Doubts over fundamental issues may delay ‘gender equality’ referendum

The Government is unlikely to press ahead with three referendums in November as Ministers are not prepared to answer fundamental questions about what is a family and what is a woman.

Difficulties in agreeing a wording to replace the protection for mothers working in the home and fears a campaign could lead to divisive debates about the definition of family and related gender issues have led to a growing expectation the vote will be postponed.

“We will have to be able to answer the question ‘What is a family?’” one politician said. It was not yet clear, he added, that the Government had an answer.

Senior sources, however, are wary that the referendum campaign could become a debate about gender, prompting questions about transgender issues that have proved highly contentious elsewhere.

“This is one of those things that you wade into at your peril,” one minister said.

The Iona Institute
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