Across Europe, Growing Opposition to Gender Ideology

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

Across Europe, Growing Opposition to Gender Ideology

May 2, 2023 – Recent events across Europe reveal growing opposition to the Istanbul Convention’s redefinition of the word, “gender.” Article 3 of the Convention defines ”gender” as “the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men.” This changes “sex” from being a biological fact to a fluid sociological construct.

In the past, opposition to gender ideology arose mostly from conservative groups. But in recent months, opposition to the concept has grown to include lawmakers, medical professionals, and members of the general public who view themselves as politically moderate or liberal:

December 21, Bern, Switzerland: The Swiss government rejected the idea of introducing a third-gender or no-gender option for official records. The governing Federal Council explained, “the binary gender model is still strongly anchored in Swiss society.” (1)
December 30, Amsterdam, Netherlands: An article by Jan Kuitenbrouwer and Peter Vasterman revealed many flaws pertaining to experimental medical treatment for gender-distressed children (2).
January 16, London, England: Rishi Sunak’s government announced that it would block approval of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (3).
February 5, Glasgow, Scotland: Speaking before hundreds of supporters, Kellie-Jay Keen spoke out against persons changing their sex on a whim (4).
February 8, Stockholm, Sweden: Medical officials announced they are beginning to restrict gender reassignment hormone treatments for minors (5).
March 10, Madrid, Spain: Following approval of the new Trans Law allowing persons to change their sex without medical documentation, it was reported that an “avalanche” of men, protesting the sexist application of the Spanish domestic violence laws, had applied to change their gender to female (6).
April 4, Derby, England: Officials announced that transgender cyclist Emily Bridges would not be allowed to compete in the British National Omnium Championship (7).
April 16, Belfast, Northern Ireland: At a heated Let Women Speak demonstration, presenters spoke out in opposition to gender transitioning (8).
April 21, New York City: During a debate on a new treaty on crimes against humanity, Poland and Hungary announced their opposition to changing the definition of “gender,” which is currently defined by the United Nations as “men and women in the context of society.” (9)

Given these widespread scientific and public policy concerns, DAVIA urges lawmakers to speak out in opposition to Article 3 of the Istanbul Convention.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 84 member organizations from 32 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and sex-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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