Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
Parliament may be on summer recess but it’s clear that battle lines are being drawn for when MPs and peers return in September. One area of debate is likely to be around transgender identity.
This week, Labour has tried to prepare the ground by ditching plans for self-identification, with Sir Keir Starmer saying in an interview that “a woman is an adult female”.
There are likely to be flashpoints in the autumn over the Government’s new guidance for schools in England on transgender pupils as well as the long-awaited Conservation Therapy Bill, which are both expected before the King’s Speech on 7 November.
These are clearly matters where the Catholic Church takes an interest – both in terms of what the Church teaches about the human person, and in supporting Catholics to follow that teaching in the world today.
While it’s important we contribute to these debates, we need to do so with care and compassion. The question of transgender identity has become highly politicised. We need to be careful to provide light rather than more heat to the public discourse.