Keep words ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ in new legislation - O’Reilly

Council supports redrafting of legislation relating to maternity protections.

A local councillor has launched herself into the contentious realm of gender politics by asking that Cavan County Council backs retaining the words ‘woman’, ‘female’ and ‘mother’ in the proposed Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022.

Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly’s motion sought the support of the local authority on “redrafting” the proposed legislation in clauses relating to maternity protections.

Speaking at Monday’s council meeting, she said: “I believe transgender people or anyone struggling with gender related issues deserve full protection from discrimination and we, as a society, must always be sensitive and respectful towards them.”

However she shared her upset in the wake of a now controversial RTÉ Liveline debate last June, to learn that “all mentions of women and mothers” were being “erased” from new legal provisions concerning rights to maternity leave and breastfeeding.

Amendment

Before the summer break the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth published its pre-legislative scrutiny report on the so-called Work Life Balance Bill. Three key points are to give parents and carers of children under 12 the right to request flexible work; five days’ unpaid leave for medical care reasons; and to extend breastfeeding breaks for women returning to work.

The Employment Bar Association recommended replacing the term “woman” with “person” with regard to the Purposes of Entitlement to Maternity Leave.

“We do not wish to see words like, woman, girl, mother, motherhood removed from legislation or indeed from communications from arms of the State, NGOs and society in general,” Cllr O’Reilly said.

'Foolish mistake'

She also thinks it would be a “foolish mistake to underestimate” the depth of feeling that “ordinary Irish women and men have on this issue”.

Cllr O’Reilly went on to state that her own “right to be called a woman” or to be “referred to as female” is “important” to her: “I am proud of the fact that I am a woman, I am proud to be a mother and hopefully by New Year, I will be lucky enough to become a very proud grandmother for the first time!”

These “words” she said, “matter to women”.

“They help define who we are and who we have become. I agree with those women who contacted me,” said Cllr O’Reilly, who claimed it is “de-humanising” to otherwise remove an “important part of our identity”.

“Women have fought too hard and for too long to allow our rights to be taken away from us without consultation for fear of offending others, however misguided, in the name of inclusion.”

Double speak

Cllr O’Reilly noted that Labour Party leader and chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, Ivana Bacik, had voiced her own disagreement at the word “woman” being removed from maternity laws.

While welcoming that position, Cllr O’Reilly, stated the TD gave a “master class on speaking out of both sides of her mouth” by stating “a trans woman is a woman”.

“If true,” claimed Cllr O’Reilly, it would have “serious implications” for the sex-based rights of women. “Women’s right to single sex spaces in prisons, toilets, changing rooms etc would no longer be protected. The rights of women and children to a safe space and the right to participate fairly in competitive sports would also be threatened. Under the law, anyone can identify as a woman and gain entry to spaces that were designed to keep woman safe.”

Safe Spaces

She said Ireland “cannot allow” a situation develop where “opportunistic predators, who are not transgender but who take advantage of the law, could seek victims by having easy access” to such “safe spaces”.

“Conflating biological sex and gender identity without safeguarding is a risk too high to take,” she said, alerting the meeting to statistics that 98.8% of sex offenders are male, and 80% of victims of sexual offenses are female.

“These are the facts and we have a duty to prevent these figures from increasing,” claimed Cllr O’Reilly, who topped the poll in Bailieborough-Cootehill in the 2019 local election to become Aontú’s first elected councillor in the country.

Beliefs

To the meeting, Cllr O’Reilly clearly stated her“position”.

“A woman is a woman and a trans woman is a trans woman. I believe we must be honest, factual and use common-sense in defending women’s sex-based rights against the threat posed by gender identity ideology. I understand and respect that some people may wish me to address them by their preferred gender and that’s not a problem for me, in fact most people I know are happy to do so.”

She went on to state her belief that “representative bodies” had “let both sides down” in the debate, and that the “escalation” had led to “much distress” for women, and “much unwarranted attention” on vulnerable people “not just within the trans-community but others who identify by gender”.

Criticism

Cllr O’Reilly concluded by criticising the coalition Government for being in the “capture” of lobby groups.

“Our government must also shoulder responsibility for this issue, rushing legislation in order to be as populist as possible, shutting down debate and genuine questioning is not good for democracy. Government must ensure, in their rush to protect one group in need of protection, that it is not at the expense of others, in this case, nearly 50% of the population. We need to listen to the voices of woman on this issue.”

Cllr O’Reilly’s motion seeking a redraft of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 was seconded by Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald. He himself pointed to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic which he said “cherishes all the people of the nation equally, irregardless of gender”.

No other councillors spoke in relation to the motion, which was successfully adopted.

Cllr O'Reilly's Statement to the Council in full:

Motion :12.11 Councillor Sarah O’Reilly

That Cavan County Council supports the redrafting of the Work Life Balance Bill to include the words woman, female and mother, in the clauses that relate to maternity protections.

Like most politicians, I hesitate when it comes to a debate that involves transgender people. I believe transgender people or anyone struggling with gender related issues deserve full protection from discrimination and we as a society must always be sensitive and respectful towards them.

I, like many women who contacted me following the Liveline show in June, was very upset to learn, that all mentions of women and mothers are being erased from new legal provisions concerning rights to maternity leave and breastfeeding.

We do not wish to see words like, woman, girl, mother, motherhood removed from legislation or indeed from communications from arms of the state, NGO’s and society in general. And I think it would be a foolish mistake to underestimate the [depth] of feeling that ordinary Irish women and men have on this issue.

My right to be called a woman or to be referred to as female is important to me. I am proud of the fact that I am a woman, I am proud to be a mother and hopefully by New Year, I will be lucky enough to become a very proud grandmother for the first time!

These words matter to women, they help define who we are and who we have become. I agree with those women who contacted me, we feel it is de-humanising and would remove an important part of our identity if these words are removed. Women have fought too hard and for too long to allow our rights to be taken away from us without consultation for fear of offending others, however misguided, in the name of inclusion.

Labour Party leader and chair of the gender committee Ivana Bacik has recently given her backing to keeping the word “woman” in the laws that cover maternity rights in Ireland and I welcome that very much. However, Ivana then goes on to give a master class on speaking out of both sides of her mouth by stating that “a trans woman is a woman”.

If true, and were that statement acted upon, it alone would have serious implications for the sex-based rights of women. Women’s right to single sex spaces in prisons, toilets, changing rooms etc would no longer be protected. The rights of women and children to a safe space and the right to participate fairly in competitive sports would also be threatened. Under the law, anyone can identify as a woman and gain entry to spaces that were designed to keep woman safe.

We also cannot allow a situation where opportunistic predators, who are not transgender but who take advantage of the law, could seek victims by having easy access to safe spaces for woman and children. Conflating biological sex and gender identity without safeguarding is a risk too high to take. 98.8% of sex offenders are male and 80% of victims of sexual offenses are female, these are the facts and we have a duty to prevent these figures from increasing.

My position is, a woman is a woman and a trans woman is a trans woman. I believe we must be honest, factual & use common-sense in defending women’s sex-based rights against the threat posed by gender identity ideology. I understand & respect that some people may wish me to address them by their preferred gender & that’s not a problem for me, in fact most people I know are happy to do so.

I believe some representative bodies of both Transgender people and of Woman have let both sides down on this issue, the escalation of this debate which, in my opinion was bound to happen, has led to much [distress] for women and much unwarranted attention being focused particularly on vulnerable people not just within the trans community but others who identify by gender.

This is the moment when Irish people realise the depth of the capture of the Irish government by lobby groups. Our government must also shoulder responsibility for this issue, rushing legislation in order to be as populist as possible, shutting down debate and genuine questioning is not good for democracy. Government must ensure, in their rush to protect one group in need of protection, that it is not at the expense of others, in this case, nearly 50% of the population.

We need to listen to the voices of woman on this issue.