Liz Truss is calling on her successor Rishi Sunak to back her bid to change the law in a move to ban biological males from entering female-only spaces.
The ex-PM wants to end an ‘absurd and dangerous situation’ where biological males self-defining as women can access female toilets or compete in female-only sports.
Ms Truss demanded Government support for her attempt to alter legislation to define ‘sex’ as ‘biological sex’ as she hit out at ‘extreme’ transgender ideology.
Her bid to change the law, which she said would draw a dividing line with Labour ahead of the general election, could be debated by MPs on Friday.
She has the support of Sharron Davies, the ex-Olympic swimmer, and gender-critical campaigner Maya Forstater for her Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill.
But the Bill, which Ms Truss introduced to the House of Commons as a backbench bill, stands little chance of becoming law unless she also wins Government backing.
Liz Truss is calling on her successor Rishi Sunak to back her bid to change the law in a move to ban biological males from entering female-only spaces
The ex-PM has the support of Sharron Davies, the former Olympic swimmer, for her Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill
Gender-critical campaigner Maya Forstater, co-founder of Sex Matters, is also backing Ms Truss’s Bill
As well as changing the law to define ‘sex’ as ‘biological sex’, Ms Truss’s Bill – if passed into law – would prevent anyone in an official capacity from claiming a child is the opposite sex.
The former PM claimed this would see girls be treated as girls and boys as boys until they are 18.
Her Bill would also ban the prescription of body-altering hormones to children questioning their sex, both privately and on the NHS.
Ms Truss said: ‘My Bill will for the first time define sex in law as biological sex, thereby ending the absurd and dangerous situation where biological males self-defining as females can access girls’ and women’s toilets and so on – as well as sports competitions.
‘It will provide protection for vulnerable children and teenagers who otherwise could be led down a path of making body-altering decisions that they may come to regret, while giving essential legal clarity to parents and teachers.’
Draft guidance for schools and colleges on how best to support pupils questioning their gender was published by the Department for Education (DfE) in December.
It stated that ‘parents should not be excluded’ from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to ‘socially transition’, such as wishes to change names, pronouns and clothing.
It added that schools and colleges should make parents aware if their child requests a change – except in the ‘very rare situation’ where parental involvement may raise a ‘significant risk of harm’ to the child.
Consultation on the guidance runs until March 12. But Ms Truss said: ‘It is clear that non-statutory guidance in this area is insufficient because extreme advocates of trans ideology have already bragged that it can be ignored or flouted.
‘This is why I am introducing my Bill, so that the law of the land is clear and loopholes are closed.’
She added: ‘While Keir Starmer and the Labour Party continue to tie themselves in knots over their inability to define what a woman is, my Bill offers the Government in this election year the opportunity to show that it is only the Conservatives who are prepared to challenge the gender ideologues and provide much-needed protection for children.’
Davies, who competed in three Olympics for Great Britain, said: ‘The law must be clear that biological sex is what matters. It matters in sports, in schools and in healthcare.
‘This Bill contains common sense proposals, providing much-needed protections that politicians of all colours must support to protect the rights of women and children.’
Ms Forstater, co-founder of Sex Matters and the successful claimant in a landmark employment tribunal after being fired for describing transgender women as men, said: ‘This Bill focuses on the three areas where clarity in the law is urgently needed to combat the influence of lobby groups that have captured institutions and are misrepresenting the law.
‘First, schools should not be pretending that any child has changed sex. Second, doctors must not interfere with the natural process of a child’s healthy puberty.
‘And third, the definition of sex in the Equality Act should be clear. These three measures would protect women’s rights and children’s welfare.’
Ms Truss’s Bill is on the Commons order paper for Friday but, with two other pieces of legislation listed before it, the attempt to change the law may not be debated.