Rishi Sunak says people ‘can’t be any sex they want to be’ in new swipe at trans community
Rishi Sunak says people ‘can’t be any sex they want to be’ in new swipe at trans community
“We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be” Sunak stated The post Rishi Sunak says people ‘can’t be any sex they want to be’ in new swipe at trans community appeared first on Attitude.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has launched yet another attack at the trans community by saying that people “can’t be any sex they want to be.”
He made the remarks during his closing speech at the 2023 Conservative Party conference on Wednesday (4 October) afternoon.
At one point, Sunak said that people shouldn’t be “bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be” as he made clear his stance on trans people.
“We are going to change this country and that means, life means life. That shouldn’t be a controversial position. The vast majority of hard-working people agree with it,” he began. “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t,” – Rishi Sunak
“It also shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are learning in school about relationships.
“Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women,” which was met with a large applause.
He went on: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t.”
“A man, is a man, and a woman, is a woman, that is just common sense,” he added, to yet more noise from Tories in attendance.
Many on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) reacted to the comments, accusing Sunak of making “persistent attacks” and labelling him “disgraceful”. “A man, is a man, and a woman, is a woman”
One wrote in response: “Trying to distract people from his government’s corruption and incompetence by attacking some of the most vulnerable people in society. Vile.”
Needlessly stirring up hatred where it is unjustified to make a cheap political dig, before going on to claim the country is wonderful because of its tolerance. Disgraceful excuse for a PM,” another went on to add.
Sunak can go and do one. Pandering to middle class transphobes isn’t the election winner you think it is,” someone else echoed.
“The persistent attacks on not only one of the smallest but most at risk communities is vile. Absolutely disgusting party through and through including anyone who supports them,” a social media user weighed in.
It comes after Health Secretary Steve Barclay outlined plans yesterday (3 October) to ban trans women from accessing female NHS wards.
This has since been backed by other senior Tories such as Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall criticised the announcement, labelling it a “cynical attempt to look busy” instead of actually improving women’s healthcare.
Addressing party members in Manchester, Mr Barclay said: “We need a common-sense approach to sex and equality issues in the NHS – that is why today I am announcing proposals for clearer rights for patients.
“And I can today confirm that sex-specific language has now been fully restored to online health advice pages about cervical and ovarian cancer and the menopause.
“It is vital that women’s voices are heard in the NHS and the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients are protected.”
The post Rishi Sunak says people ‘can’t be any sex they want to be’ in new swipe at trans community appeared first on Attitude.
Oh great, so he isn’t just a massive bellend but also a transphobe, wonderful.
58Women's voices must be heard*
*Unless they're pro-LGBTQ women's voices, in which case they can stfu
Sunak is a grade A wanker
57Maybe not, but they can be any gender they want to be.
45Also worth noting though, there are more than 2 sexes.
4
How is this helping him in any capacity?
32Distraction from actual issues
50The mum's net vote I imagine.
16Playing on the fear of people and attitudes different to themselves is one of the Tories' main ways of getting votes.
2
Has anyone stopped these assholes to ask why they even care? Of all the hills to die on, this is the dumbest conservative talking point and they've got everyone talking about (obviously the plan) but can't we just dissolve all of that by demanding that they justify their faux outrage?
30Easy target of a very small minority that can be mined for outrage.
27
I just want it to end. I'm so tired. I'm so very tired. Why can't people let trans people exist.
21We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t
They can't
Sounds like a challenge for transhumanist tech to solve 😎✊⚧️Ⓐ💻.
(Other people have covered the factual incorrectness here - the short of it is that (1) gender =/= sex and (2) "sex" isnt some monolithic thing but a complex, multi-axis thing itself - most of these axes are changeable to various degrees as well .)
18It’s almost a game at this point where you can spot the bad actors because they’re constantly using gender and sex interchangeably and pretending they’re the same thing yet you know that they’re definitely educated enough to know the difference.
18These lot need putting in one of their seven bins.
16How long til we can vote the tories out?
16Their term ends in January 2025 but Sunak will call an election before winter when it's too cold to go door knocking and flyering so likely in the Autumn meaning there will be another year of this madness.
6
What a knob.
15I need someone to make that meme of Mr Bean looking over that dude’s shoulder with Mr. Bean labeled as Sunak and the other dude as the American GQP. (Nvm, I’ve got it done: https://imgflip.com/i/81flvk)
I’m not sure I understand why the Tories insist on taking leaves straight out of the US ultra hard right Maga playbook on these things. This is one of those areas where the UK should be separating themselves away from what we’re dealing with in the US. Instead, it seems as if y’all Brits are really digging your heels in on trans issues when there are so many other issues on the agenda (this is the case in the US as well, so trust, I can fully appreciate the frustration).
From my best understanding, this is Sunak’s appeal towards hoping that he and all the Tories are run out of office during your next general election, but dang! This has got to be the most asinine take I’ve seen…since yesterday (things are perfectly inane in the US government at the moment).
14Is that... Rishi Bean?
3
I’m not sure I understand why the Tories insist on taking leaves straight out of the US ultra hard right Maga playbook
Because they're both playing from the Russian asset playbook.
4
It’s just hit me; this election cycle is their Lovely Horse. They’ve mined what they can from the coffers for now, and have no interest in presiding over the next few years of absolute fuckery, so they’ve got Dougal on keys and Jack on backing, and are fixing for a gracious defeat.
14We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be.
Does it work like that? From my understanding, a lot of biological and psychological factors play a role. I've listened to a couple of lectures about that, I was surprised how complex it is. I'd expect from someone in his position to be more educated on the topic. But he probably doesn't care. For him trans people is just a safe enemy to create and to attack. Too many politicians on the West follow Putin's and Orban's steps. That's worrying.
12Permanently Deleted
11Genitals aren't sentient.
My penis disagrees, but he's kind of a dick.
19Maybe I'm not understanding your comment, but in certain contexts, gender identity is not relevant but biological sex IS, such as in treatment or early diagnosis of cancers that are specific to one sex or the other. Hospitals need to be able to communicate verbally and in email or written correspondence about these things, but if language is obfuscated to the point where it is not clear what that individual's risks are (based on their sex), then it is only that individual who will be worse off for it. This point doesn't need to be extrapolated to larger contexts for political power, but it should also not be ignored because of possible implications to larger gender identity questions.
4The terms AFAB and AMAB serve perfectly well for this medical purpose. Equally, an extra column for gender. Gender: M, Sex: F.
Not that tricky really. Doesn't need to go any further than that.3To be honest, it might not hurt for them to do some of those tests anyways in some circumstances. Some people might go through their entire life without knowing that they have both types of internal reproductive organs. Hell, some people don't know that a majority their organs are inversed from the normal positioning. (Uncommon but not unheard of.)
Aside from that, I would argue that at the medical care level, it could/should be considered private medical information. Let's say hypothetically that someone has severe PCOS. Having PCOS increases the risks for certain cancers, but it's still unnecessary for anyone other than their doctor to know about it.
If you're in the emergency room, they're probably going to be doing various tests on you if you have severe symptoms. If you have severe abdominal pain, you're probably going to get an ultrasound. You'll probably get bloodwork tests that look at various hormone levels. (Pregnancy and a certain testicular cancer share some of the same flags. Certain hormone levels can also indicate thyroid issues.)
If someone goes to their doctor with complaints about their own reproductive system, I would hope that their doctor tests and treats them for that problem. Again, intersex people DO exist, so proper investigation should be a thing already. Even with CIS people, not everyone looks the same, and I think that it would be a shameful reason to let a person die.
3
What the fuck.
WHAT THE FUCK
11Out of touch man parrots out of touch opinions he thinks are held by people he thinks might vote for him.
17
Yes they fucking can you absolute cockwomble.
10Fuck this guy.
10“It is vital that women’s voices are heard in the NHS and the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients are protected.”
As if the PM's and his peers' comments were not enough to clearly show that they don't care about the people: just yesterday, U.S. company Palantir closed in on the UK health data contract with the NHS as per Bloomberg. So where is this privacy and dignity?
9Okay, someone please help me understand as I genuinely want to.
I fully understand gender neutral (I am bringing up my own children to not restrict their behaviour and personalities due to gender norms because of the the sex they were assigned at birth), I understand being born 'male' but feeling more like the societal definition of a 'girl' in terms of both physical and social characteristics. I understand the difference between sex and gender.
I understand and believe that our body is our own and if somebody wants to change their body they should be able to do so as they see fit, including changing it to meet the societal norms in terms of appearance of another sex.
But here is what I don't fully grasp (but would like to) - why is it wrong to say that those born with a biologically male body should go to the male ward in a hospital? Isn't that where they would receive the best treatment for themselves? Aren't gender pronouns useful when distinguishing between biological differences in the medical field?
I don't mean any offense to anybody with these questions. I fully support everyone's right to identify as anywhere on the spectrum of the social construct of gender. Also, if there is a more suitable community for me to ask these questions in, please do share it.
8A couple points to get you started:
- It isn’t really the case that said wards are specialising in the way you’re describing, but if they did, why wouldn’t you want (e.g.) all women (cis or trans) who are expecting their blood test results to reflect a certain balance range of hormones, or whose body fat locations and distributions are coded to be the same to be treated together? Especially after SRS, what benefit do you see from placing them in a “men’s” ward?
- I understand you’ve drawn a distinction between “sex” and “gender” but “biological sex” isn’t binary, it’s bimodal, and although we don’t yet fully understand how it comes to be that people are gay or trans, there are a lot of compelling reasons to suggest that a lot of people may be trans for biological reasons. In which case, if you want to look at it from a diagnostic perspective, you’ll struggle to meaningfully define what “biologically female” means, and you’ll be more inclined to see it as “has had/not had high exposure to testosterone during formative years”. And as a trait, that can occur also to cis men and women alike, for multitudes of reasons. Biology just happens to be quite complicated, is all.
12Good explanation!
4Thanks for the reply. I'm going to pick out a couple of specific points to check my understanding.
!why wouldn’t you want (e.g.) all women (cis or trans) who are expecting their blood test results to reflect a certain balance range of hormones!<
Are you referring here to individuals who have undergone hormonal replacement therapy? If so, yes, that I totally understand and hadn't considered.
!“biological sex” isn’t binary, it’s bimodal,!<
Okay, so in very simple terms, we're saying that biologically, man and woman isn't such a clear distinction, for a very simple example, some men have much higher levels of testosterone, etc.? If so, I can understand that too. But, I suppose it is the actual biological parts that are different, which I was thinking about.
So, if somebody with born as 'female' body parts undergoes hormonal and sex changing therapy, their reason for being in a hospital is probably more important than the sex they were assigned at birth, and so they should be able to choose the best option for them?
Am I right in thinking the main issues is that we have created a society in which sex and gender were separated and defined so distinctly, that for transexual individuals, there just is no 'correct' option available to them?
4
Hi, I'm a nurse so let me chime in here from direct experience.
those born with a biologically male body should go to the male ward in a hospital? Isn't that where they would receive the best treatment for themselves? Aren't gender pronouns useful when distinguishing between biological differences in the medical field?
NOPE! Unequivocally NOPE. We don't separate hospital wards based on gender (in the US). Your gender has absolutely zero fuck all not one thing to do with your general biology and medical care. Doesn't change or impact what we do in the least regarding your internal organs - heart, kidneys, lungs, all get approached the same.
What does change what we do is your weight which affects medication doses. And in very, very, very niche specific situations the anatomy of your genitals changes what we do. (Say, if you're having a problem urinating, the length of your urethra and any potential obstacles like a prostate will matter.)
But see, here's the things about that: We can't approach the genital anatomy of two different individuals who both identify as male with the exact same treatment plan. The exact things we do are hyperspecific to the particular anatomy of that individual person. So if we're dealing with a trans woman who didn't have bottom surgery and still has a vestigial penis, then it doesn't make any difference that she's trans. We need to approach the anatomy that is present in front of us, whatever shape and condition it's in regardless of the sociological characteristics of the person to whom the anatomy is attached.
I think part of the confusion in the general public with medical care is the assumption that everyone who identifies as the same gender as you has very similar anatomy to you. Let me tell y'all, I have seen more genitals than a Las Vegas prostitute, and there is more variation than I would ever have imagined. You can't go by a person's stated gender and know exactly what you're gonna get, even if that person is cis. The number of times you lift that gown on somebody and go, "What the fuck is going on here?!" that has nothing to do with a person being trans or not, y'all just have no idea lol.
All medical care is approached specifically toward you as an individual person. Your particular responses to medications (which we can't predict by the way - there's an absurd amount of educated trial and error involved) and your particular anatomy. And 90% of the time, the response to anatomical variations is just "Huh, that's unusual. Anyway, you can pee without any problems, right? Ok good idgaf ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
The only time your sociological characteristics come into play is when I'm talking to you about your life, providing education, trying to understand your obstacles to medical care.
8I don't agree or disagree with this person's personal beliefs/experiences, but this isn't the opinion of most health organizations, including the WHO
1
Yes, I’ve heard from all my friends and family in the uk over the past few years: they’re not worried about low pay, high mortgages, fuel cost soaring, crumbling transport, NHS waiting lists, unaffordable rent and housing. No, they hide at home to avoid roving gangs of transgender warriors convincing them that they have to change sex. What an arse he is
8Only term as prime minister speedrun any%
4Is this like shooting for the moon in Hearts (if enough people get that reference)? Find yourself losing so you hit every single bad point for no other reason than some esoteric reward?
2Doesn't have to go that far. How about just saying the truth: you can't make people call you what you want. Have whatever sexual proclivities you want, but it is downright irrational to get mad at people for not being pleased with Trans people wanting to be accepted for their sexual proclivities by the general public. A dude in a dress getting mad at people for not calling them a woman is just so fucking selfish and entitled I just can't understand it.
-16And do you ever intentionally misgender cis people and refuse to use their legal names because they don't measure up to some standard of yours, or do you reserve that shittiness for trans people exclusively?
11I think that's maybe where you're misunderstanding it. This person would not be a "dude in a dress". They would be a woman in a dress but with a male body. So next time you see an identifiably obvious trans person, think of them as the gender they are, trapped in the opposite-sex body (like it's a medical problem with their body), and be glad that's not one of your battles in life, and empathetic to those who are trying to live the life they should be able to.
3Trust me I get that this is a legitimate medical issue. There's studies that show transitioned trans people are much happier. It greatly improves their life. I'm not denying that. I'm just trying to say: asking others to be empathetic is a waste of time, and quite honestly a bit childish. It's really NOT that important to the rest of us. I personally would NEVER say anything mean to a Trans person, in real life. If I see you want to be a woman I'll treat you that way no problem. No skin off my back. AT THE SAME TIME you cannot expect to get that reaction from everyone. Trans people should just have a bit more self awareness to the fact that it is asking too much to be ridicule free, or immediately accepted. Black people were slaves for hundreds of years and still get racism today, their only crime was the color of their skin. The Trans road will not be a short one, they better buckle up or they won't make it to the destination.
-4
