Kemi Badenoch has said she opposes gender self-identification because it puts women and girls at risk from predators. The minister for women and equalities argued that sexual predators would be able to “exploit any system that says you can just say you are what you are”.
She made the comments in an interview with The Times after the UK Government announced this week it was issuing an unprecedented Section 35 order under the Scotland Act to block legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament to reform the gender recognition process. Holyrood’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill would approve reforms allowing trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without the need for a medical diagnosis.
Ms Badenoch highlighted what she sees as the risks of self-identification. “We have no problem with that in the sense that we want people who are trans to be able to live their lives freely and as they wish,” she told the newspaper.
