(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson said he believed biological males should not be able to compete in female sports, and women should have dedicated spaces in hospitals, prisons and changing rooms, as he expanded on his views on the treatment of transgender people.
The premier also defended not including transgender people in the government's proposed ban on so-called conversion therapy -- an exclusion that sparked the cancellation of a major conference because of a widespread backlash from LGBTQ organizations. The discredited practice is aimed at attempting to convert homosexuals and trans people to be heterosexual or cisgender.
“There are complexities and sensitivities when you move from the area of sexuality to the question of gender, and I'm afraid there are things that still need to be worked out,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
The remarks are Johnson's most expansive to date on transgender issues, and it raises the prospect of his ruling Conservative Party using the issue as a key dividing line with the opposition Labour Party ahead of a general election in 2024.
The premier last month said biology should be a key factor in determining whether a transgender person is identified as a man or a woman, his first major foray into an increasingly heated public debate in Britain. In doing so, he established a clear marker between him and his main opponent Keir Starmer, who has backed calls for transgender people to get legal recognition of their gender based on self-declaration, rather than needing a medical diagnosis.
Johnson Enters Transgender Debate by Saying Biology Is Important
Starmer's comment that “trans women are women” prompted criticism from writer J.K. Rowling who warned that “anger was building among women from all walks of life.”
The issues are not “something I thought I would have to consider in great detail,” Johnson said. “These are novel concepts, we've got to be clear about that.”
Last month British Olympic medalist Sharron Davies also accused a Labour MP of “abandoning” women's rights after she defended swimmer Lia Thomas, the first transgender athlete to win a U.S. college championship.
Sports
“I don't think that biological males should be competing in female sporting events -- maybe that's a controversial thing to say but it just seems to me to be sensible,” Johnson said. “I also happen to think women should have spaces which are -- whether it's in hospitals or prisons or changing rooms or wherever -- dedicated to women. That's as far as my thinking has developed on this issue. If that puts me in conflict with some others, then we have got to work it all out.”
Johnson said he's “100% committed” to bringing in a ban on conversion therapy for gays, lesbians and bisexual people, which he described as “utterly abhorrent.”
But he defended the move to exclude trans people, saying he didn't think it was reasonable for children to be deemed competent to “take decisions about their gender or irreversible treatments,” adding: “I think there should be parental involvement at the very least.”
The U.K.'s LGBT Business Champion resigned in protest at the exclusion of trans people, and Conservative transgender MP Jamie Wallis said he was “bitterly disappointed.”
Johnson said he was “immensely sympathetic to people who want to change gender, to transition” and that they should be given “the maximum possible love and support in making those decisions.”
Yet these complex issues cannot be “solved with one swift, easy piece of legislation,” instead requiring a “lot of thought” to get right, he said.
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