Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Saturday 19 October at Church House, Westminster.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
On entering government in July, the new Labour culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, pledged the ‘era of culture wars’ to be over. And yet, from the BMA challenging the ban on puberty blockers to whispers about changes to the gender-transition process, it seems that culture-war stories aren’t just Tory generated or confected political stunts.
Despite this, on ‘Terf...
Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Saturday 19 October at Church House, Westminster.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
On entering government in July, the new Labour culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, pledged the ‘era of culture wars’ to be over. And yet, from the BMA challenging the ban on puberty blockers to whispers about changes to the gender-transition process, it seems that culture-war stories aren’t just Tory generated or confected political stunts.
Despite this, on ‘Terf Island’ at least, gender-critical feminists have made serious gains in claiming back sex-based rights in the past year. A number of legal victories have ensured that a sex-realist view is protected, campaigns for the UK government to block Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill proved successful and Dr Hilary Cass’s groundbreaking assessment of services for gender-distressed children has made the UK a leading example in how to deal with the influx of children presenting as trans. During the General Election campaign, it seemed as though Labour were quietly backtracking on their previous support for gender-identity beliefs. Indeed, Labour has even claimed there are no plans to make misgendering a hate crime. In office as the new health secretary, Wes Streeting has made a point of backing the Cass Review, as well as pledging to uphold a puberty blocker ban for under-16s. Even Trans Activists seem disorientated by the shift in tone – the internal civil war at Pink News is a case in point, with former editor Benjamin Cohen now labelled a transphobe by his own staff.
It seems a little early to break out the champagne, however, with challenges on the horizon. Barely a few weeks into being elected, Labour announced it was introducing a fully trans-inclusive conversion-therapy ban (originally introduced by the previous Conservative government) and dropped the Higher Education (Free Speech) Act, considered an indispensable weapon against the cancel-culture trend for silencing debate on campus by accusations of transphobia. Internationally, in the Tickle versus Giggle case – which essentially asked the Australian law to decide ‘what is a woman?’ – the Federal Court declared that people can literally change sex. Meanwhile, sports bodies continue to get in a mess over protecting women’s sports. Perhaps more prosaically, the broad-church gender critical movement itself seems to be exhibiting political strains, potentially threatening a united-front approach. Is this precisely because the big public fights have essentially been won, revealing the more nuanced tensions between factions?
What to make of the current status quo? And what next for the gender wars? While legal victories are important, will this change a culture of censorship around gender issues in workplaces, schools and public institutions? Has the fight largely been won, or will internal Labour Party tensions and an identitarian base mean even more gender ideology infecting public life, whatever Kier Starmer’s more pragmatic intention?
SPEAKERS
Simon Calvert
deputy director, The Christian Institute
Bev Jackson
co-founder and trustee, LGB Alliance
Stephen Knight
reporter and podcaster; host, The Knight Tube
Fiona McAnena
director of campaigns, Sex Matters; former director of sport, Fair Play For Women
Professor Jo Phoenix
professor of Criminology, and deputy head of the School of Law, University of Reading
CHAIR
Claire Fox
director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!
