A Christian MP has encouraged parents to “push back” if their child claims to be ‘non-binary’.
Nick Fletcher MP made the comments during a Westminster Hall debate on a public petition to allow the legal recognition of people who identify as ‘non-binary’.
Fletcher addressed parents, saying: “If their child comes home with those concerns, they should talk to them but be strong. They should not ever give in to them or to peer pressure from other adults. Their child was born either a boy or a girl”.
‘Detrimental’
He emphasised: “I believe that making non-binary a legal identity, and having an acceptance that that is an easy path to take, will have hugely detrimental effects on many young people, when I know as a certain fact that they are not old enough or mature enough to make that decision and understand the long-term and life-changing consequences.”
Fletcher continued: “If children say that they are unhappy, think for a second about how unhappy they will be when their best friend is having a child and they cannot; when their best friends are dressing up beautifully and they are having to shave.”
The MP also raised concerns about the effect on women and single-sex spaces.
‘Material reality’
Also speaking in the debate, Miriam Cates MP stated that “in this country our law is based on facts, evidence and material reality; it should not be used to embed contested and unevidenced ideologies that can sometimes be harmful”.
She remarked: “Let us remember the ultimate consequences of transition: infertility and loss of sexual function for life; and for girls, permanent facial hair, a deep voice, male pattern baldness and lifelong health problems.
“This is a failure of safeguarding. It is not biology; it is ideology, and in many cases it is indoctrination.”
The MP concluded: “To recognise non-binary as a gender identity in statute would be a mistake, separating law from reality and putting vulnerable children at risk.”
Mother
Last week, the Government announced that it is rewriting guidance on drafting legislation to ensure women are not erased by gender neutral language.
The Cabinet Office made the announcement after the Government backtracked over its wording in the Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill, which originally referred to a pregnant woman as a ‘person’ rather than a ‘mother’.
The guidance will emphasise that legislation should not use ‘gender neutral’ terms instead of words such as “woman” or “mother”.
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