An 'atmosphere of menace' is 'stifling debate' around transgenderism and transgender rights, a Conservative MP has warned.
Speaking in a debate at Westminster, David TC Davies said that although the Government was 'proposing fundamental changes that will have a huge impact on people', it was being done 'without proper consideration and in an atmosphere of menace'.
The Government is considering legislation to make it easier for people to change their gender. It held a consultation on the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act over the summer and will announce the results next year.
Mr Davies said that some of the activism around the rights of transgender people was 'shutting down' debate rather than encouraging it.
He said people should be allowed to question transgenderism without fear of losing their jobs, while women should be able to express concerns over their safety without being labelled 'transphobic'.
'Can I suggest to the minister [for women, Victoria Atkins] that people should not face dismissal from their jobs for suggesting that someone cannot have a penis?' he said.
'It may be an issue which we can argue about, have different opinions, but it's certainly a debatable point in the very least or for the so-called offence of misgendering.
'Women who want safe, same-sex spaces are not transphobic, they are not committing hate crimes, they are simply reflecting a concern for their own safety which, I'm afraid, as a man, I have to say, for far too many, is based on a valid fear.'
The MP went on to warn that regardless of whether the legislation is passed, many organisations like schools, hospitals and prisons are already allowing people in their care to identify as the gender of their choice in a way that 'has an impact on the rights particularly of women to privacy and to sex-segregated spaces'.
Ms Atkins responded to his concerns by saying she did not want the debate on transgender rights to be affected by a 'climate of fear'.
'We should have a debate as long as it does not go beyond the legal markers delineating hate crime and so on,' she said.
'People are sometimes almost too scared to talk about things, which is not right. We do not want a climate of fear in the debate.'
She continued: 'I get asked about this issue regularly, and we all share a sense of sadness about the fact that this important debate sometimes gets taken over by loud and sometimes aggressive campaigning by activists.
'I am sure they hold their beliefs very strongly, but they perhaps lose sight of the fact that we have to be able to talk about this issue in a reasoned, respectful and caring fashion. The vast majority of the public—and, I am sure, parliamentarians—are in the middle.
'We want to talk about this issue in a caring and careful way so society gets to a position in which we are all comfortable with the consequences of the changes to legislation and so on.'
Scotland is also reviewing its gender laws. This week, the Scottish Government revealed that women's safety was the most common concern raised in response to its own consultation on changes to gender legislation.
Respondents voiced fears that gender self-identification would be open to 'abuse, exploitation and false declarations'.
'Where respondents explained their concerns, it was often to suggest that the proposal would allow 'any man', 'predatory men' or 'biological men' to gain access to women's spaces where they could pose a potential threat to women's safety,' the Scottish Government report said.
