An SNP member of the Scottish parliament has spoken out against allowing people to “pick your own sex”.
The Party is currently debating the issue, with Nicola Sturgeon supporting self-declaration of sex but saying she wants to understand concerns.
Joan McAlpine – MSP for the South of Scotland – said women and children are at risk from the ideology.
‘Forced’
Speaking to the Scottish Mail on Sunday, she said: “Even if you think that no trans-identifying male would ever be a threat to women, there is the issue of consent.
“Why should a woman be forced, for example, to have an intimate procedure from a person she sees to be male?
“Why should she be forced to undress or sleep in the same places as someone she perceives to be male?”
‘Whistleblowers’
McAlpine also raised the issue of children “changing their minds about transitioning, after making irreversible changes to their bodies”.
“There is considerable evidence from medical professionals, including whistleblowers, that this is happening.
“It is appalling that people who raise these concerns are being shouted down”, she added.
‘Concerns’
The SNP said it was “important that the ongoing discussion” is shaped by the “lived experiences of both trans people and women”.
It will soon be consulting on future gender recognition policy.
In July, transgender women cautioned Nicola Sturgeon: “We are deeply concerned about naïve proposals to weaken safeguarding protections in a misguided attempt to support a simplistic notion of inclusion.”
They said they were writing “to express our solidarity with women who have aired reasonable concerns and been attacked for doing so”.