Dan Wootton: It's chilling that a new women's rights movement has had to be launched to protect biological females in 2022

It seems chilling and almost unbelievable that, in 2022, a new women’s rights movement – the most historically significant since the suffragette’s – has been launched to protect biological females.

But I have no doubt that this movement is now imperative and urgent.

And here’s why...

This past month we have seen senior politician after senior politician – from the Leader of No Opposition Keir Starmer to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak – fail to state biological fact and acknowledge the identity of women.

It’s this dystopian climate in Westminster, where the toxic nature of identity politics is colliding with cancel culture, which makes politicians too terrified to state a basic fact.

But it’s got to end.

And that’s why I endorse the launch of the new campaign Respect my Sex if you want my X, whose leaders Caroline Ffiske, Maya Forstater and Heather Binning have sent a serious warning shot to our gutless leaders ahead of the May local elections.

The new campaign brings together the brains behind the groups Women Uniting, Sex Matters and the Women's Rights Network.

Now Respect my Sex if you want my X is encouraging the general public – both male and female – to quiz their politicians on that basic question: Can a woman have a penis?

And as Maya Forstater says, local authorities are critical decision makers on issues as diverse as “singlesex services such as changing rooms in sports centres and toilet facilities in parks, to the guidance given to schools about sex education and how they respond to children who are gender-questioning”.

She adds...

“Our hard-fought rights are now being turned against us. Every rule and policy that says something is for women, is being changed, so that it's now for people who 'self-identify' as women, whatever their sex. The time has come for women to fight back. The days of politicians disrespecting our rights and thinking we will still vote for them are over.”

Respect my Sex if you want my X is clear – just like I am – that trans folk must not be discriminated against and should fully participate in society, but not at the cost of precious areas like women’s sport and the protection of young girls.