Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has once again found herself at the center of a contentious debate, this time with a proposed Private Member’s Bill that seeks to impose significant restrictions on transgender rights. Truss, who had a brief 49-day tenure as PM, plans to introduce legislation that would ban under-18s from accessing hormone therapy and prevent the state from recognizing their social transition.
Truss’s argument for the bill revolves around the need to protect under-18s from making “irreversible decisions about their bodies.” However, this argument overlooks the existing medical safeguards in place for transgender under-18s. Typically, under-18s are prescribed physically reversible puberty blockers only after extensive medical assessments. Such treatments are also generally reserved for teenagers over the age of 16, with under-16s rarely receiving them.
Despite these established protocols, Truss is expected to formally present the bill during a House of Commons hearing, joined by her fellow MPs who support the legislation. According to a source close to Truss, she believes that the UK needs a law to “protect children,” although the source fails to specify the nature of the supposed threat.
Furthermore, Truss’s bill aims to redefine access to single-sex spaces, specifically excluding biological males from spaces designated for women. Truss justifies these proposals based on the feedback she has received and consultations with her South West Norfolk constituents.
In response, a spokesperson for the UK government emphasized the government’s stance on biological sex and pointed to the Equality Act, which already allows restrictions on single-sex spaces based on sex when justified. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has also issued comprehensive guidance to support service providers in this regard.
It is worth noting that the EHRC has faced criticism for its handling of trans people and their legal protections. In a UN expert’s report, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, following a visit to the UK, argued that the EHRC lacks a clear definition of “biological sex” and suggested that the term is used to refer to “women who are not trans.” This criticism underscores the ongoing complexity and controversy surrounding transgender rights in the UK, a debate that Liz Truss’s proposed bill is set to reignite.
