Tribunal ruling's talk of 'heresy' suggests trans ideology is an intolerant secular religion – Paul Wilson

Reading the ruling by an employment tribunal against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre this week, one word came screeching out at me straight from the Middle Ages – “heresy”. Roz Adams won her claim of constructive dismissal, with the judge finding she had suffered harassment and discrimination.

The tribunal heard Adams, who believes biological sex is real and should not be conflated with gender identity, became aware of the mantra “a trans woman is a woman” after starting a job at the centre in February 2021. She described talk around gender issues as becoming increasingly “eggshelly” until, in June 2022, she was contacted by an abuse victim who wanted to be sure she would be seen by someone who was biologically a woman. Adams sought guidance from her superiors on how to respond, and disciplinary proceedings began against her.

Judge McFatridge wrote: “We are entitled to infer from all of the evidence that the reason the disciplinary investigation was commenced and the claimant interviewed was because the respondent wished to make an example of the claimant because of her gender critical beliefs. It appeared to be the view of the respondent’s senior management that the claimant was guilty of a heresy in that she did not fully subscribe to the gender ideology which they did and which they wished to promote in the organisation. This was an act of harassment on the basis of her belief.” He added: “We would agree with the characterisation of the claimant’s representative that this was a heresy hunt.”

'Heresy hunts' would be more commonly associated in the popular imagination with the Spanish Inquisition, depicted here by Goya, than with a rape crisis centre (Picture: PA)

Return to Middle Ages?

Was ever a phrase more loaded than “heresy hunt?” The ruling could hardly hint more heavily that the gender ideology permeating the organisation was akin to a quasi-religious belief system.

There was a lot of heresy-hunting going on in the Middle Ages and the Reformation, when the notion of there being only one true path was near universal and there was broad agreement deviation should not be tolerated. But there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then – such as the Enlightenment – and we have less use for the word “heresy”.

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We live in a secular age, enjoying freedom of religion and belief that would have been unthinkable to the Spanish Inquisition. If I firmly believe the Earth is flat, I have no reason to expect everyone else should too.

There are clear parallels between religion and gender ideology. Genderism has its own sacred tenets and muttered incantations – “trans women are women”, “gender fluid”, “right side of history”. And both require a leap of faith that transcends science and observable physical reality.

Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre CEO’s position ‘untenable’ after damning tribunal ruling

‘Contested’ ideology

For the first time in the history of Scotland’s census, more than half of Scots now say they have no religion. But where the old religions have largely dispensed with witch-hunting and accusations of heresy, these traits seem alive and well in what the tribunal suggests is a new kind of belief system.

The tribunal’s ruling chimes with the findings of Dr Hilary Cass, whose review of gender identity services for young people led to the closure of London’s Tavistock Centre and an end to the routine prescription of puberty blockers on the NHS.

In its response to the review, the UK Government was criticised for describing gender ideology as “contested”. But it self-evidently is contested (otherwise it wouldn’t be all over the news) and therefore shouldn’t be presented as fact in schools. The belief that biological sex is real could hardly be described as niche. Which begs the question why so many aspects of our lives should be governed and informed by a contested ideology.

For many, the adherence to this mindset comes from a good place: compassion. What sort of maniac doesn’t want to be kind? But where is the kindness in telling a vulnerable, confused child she has been born in the wrong body, or suggesting this is even possible? Is it kind to convince that child there is something fundamentally wrong with who she is and this must be corrected? Where is the kindness in convincing her desperate parents that if they don’t ‘affirm’ her new gender identity they risk losing her to suicide?

Most of us would address a trans person by their chosen gender out of courtesy, but shouldn’t there be occasions where that courtesy can be withheld? Trans ideologists seem to downplay the reality that there are, sadly, predatory men who will exploit opportunities to access previously women-only spaces for their own nefarious ends. Should a rapist’s victim be compelled to refer to him as “her” if her attacker claims to have discovered his true gender identity en route to court, opening up the possibility he might be housed in a women’s prison?

Greater tolerance required

As for history, in years to come, people may look back and wonder how victims of sexual violence came to self-exclude from women’s refuges because of a contested ideology. They might also wonder how mediocre male athletes were allowed to compete in women’s sport, despite their very real and observable physical advantages.

These so-called gender critical beliefs cannot and must not be dismissed as “not valid”, as Nicola Sturgeon claimed they were when she was First Minister. Adams’ tribunal victory and the Cass Review give greater weight, were it needed, to the view that sex is immutable. People should not be branded transphobes or heretics for saying so. Such rhetoric achieves nothing for trans people and those suffering gender dysphoria.

The exponential rise in recent years in the number of young people identifying as trans points to a need for a more inclusive and tolerant public discourse on gender than it seems those in charge of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre might like. MSPs should bear this in mind when considering the proposed Conversion Therapy Bill, which critics fear could stifle precisely such discussion.