The Department of Social Protection has told Gript that it has “no comment on the recent UK Supreme Court ruling” which found that the word ‘woman’ is defined in law as being related to biological sex and not simply gender self-identification.
Asked if the UK’s decision has influenced possible updates to Ireland’s Gender Recognition Act – which is one of the most liberal transgender self-identification laws in the world – the Dept said, “Any proposals to amend legislation requires a government decision.
The Gender Recognition Act, passed in 2015 with little to no political opposition, means that any person can obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate which means they are legally the gender of their own choosing.
This means that a fully intact biological male who has undergone no gender reassignment treatments can be recognised as a woman under Irish law.
As things stand in Ireland, men with a history of violence against women are fully entitled to be kept in women’s prisons if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Gabrielle Alejandro Gentile, or Barbie Kardashian as he is now known, was housed in the female wing of Limerick Prison after he was jailed for threatening to torture his own mother.
During a meeting with a social care manager, the now 25-year-old said, “If I got into (my mother’s) house I would run towards her and put the knife into her body and into her genitalia; the thing is, I would want to prolong my mum’s suffering for as long as possible”.
“I would stab her, but not in her heart or neck, I’d want to put her through lots of torture, fear and humiliation,” Kardashian continued.
“I would bring a screwdriver to insert inside her genitalia because I am a woman and women rape using objects; it would definitely be a long protracted incident, I would want her to bleed out after death after a number of hours, by putting objects into her vagina, pouring boiling water into that area.”
Kardashian was also brought before the courts in relation to charges of having threatened to rape and cause serious harm to two women at the prison, for which he was acquitted.
Male hairdresser Shauna Kavanagh of Holy Cross Avenue, Drumcondra was housed in the Dochas Centre, the female facility at Mountjoy prison, after he was jailed for attacking a woman in a women’s homeless shelter in Rathmines, Dublin.
Kavanagh attacked the woman, punched her several times, pulled clumps of hair from her head, and sat on top of her, the Sunday World reported.
Men are also allowed to compete against women in women’s sporting leagues, an issue that has sparked much debate on fairness as well as the physical safety of women and girls.
As previously reported, a middle-aged Italian man played in a ladies GAA final in Dublin.
Independent TD for Offaly, Carol Nolan, previously called for an “immediate end” to males participating in female sports in Ireland, saying, “The influence these groups [proponents of transgender ideology] have exerted has been wholly disproportionate to the level of genuine demand that exists. They have effectively engaged in a hostile takeover of what were once female only spaces. That must end.”
Nolan said that Ireland “must have the courage to point out the blatantly obvious; allowing full grown biological men to compete with young women or girls is nothing short of ludicrous.”
She continued,”It always was and it always will be despite the attempts of gender ideologues to refashion and outright reject biological reality.”
“If persons identifying as transgender or non-binary w to compete the solution is to provide a distinct category that will allow for such participation while leaving female only categories to do what they have always done; cat for girls and women.” the Independent TD said.
Ladies Gaelic Football Association LGFA has transgender inclusion written into its policy stating that, “The Association is committed to the inclusion of Trans-women into the LGFA. The Association intends that those Trans-women who have their LGFA Transgender Application Form (the ‘Application Form’) approved are supported in doing so in a safe and inclusive environment. The Association reiterates that it will not tolerate any harassment or discrimination within the LGFA.”