Starmer Says a Woman Is an ‘Adult Female’ as Labour Rows Back on Gender Self-ID

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media during a visit to Shefford, England, on July 22, 2023. Jacob King/PA

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said a woman is an “adult female” in a notable shift from his previous view that 99.9 percent of women don’t have a penis.

It comes after the opposition party backed down on gender self identification, or the idea of allowing the change of legal gender without a medical diagnosis.

Mr. Starmer was responding to questions on Labour’s policies on BBC Radio 5 Live when a number of listeners texted in to question what he and the Labour Party believe a woman is.

“Firstly, a woman is an adult female, so let’s clear that up,” he said.

Earlier this year, Mr. Starmer angered some Labour voters after telling The Times of London that “for 99.9 percent of women, it is completely biological … and of course they haven’t got a penis.”

The opposition leader, who has been struggling to bridge the divide within his party between members who are pro-transgender and those that are feminist, also said in 2021 that it was “not right” that Labour MP Rosie Duffield had said only women have a cervix.

Gender Self-ID

Asked about Scottish Labour’s continued support for gender self-ID, Mr. Starmer said that England’s Labour doesn’t believe gender self-ID is the right way forward after reflecting on the fallout from the Scottish National Party’s (SNP’s) attempt to push through the law change. However, the party intends to “get rid of some of the indignities in the process” of legally changing gender, he said.

Former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon resigned in February after suffering a number of political defeats, including Westminster’s blockage of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The bill, which was voted through in Holyrood, would have made Scotland the only place in the UK to allow people as young as 16 to legally change their gender without any medical diagnosis or evidence as long as they live as the opposite gender for three months.

The controversial bill was voted through when it emerged a male double-rapist was sent to a female prison.

The UK government blocked the bill in its first use of such powers, saying the law change would affect other UK countries.

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds poses for a photograph during a visit to Milton Keynes University Hospital in Milton Keynes, England, on March 19, 2021. Leon Neal/Getty Images

According to pollster Survation’s Voting Intention Tracker, the support for SNP suffered a notable dip following Ms. Sturgeon’s resignation, although the pro-Scottish independence party remains in the lead.

Mr. Starmer said Labour also wants to “modernise” the process of changing gender, while protecting “safe spaces for women.”

The opposition leader dismissed the question of whether men who identify as women are “disproportionately likely to be violent,” saying “the principle of safe spaces is very important for women.”

Labour: 1 Diagnosis ‘Should Be Enough’

After Labour’s National Policy Forum meetings last week, party chair and shadow equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds wrote in The Guardian that Labour won’t “make the same mistakes” as the SNP.

Poised to challenge the ruling Conservative Party in the next general election, Labour plans to simplify the process of obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) in England and Wales but will keep the requirement for a medical diagnosis, Ms. Dodds wrote.

Under current rules, GRC applicants are required to submit reports by either two medical doctors or one medical doctor and one clinical psychologist.

The reports have to include confirmation of the applicant’s gender dysphoria diagnosis and the clinical history this was based on, and details of treatment the applicant has had or plans to have.

The applications are considered by a panel of legal and medical experts.

Calling the requirement “intrusive,” “demeaning for trans people,” and “meaningless in practice,” Dodds said, “A diagnosis provided by one doctor, with a registrar instead of a panel, should be enough.”