This case exposes the danger of blindly accepting the ideology of identity politics. If the judiciary can blur sex and gender so easily, what is the public supposed to do? I believe that we are sleep walking into a disaster as far as the trans situation is concerned. Because both sides get increasingly hysterical and start hurling insults at each other, there is no space for a calm, rational discussion about what the reform of the GRA means for women and in particular children.
I will be upfront here, an individual cannot change sex. Every cell in body carries the XX or XY chromosome and is impossible to change. Gender is something quite different and is whatever an individual thinks it is and can be expressed accordingly.
I believe that mostly we are a tolerant nation. I also believe that on an individual basis, most of us would be accepting and compassionate if a work colleague or friend announced that they wished to change their gender. It is the kind thing to do. And so I would imagine most of us would say that we are relaxed about others expressing their gender in anyway they choose.
However, that relaxed attitude is brought to a grinding shuddering halt when that expression of gender clashes with the rights and expectations of biological women. Examples are when trans women compete in women's sport, when transwomen in prison demand to be transferred to women's prisons, when transwomen demand access to female only spaces such as women's wards, toilets, changing rooms etc. Suddenly the reality of the reform of the GRA becomes clear. There will be no boundaries that keep women safe. We will have to accept the individuals word for it that they are in fact female. It will be impossible to challenge the individual who encroaches in to these spaces as the boundaries will no longer be there
I stated early on about children. This is a massive area of concern. Children are being put on the conveyor belt of medication and surgery that will change their bodies forever. Their overall health will be poorer but they will never achieve the change of sex they appear to desire. Children who aren't allowed to drive, marry, vote, work are somehow able to decide that they wish to undertake a lifelong round of pain and medication because they think they are born into the wrong body. Many of these children have underlying mental health issues that are not resolved by mutilating surgery. We are letting these children down by not speaking freely. It can almost be seen as child abuse.
I'm all for people expressing themselves how they wish, it make like more interesting and diverse, but I do worry that we will soon loose protections that will be impossible to reinstate just because open debate is shut down.