Belief in a binary distinction between male and female is “now being categorised as a form of bigotry”, a columnist has warned.
In an article on transsexualism, Melanie Phillips cautioned: “Gender politics is all about subjective feelings” and has nothing to do with fairness or equality.
She commented: “Many who change sex still don’t feel comfortable, tragically, some even commit suicide”.
‘Obsessed
Phillips, a columnist for The Times, made the remarks in the Spectator magazine following a contentious report by MPs on transsexual issues.
The Women and Equalities Committee called for a move towards “self-declaration” of gender, and for 16 and 17-year-olds to be allowed to apply for gender recognition.
Maria Miller, who chairs the Committee, has said the Government should attempt to talk less about individuals’ gender, but Phillips said the “political class is obsessed” by the issue.
Enforced
“These MPs are turning gender confusion from a health issue into a political statement to be enforced”, Phillips wrote.
She commented: “Gender fluidity will be actively promoted as just another lifestyle choice.”
“Under the commendable guise of stopping the minute number of transgender children being bullied, the rest of the class will be bullied into accepting the prescribed orthodoxy — that gender is mutable, and any differentiation in value between behaviour or attitudes is bigoted and prohibited.”
‘Prejudice’
Phillips said logic was not an issue for campaigners: “Gender politics is all about subjective feelings. It has nothing to do with fairness or equality.
“It embodies instead an extreme egalitarianism which holds that any evidence of difference is a form of prejudice.”
Her comments come as a survey which gave school children over 20 gender options faced criticism.
Confusing
Teenagers in Brighton were given the survey, which was produced by the Government-sponsored Children’s Commissioner for England. It has now been withdrawn.
Question 13 of the questionnaire asked: “How do you define your gender?”. It then gave 25 options including “gender fluid”, “agender”, “genderqueer”, and “in the middle of boy and girl”.
The Christian Institute responded: “We must not intrude on childhood by deliberately confusing school children about what makes a boy a boy or a girl a girl just to satisfy adult political agendas.”