He was speaking at the Conservatives’ annual conference in Manchester
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sparked a social media debate with his recent comments on transgender people. During his closing speech at the 2023 Conservative Party conference on October 4, he shared his stance on gender debate and said, “A man is a man and a woman is a woman”.
Addressing the conference, he noted, “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be – they can’t. A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.”
”We are going to change this country and that means, life means life. That shouldn’t be a controversial position. The vast majority of hard-working people agree with it. It also shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are learning in school about relationships. Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women,” he added.
Couldn’t believe it when I heard these words coming out his mouth
“We shouldn’t be bullied into thinking anyone can be any sex that they want to be. A man is a man and a woman is a woman, that is just common sense.”
Transphobic much? #trans#RishiSunak#PoliticsLivepic.twitter.com/sv3butBaad
— Julia M (@Julia_Milligan1) October 4, 2023
Though some supported his views, many were angry for making ”disrespectful” comments towards the transgender community. Some mocked him saying that his remarks are far away from ”common sense.”
One user said, ”The persistent attacks on not only one of the smallest but most at-risk communities are vile. Absolutely disgusting party through and through including anyone who supports them.”
Another commented, ”I’m so fed up with Sunak talking up the importance of maths, yet his biology knowledge is so poor. Biological sex is so complicated and interesting and not at all “common sense”. This is before getting involved in the gender argument that affects the trans debate.”
A third said, ”Sunak does not seem to grasp the difference between sex and gender. The Tory party is getting more and more radical by the minute, it’s scary.” A fourth agreed with him saying, ”That’s about as much truth as someone in government has spoken in a long time.”
Notably, his comments come after Health Secretary Steve Barclay on October 3 proposed a plan to ban transgender women from being treated in female hospital wards in England. The health secretary also confirmed sex-specific language would be used when dealing with women’s health, as per Sky News. The proposal sparked a backlash from moderate Tory MPs, who fear LGBTQ+ people are being targeted.
Mr Sunak’s stance on transgender rights was clear when he said in April that ”women do not have penises.” In an interview with ConservativeHome, Mr Sunak was asked about his thoughts on a statement claiming “99.9 percent of women, of course, do not have penises”.
“What percentage would you put it at?” Mr Sunak was asked. The UK PM laughed at the question, however, when grilled about whether he thought the figure was actually 100 percent, Mr Sunak replied, “Yeah, of course.”