A commitment by the DUP to “protecting women and girls' spaces” and warnings about threats to religious freedoms have brought into focus sharp divides at Stormont over a future equality act for Northern Ireland.

In the Assembly, North Down MLA Peter Martin addressed the issue of the conflict between women’s rights and changes sought by the transgender lobby and supported by Alliance, Sinn Fein and the SDLP. He said people can define themselves how they like, but “the logic of demanding that rights follow is precarious”.

A single piece of equality legislation has long been the goal of nationalist and Alliance MLAs – and the Assembly’s Executive Office (TEO) committee is currently preparing a report on the matter, having sought to establish where the “gaps” in legislation are.

The TUV has warned about the “direction of travel” on a single equality bill, describing it as “deeply troubling”. Only in the TEO committee’s last evidence session were critics of changes on issues such as sex-based rights and religious freedoms invited to speak.

placeholder image — DUP MLA Peter Martin criticised Alliance, Sinn Fein and SDLP for their attitude to a women's rights group giving evidence to a Stormont committee last week.

Last week, MLAs heard from the Women’s Rights Network (WRN NI) and the Christian Institute, who raised separate concerns about protection for women and for religious freedoms – concerns dismissed by Sinn Fein and Alliance MLAs.

Alliance backed a Sinn Fein claim that keeping religious protections in new equality proposals for voluntary workers was anti-gay.

The sharp difference between the DUP and Alliance and nationalists on key aspects of any equality act means it is unlikely to be brought by the first ministers – with no prospect of the DUP passing a bill which legislates for gender self-ID or removes religious protections.

That means a report from the Executive Office committee is likely to form the basis of an act, which may then be brought by an individual MLA via a Private Member’s Bill.

There would likely be majority support in the assembly, and any petition of concern by unionists is not guaranteed to succeed in blocking it.

A Private Member’s Bill would likely be scrutinised by the TEO committee, from where the proposals for change originated.

Evidence from WRN NI and the Christian Institute prompted further comment in the assembly chamber this week.

In the assembly on Monday, Peter Martin praised the contribution of WRN NI – saying it was “all the more critical in recent years as moves have been made by governments to alter equality legislation”.

The DUP man said: “Some initiatives to promote self-ID in equality law have had an alarming effect on respect for women's spaces and have provoked a backlash across the political spectrum.

“Last week, the Women's Rights Network attended the Executive Office committee, but its evidence was highly criticised by three of the political parties present. The Alliance Member for East Antrim said that its remarks would be traumatising for trans people. That is, however, from a party that said that it would ‘need evidence before deciding on whether three-year-old know whether they are trans’ and its justice minister is not sure how many genders there are.

“Sinn Fein branded the arguments and support for single-sex spaces as disgraceful. The SDLP stated that not everyone fits neatly into male and female and said that it did not agree with the evidence presented.”

He then cited the group’s oral evidence: “When it comes to toilets, changing rooms, healthcare settings, sporting opportunities and job opportunities, however, sex matters. Many women have been forced into silence on these issues in their workplace, in their family life and in public. They fear … challenging gender ideology.

“I apologise for the unparliamentary and highly provocative language in this next statement. The Women's Rights Network stated that ‘there are only two sexes’ – male and female. People can define themselves how they like, but the logic of demanding that rights follow is precarious.”

Mr Martin also said that “the largely discredited Stonewall is still funded by the minister of finance in a Northern Ireland Assembly”. He said the DUP “know what a woman is, we know how many sexes there are and, seemingly, unlike most other parties in the chamber, we are wholly committed to protecting women and girls' spaces”.

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: “Whilst welcoming the fact that the Women's Rights Network appeared before the committee, I observed that, as was the case with the Christian Institute, there was little sympathy for the sensible views that it articulated.

“I put the House on notice that the direction of travel of the Executive Office committee on a single equality bill is deeply troubling and is one that may well be positively regressive in its proposals.”