Calling yourself a woman does not make you ‘biologically female’

When a doctor of all people declares himself, as a transgender woman, to be ‘biologically female’, something has gone horribly wrong with society. This incredible statement was heard by the Edinburgh Employment Tribunal this week, when Dr Beth Upton explained why he believed he had every right to use the women’s changing rooms at his hospital.

On Christmas Eve 2023, 50-year-old nurse Sandie Peggie was getting changed at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she and Upton both worked. Peggie, in need of a fresh change of clothes because she was menstruating, was dismayed to find that she was sharing the space with Upton, a male who had started his transition just a year earlier. This was the third time Peggie had seen him in the women’s changing rooms. She worked up the courage to say something – that Upton was a man and should leave. Upton then reported Peggie for bullying and harassment, and she was swiftly suspended from her job. Now, she is suing NHS Fife for discrimination and harassment, on the grounds that she was forced to change in front of a man.

You might expect that Upton, as a doctor, would have at least a rudimentary understanding of human biology. You might also hope that Upton would have some sensitivity towards the fact that most women would prefer not to have men present for their more vulnerable moments. They would rather not undress in front of a male colleague or be examined by a male physician. But Upton seems to be oblivious to all this.

During the hearing, Upton referred to the concept of sex itself as a ‘nebulous dog whistle’ for transphobia, and made the extraordinary claim that he is ‘biologically female’. He added that the terms biological male and female have ‘no defined or agreed meaning in science, as far as I’m aware’. He said that ‘I am biological and my identity is female’, so he must therefore be ‘biologically female’. This, according to Upton’s bizarre logic, allows him to come and go in women’s same-sex spaces as he pleases.

Upton also told the court that he would not proactively disclose his transgender status to a patient. He considers it a ‘private matter’ akin to ‘my medical history, my sexual orientation, my place of residence, my age’. If a patient were to request to see a female doctor, he said he would have no qualms ignoring their wishes, as he considers himself a woman. It would be up to the patient, he said, to make a request for a different doctor. That a sick and vulnerable person might not feel able to stand up to him didn’t seem to register as important.

Nor did it seem to matter to Upton that Peggie was herself a victim of sexual assault. During the cross-examination, she was forced to disclose the details of how she was assaulted by a male GP when she was a child. Upton made clear he was unmoved by this, arguing that ‘someone’s trauma doesn’t justify… putting restrictions on the rights of others to access spaces’.

With the special sort of delusion that only a trans-identifying man can possess, Upton somehow believes himself to be the victim of bullying in this scenario. He told the tribunal that he had decided to ‘put my big girl pants on and be brave’, when he talked back to Peggie on that fateful Christmas Eve, maintaining that he had every right to undress in front of her. How much bravery does it really take for a six-foot man to intimidate a five-foot-four nurse alone in a women’s changing room?

Just a decade ago, the right of female employees to change away from the eyes of men would be a given. If this were not the case, trade unions would be expected to step up and protect them. Yet astonishingly, it is Upton that has been treated as the victim here – both by his employer, NHS Fife, and his union, the British Medical Association. Peggie now risks a blight on her otherwise perfect 30-year record, all because she dared to stand her ground against trans-activist bullying.

Upton’s demand to undress in front of reluctant women is as much a display of unbridled male power as a silverback gorilla thumping his chest. As Peggie’s lawyer reflected, ‘There’s a bully in this story, but it’s not the 50-year-old nurse’. All she wanted was to get changed in peace.

Jo Bartosch is a journalist campaigning for the rights of women and girls.