We are sending the Sex Matters memo to our entire mailing list this week, in honour of Kishwer Falkner. British Cycling excludes trans-identified men from competitive female cycling UN Special Rapporteur condemns threats to gender-critical women Liberal Democrat leader says that “of course” some women have penises PCS union conference potentially discriminates against gender-critical members Sex Matters calls for forthcoming DfE guidance to halt social transition in schools Male criminal recorded as winner of women’s race.

Where sex matters Updates Take action Advice Donate The Sex Matters Memo Welcome to our weekly roundup on sex and gender We are sending the Sex Matters memo to our entire mailing list this week, in honour of Kishwer Falkner. British Cycling excludes trans-identified men from competitive female cycling UN Special Rapporteur condemns threats to gender-critical women Liberal Democrat leader says that “of course” some women have penises PCS union conference potentially discriminates against gender-critical members Sex Matters calls for forthcoming DfE guidance to halt social transition in schools Male criminal recorded as winner of women’s race. Update from Maya Everyone who stands up against gender ideology has a reason. For many people it is children, for many feminism; for some it is gay rights, for some sport. For me it was corruption. Compelling people to pretend they do not know the truth stops them doing their jobs properly. It corrupts good people and institutions from the inside out. Those organisations don’t just become ineffective, they attack their own missions: Stonewall turns against gay rights, the social-work regulator undermines safeguarding, the Tavistock has no time for talk, feminist organisations put men’s interests first, trade unions bully their members, the judiciary says never mind about telling the truth in court. When someone finds the courage to stand up and simply do their job, it threatens to bring down the entire corrupt edifice. So the organisations use everything in their arsenal to try to silence their critics: confusion, charm, reward, shame, bullying, complaints, economic punishment, pressure on their family, threats, violence. It starts quietly, but if they refuse to comply then the obscene, berserk misuse of organisational power spills out into the open. At that point, bystanders have to make a choice: either look away, or risk missing their last opportunity to stand up too. Kishwer Falkner From this point of view, Kishwer Falkner has perhaps the most important job in the UK. She heads the board of the official regulator tasked with upholding the Equality Act and human rights. When she took over the Equality and Human Rights Commission, disaffiliated it from Stonewall and then intervened in my legal case, that set off a chain reaction. She has led the EHRC to stand up for universal human rights in defiance of the trans lobby. At every step the reaction has become more extreme and more personalised. This week we learned that in February, the staff who complained to Vice News about “transphobia” within the EHRC had also succeeded in getting its CEO to launch an investigation of its chair. The organisation should have been using my case (and those of Allison Bailey, Jo Phoenix, James Esses, Rachel Meade, Denise Fahmy and so many others) as a way to expose how complaints processes are being weaponised against those who speak up. Instead, it allowed its own complaints process to be used to try to destroy the person holding true to its mission. But Baroness Falkner refused to bend under this intense pressure. In March she wrote to the Minister for Women and Equalities, calling for the government to give serious consideration to Sex Matters proposal to make the Equality Act clear. So her tormentors went in even harder, sending an appeal to the UN to blacklist the EHRC, and broadcasting a Channel 4 hit-piece. We all now have a choice: allow gender ideology to rot the heart of every good institution, or win those institutions back (at least those that are worth saving). More than 50 peers have stood up for Baroness Falkner, criticising Channel 4 for its unbalanced reporting. The Times has come out in support of amending the Equality Act. And now the need to clarify the law is greater than ever: if rights are clear, the cost of standing up for them is lower and people don’t have to be so brave. Too many women who have taken the same stand have found themselves on the receiving end of similar treatment. Their legitimate concerns on single sex spaces that are so important to their sense of safety and wellbeing have been not only dismissed but met with poisonous vitriol. If anyone in Britain should know better than to oppose this aim, it is the staff of its equalities watchdog. Lady Falkner is to be commended for putting the safety of women first. Ministers should show their solidarity and adopt her recommendations for changing the law as soon as possible. The era of intimidation by the extreme trans lobby must end. All of this is a result of people standing up and refusing to be told that they must not do their job. If you are not in a position to be as brave as Kishwer Falkner, please stand up in any way you can. Write to your MP about the Westminster Hall debate on 12th June, and please support Sex Matters. Donate to Sex Matters British Cycling excludes men from women’s races British Cycling update: transgender and non-binary participation policies British Cycling today released a revised policy for the regulation of transgender athletes in cycling events. The updated policy recognises that male development and sex matter in sport. British Cycling now mandates that all competitive cycling events – that is, all events that are timed, ranking or record-making – will be classified into ‘Open’ and ‘Female’ categories. “Those whose sex was assigned male at birth will be eligible to compete in the ‘Open’ category,” the policy states. “The ‘Female’ category will remain in place for those whose sex was assigned female at birth and transgender men who are yet to begin hormone therapy.” Sex Matters welcomes this new policy, which protects the core sporting value of fairness for competitive female cycling. The new ‘Open’ category includes anyone who wants to race in it, with no need to declare “gender identity”; trans-identified males are not excluded from competitive cycling in any way. However, we are concerned that In recreational cycling events, British Cycling is still allowing the inclusion of trans-identified males into female categories via self-identification of gender identity. Jon Pike, a a senior lecturer in philosophy at the Open University and member of Sex Matters’ advisory group, says: “Credit is due to British Cycling for looking at the science, and listening to female cyclists.” UN expert condemns harassment of women Reem Alsalem speaking This week the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, released a statement to express “deep concern at the escalation of intimidation and threats against women and girls” who hold gender-critical beliefs. She called on law-enforcement agencies to protect women meeting to discuss their rights, noting: “There is a positive legal obligation to protect women in such circumstances, including by keeping counter-protesters at a distance that is safe, and enables women’s speech to be audible.” Alsalem also warned that smears of “Nazis”, “genocidaires” or “extremists” had served to silence “women, girls and their allies”. She listed the “reprisals against women” who do speak up for their rights, including: “censorship, legal harassment, loss of jobs, loss of income, removal from social media platforms, speaking engagements and the refusal to publish research conclusions and articles”. To date the statement has received little media coverage. Liberal leader says some women have penises Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has claimed that “quite clearly” some women have penises. When a caller on an LBC phone-in asked him “on behalf of 51 per cent of the population” to explain “what is a woman?”, Davey told the caller: “The vast majority of people whose biological sex is a woman when they were [born], they feel they’re women… But there’s this very small number of people who don’t feel like that.” The following day Labour’s shadow women and equalities minister, Anneliese Dodds MP, was asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley whether she agreed with Davey. She answered: “Of course women don’t have a penis” and continued to explain: “Sex is not the same as gender and I think it’s important we keep the two separate.” Union pushes discrimination Bring your whole self to work graphic This week PCS, the largest civil-service union, held its annual conference. A number of motions were debated that denigrated gender-critical civil servants and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The motions sought to commit the union to support for legalising gender self-ID, and to slip gender identities into government policy via a data system for civil-service HR data. Last year a group of gender-critical civil servants set up the Sex Equality and Equity staff network (SEEN). The network is concerned with sex discrimination and committed to the belief that biological sex is binary and immutable, but has stated that it “wishes to encourage a diversity of voices and open and respectful dialogue and tolerance between those with differing beliefs and experiences”. The PCS’s motions smeared the gender-critical civil servants in what is already a hostile environment for them. Sex Matters believes that PCS may be in breach of the Equality Act. We have published our analysis. Sex Matters urges halt to school social transition A haircut is just a haircut graphic Sex Matters is calling upon the Department for Education (DfE) to release clear guidance telling schools that they may not treat any child as if they are a member of the opposite sex. “Social transition” in the context of school is the demand and expectation that a child should be treated as if they are the opposite sex by all the staff and by other children, both in social interactions and in the application of sex-based rules. It goes beyond a matter of a child’s self-expression, and affects their own and other children’s human rights and safeguarding. Notably, in her interim review of Gender Identity Services for children, Dr Hilary Cass has sought to advise schools on social transition. But her mandate does not include schools, and she has not considered the rights of other children. We argue that the steps involved in social transition expose children to unacceptable safeguarding risks and infringe other pupils’ rights, and that this must be made clear by the DfE. Male offender holds women’s Parkrun record Female runner This week the news broke that Lauren Jeska, a man imprisoned for a violent attack, holds the record for a women’s Parkrun race. Jeska was given an 18-year sentence in 2017 for the attempted murder of Ralph Knibbs, a UK Athletics official, after a dispute over Jeska’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category. But on the global community Parkrun website, which organises five-kilometre weekly races for all abilities around the world, Jeska continues to hold the women’s record time for Aberystwyth, with a time of 17 minutes 38 seconds. Sex Matters advisory group member and Olympian marathon runner Mara Yamauchi noted that the real record holder should be Charlotte Morgan, but that the time set by Jeska “is now ‘fossilised’ i.e. will never be broken by a 35–39 year old female”. What to read and watch Cyclists racing Read this compelling Telegraph interview with cyclist Hannah Arensman on why she continues to speak up for women’s sport. The New Flesh podcast Listen to Australian academic and author Dr Holly Lawford-Smith on gender-critical feminism and the campaign against her. Journalist, Louise Perry Watch author and journalist Louise Perry in conversation with Professor Michael Bailey about autogynephilia. …witch-hunt by the trans lobby against a fine and principled… Read Sex Matters’ executive director Maya Forstater in the Daily Mail on the campaign against Baroness Falkner. Received this newsletter from someone else? Support Sex Matters Twitter Facebook Instagram Website Email © Sex Matters, 2023. 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