Anyone observing the semantic and semiotic contortions currently being performed by UK political leaders over the definition of sex may be reminded of the state of war in which Oceania found itself in George Orwell’s 1984.
The recent landmark ruling by the UK’s Supreme Court – that the term “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, not gender identity or acquired gender – might, to many outsiders, simply be stating the obvious. But for several years, politicians appeared to have been paralysed by indecision over the issue.
Now, in light of the court judgment, those same people have launched into full gaslighting mode, trying to convince a wearied and sceptical public that, of course, they never meant to imply that a person born with a penis has a cervix. I mean, that would just be plain daft, wouldn’t it?
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