Transgender debate

Today

Sam Leith

Julie Bindel: Lesbians – where are we now?

48 min listen

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is the writer, activist and Spectator contributor Julie Bindel. In her new book Lesbians: Where Are We Now?, Julie asks why lesbian liberation seems – as she sees it – to have taken one step forward and two steps back. She traces the history of lesbian activism, explains why we’re wrong to assume that lesbians and gay men are natural allies, confronts the ‘progressive’ misogyny she identifies in a younger generation – and tells me whether she thinks the Supreme Court’s recent decision marks an end to the trans wars.

Wednesday

James Kirkup

Why Liz Truss’s trans promise matters

It seems odd to be writing about the transgender debate amid the coronavirus crisis, but in some ways, it’s important that normal life, where possible, goes on amid that crisis. That is one good reason for parliament returning to business this week. That business includes Commons select committee hearings on things other than coronavirus. Today, Liz Truss was at the Women and Equalities Select Committee in her role as minister for equalities, overseeing the Government Equalities Office. That brief includes the trans issue and the – postponed, possibly forever – reform of the Gender Recognition Act. Truss’s opening remarks to the committee were interesting and worthy of attention because she