Founder of Standing for Women, Kellie-Jay Keen has hit out at the Welsh government, after plans were revealed to "redefine" women in order for transgender females to stand in Senedd elections.
The leaked Draft Bill by the Labour-run Senedd detail the introduction of self-identification in Government, allowing individuals to self-identify their gender when standing as candidates for the Senedd.
In the drafted Bill, which The Women’s Rights Network leaked to local Welsh media, is stated that a "woman includes a transgender woman".
It added: "An order under Section 13 [of the Draft Bill] must make provision requiring a person (P) as part of the process by which P is nominated as a candidate to declare either that P is a woman or that P is not."
Kellie-Jay Keen said 'there's no such thing as transitioning into a female body or into a woman'
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The Draft Bill also states that orders under Section 13 "may not be challenged" and constituency returning officers are not allowed to "make any enquiry in relation to a statement made by a candidate in accordance with an order under Section 13 that the candidate is a woman.”
Speaking to Emily Carver and Andrew Pierce on Britain's Newsroom, Keen reacted to the Bill and said the Welsh Government are "bonkers" for "trying to redefine a woman".
Keen said of the female sex: "As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to female, there is one female, that's someone like myself who was born female and has XX chromosomes.
"And then there are people who are men who were not born with XX chromosomes, who some of them claim to be women."
Keen then shared her thoughts on the Draft Bill, stating: "The Welsh government have been on this journey into nonsensical definitions for quite some time. I just read a seven page document this morning about what non-binary is.
"So all bets are off when it comes to just how crazy they might go. I think they're probably going to try and compete with Scotland, which it's going to be fun to watch, although not that fun if you're a woman or a young person living in Wales."
Emily then offered a counter argument to Keen's point, asking: "Would you prefer transgender women were excluded from candidates lists?"
Keen fought back against Emily: "If you want to pretend that you're something that you're not, then you can't be included in either list. I guess that's a choice that you make. As far as I know there are sort of women only lists. I don't even agree with such a thing, I think we should live in a meritocracy."
Emily Carver argued that transgender women 'wouldn't be able to become politicians' if they aren't included
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Keen continued: "But if there are to be women only lists, I've never heard of a male man only list. So there are open lists and there are women only lists. And if you're a man who has decided that you're not really a man after all, then you can join the list for everybody. You can be anything you want in this country, you just can't be the opposite sex because it's impossible."
Andrew then asked Keen about her thoughts on transgender women and if she still considers them "a man" after they have fully transitioned.
Keen replied: "I would still call them a man. There's no such thing as transitioning into female status or into a female body or into a woman. Those things might be on somebody's wish list. And I wish them well. I hope they find some sort of peace, but I don't think they will find a woman's body at the end of whatever transition they may see.”
The Welsh Government has stated the wording of the draft bill is incorrect, but did not deny the change is in the works.
A spokesman said: "Our proposed model for quotas is designed to maximise the chances of achieving a Senedd comprising of at least 50 per cent women. Work is ongoing on the Bill."
