MLA told to ‘watch his language’ over women-only spaces

The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party has defended one of its MLAs after he was told to self-censor when expressing his views on biological sex and gender identity.

In a meeting of the Stormont Executive Committee, Timothy Gaston asked if the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland recognises “the conflict between the rights of a woman, and a biological man claiming or thinking that he is a woman”.

Chairwoman Paula Bradshaw of the Alliance Party interrupted, telling him, “Watch your language”, leading Gaston to rephrase his question. He asked the Commission’s Chief Commissioner Geraldine McGahey OBE: “Do you believe a biological man should have access to women-only spaces?” In response, she claimed “it’s a fluid area” that requires “a lot of work”.

‘Bizarre’

But the TUV has now come out in support of its MLA, saying: “Mr Gaston will not be compelled to use language to describe men which conflicts with biological reality, because of an Alliance chairperson who wants to enforce her bizarre view of the world on the rest of society.

“Protecting single-sex spaces may not be of interest to Ms Bradshaw, but it is of interest to TUV who believe that men should not be in female bathrooms. Nor will he accept that questions derived directly from the evidence submitted by witnesses to the committee can be ruled out of order simply because they make the chairperson uncomfortable.”

Gaston also raised other concerns with the committee, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s apparent promotion of transgender ideology.

Greens

Earlier this month, the Green Party of England and Wales was accused of being captured by radical gender ideology.

Protesting outside the party’s annual conference, free speech campaigner Emma Bateman said it is no longer possible to “discuss contentious issues” within the Green Party.

As a member of Greens in Exile, Bateman believes that she and other gender critics have been “forced out of the party” for contesting the party line that “trans women are women and trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid”.