SCECLB97 Individual

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio | Reform Bill Committee

Bil Senedd Cymru (Rhestrau Ymgeiswyr Etholiadol)| Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill

Ymateb gan Unigolyn | Evidence from Individual

What are your views on the general principles of the Bill and the need for legislation to deliver the Welsh Government’s stated policy objective (to make the Senedd a more effective legislature by ensuring it is broadly representative of the gender make-up of the population)?

Trans-identifying males (some would call them transwomen) cannot represent the 'gender make-up of the population' if they firm part of the 50% female representation target in the Senedd. They are men.

It is nonsensical and discriminatory to allow men who identify as women to stand as women in order to fill a quota for female representation in the Senedd. It is a new form of misogyny to tell women that they have achieved equal representation in Welsh politics because a man who thinks he is female is in the Senedd.

Humans cannot change sex. Sex is immutable. Humans can wear whatever they wish, and, as adults, have surgeries to cosmetically change their bodies if they so choose but none of these things will change their sex.

Sex - XX or XY - is in every cell of their bodies and cannot be changed. Those with DSDs are either male or female. There is no third sex.

Men, however they dress, should 'make up the numbers' for the male half of the representation target.

What are your views on the system of enforcement and potential sanctions for non-compliance proposed in the Bill?

If your aim is to have equal representative of males and females in the Senedd, however they dress, then those representing females can ONLY be female - XX. No man should be able to simply 'identify' as female and take a place from a woman.

Are there any potential barriers to the implementation of the Bill’s provisions? If so, what are they, and are they adequately taken into account in the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment?

Are any unintended consequences likely to arise from the Bill?

Allowing men who identify as women (with or without a GRC) to stand as women in Senedd elections means that equal representation of males and females will be even further away. Humans cannot change sex. A GRC is a piece of paper that does not change material, biological reality. There are only two sexes and no human being can change their sex.

What are your views on the Welsh Government’s assessment of the financial and other impacts of the Bill?

What are your views on the balance between the information contained on the face of the Bill and what is left to subordinate legislation? Are the powers for Welsh Ministers to make subordinate legislation appropriate?

It feels to me that Welsh Government is ignoring the Scottish government's recent defeat on similar issues. The Welsh Government does not have the power to change UK gender recognition laws, however they wish it were so.

Do you have any views on matters relating to the legislative competence of the Senedd including compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights?