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[BREAKING] Danish Equality Minister Marie Bjerre Calls for Re-evaluation of Legal Gender Changes Amidst Rising Concerns

In a thought-provoking op-ed, Danish Minister for Digitization and Equality, Marie Bjerre, has sparked a heated debate on the implications of legal gender changes, highlighting a case that she believes threatens to derail the fight for gender equality.

Her commentary comes in light of the controversial actions of performance artist Ibi-Pippi Orup Hedegaard, whose legal gender change and subsequent demands have become a focal point for discussing the broader societal impact of gender identity politics.

Minister Bjerre took to Jyllands-Posten to argue that while diversity and personal freedom should be celebrated, the current trajectory of identity politics risks overshadowing critical equality issues and undermining both women's and men's rights. She calls for a re-evaluation of how society addresses gender identity, urging for limits to be placed where personal freedoms begin to infringe upon the rights of others.

This op-ed is a clarion call for a rational discussion on the balance between individual identity and collective societal norms.

Artwork published in the original Op-Ed by Marie Bjerre

Published on 14/08/2024

Written by Danish Minister for Digitization and Equality, Marie Bjerre:

Ibi-Pippi has opened my eyes to how problematic legal gender change is.

If we ignore the fact that there are only two biological sexes, we are not just in imminent danger of landing in a crazy place. The extreme identity politics debate will overshadow the real equality issues that exist.

There is something that has been bothering me for a long time. Something that is increasingly becoming absurd. And something that contains the seed of a society where the majority has to adapt to the minority. And now I can no longer remain silent: Wokeism has gone too far.

We need to address the pervasive focus on gender identity of our time. Otherwise, I am afraid that the debate on gender identity will go so far that it takes focus away from the major and very real equality issues we still face in today's Denmark. If the majority suddenly has to adapt to the minority, I am seriously worried that the equality struggle will derail. And not only that, but it also undermines women's rights and, for that matter, men's as well. As a liberal person, I naturally celebrate diversity. I fully support that all people can live their lives as they wish and be who they want to be. That we all have the freedom to do what is best for ourselves—as long as our actions do not harm others.

But I almost choked on my coffee when I read just before the summer break about the performance artist Ibi-Pippi Orup Hedegaard, who was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for vandalism of a Jorn painting. Ibi-Pippi identifies as a woman and has undergone a legal gender change... and as a result has expressed a desire to serve her sentence in a women's prison.

I fully understand that Ibi-Pippi has stated that the legal gender change should be seen as a provocation. And, of course, one may identify as they wish. But over the summer, it has become increasingly clear to me how this case highlights the challenges of legal gender change. And that cases like this, in the worst-case scenario, directly violate women's rights.

Let me go through just a few of the concrete consequences that can arise when a biological man who looks like a man and is the father of six children identifies as a woman and therefore gets a woman's social security number: For example, the provocateur artist recently received a questionnaire from the University of Copenhagen concerning women's menopause.

A questionnaire with questions revolving around previous births, menstruation, and symptoms of menopause. Ibi-Pippi chose to express on her Facebook profile that she was "very happy to contribute to science in this way." But seriously, it damages women's legal standing if research on women's biology is polluted with answers from biological men.

And then there's the question of serving time in a women's prison. On paper, it may sound a bit colorful and perhaps trivial to some. But to me, it is absurd that one could even consider that Ibi-Pippi should serve time in a women's prison. I hope and believe that this won't happen—for what about the rights of the female inmates not to serve time with a man?

Ibi-Pippi has also previously demanded to change clothes next to women in a locker room at a swimming pool. Fortunately, another option was provided, and Ibi-Pippi's complaint to the Equal Treatment Board was not upheld. But it shows the challenge. We must not end up in a situation where women in the country's swimming and sports halls can experience changing clothes next to a biological man whose gender identity is female.

I am sure that the vast majority of Danes are watching in amazement as individuals or vanishingly small groups of minorities demand this type of special treatment.

If it were just an isolated case with a provocateur artist. But it's not. Internationally, we hear stories of athletes, such as a shot-putter and a swimmer, who are biological men but have changed gender and therefore compete against women. Currently, there are doubts about the gender of two female boxers in connection with the Olympics. It's hard to determine what is true or false in that debate. But if I, as a woman, were set to fight against a person who was biologically male, I would be furious. Unequal competition conditions are far-fetched and a potential bomb under women's elite sports. One might as well cancel women's sports.

The excessive entry of woke culture is also seen in other areas, such as the desire to mention the pronouns one wishes to be addressed with on social media or at the beginning of a meeting. If someone needs to do that and relate to their chromosome composition, that's of course fine.

But honestly, it's not something we all have to declare. For me, it's an example of us being required as a society to fundamentally change something to accommodate a very small minority in the name of wokeism.

And as the Minister of Equality, it deeply concerns me if we can no longer talk about women and men or the equality issues of women and men. When we are compelled to say "people with penises" instead of "men," as DR's P3 wants us to say. Or when we have to say that it is "people" who menstruate, "people" who are pregnant, or "people" who give birth. It is completely absurd.

Of course, it is women who menstruate, are pregnant, and give birth!

Because it is a fact that there are two biological sexes, regardless of how one feels or what gender identity one has. I think we are on a slippery slope when we confuse biological sex with gender identity and gender expression.

And yes, I know it. Left-wing critics and others with an excessive penchant for indulgence and self-righteous tolerance will surely say that I should just relax. That I should take a breath, shrug it off, and that everything will be fine. But I've tried that. And it doesn't go away.

In fact, I just become more and more convinced that we must say stop. And that is why I am doing so now with an op-ed like this.

If we, as a society, overlook the basic fact that there are only two biological sexes, we are not just in imminent danger of ending up in a crazy place. Even worse, the extreme identity politics debates overshadow the real equality issues that exist.

Moreover, the misguided focus on identity politics topics also weakens public support for the many equality battles that still need to be fought. Battles that are about creating a society where men and women have equal opportunities. At the same time, we risk polarization, where we jeopardize the cohesion of society.

As a society, we must hold on to the fact that a trans woman is not and never will be a biological woman. Biology is determined by genes. You can't change that. Therefore, there are also limits to the rights that trans women and trans men should have. In my view, biological men should not participate in studies on women's biology and physiology, they should not have the right to women's locker rooms, serve time in women's prisons, or compete in elite sports for women. As a woman, I frankly don't care how these biological men identify themselves. But they are not biological women.

As a liberal, it is fundamental to me that all people can live their lives as they wish and be who they want to be. Therefore, I also fully respect that some wish to identify as another gender. But just as fundamentally, it is crucial to me that there is a limit where this freedom of expression impacts the freedom of others. Because this happens when trans women insist on being treated as biological women. And that is precisely why we need to say stop. Wokeism must have a limit.

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