Bridget Phillipson, our new Equalities Minister, made her debut in Parliament recently. Her performance included an impressive and passionate rebuttal of the case against single-sex spaces, which has sought to shame the Conservative Party. Her comments came amid increasing scrutiny over women’s safety and dignity at hospitals. Bipartisan support for this discussion surged following the Supreme Court’s radical ruling in West Virginia v. Featuring Phillipson’s robust defense of the importance of protecting single-sex spaces and protections based on biological sex. Specifically, she underscored that the government will consider women’s safety at the forefront of future planning.
In her speech, Phillipson accused the Conservative government of “deliberately” claiming that it had not done enough to protect single-sex spaces. She noted that so many women have shared their terror at this decision and what it could mean for their rights and their safety. This anti-judicial sentiment was further reflected by Phillipson’s description of recent protests against the ruling. She pointed to the nearly doubling of calls to Switchboard, the national LGBT+ helpline, as proof of rising anxiety among her constituents.
Phillipson stated that “We will continue to protect women’s safety with single-sex accommodation in women’s sport … So in our prisons, in our hospitals, in sport, in a whole host of other spaces, what was true before the ruling remains true after the ruling – this government protects safe spaces for women under the Equality Act 2010.”
In her inaugural speech, Phillipson outed her new Tory opponents and challenged them to stop talking and tweeting and start working. She called on the Conservative Party to act. She called on them to “get offline and get on board” with policies that preserve women’s rights and safety. Her remarks were very much directed at Kemi Badenoch, the (now ex-) Equalities Minister. She berated Badenoch for failing to use her time in office to strengthen protections for women.
Phillipson called Badenoch’s record on women’s rights “absolutely shameful.” She stated that the Conservative government has failed women for too long. She slammed the Tories for years of mixed-sex ward closure promises with no real action to produce results.
“Our work to protect single-sex bases across society continues in earnest, because, for far too long, under the Conservative government, single-sex spaces were anything but.” – Bridget Phillipson
Phillipson took inspiration from her own experience operating a women’s refuge for survivors of domestic violence. She talked vehemently about the imperative need for safe spaces for women. She made the case that these environments are key to therapeutic reinforcement and healing from trauma.
The Equalities Minister wasn’t done yet, attacking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as well for his “joke” comments about trans people. She emphasized that such comments undermine the dignity of all individuals involved and detract from the serious discourse surrounding these issues.
Badenoch quickly defended against Phillipson’s accusations. She asked whether the PM would apologise, in person and publicly, to independent MP Rosie Duffield for how she has been treated in the Labour Party. She indicated doubt that Phillipson would ever offer an apology for her past actions too.
“Will she (Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson) apologise to the member for Canterbury? I doubt it.” – Kemi Badenoch
Indeed, Badenoch took the opportunity to knock the Labour Party for their opposition to mixed-sex wards. She asserted they are all talk but no action given their words. Specifically, she called out the previous behaviour of Labour MPs joining protests while drawing no such condemnation.
Phillipson in return, audaciously, flamed the critics. She claimed the Labour government has a day one plan for action, attacking violence against women and girls and safeguarding the rights of women. She repeated her determination to protect single-sex spaces and demand the Conservatives to get on board with this.
“And nowhere is that clearer than in our hospitals. Year after year, the party opposite pledged to close mixed-sex wards, and yet, year after year, their views not only persisted. It grew massively and year after year, often in their most vulnerable moments, women were denied the privacy and the dignity that they deserved time after time.” – Bridget Phillipson
Throughout her speech Phillipson called for the biological reality of sex to be acknowledged in debates over single-sex spaces. In all of it, she stressed the need for transparency. It’s important for enforcing women’s rights in other fields like health care and athletics, too.
The battle over single-sex spaces, be they bathrooms, lockerrooms or shelters is one growing increasingly contentious. The recent Supreme Court decision that upheld single-sex facilities based on biological sex is indeed lawful. This ruling weakened a thread to degree gender identity discrimination and save women’s rights.
Passionate discussions are still taking place in Parliament and with constituents to this very day. Phillipson is adamant that no government can claim to be serious about tackling crime while failing to protect women. Her vision is a future where dignity and respect are the norm, not the exception, on every public sidewalk, street, park, and space.