(This item first appeared in Brighton Argus on 19th June with “Petition sparks debate among Sussex MPs”) 

Each week that Parliament is open there are potential opportunities for our representatives to behave in a way that seems different to what has occurred in the past. Last week one of the themes that emerged was a debate in response to two public petitions which had both obtained a significant number of signatures from across the whole of the UK.

 It was very encouraging that five of our local Sussex MPs took part in this debate, however, the fascinating aspect was that in the previous week none of our representatives took part in a debate on another significant public petition. The petition that took place two weeks ago was “Create statutory legal duty of care for students in Higher Education” which was signed by nearly 4,400 Sussex people. However, it was MPs from Kent, Surrey and Hampshire that had taken part. The two petitions that were debated last week are “Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex” and “Commit to not amending the Equality Act’s definition of sex”. The first petition obtained just over 3,600 Sussex signatures and the second one nearly 5,900 local signatures. The most significant change between these two petitions was in Brighton and Hove which provided more than three times as many signatures. Of the five Sussex MPs who took part in last week’s debate, one was from Brighton, two are from East Sussex including a Minister and two from West Sussex who are both based in Worthing. As it happens there were also two different MPs from Hampshire and Kent and the same one from Surrey that had taken place in the previous week.

The first petition had the text of

The Government must exercise its power under s.23 of the Gender Recognition Act to modify the operation of the Equality Act 2010 by specifying the terms sex, male, female, man & woman, in the operation of that law, mean biological sex and not “sex as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate”

The second petition had the text

It has been reported that the Government may amend the Equality Act to “make it clear that sex means biological sex rather than gender.” The Government has previously committed to not remove legal protections for trans people, an already marginalised group, but this change would do so.

The debate was set out by Tonia Antoniazzi who is an MP for Wales who began with

I am pleased to open the debate on the petitions on behalf of the Petitions Committee. One petition calls on the Government to update the Equality Act 2010 to make the characteristic of sex refer to biological sex, and the other petition calls on the Government to commit to not amending the Act’s definition of sex. Opinions about the relationship between biological sex, gender identity and the law divide organisations, political parties, and even family and friends. Many people have told me that this is something that they are afraid to speak of, and some say it should not be discussed at all. Others have told me of how they are relieved and happy that we are finally discussing it in Parliament.

The first Sussex MP to participate was Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the Labour for Brighton Kemptown who spoke several times. The next Sussex person was Peter Bottomley for Worthing West who included “I hope that this debate will help to illuminate the fact that Parliament is taking the issue seriously.” The next person was Tim Loughton who is from East Worthing and Shoreham who stated

I support the first petition to make the Equality Act clearer for several reasons. I echo what other hon. Members have said, but I will talk about one particular application of the Act, which is to allow clear and fair women’s sport, and to ensure it gets the support that it needs.

Later there was a comment from Lloyd who included

For me, the real issue—the injustice—is about the woman who will turn up tonight at Brighton, be told that there are no spaces in the refuge and be put into hostel accommodation with rapists down the corridor who have only just come out of prison. The real tragedy will be the young trans person tonight who cannot get access to mental health services.

The final Sussex non-Minister was Caroline Ansell from Eastbourne who included

I started my own consideration of this complex and sensitive issue some months back, when I knocked on a door in Eastbourne. After a chat, a grandad shared with me his dismay and heartache.

The final person was Maria Caulfield who is the Minister and Lewes MP who ended with

The Government recognise the importance of biological sex, and we have taken it seriously enough to ask for advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We will come back to this place once we have considered in detail the policy and the legal implications of changing or updating the Equality Act. I thank everyone for taking part in the debate, contributing to the discussion and affording the issue the respect it warrants.

It was very encouraging that so many of our local MPs took place in this debate last week. Let us hope that in the future more of our representatives will take part in petition discussions and will respond to future debates that we as Sussex residents believe to be very important.