance, Irish Education Alliance and Catholic Secondary School Parents Association raised serious concerns around Ireland’s educational and health policies.

Under the updated Primary School Curriculum, children as young as eleven will be told that people can be ‘gay, lesbian or bisexual’, and earlier this year, a concerned mum warned that the Government’s revisions to the SPHE curriculum risked children being taught ‘ideologies not facts’.