Editorial: Sinn Fein and Alliance politicians need to be clear with the public where they stand on women’s rights

Sinn Fein and Alliance politicians need to be clear with the public where they stand on women’s rights – do they support single-sex spaces or do they not?

​For years, both parties have backed the demands of the trans lobby to allow men access to women’s spaces, based on how they identify.

As the public mood shifts on sex and gender issues, the demands have become less strident – but real choices remain.

The crystal clear judgement from the UK Supreme Court that a woman is a biological female – and a man with or without a gender recognition certificate is not – has seen both parties hide behind the Equality Commission (ECNI) as it deliberates on the impact of the ruling.

The issue exploded in UK politics when the Scottish parliament backed reformed gender laws, something akin to ‘Self-ID’ of sex. Alliance welcomed it as Scotland “leading the way on social justice”. But the last UK government blocked the law – arguing that it would undermine sex-based rights under the equality act. They have been proven right.

Both the Sinn Fein First Minister and the Alliance Justice Minister have said they will wait for ECNI guidance. They shouldn’t have to – they should make clear to the public whether they back the ruling – or plan to fight it.

Even if it doesn’t cover Northern Ireland – as Michelle O’Neill claimed this week – she has a political choice to make.

Either she wants to prioritise women’s rights to single-sex toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards – or she wants to do what one SF MLA suggested this week – and revisit decades-old sex discrimination legislation to insert ‘trans protections’.

Claiming the ruling is “complex” and hiding behind platitudes towards the “LGBTQ+ community” won’t wash anymore.