Spanish equality minister under fire by feminists over trans stance

Spain’s equality minister is under fire from feminists for refusing to join a march demanding the end to a controversial transgender law.

More than 4,000 people took to the streets of Madrid for a breakaway International Women’s Day rally to protest against a law passed last year that allows people to switch their official gender at will.

Spain’s equality minister, Ana Redondo, previously said she supported both women’s day demonstrations but chose to attend the main march, organised by the 8M Commission.

“You can’t suck and blow at the same time,” said Ana de Blas, a spokeswoman for the Feminist Movement of Madrid, calling on the minister to end “confusion” over where she stands on the transgender issue.

Ms Redondo needs “to read up on feminism”, said Sonia Gómez, a 62-year-old at the Feminist Movement of Madrid march on Friday evening.

“This law is erasing women and allowing men to occupy our legal rights and spaces – in prisons, public toilets and in custody battles – merely by saying they are transgender.”

Ms Gómez told The Telegraph she had campaigned all her life for LGBT rights as well as feminist causes, but believed that Spain’s government had got it wrong on this issue.

“It’s the only law that exists in which a person’s word is all that counts. If I say I have a disability, even if you can see my arm is missing, I will need to provide medical proof,” she said.

Another veteran LGBT campaigner on Friday’s march, 68-year-old Lucía González, called the equality minister a “hypocrite and a sell-out”.

Ms Redondo was appointed by Socialist Party prime minister Pedro Sánchez to replace Irene Montero, a controversial minister from the hard-Left Podemos party who alienated some traditional feminists with her support for the ultra-permissive transgender law.

Ms Redondo backed one of her officials who faced resignation calls over “transphobic” social media posts in which she said that “trans women do not exist”.

But the minister has defended the transgender law as it stands. Asked this week about reports of fraudulent misuse of the law by men to gain privileges meant to help women, Ms Redondo said such cases “do not even reach 5 per cent” of the total.