The arrogance of left-wing activist clergy in the Church of England is unfortunately on full display in the row over ‘trans inclusive’ toilets at Sunderland Minster.

After The Telegraph broke the story on May 28, the Church Times reported the Provost (the incumbent) of Sunderland Minster, a prestigious church in Durham Diocese, defending her decision to display a sign inviting biological males who self-identify as female to use the church’s women’s toilets. 

Canon Clare MacLaren argued that transgender people should be allowed to use the single-sex facility of their choice because they “have as much right to privacy, dignity, and safety as cisgender men and women”.

A picture of the sign, “All women are welcome to use these toilets”, was shared in a Facebook post, now deleted. The post described the sign as a response to the Supreme Court’s “narrow biological line on the definition of sex” in its ruling last year. 

In the wake of the ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has produced an updated draft code of practice which says single-sex space facilities in public buildings must be used in line with biological sex. The Government last month put the EHRC draft code before Parliament for scrutiny with a decision on whether to approve it due later this month.

Effectively blaming objectors to the sign, MacLaren said that it has now been taken down “to safeguard our volunteers from the risk of abuse”. According to The Telegraph, the sign featured the pink, blue and white stripes of the trans flag, and the Facebook post said that if women were not comfortable using lavatories in the presence of trans women, they could ask for a clergy staff member or volunteer to accompany them.

Read it all at Christian Today

Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.