Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I begin with what should unite every Member of the House: abuse, degrading behaviour, humiliation and coercion are always wrong. The issue at hand, however, is not whether those things are wrong but whether the Bill is right. Supporting the objective does not require us to support the Bill. We are here to decide not…
Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you very much, but we need clarity from the Bill sponsor on how many genders he believes there to be, because it is pertinent to —
FlaggedDecided on a second assessment.Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issuesCriteria met: Controversy escalation.
On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Can the House get urgent clarification on when, if ever, a Bill containing a term that is not defined has been debated in the House and, furthermore, when the discussion of said term's definition has been ruled out of order? In these circumstances, we are debating a criminal…
The Member mentions Dr Hilary Cass. There are good things in her review; there are other things that I disagree with. However, regarding puberty blockers, in her review, she said that medical intervention has taken over in treatment provision and that exploration has been made synonymous with conversion therapy when…
Well, I will give you a chance to reorganise your papers there. Just as you reference puberty blockers, in clause 7(1)(c): "the intent is to affirm a sexual orientation or gender identity which the victim considers is, or may be, their sexual orientation or gender identity". In that instance — the Member may agree…
I now declare that I need to make some progress on the Bill. The Member talks about clause 7, which is a particularly difficult clause for counsellors, therapists, parents of faith, pastors and teachers. Faith is about embracing faith, but it is also about directional living. It is very difficult to see how, in…
FlaggedGender, sexuality, abortion and related social issuesCriteria met: Dog-whistle messaging.
I thank the Member for generously giving way. If she reads clause 7 of the Bill, she will see that it expressly states: "there is no intent to change or suppress sexual orientation or gender identity if— (a) there is no intent to direct a victim towards a particular sexual orientation or gender identity" — and if —…
That is absolutely correct. As I said, clause 2(1)(b) states: "if ... the person has the intent" — how is that to be measured? — "of changing or suppressing the sexual orientation or gender identity". Again, how is that to be measured? How do we measure "fear", "alarm" and "distress"? It is important that we know the…
FlaggedGender, sexuality, abortion and related social issuesCriteria met: Dog-whistle messaging.
I thank the Member for giving way. This is a key point. The terms "fear", "alarm" and "distress" exist in other legislation, with one example being the Public Order Act 1986, which applies in England and Wales. How those terms are treated is important. Where there has been intent to cause "fear", "alarm" or…
Will the Member perhaps try to explain how the courts would determine the threshold for "fear", "alarm" and "distress", given that those are inherently subjective terms? What is distress to one person may not be the same as it is to another. Does the Member agree that, if the Bill becomes law, we will see a lot of…
That is why it is really important to have the debate and look at the Bill as a whole, so that we understand what the Bill could impose on families in Northern Ireland. I was thinking about legislation when thinking about the Bill. In examining any Bill, it is important to ask whether the draft legislation is…
I thank the Member for giving way. Does that not set out clearly why we need to have proper definitions in the Bill? What she has just mentioned could be interpreted by a young person as an attempt to suppress. As we do not have the word "suppression" defined in the legislation, we have to go to the dictionary…
I thank the Member for his intervention and for expanding the point, which is really important. I think that the Sinn Féin Member opposite, who is no longer in her seat, just wanted to shout the word "homophobia" and nothing else. That is a pity because I have tried my best to make my contribution to the debate with…
That point is important in showing that what Emma Sheerin said was totally wrong. This is not about homophobia or transgender identity. The reason why it is not about those two aspects is that the Bill uses the terminology "gender identity", not "transgender identity", which is completely different. That opens it up,…
That is a really important point, and it is at the heart of what we are doing here. We are debating legislation, and the Member is proposing clauses to a Bill that will criminalise people on the basis of something that is subjective and changing. That is no basis for legislation.