‘Let the war begin' – Trans activists vow to fight government guidance
The advice is in line with interim guidance published by the commission in April, just days after the Supreme Court ruled that the word sex in the Equality Act meant biological sex, not preferred gender identity.
Sophie Molly, a trans rights activist, posted on X on Friday morning: 'Do not comply. I'm prepared to be arrested multiple times over this.'
Another, using the name Invisible Entity, said: 'Let the war begin. Fingers crossed. You need to fight for all of us globally. It's a war.'
The Good Law Project has challenged the EHRC's interim guidance in court, saying it is incompatible with the Equality Act and goes beyond what the Supreme Court said.
The firm has been granted a two-day hearing in the High Court in November.
'Rights and dignities'
Mr Maugham said: 'The guidance amounts to a bathroom ban for trans people, violating people's right to privacy in their everyday lives.
'The EHRC's guidance is subject to legal challenge – a hearing is scheduled for later this year – and a court will decide whether it is compatible with the Equality Act.
'Given the evident hostility of the guidance to the rights and dignities of trans people, we are confident the Commission will lose'.
A spokesman for the LGBT+ charity Stonewall said the EHRC received 50,000 responses to its consultation from businesses, organisations and individuals, and suggested the Commission had not had time to read them all.
'The draft guidance takes the position of justifying exclusion rather than inclusion of trans people as its starting point, which does not reflect the values of our society,' he said.
'It risks creating a hierarchy of rights and a tiering of safety concerns, which are counter to the intentions behind the Equality Act 2010.
'The EHRC has received over 50,000 responses to its consultation from businesses, organisations and individuals raising wide-ranging and complicated issues, including compatibility of the draft guidance with other existing pieces of legislation which will need to be addressed.'
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