Hello and welcome to the Speak Life Podcast. Today it's reaction time with Glenn Scrivner, engaging with news and culture from a Christian perspective. You can watch this reaction and more on our YouTube channel, youtube.com forward slash speaklifemia.
SPEAKER_02I'm Glenn from Speak Life, where Christians looking at all of life with Jesus at the centre. Today we examine two formidable Scots locked in ideological conflict: Nicola Sturgeon and J.K. Rowling, an epic battle, if ever there was one. To get the backstory, let's go way back. Let's go BC before COVID. Do you remember? December 2019, the Harry Potter author tweets this Dress however you please, call yourself whatever you like, sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you, live your best life in peace and security, but force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real. Hashtag I stand with Maya. Hashtag this is not a drill. She knew that this would trigger klaxons the world over. She was not wrong about that. This was a pivotal moment, but you might be asking, I stand with Maya, who is Maya? Well, Maya Forestarter was a researcher for a think tank who, in Rowling's view, was forced out of her job for, again, in Rowling's words, stating that sex was real. What had Forestarter said that meant she lost her job? Here is trans YouTuber ContraPoints reading out one of Maya's offending tweets. Read those sentences out in any other slice of time and place in human history, and you would get crickets. Say it out loud in 2019. And well, just listen to how ContraPoints reacts immediately after reading a perfectly normal English sentence.
SPEAKER_00So we're looking at a standard transphobia starter pack. Everyone born female is a woman, everyone born male is a man, trans women are predators who prey on women, and I'm being oppressed for speaking the truth.
SPEAKER_02If you have a particularly strong bigotry sensor, you too might have noticed transphobia.
SPEAKER_03My spider senses are starting to tingle.
SPEAKER_02After Maya's tweets, her employers had their bigotry sensors buzzing, and they did not renew her contract. In 2019, Maya appealed, saying she was being discriminated against for her gender critical views. She claimed it contravened the Equalities Act, because surely you can hold and express the view that there are only two genders and they are non-interchangeable. So then, even if you disagree with Maya Four Starter, let me ask you a question. Is her view worthy of respect in a democratic society? If you answered yes, well done. You win the respect of democracy lovers worldwide and a year's supply of legal fees, which you're going to need to protect you from employment tribunals like Maya's. Because her tribunal, speaking on behalf of unhinged ideologues everywhere, answered, no, Maya Four Starter's views were, as far as they were concerned, not worthy of respect in a democratic society. And this is what prompted J.K. Rowling to tweet in December 2019: force someone out of their job for stating that sex is real? Surely not, says Rowling. I stand with Maya. This was a crossing of the Rubicon moment for Rowling. Earlier she had followed and liked certain gender-critical tweeters, and that caused enough of a stir, but now she actually wrote words to express a view in this most contested area. And she knew what she was doing. Hence the hashtag This is not a drill. This set Rowling on a collision course with many, including our other protagonist in this epic battle, Nicola Sturgeon. Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, also describes herself as a feminist, but she very much wants to be known as a trans ally as well. And she's been trying to make it easy for people to get a gender recognition certificate if they feel that they are now a gender different to that on their birth certificate. Sturgeon finally pushed through this unpopular legislation in December 2022, in spite of protests by people like J.K. Rowling. In polling done at the time, two-thirds of Scots expressed concern about the legislation, and after the legislation went through, today a survey has revealed that Scotland is now the least favourably disposed region of the United Kingdom towards making it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. Not only is this legislation unpopular, it was often pointed out to Sturgeon that it was unconstitutional. It would violate certain UK-wide equalities legislation, and she was told it would be voted down by the UK government in Westminster, which it was last month. Why was it voted down? Is everyone who is against this legislation a foaming-at-the-mouth bigot? Well, I find the arguments of women's rights activists persuasive. What do you make of MP Miriam Cates speaking in Westminster about why the UK should overrule Sturgeon's laws?
SPEAKER_05And it was harrowing to hear the stories of decades of child sexual abuse throughout institutions across this country. And there's one key feature of that abuse, which is that predators will exploit any loophole they can find to get access to children. And that is, I'm afraid, what will happen with this bill. We shouldn't be asking how easy is it for someone who's uncomfortable with their sex to obtain a GRC. We should be asking how easy is it for a predator to get access to children. And I'm afraid this bill would make it vastly easier for a predator to get access to children, to change their sex, to change their gender with an eye to exploiting loopholes of accessing children and women in particular. No, I'm going, I've only got four minutes. So the novelty that this has been written with is absolutely astounding and hugely worrying. I think also the reduced reduction of the age limit to 16 is a significant safeguarding risk. Human brain does not end development until about the age of 25. You can't drive a car when you're 16. There are awful lot of things that you're not allowed to do legally when you're 16 because you cannot assess the long-term implications on your welfare. Changing your legal gender with the potential route to long-term changes to your fertility, your sexual function, your health is not suitable for 16-year-olds. There's a huge safeguarding risk. Paragraphs 30 and 48 mention membership on the grounds of sex in single-sex spaces. Sex Matters did a report recently, looking at the impact on single-sex spaces and the ability of men to access them through through changing their gender. The one thing women say is I never went back. I never went back to that swimming pool. I never went back to that counselling class. For many women, the dignity of being a women in this space, of knowing that there's no men, there are no men that are going to be there is so important. We will see a chilling effect on important single sex uh rights if this uh goes through. Um, and I think, you know, as a woman, I fully understand uh the threats to dignity and safety that this poses because it will change the social contract. In this country, we recognise that in toilets and changing rooms, in public spaces, there are areas where only women are allowed. I had an experience recently in a restaurant when a man dressed as a woman walked into the toilet, so I was on my knee in the toilets, he stood behind me and stared at me into the mirror, looking at me in my eyes. Now, I have no idea if he intended me any harm. But my instinct, my evolved instinct as a woman was to be frightened because, unlike almost any other species, women are far less powerful than men. We can't defend ourselves. That's why we have, no, it's a fact. The difference in strength between men and women is phenomenal. That's why we have separate sex uh categories for sport. Women are evolved to be wary of men in intimate spaces. That's why we have single sex spaces. They must continue to exist for the safety and privacy of women. This threatens that social contract. Finally, it threatens the understanding of our law, which should be based on fact. And you cannot change your sex any more than you can change your place of birth or who your parents are. Now, I fully understand the complex arguments involved in this, and we should treat it with compassion. But if the law is not based on fact, then how can we trust the law? That's why the government is absolutely right to serve this notice.
SPEAKER_02I don't know how she comes across to you, but to me, she's not a foaming-at-the-mouth bigot. She makes sensible points. There's a safeguarding risk, not as regards trans people themselves, but as regards any predators, because all predators will always look for ways, ways into vulnerable spaces. And then there's an age of consent risk. And then there's the abolition of single-sex spaces like changing rooms and women's prisons and rape crisis centers and female sports. Men have no right to access those spaces, no matter how much of a woman they might feel themselves to be. Now, once again, I happen to agree with these points. You might not, but are the views of Miriam Cates worthy of respect in a democratic society? If you answered yes, congratulations, you win a week's supply of sanity. It used to be a year's supply, but sanity is running short these days. If you answered no, perhaps your name is Lloyd Russell Moyle, a Labour MP whose bigotry spidey sense went nuclear.
SPEAKER_03Goodness me, that speech was probably one of the worst transphobic dog whistle speeches that I've heard in an awful long time. The idea of linking trans people with predators, frankly, is disgusting, and you should be ashamed.
SPEAKER_02Lloyd went on for a few more outraged minutes, angrily denouncing Miriam Cates and her views. He later apologised, saying that he should have channelled his anger better while still maintaining that Cates's views were abhorrent. It had both the feel and the look of an angry man who hurts a woman and then says, Look what you made me do. With all your abhorrent bigotry.
SPEAKER_01And so we have a very exciting thing called the Speak Life Discord server. It's an online platform where you can interact with other Speak Life supporters and the Speak Life team. We have bonus content, creative theological discussion, and lots of fun along the way. So if you want to join that, you can just go to speaklife.org.uk forward slash give and just sign up to receive our update emails, and you'll get invited to join the server there. Speak Life is supported entirely by the generosity of people like you, and we're so grateful for your support, be it through prayer or financial means. And if you're a regular giver, we'd love to give you access to the members zone of our Discord. In the members zone, you can see early drafts of our videos, you can give feedback, say what you'd like to see from Speak Life, plus there's even more bonus content. So after setting up a regular donation, you can request membership access on speaklife.org.uk forward slash give. Okay, back to the podcast.
SPEAKER_02But this is often the response. Feminists say men cannot erase female spaces just because they choose to identify as female. Concerned citizens say that predators will game this system to identify as women and gain access to vulnerable women and children. But if you raise those points, that is a transphobic dog whistle, it's disgusting, it's bigotry. This is also what Nicola Sturgeon said consistently to any critics of her legislation. When any feminist or safeguarding concerns were raised, they were routinely dismissed as transphobic. She said they had no merit, and if anyone thought sexual predators would game her system to gain access to female spaces like women's prisons, they should, in her words, be ashamed of themselves. Here she is, for instance, claiming that her critics use the cloak of caring about women's rights to hide their misogyny and racism.
SPEAKER_06There are people who have opposed this bill that cloak themselves in women's rights to make it acceptable, but just as they're transphobic, you will also find that they're deeply misogynist, uh often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well.
SPEAKER_02Some of them, not all of them, some of them order a starter and dessert and then make the group split the bill. Some of them needlessly reply all to group emails. Some of them use both armrests in their airplane seats. Some of them, this isn't everyone, but some save all their files to the desktop, the monsters. Some of them, and I must stress here there are exceptions, but some of them suggest that everyone orders a different dish at the Chinese restaurant, and then they insist that everyone shares, whether or not you have an interest in sweet and sour pork. Some of them leave voice messages when they could easily and clearly text the message and save everyone the bother. Some of them leave teaspoons on the draining board concave side up. Some of them, anyway, when someone resorts to calling you a bigot or a phobe, it might be because you're a bigot or a phobe, it might also be that they have no argument and are resorting to insults. Is that the case with Sturgeon and her critics? Well, straight after Sturgeon pushed through her legislation, guess what happened? Stories came to light of exactly the things that people had warned about. There was Adam Graham, who raped two women in Scotland, and later, before sentencing, demanded to be known as the woman Isla Bryson. Adam Graham was then placed in a female prison before an outcry led to him being switched to a male prison. J.K. Rowling tweeted, So, in Nicola Sturgeon Scotland, trans women aren't women if they're convicted double rapists like Adam, Isla Bryson, Graham. However, trans women and pedophile Katie Delatovsky, who covertly filmed a 12-year-old and attempted to rape a 10-year-old, both offences committed in women's public bathrooms, is a woman and remains in the women's prison from which Adam Graham is to be removed. Never forget, Sturgeon, her government, and supporters have insisted that it is ludicrous to imagine anyone would dress in women's clothes to get access to vulnerable women and girls. Wouldn't happen. Everyone is who they say they are. To question this is hate. The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. George Orwell, 1984. And it's not just Katie Dolotowski. You can look up people like Andrew Burns, who identifies as Tiffany Scott, or Jonathan Mallon, who wants to be known as Charlene. But the plot thickens because Sturgeon's direct intervention in the case of Adam Graham caused a problem for her. Why should Adam Graham not be treated as the female Isla Bryson? Graham identifies that way. If trans rights are human rights, then do you lose your human rights for certain crimes? Which ones? And if Adam is actually a woman, then why are they now putting a woman in a male prison? These questions were put to sturgeon.
SPEAKER_07My question is, are all trans women women? You haven't answered that question.
SPEAKER_06Well, uh that's not the point that we're dealing with. That's the question I'm asking. No, there is uh circumstances in which a trans woman uh will be housed in the male prison estate. Look, we're talking here about trans women.
SPEAKER_07And I'm now asking about women born as women.
SPEAKER_06I don't think there are circumstances there.
SPEAKER_07Uh but So it's different for trans women.
SPEAKER_06Well yes. And I I'm not So they're not equal. That is not the there is a risk assessment process done for trans women that takes account of the nature of the crime. Clearly, uh s significant concern uh arises out of sexual crime and whether it's appropriate for them to be in a female prison or a male prison.
SPEAKER_02To which Rowling responds, I don't know about you, but excluding women from women's prisons just because they've got penises, male pattern baldness, and have committed a couple of rapes seems awfully turfy to me. You get her point. If gender identity comes merely from self-identification, that way madness lies. And if you object to self-identification, if you think someone's biology really matters here, and there are certain transitions you simply cannot make, that doesn't make you a bigot, or a phobe, or a turf, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. It doesn't make you that, does it? If you answered that it doesn't, congratulations! You win the chance to have a functioning society ruled by something approximating common sense. But maybe you're team sturgeon on this. I I don't know. By now, you're all asking the question, why is a Christian minister commenting on any of this? I'm glad you asked. I guess I wanted to address you if you think JK Rowling might have a point. If you think she might have a point, I want to see if I can take you on a journey, and it's a journey that will take you to a much more ancient and global vision for gender, sex, and sexuality. I think if you see the wisdom in Rowling's view, it's not difficult to see the wisdom of the traditional Christian position on sex and marriage. Ready to go on this journey? Okay. Step one. You already know that sex is very, very significant. You know that because you know that rapists like Adam Graham are in a different category. And they are in a different category because sex is in a different category itself. Sex is not a leisure activity. We know it's not because when leisure activities go wrong, we give one-star reviews. When sex goes wrong, we call the police. If you force a game of tennis on me, you are simply weird. If you force sex on me, you're a rapist. The exceptional evil of rape tells you that there is an exceptional sanctity to sex. And that means our culture's assumptions about sex, ever since the sexual revolution, are nonsense. And you know they're nonsense. Sex is significant. It is a union of persons, not just a union of bodies. It is profoundly meaningful and it is not casual or disposable. That's step one. Are you ready to take step two? Okay. Step two, you know that sexual self-expression is not a right. People like Adam Graham teach us that in the extreme, but it's true at more everyday levels too. I don't have a right to unleash my sexuality out there in the world. I have a responsibility to tame my sexuality. And that taming of sexuality, especially male sexuality, is vital for the blessing and protection of others, especially women and children. So sex is significant. Sexual self-expression is not an unbridled right to be exercised. Here's step three. There are two sexes, and they're not interchangeable. Now, all of us struggle with living out our gender identities and what it means to be a member of our sex, sure. But people are not gender neutral, nor are they gender interchangeable. Maybe you balk at step three. Okay, we can have a conversation about that. But I put to you that the phrase trans women are women is highly questionable. And maybe the rest of this video has given you pause to think that. Here's step four. You cannot just enter into a sex-defined space simply because you choose to. If I enter a female-only space, I haven't wonderfully expanded that space to include different ways of being female. If I enter a female-only space, I have violated that space. If I insist that my human rights include the right to enter that space, then I, a man, have redefined female and essentially destroyed that space. And that's not right, is it? But over and above these four points, what else do we learn? I think we learn that expressing these views is not bigotry. I hope we learn that. These views, like the ones expressed by J.K. Rowling and others, are pretty sane, aren't they? They're not hate-filled, they're not hate-motivated. But you'll be called a bigot for expressing these views, J.K. Rowling has been. The Harry Potter reunion happened last year without its creator, and now with the release of the computer game, Hogwarts Legacy, everyone is wanting to distance themselves from Rowling, who has not expressed bigotry, has she? She's expressed a different view with a different center of gravity and different concerns. Is that okay? As I say, I'm a Christian and I see parallels here to how people view the traditional Christian sex ethic. And I want you to consider that it's not bigotry to hold a different view. I'm not saying that Rowling holds the traditional Christian sexual ethic. She might well think that my views are beyond the pale. All I'm saying though, that there is a parallel. Christians say sex is significant, it is a profound union of persons, not just bodies. That's why its context is the union of persons that is marriage. And Christians say that sexual self-expression is not a right. In fact, it's important that you tame and train your sexuality, not simply express it. And Christians say that the sexes are not interchangeable. But you put those truths together. If the sex of a person is not interchangeable, then Christians say, all right, and the sex of your partner is not interchangeable either. Something changes fundamentally when you swap one of the partners in a in a male-female relationship. So that you have male-male or female-female, it's it's it's not the same thing. It's not the same thing. And because sex is real, and because people aren't gender neutral, marriage isn't gender neutral. And I don't have the right to enter into a sex-based space simply because I want to. If I don't fit that sex-based space, like marriage or something, but I insist that it includes me, well, I'm insisting that they redefine their sex-based space. The Christians say there are some things I don't have a right to enter or redefine, and marriage is one of them. Add this all up, and you basically have the Christian sexual ethic, that sex is incredibly significant. It's a gift of God given for marriage between a man and a woman, and that we, especially men, should tame and train our sexuality strictly for its proper use in that context of marriage. Maybe you think that's horribly bigoted. Maybe you have klaxons going off in your head right now, but maybe also the battle between rolling and sturgeon has shown you something you've known for a while, but haven't been able to articulate. Maybe you look at what's gone wrong in that situation and you start to recognize what ought to be. Another fantasy writer, C. S. Lewis, had views out of step with the society that he lived in. But he said, when you see something that is crooked, you also know that there must be something that is straight. To see something that is wrong, you must have a sense of something being right. And I think we can look at where things go wrong with the sexual revolution, and I think we can figure out what the photonegative is. When things go wrong in this realm, I think we all have a sense of what is right. And I invite you to come to Jesus and to see his vision for sex and relationships. I think it makes sense of how we view this world, it makes sense of the things that we know to be wrong, and it gives us a firm foundation to live out our identities as men and as women. Well, that's what I think. I'd love to know what you think. Let us know in the comments down below. Give this video a like, and uh please do subscribe to the channel so you can get more content from us here at Speak Life. But until next time, bye-bye,