Trans Ideology Opens Door to Lawful Change of Race and Age says Think Tank

New report raises concerns over trans movement impact on society, law and free speech

Activists rally to support transgenders on the steps of the City Hall, in New York, on Oct. 24, 2018. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A new report by a British think tank has warned of the risks trans ideology poses to society, free speech and the law.

Research by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) says the hardline trans movement could open the door to “all kinds of fantastical ways” including the lawful changing of race, age and even an individual’s height.

The “Transgender ideology: A new threat to liberal values” report (pdf) also states that the widespread endorsement of “political transgenderism” in business, politics and bureaucracy should be challenged “head on” due to the “profound danger” it poses for liberal and rationalist values.

“It is not, as is commonly portrayed, a championing of the rights of individuals to lead their own lives as they so wish,” the report states.

“Rather, transgender ideology is an ideological assault against the philosophical and pluralist political traditions of the Western world.

“This ideology is, together with broader New Left thinking, effectively a transculturalism; it is the desire to forcibly impose an ideologically restructured way of thinking and speaking collectively.”

The report, written by IEA head of cultural affairs Marc Glendinning also outlines “concerning indications” that a future Labour government would introduce new hate speech legislation, with “serious implications for freedom of speech.”

Black When White

It said: “Sir Keir Starmer intimated in late 2022 at the Pink News awards ceremony that his party will introduce new, tougher legislation to additionally punish alleged ‘hate’ crime concerning transgenderism.

“The prohibition regarding free speech on this issue has wider implications for classical liberalism. If issues cannot be debated, and desired outcomes are merely imposed, then this self-evidently undermines liberal democracy.”

In his summary of the 28-page research document, Mr. Glendinning said that transgender ideology and the rights of trans people to dress or present themselves as they wish “must be distinguished.”

“One can challenge the former while affirming the latter,” he wrote.

However, the report claims that many supporters of transgender ideology do not aim to win the debate but rather “prevent debate from occurring.”

Mr. Glendinning added that proposed laws facilitating gender self-identification have “serious implications for single-sex spaces, sports, and for the internal functions of businesses and private organisations.”

Serious discussion and debate is therefore required, he said.

Outlining the possible future implications of trans ideology on civil society and the state sector, he said: “Transgender ideology potentially extends the scope even further to imagined states of being, such as being black when white, thin when fat, tall when short, young when old, or vice versa.

“Such characteristics could become the basis for the creation of entirely new protected characteristics in law, potentially greater regulation of speech, ‘cancellations,’ and further disengagement of our society from objective reality.”

Pro-transgender protesters outside of Boston Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sept. 18, 2022. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Clear Lines

Prominent gender-critical campaigners have welcomed the report, which has garnered support from Labour and Conservative MPs.

Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, said the paper “skewers the authoritarianism and the irrationality of the transgender ideology.”

Nick Fletcher, Conservative MP for Don Valley, described it as a “much-needed wake-up call to libertarians and conservatives.”

However, organisations representing trans people say there needs to be better laws to create “a clear line between disagreement and hate.”

Steve Wardlaw, chairman of the world’s first insurance provider for LGBT+ people Emerald Life, told the Telegraph: “I’m in favour of criminalising hate speech—including misogyny—but also to have a clear line between disagreement and hate.

“Does that mean that misgendering someone becomes a crime? As with all speech, it will depend on the circumstances, but I certainly think that deliberate, repeated misgendering could be looked at as harassment with a transphobic undercurrent.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Labour Party for comment.