Sex Matters to Quakers

Sex Matters to Quakers, set up in 2023, is a group of Quakers in Britain who believe that sex is a biological reality and support women’s sex-based rights. The group aims to bring Quaker members and attenders together to discuss and pursue the aims below:

a. to speak biological truth to gender-ideological power. b. to advocate the biological facts that women are adult human females and men are adult human males. c. to bear witness to the social and political consequences for women and girls (and men and boys) of gender identity ideology that denies biological reality.

The group aims to support, uphold, defend and advocate for the sex-based rights of women and girls as set out in the Equality Act 2010 The group aims to question whether the newly-minted language of queer theory is in line with Quaker ethos, ethics, progressivism and/or Quaker aims to promote diversity and inclusion. The group aims to safeguard vulnerable children and adolescents from the populist narrative that questioning gender identities means freedom from outdated sexist stereotypes about what it is to be a girl or a boy.

Logo of Sex Matters to Quakers

In 2023 the group applied to become a Quaker Recognised Body but this was rejected by Quaker Life Central Committee (QLCC). The Committee stated: We would welcome the group continuing to meet and supporting each other as a Quaker group without QRB status. We recognise the importance of spaces for information, sharing and sustained discernment. We would be open to considering a revised application that responds to the concerns minuted by QLCC.

The divisions within the Society of Friends (Quakers) over gender ideology and gender critical, and the attempts to suppress dissenting gender critical views, have in 2023 caused great anxiety amongst many Quakers. LGB Christians had a feature on the SMtQ group in March 2024 in their online newsletter . Robbie Spence wrote an article for the LGB Christians which explained the groups history. This was published in March 2024 .