Gender Recognition Act Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Trade
Olivia Blake
Main Page: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)Department Debates - View all Olivia Blake's debates with the Department for International Trade
Gender Recognition Act
Olivia Blake Excerpts(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Miriam Cates
No, I will make some progress. At the moment of conception, the new cell for a unique human being—the zygote—is the blueprint for every single other cell in that person’s body. The zygote divides again and again until there are trillions of cells making up a complete human being. These cells have different functions—muscle cells, nerve cells and blood cells—but every single one of the 37 trillion cells in an adult human has the same genetic code, including the same sex chromosomes.
Olivia Blake (Sheffield, Hallam) (Lab)
What about chimeras? There are people who have different sets of DNA within their genetics. The hon. Lady is simplifying the science; it is actually much more complicated. I know she has a genetics degree, but I have a biomedical science degree, so I hope we can do that—
Miriam Cates
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. As I said, I recognise that there are rare genetic abnormalities. I am simplifying and talking about the majority. The debate is not about people with genetic abnormalities; it is about people who are identifying as a different gender from their birth sex. They are two very different things, and I am talking about the latter.