Northern Ireland’s human rights chief has questioned the right to freedom of expression on transgender ideology.
Alyson Kilpatrick, who is Chief Commissioner to the publicly-funded Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), said she was ‘uncomfortable’ with views advocating the reality of biological sex.
Kilpatrick, who made the remarks at an LGBT event in Belfast recently, also indicated that Christian groups should not be allowed into schools to give biblical teaching on sex and relationships.
Different views ‘unwelcome’
Speaking to an audience of LGBT activists, Kilpatrick claimed that there “are a lot of people who are human rights champions who are transphobic and homophobic”.
The Commissioner also admitted she was not “entirely comfortable” with things said during NIHRC board discussions that were not “entirely supportive” of LGBT rights.
She described “different” views on controversial topics like “homophobia”, “transphobia” and “conversion therapy” as “problematic” and ‘unwelcome’.
Schools
When asked by BBC journalist and event host William Crawley for her opinion on the status of a “fundamentalist Christian group” being invited into school to deliver a lesson on sex and relationships, Kilpatrick responded: “It shouldn’t be happening”.
She added that it was “within the gift” of the Department of Education to decide who was invited into schools, but stopped short of saying that it should shut down such events.
However, she did say that “the Department is responsible for who educates children in NI,” before complaining: “There’s a fixation in NI that only parents can decide what children get taught and this is one of those areas.”
According to the NIHRC ‘s website, its mission is: “To protect and promote the human rights of everyone in Northern Ireland.”
Abortion
Last year, the NIHRC launched legal action against the UK Government, accusing it of providing insufficient abortion facilities.
The Commission also took similar action against the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department of Health for “failing to commission and fund abortion services”.
Westminster threatens to impose compulsory sex-ed in NI schools