Conversion therapy bill: Stormont speaker says it's not for MLAs to ask questions about how many genders there are
There was uproar in the Assembly during a debate on banning “conversion practices” after MLAs were instructed from the Speaker’s chair not to raise questions about how many gender identities there are.
Stormont’s principal deputy speaker Carál Ní Chuilín interjected to “pre-empt a raft of questions” about how many genders exist – saying it is not for MLAs to “talk about how many genders there are”.
The Sinn Fein politician, whose role in the chair is to be neutral, will refer her comments to Speaker Edwin Poots after a complaint about bias.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett had accused Ms Ní Chuilín of having breached the impartiality required of the chair – and of having attacked him personally.
The row began when DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley asked the proposer of the Bill to “outline the number of gender identities that he believes this would apply to”.
That prompted Ms Ní Chuilín to intervene “just to try and pre-empt a raft of questions”.
The speaker said “so it's clear from Clause Six, the sexual orientation and gender identity includes what the victim considers it to be – so it’s the self-determined."
“So it’s not for Eoin Tennyson, or anyone else, to talk about how many genders there are”, she said. Ms Ní Chuilín said she was asking MLAs to “be mindful to the remarks I said earlier. I'm not stopping political debate. I'm not trying to censor anyone. But when people are making reference to Clause Six, it's important that everybody has Clause Six in front of them to understand exactly what is said”.
Phillip Brett intervened, saying: “The point that I'm trying to seek clarity on here is: gender identity is in this bill. It is not defined in this bill. It is not defined in the explanatory memorandum.
“So are you saying, Deputy Speaker, that you're ruling it out of order that members are allowed to ask the questions on legislation that they're going to be asked to vote for.
“We are being asked to legalise a term called gender identity, which the member in his own legislation has not defined. When he was asked to define it, he refused to do it, and then you, as principal deputy speaker, ruled it out of order that we would ask that question. So I need your clarity on that before we may have to vote on the bill”. the North Belfast MLA said.
Ms Ní Chuilín said “you're very close to challenging the ruling of any speaker”. She added: “I'm trying to be sensitive. I'm reading out what is said here”,