This letter is for new candidates standing for election in Cambridge City Council.
Dear
As a candidate standing for election to Cambridge City Council, I would like to ask how you will work to uphold the rights of women and girls within Cambridge, should you be elected. When referring to women and girls, I mean biological females.
In October 2020 Cambridge City passed a motion, beginning
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary individuals are non-binary”
On its face this implies that men who say they are women, should always be treated as if they are women; women who say they are men should be treated as men, and some individuals should be treated as if they are neither male nor female. I feel this statement fails to acknowledge women and their sex based rights. Are you in favour of removing women’s sex based rights in favour of those individuals who wish to reject their biological body?
Do you commit to upholding women’s sex based rights, including the use of single sex exemptions, as outlined in the Equality Act 2010 and challenging what the council means when they suggest ‘gender’?
Do you support women having the right to organise and speak freely without harassment or threats of violence?
How will you ensure that women and girls are not discriminated against on the basis of their sex and uphold single-sex exemptions when the council has redefined the meaning of the word women and conflates sex and gender in order to allow males into single sex spaces such as toilets?
Will you undertake to consider the impact of any policy on women and girls?
Do you agree that all interested parties should be consulted before the introduction of policies regarding gender identity, and not just those who will concur with activist councillors?
If you are an advocate of allowing the self identification of sex, please can be clear and open about this in all council business, policies and engagement with the public.
I look forward to receiving your answers.
Regards