Something surprising happened in Parliament this week. MPs debated policy and the law. Dog bites man? But this debate was different because it was about transgender rights and how alterations to the law on changing gender might affect women.

It was called by David TC Davies, a Welsh Conservative who has made unlikely alliance with Left-leaning feminist groups who fear that a system permitting men to “self-identify” as women is open to abuse. In the debate, Victoria Atkins, the impressive Home Office minister navigating this minefield, reported that a Government consultation on reforming gender-change laws has had more than 100,000 responses. This issue matters to a lot of people.

Yet the scale of that interest is poorly reflected in public debate, most of all in politics. Until this week, Parliament has been silent on the issue for fear of offending trans activists who condemn as “transphobic” any scrutiny or analysis of the reforms they advocate.

You may recall the case of Karen White, a transgender rapist assigned to a women’s prison who sexually assaulted several inmates there. In September MPs asked to question ministers about that scandal. Speaker John Bercow – who happens to be the president of a trans-rights campaign group – refused to allow any debate. So the fact that 12 MPs this week met to discuss the issue should be celebrated.

Only Mr Davies expressed any reservations about gender law reform, however. Every other backbench contribution, across the political board sang from the hymnal of trans rights activists: “trans women are women” and anyone who disagrees is a bigot.