Dublin MEP Regina Doherty has admitted she is unsure whether the evidence she presented to the Seanad in 2022, claiming there are nine genders, would withstand scrutiny today, following criticism from Senator Michael McDowell.
Appearing on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Ms Doherty was questioned regarding Independent Senator McDowell’s article in the Irish Times published earlier this week, reports RTE.
In the article, Senator McDowell wrote: “To the best of my knowledge, neither she nor any of her colleagues in government ever attempted to enumerate these other genders, despite many requests that they should do so.”
Ms Doherty explained she generally refrains from replying when someone seeks to turn an issue into a political weapon, but stated: “For all my political life what I’ve tried to do is to support transgender people, to support people who have a medical condition, that are undergoing a transition, that are exceptionally vulnerable, and all they’re trying to do is to live a normal life, the same way as you and I would,” reports RTE.
“That’s something that we probably take for granted, when I see politicians trying to polarise and politicise this issue … it makes me really sad,” reports RTE.
Ms Doherty served as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection during the 2017 review of the Gender Recognition Act.
Speaking from Brussels during the programme, Ms Doherty commented: “These are vulnerable people, there’s a tiny percentage of the population, but unfortunately it’s growing that have been treated by our gender services, and we need to treat them with respect, notwithstanding the issues that women have raised,” reports RTE.
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“You don’t need to address women’s issues by politicising people who have a medical condition who are exceptionally vulnerable, as Michael McDowell has sought to do, and I think that’s a real pity, and it’s not something that I’ve ever done, and I mightn’t have got everything right, and I really don’t know, you know, whether the evidence that I gave based on the interactions that I had with TENI at the time would stand up today,” reports RTE.
The Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) advocates on behalf of transgender individuals and their families and encouraged Minister Doherty (as she then was) to lower the age of gender self-identification.
Senator McDowell’s article came after a ruling from the UK Supreme Court, which determined that sex is binary and that the legal definitions of woman and man are based on biological sex assigned at birth, reports RTE.
In reaction to that ruling, Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane initially posted on social media that the decision reflected “common sense”, a view he later retracted.
On The Week in Politics, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan was questioned regarding her party colleague’s comments, reports RTE.
She responded that Deputy Cullinane had been right to retract his statement.
“I have trans people in my circle of friends and have known trans people for years. Trans people exist, and that’s what they want, is the right to exist. And I feel that they’re now being, it’s been completely weaponized,” reports RTE.
“They’re under attack on all fronts. And we need to show compassion and empathy for the trans community, who are getting dragged into fights and political rows that they don’t even want to be involved in, and I will always stand by the trans community.”
When pressed on whether her views represented Sinn Féin’s position, Ms Boylan stated: “We have had our Ard Fheis motions in terms of gender recognition and the right of people to express their gender, and that is party policy, reports RTE.
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