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00:00Thank you Mr. Speaker. This morning I want to talk about the Northern Ireland
00:03Women's Rights Network, which is a UK organisation committed to defending and
00:09bringing clarity to the discourse around sex and gender-based rights. Their work
00:14has been all the more critical in recent years as moves have been made by
00:19governments to alter equality legislation. Some initiatives to promote
00:22self-ID and equality law have had an alarming effect on respect for women's
00:27spaces and provoked a backlash across the political spectrum. Last week they
00:33attended the Executive Office Committee but their evidence was highly criticised
00:37by three of the political parties present. The Alliance Member for East Antrim
00:41said their remarks would be traumatising for trans people. It's however from a
00:46party and I quote, need evidence before deciding on whether a three-year-old can
00:51know whether they are transsexual and their Justice Minister isn't sure how
00:55many genders there are. Sinn Féin branded their arguments and support for single
01:00sex spaces disgraceful. The SCLP stated that not everyone fits neatly into
01:05male and female and said that they did not agree with the evidence presented. So
01:10what could be so controversial and contentious that these comments were
01:13made in the aftermath by committee members? Well I will quote directly from
01:18their oral evidence, when it comes to toilets, changing rooms, health care,
01:22sporting and job opportunities, it is sex that matters and many women have been
01:27forced into silence on these issues in the workplace, family and public life by
01:33the fear of challenging gender ideology. Mr. Speaker I want to apologise for the
01:39unparliamentary and highly provocative language in this next statement. They
01:44stated there were just two sexes, male and female. Now people can define
01:53themselves how they like but the logic of demanding that rights follow is
01:58precarious. In 2022 an able-bodied trans woman from Norway announced that she had
02:04felt disabled since birth. She now defines herself as disabled and spends
02:09every day in a wheelchair, even though she doesn't need one. After this was
02:14reported in the press, disabled rights groups in Norway went apoplectic.
02:20Yesterday the Scottish Express was reported to the police for referring to
02:25transgender woman Dr. Beth Upton as a man during the Sandy Peggy Employment
02:30Tribunal. The largely discredited stonewall is still funded by the
02:35Minister of Finance in a Northern Ireland Assembly. Well in this party we
02:41know what a woman is, we know how many sexes there are and seemingly unlike
02:46most other parties in this chamber we are wholly committed to protecting
02:50women's and girls spaces. Thank you Mr. Speaker.