Biologist and atheist author Richard Dawkins recently voiced out his opposition to gender ideology. Alongside other liberal personalities, he signed the Declaration on Women's Sex-based Rights (DWSR) and called on others to do the same.
Dawkins tweeted: "Please sign the Declaration on Women's Sex-based Rights. I have just done so."
The document currently has more than 26,000 signatures from more than 153 countries. Aside from the British atheist, children's book author J.K. Rowling and radical feminist Germaine Greer are among the declaration's prominent signatories.
The declaration sought to reaffirm "women's sex-based rights, including women's rights to physical and reproductive integrity, and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls that result from the replacement of the category of sex with that of 'gender identity,' and from 'surrogate' motherhood and related practices."
The DWSR also took jabs at the transgender movement: "The confusion between sex and 'gender' has contributed to the increasing acceptability of the idea of innate 'gender identities,' and has led to the promotion of a right to the protection of such 'identities' – ultimately leading to the erosion of the gains made by women over decades.
"Women's rights, which have been achieved on the basis of sex, are now being undermined by the incorporation into international documents of concepts such as 'gender identity' and 'sexual orientations and gender identities.'
"The concept of 'gender identity' has enabled men who claim a female 'gender identity' to assert in law, policies and practice that they are members of the category of women, which is a category based upon sex. Men who claim a female 'gender identity' are being enabled to access opportunities and protections set aside for women. This constitutes a form of discrimination against women, and endangers women’s fundamental rights to safety, dignity and equality."
The Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), which drafted the DWSR, issued a Nov. 22 statement about purported "misinformation" surrounding the document.
"WHRC is opposed to gender ideology. We believe in the rights of all people to live their lives free of discrimination and harassment. WHRC campaigns against allowing men to self-identify into the protected category of women, which is harmful to women and girls." (Related: The transgender movement is destroying a generation of young women.)
Dawkins has crossed swords with transgenderism
Prior to his signing of the DWSR, Dawkins has criticized the concept of transgenderism on Twitter. He tweeted in October 2015: "Is trans woman a woman? Purely semantic. If you define by chromosomes, no. If by self-identification, yes. I call her 'she' out of courtesy."
A subsequent tweet he posted in April 2021 sought to spark discussion, but instead caused controversy. His April 10 tweet read: "In 2015, Rachel Dolezal, a white chapter president of the [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People], was vilified for identifying as Black. Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men. You will be vilified if you deny that they literally are what they identify as."
Dawkins issued a retraction on April 13, saying that he "did not intend to disparage trans people" and his call to discuss the matter was "misconstrued." Despite this, the American Humanist Association (AHA) withdrew its 1996 Humanist of the Year Award it bestowed upon the atheist author. (Related: Richard Dawkins cancelled as 1996 humanist of the year after tweets about transgenders 25 YEARS later.)
"His latest statement implies that the identities of transgender individuals are fraudulent, while also simultaneously attacking Black identity as one that can be assumed when convenient. His subsequent attempts at clarification are inadequate and convey neither sensitivity nor sincerity," the AHA said in an April 19 statement.
Science teacher and political activist Debbie Hayton shared her two cents on Dawkins' brushes with the transgender movement in a May 2021 blog post. She wrote: "Question the ideology that men can become women by the power of thought alone, and this new mob will come down on you like a ton of bricks."
According to Hayton, Dawkins' 2015 tweet was "certainly not transphobic." She said the same for his April 2021 tweet, adding that while he "didn't disparage anyone, he did upset the perpetually offended."
"It seems that we can criticize Christianity, but transgender ideology is untouchable. No explanation is ever good enough for the transgender thought police. The transgender ideologues will never be placated – Dawkins must realize that by now," Hayton said.
"This is no game. Science is being ignored, women's rights are under attack and the safeguarding of children is being compromised."
GenderConfused.com has more articles about Richard Dawkins and others opposing gender ideology.
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