Poilievre says ‘female spaces’ should be reserved for ‘biological females’

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggested Wednesday that transgender women should not be permitted in “female spaces.”

Poilievre made the comment in response to a question from a fringe right-wing website asking about transgender women’s participation in sports and access to “female spaces.”

“Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males,” Poilievre told reporters at a press conference in Kitchener on Wednesday.

“But obviously female sports, female change rooms, female bathrooms should be for females, not for biological males.”

Asked if a Conservative government would bring in laws to enforce that position, Poilievre said that most of the “spaces” the question referred to are provincially or municipally controlled, so it’s not clear what impact legislation from Ottawa would have. But he did not rule out federal legislation.

Global News asked Poilievre’s spokesperson, Sebastian Skamski, how Poilievre defined a “biological female” and whether his position is that transgender women should not have access to “female spaces” or participate in female sport.

Skamski had not responded to those questions as of the time of this publication.

The Conservative Party’s policy declaration, last updated in 2023 and adopted from proposals brought forward by the party membership, defines “woman” as a “female person.”

“The Conservative Party of Canada believes that women are entitled to the safety, dignity, and privacy of single-sex spaces (e.g., prisons, shelters, lock rooms, washrooms) and the benefits of women-only categories (e.g., sports, awards, grants, scholarships),” the policy, which was proposed and supported by the Conservative rank-and-file, reads.

In a statement Wednesday, the Society for Queer Momentum