UK equalities minister Kemi Badenoch said extra protections for single sex spaces are required because “predators” are exploiting transgender rights.
The senior Conservative made the comments at the Women and Equalities Select Committee on Wednesday where she was warned about using “unparliamentary language” after accusing an MP of lying about previous comments she had made on young people transitioning gender.
During her evidence session, the British Cabinet minister referenced changes she had made to the UK gender recognition certificate (GRC) list last week when discussing the need to “tighten” access to single sex spaces to protect vulnerable people from potential “predators”.
Ms Badenoch, who is also the business and trade secretary, announced in the Commons that certificates issued by Spain, New Zealand and some Australian, American and Canadian states would no longer be recognised because of concerns over “inadvertently allowing self-ID” in Britain.
In the UK, those wanting to legally switch genders cannot do so by saying they identify as a different gender or as non-binary.
Instead, someone can apply for a GRC if they are 18 or over, have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the UK, have been living in their affirmed gender for at least two years, and intend to live in this gender for the rest of their life.
Ms Badenoch told the committee that “predators have started exploiting the loopholes” when it came to entering single sex areas, such as toilets and changing rooms.
She told MPs: “It is the behaviour of people who are choosing to exploit rights given to transgender people, because the definition is very loose, that we are now having to look at what we can do in order to protect women and children who are the most vulnerable in those single-sex spaces.
“I have to be clear that I’m not saying that transgender people are predators, but there are more people who are predators than there are people who are trans.
“We need to think very carefully about how we draft legislation in order to protect all the people, whether it is transgender people, women and children, those who need single sex spaces.”
Ms Badenoch told the committee she was looking at the legal definition of biological sex and “would like to” eventually update legislation.
It comes after the Equality and Human Rights Commission recommended to the UK government that the definition of sex in the Equality Act be clarified.
“Many of the battles that are being fought, like in Scotland and so on, I think would go away if we made this a lot clearer,” she said.
“But parliamentary time, or even a parliamentary majority — none of that has been tested. At the moment, we’re still in the policy formation phase.”
Later in the session, Ms Badenoch, who spoke about having received abuse and being labelled a “transphobe” for publicly discussing gender policy, was involved in a row with a Labour MP on the committee.
Jarrow MP Kate Osborne said the minister had previously used “inflammatory language that likens children and young people coming out as trans to the spread of a disease”.
But in a tense exchange Ms Badenoch said: “I have never said that, that is a lie.
“That is a lie and I think you should withdraw that statement. You are lying.”
Ms Osborne said she was “not lying”, but Ms Badenoch shot back: “You are lying.
“I have never used the word ‘disease’ and this is exactly what I am talking about — you are making statements at a select committee that are untrue.”
Conservative committee chairwoman Caroline Nokes interrupted to say: “Can I just remind the minister that that is unparliamentary language to use?”
Ms Badenoch replied: “What she said is not true. We have to use facts in this room, we can’t just make stuff up.”
She demanded to know when she had used the “disease” description but Ms Osborne said: “I’m not here to answer your questions.”
During the hearing, Ms Badenoch also suggested TikTok influencers and peer pressure were fuelling demand for gender services.
She said UK government plans would “hopefully clear the pipeline” so only those who are deemed to need care get it “rather than everybody who is being led, whether by TikTok, peer pressure or very, very bad advice from people who should know better”.
