Boris Johnson: 'Biological males should not be competing in female sporting events'
Boris Johnson on banning transgender athletes from women's sports: 'Maybe that's controversial, but it just seems to me to be sensible'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson voiced support Wednesday for setting biological parameters on gender-segregated sports, as well as ensuring women-only spaces in bathrooms, changing rooms, prisons and more.
Johnson received criticism from LGBT organizations this month after not including "transgender children" in the country's fight to ban "conversion therapy." The issue has sharpened after transgender cyclist Emily Bridges – a biological male – was refused eligibility to compete in the British National Omnium Championships' women's event.
"Well I'm sad about their reaction, because these are good organizations with whom we have had great relations over a long period of time. I'm very proud, by the way of everything I've done – our party has done – to champion these issues," Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "But there are complexities and sensitivities when you move from the area of sexuality to the question of gender, and there, I'm afraid, are things that still need to be worked out."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BIDEN ADMIN AGENCIES REFUSE TO ANSWER, 'WHAT IS A WOMAN?'
"I don't think that biological males should be competing in female sport events. Maybe that's a controversial thing, but it just seems to me to be sensible," Johnson told the press. "I also happen to think that women should have spaces – whether it is in hospitals or prisons or changing rooms or wherever – which are dedicated to women."
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street as he makes his way to the House of Commons, in London, on Monday. (AP/Alberto Pezzali)
"I don't think it's reasonable for kids to be deemed so-called ‘Gillick competent' – to take decisions about their gender or irreversible treatments that they may have. I just think there should be parental involvement at the very least," Johnson said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Gillick-competent" is a medical term used in the United Kingdom to describe whether a minor under the age of 16 has the capacity to consent to medical procedures without parental approval. The term was named after activist Victoria Gillick, who campaigned for the right of doctors to prescribe contraception to minors without their caregivers' knowledge. The term has since been discussed in the context of a wide variety of medical treatments for minors, including gender conversion therapy.
"That doesn't mean that I am not immensely sympathetic to people that want to change gender, to transition, and it is vital that we give people the maximum possible love and support in making those decisions," the prime minister concluded.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transgender decisions have become lightning rod issues in Western countries as they attempt to find ways to incorporate the growing minority into public policy.
President Joe Biden gives remarks at a Black History Month celebration event at the White House on Feb. 28, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A handful of Biden administration federal agencies were unable to define the meaning of the word "woman" – in some cases, even in relation to their own uses of terms such as "women's health" – when asked by Fox News Digital.
The Biden administration's Departments of Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Federal Bureau of Prisons, were all contacted by Fox News Digital requesting a definition of "woman." None of the agencies provided a definition or criteria for an individual to be categorized as a "woman," despite each boasting entire initiatives aimed at helping women. The Justice Department declined to comment.