Is dishonesty being normalised?

It is inevitable that societies change with time and so do norms but, unfortunately, it is not always for the better. Minority view prevails at times. We live in an era when, at least in the West, there can be two husbands or two wives in a marriage with adopted children being brought up in these unusual circumstances. Mostly due to the pressure by celebrities these marriages have been equated to traditional marriages where one of the functions is procreation which contributes to the survival of the species, which these same-sex marriages are not able to achieve. By highlighting this anomaly, I am in no way being critical of anyone’s sexual preferences, which is their own concern, but merely wondering whether the pendulum has swung too far!

- BY DR UPUL WIJAYAWARDHANA

Another simmering problem in the UK was finally put to rest by a decision of the Supreme Court in July this year. It was to do with the definition of a woman in relation to the Equality Act. The problem arose because the Scottish Government decided to accept men by birth who declared themselves to be women because they felt they were trapped in the ‘wrong sex’ and vice versa. In spite of a convicted rapist deciding to change sex, entitling him to be transferred to a female prison, the Scottish government argued that sex could be changed legally via the gender recognition process! It reached the level of absurdity when even children were allowed to change sex without the agreement of the parents.

J K Rowling, British author of Harry Potter fame, was a leading opponent to the legislation that would allow transgender people to legally self-identify their gender without first receiving a medical diagnosis and rejected the view that gender identity is different from birth sex, and that it should take priority in equalities law. Despite being ridiculed by the Transgender lobby, surprisingly joined by some actors who became famous and rich by acting in Harry Potter films, her views never changed and she maintained it would be unsafe to allow "any man who believes or feels he is a woman" into bathrooms, changing rooms, or what is considered "single-sex spaces". She was castigated for fighting for the rights of women!