22 December was a black day for gender critical feminism: despite lively protests outside Parliament lScotland passed the law allowing gender self-identification or self-id -with no exception for sex offenders who will be able to freely access, by identifying themselves as women, women's spaces. Also in Spain the Ley Trans which has a very similar layout has passed the first step in the Lower House and is on its way to final approval in the Senate in the coming weeks. Finally, the Germany is in turn about to examine and possibly pass a law that would introduce self-id. In Italy, the centre-right majority should guarantee against the possibility of such a law -at least for the duration of the legislature- but the pressure from the lobby for the abolition of biological sex remains very strong.
Europe seems to be heading down the self-id road, but important counter-trend signals are coming from the High North, in particular by Sweden who officially broke with the WPATH guidelines, world association for transgender health that imposes puberty blockers and hormones on children with gender dysphoria. Sweden indicates psychological support as the first approach, not unlike Great Britain, Finland, Holland: the game is still to be played, here as well as overseas where things are no different, as explained in this article on Newsweek Kara Dansky, president of the US section of Women's Declaration International and author of the book The Abolition of Sex: How the 'Transgender' Agenda Harms Women and Girls.
22 December the Scottish Parliament approved a controversial new law which allows for 'gender self-identification'. Two days earlier, he had rejected an amendment to the bill that would have prevented sex offenders from entering women's prisons on the basis of their self-declared 'female gender identity'. On Wednesday morning, he rejected another amendment that would have made a request for a sex change retroactively fraudulent if the applicant was subsequently convicted of rape.
This means that any adult (or child under 16), including sex offenders, can obtain legal recognition as belonging to the opposite sex on the basis of his simple opinion. The law has exceeded the objections of countless Scottish women who have repeatedly explained that this will mean that men will be able to force their way into women-only spaces, such as domestic violence shelters and prisons, and despite the fact that two-thirds of the Scottish population is oppose.
Over the past few days, women (and many men) have been protesting in front of Holyrood, carrying placards and banners to show their dissent. Also a UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has put in guard on the dangerous repercussions of the law.
Also the Congress Spain passed similar legislation on 22 December and this bill will now go to the Senate Spanish. The German legislator is discussing something similar and will consider legislation early next year.
Do you think these developments are irrelevant to the US? Well, think again. For years, the US Congress has been considering a bill called the Equality Act ( HR 5 ). The text of HR 5 does not contain the phrase 'self-ID'. That bill would redefine the word 'sex' to include the nebulous phrase 'gender identity' throughout US civil rights laws. During his 2020 campaign President Joe Biden promised to pass the bill within 100 days of taking office, a bill that has been before the US Senate since March 2021. The US branch of the organisation feminist Global Women's Declaration International suggested an alternative bill, the Equality for All Act, which would protect women and girls on the basis of gender; lesbians, gays and bisexuals on the basis of sexual orientation; and all people on the basis of non-conformity with sexual stereotypes.
Self-identification is already law in California since 2018. In that state anyone can obtain a new birth certificate with the opposite sex indicated as their own. The law does not require any medical expertise or surgical or hormonal modifications.
Self-ID means that any person (man or woman) can simply declare themselves to be a member of the opposite sex and ask the government to validate that illusion upon request. No one, anywhere in the world, has adequately addressed the implications. Most of the people who globally reject this project are politically left-wing feminists, and the vast majority of people (regardless of political orientation) agree with us.
Feminists have argued for years that allowing anyone to 'self-identify' as any gender will result in men entering women's spaces. This is already happening in the US at state level. Many states allow men to be locked up in the women's prisons on the basis of their self-declared 'female gender identity'. THE SB 132 of California was enacted in 2020 and came into force in January 2021. The state of Washington does the same thing by way of policy administrative . The New Jersey implemented a similar policy through a agreement settlement with the ACLU. Imprisoned women throughout the country are assaulted, raped e incintand by men posing as women (many of whom have been convicted of very serious crimes such as rape and murder). These women are terrified . This should be a national and international scandal.
What else was overlooked in the campaign to redefine sex as 'gender identity'? National health bodies such as NIH and CDC will be able to monitor the impacts of various drugs on men and women as distinct sex classes? L' FBI will be able to continue to monitor crimes on the basis of gender?
All this is the inevitable result of the fiction that sex is not real or that it can be changed. I argued the need to reject this in my book of 2021 The Abolition of Sex: How the 'Transgender' Agenda Harms Women and Girls.
Anyone who cares about the rights, privacy and safety of women and girls; anyone who cares about recognising the material reality of biological sex; and anyone who thinks public policy should be based on science must take a stand. Now would be a good time. Sex was abolished by Scottish law this month and could soon happen in Spain and Germany. Americans should not be surprised when we are next.
Kara Dansky
original article by Newsweek heretranslated by Marina Terragni
