An MP in Nottinghamshire has explained his tweet after the UK Government updated its database to allow people to search for an MP via their gender identity. Bassetlaw's Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said it was 'a load of nonsense' as one of the options allowed politicians to be recognised as 'non-binary'.
Currently being non-binary, an umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with man or woman and can be fluid between the two, is not a legally-recognised as a gender identity in the UK. However the Government's 'Parliament.uk' website now allows MPs to describe themselves as 'any', 'male', 'female' and 'non-binary'.
Media website Guido Fawkes described the new system as having 'Grindr style functionality at last', comparing it to the dating app, and Mr Clarke-Smith tweeted - in binary - to say: "What a load of nonsense".
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The tweet prompted some level of outrage from Twitter users, with one stating it could be considered inappropriate after fellow Conservative MP Jamie Wallis, for Bridgend, revealed he was transgender. At the time he described the conversations surrounding gender issues as "toxic".
Mr Clarke-Smith was asked about his tweet following Mr Wallis's statement, but he says the issues are not relevant and "completely different". He told Nottinghamshire Live: "Whilst I do believe in sensitivity and respect for the choices people make in life, and I will defend people’s right to make those choices, I do believe the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important.
"I am also against attempts to erase women from the English language or to encroach on their rights to safe women-only spaces. A prime example of this being references to a ‘pregnant person’ rather than woman."
Mr Clarke-Smith's tweet also received some level of support and has prompted debate on the social media platform. The change on the Parliament website coincides with a debate over a petition which is calling for 'non-binary' to become a legally-recognised gender identity.
MPs will be discussing the petition, which currently has 140,000 signatures, on Monday, May 23. But the Government has already responded: "As set out in the response to the Gender Recognition Act consultation, there are no plans to make changes to the 2004 Act.”
"References to ‘non binary’ are about identity, not about biological sex. The two should not be conflated and therefore it’s nonsense to do so on Parliament’s website," Mr Clarke-Smith added.
