Senator calls for Ireland’s sex-swap law to be repealed

Ireland’s Gender Recognition Act 2015 (GRA) compromises the safety and dignity of women and should be revoked, the Seanad Éireann has been told.

Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly urged the Government to heed the UK Supreme Court’s judgment on biological sex and repeal the GRA, which she said allows gender self-identification “without any medical or biological basis”.

Last month, the UK’s highest court ruled that the meaning of the terms ‘sex’, ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the Equality Act 2010 “is biological and not certificated sex”.

Biological reality

The ruling, Senator O’Reilly said, “upholds the fundamental common sense truth that biological sex matters and that women are entitled to protections based on their sex.

“It is a clear recognition that women have a right to feel safe, to access spaces designed for them and to have their unique needs acknowledged and respected.”

She added: “The truth is that biological sex is real and it matters. Protecting women’s spaces is not about exclusion or hatred; it is about upholding justice, fairness and common sense for 50 per cent of the population.”

It was time, she argued, to repeal the GRA and so “restore legal clarity, protect women’s sex-based rights and ensure that truth and not ideology shapes our laws”.

‘Ludicrous’

Earlier this year, Independent TD Carol Nolan called on sporting governing bodies to ensure biological males are banned from female-only categories in Ireland.

Deputy Nolan has been raising concerns around this issue for a number of years, and now believes the tide is turning against the demands of “radical gender ideologues” who have underplayed the consequences of allowing men to compete against women and girls – a situation she describes as “nothing short of ludicrous”.

The Offaly TD backs the protection of all female-only spaces, including the provision of single-sex accommodation in prisons and on hospital wards.