Mercy Muroki: With all-female spaces, like girls' schools, biological women should always be put first

It’s being reported in The Times this morning that a leading group of girls’ schools will no longer be open to trans girls.

Put simply – boys who identify as girls will not be allowed to apply to the school.

Girls Day School Trust, representing 25 schools across England, has updated their admission policy and released this statement, which says: “[we] are committed to single-sex education for girls. Admissions to our schools are based on students’ legal sex as recorded on their birth certificate”.

In other words, not the gender they identify as. The first thing to say is that there is a problem with the fact there’s no formal guidance for single sex schools on this issue.

It’s a free for all when it comes to setting rules on trans students.This is particularly a problem the growing number of kids who want to change gender.

Between 2009 and 2015, the number of children referred to England’s only gender clinic increased sevenfold, from 97 referrals to 697.

Currently, there are around 5000 children waiting for an appointment at the Tavistick clinic, where demand is increasing 50% every year.

There’s also a lack of consensus amongst the general public about how to address issues around gender, around letting biological men who identify as women in women’s spaces, and just where the red lines should generally be drawn when it comes to gender identity and women's rights in particular.

It means the public, politicians, and our public institutions continue fighting amongst ourselves about what is right and wrong – what is equality and what isn’t.

And so we should – those who believe they have all the answers, and that everyone who has concerns about the trans movement are massive transphobes are, in my opinion, delusional.

But my view is this – and I say this as the parent of a young girl - I will always do everything in my power to ensure my daughters’ rights as a female, and her right to feel safe and comfortable in spaces that are dedicated for females are protected.

That’s not to say I think all individual men who identify as women pose a threat – of course I don’t.

But I also don’t think organisations who stick to their guns and say they will not compromise on their commitment to biological women and biological women only, are in the wrong, either.

When it comes to spaces that are dedicated to women – whether that be all girls school, women’s shelters, or even women’s prisons – I think it’s biological women that should always be put first.