Liz Truss. (NurPhoto via Getty/ David Cliff)
Equalities minister and foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that the war in Ukraine should end “ludicrous debates about pronouns”.
Speaking at the Conservative Spring Conference in Blackpool, Truss said that in light of Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, the UK should be “proud of its longstanding commitment to freedom and democracy”, according to the i.
“This is what is important, this is what matters,” she said.
Comparing democracy in the UK and Russia, she said, apparently means that “now is the time to end the culture of self-doubt, the constant self-questioning and introspection – the ludicrous debates about languages, statues and pronouns”.
Truss added: “Our history, warts and all, is what makes us what we are today.”
In her speech, Truss said that the conflict should show Brits that they should give up “cheap goods at the expense of freedom and security”, adding: “We’re ending our dependency on authoritarian regimes… Never again.”
By far the biggest spontaneous applause and cheers from Tory delegates during Liz Truss’ speech was in response to a complaint about “the ludicrous debates about languages, statues and pronouns.”
— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) March 19, 2022
Liz Truss’s attack on pronouns comes as no surprise
It will come as no surprise to the LGBT+ community that Liz Truss would use the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II to take a swipe at pronouns.
Truss, terrifyingly tipped by many to be the next leader of the Conservative Party, has used her position as minister for women and equalities, which she assumed in 2019, to stand in the way of progress on LGBT+ rights.
She has publicly denounced the “woke bandwagon” and “identity politics”, even bizarrely suggesting that the Government Equalities Office should be renamed the “Ministry of Freedom”.
In 2020, she scrapped meaningful reforms to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA), openly opposed self-ID for trans folk, and backed anti-trans MP Rosie Duffield.
After members of the government’s LGBT+ Advisory Panel resigned, citing “a hostile environment” for LGBT+ people, the government disbanded the panel. Truss promised another one would be former, but 11 months on, nothing has materialised.
As equalities minister, Truss has the power to appoint new commissioners to the board of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and in 2020 she appointed Baroness Kishwer Falkner as chair of the supposedly independent equalities watchdog.
Since then, damning evidence has increased fears about the EHRC stance on trans rights.
Earlier this year it recommended halting gender recognition reform in Scotland, and advised that a ban on trans conversion therapy be delayed.
A series of leaks have also shown that the equalities watchdog met with anti-trans lobby groups, and worked on draft guidance advising organisations to deny trans folk without a GRC from single-sex spaces. There has been an exodus of staff over its alleged descent into “transphobia”.
Citing growing evidence of anti-trans sentiment, rights groups have said it the EHRC is no longer “credible” or “fit for purpose”.