Latest news with #BaronessKishwerFalkner
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UK equalities watchdog: Transgender people may be asked about gender status in workplace
Transgender people may be asked about their gender status in the workplace, the equalities watchdog has said, with its chair arguing people should 'distinguish between rights in law, and a preference for things to be a certain way'. Giving evidence to the women and equalities select committee, the chair and chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said trans people should not be fearful of the repercussions of April's supreme court ruling, which found the word 'woman' in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman. However, when asked about a series of scenarios in which the ruling might practically affect trans people's lives, both said formal guidance was currently being drawn up. The EHRC's interim advice, published shortly after the court decision, set out that transgender people should not be allowed to use toilets of the gender they live as, and that in some cases they also cannot use toilets of their birth sex. Asked what she would say to trans people who felt they had lost rights, Baroness Kishwer Falkner, the EHRC chair, replied: 'We protect their rights under the law as they exist, and we also have done so and will continue to do so. But I think you have to distinguish between rights in law, and a preference for things to be a certain way.' Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrat MP, pushed Falkner and the EHRC's chief executive, John Kirkpatrick, on how trans people's privacy could be protected in workplaces and socially 'if they are going to be identified because they cannot use certain facilities'. Kirkpatrick said the watchdog hoped to provide 'some appropriate guidance about how, respectfully, questions can be asked in the workplace or in services, and so on and so forth, in such a way as to respect privacy and dignity as far as is possible'. Asked if this would not still imperil people's privacy, Falkner said that rights under article 8 of the Human Rights Act, connected to privacy, would not apply in such a case. Quizzed about how the changed rules about toilet use could be implemented, Falkner said it would primarily be about the 'social contract', adding: 'We are not talking about people with badges coming along to enforce anything.' In another exchange, Falkner, who has been criticised by transgender groups for leading an organisation they argue is insufficiently protective of their rights, said almost all the abuse in the debate came from transgender people and their backers. 'One of the thing that one notices is that the vast majority of that part of our population, which is particularly the women and girls part … the vast majority of those people who felt disadvantaged or felt the law was not supporting them did so in a dignified, respectful manner, frequently using the last resort of a tribunal or a court,' she said. 'Let's be clear. This supreme court ruling only covers 8,464 people, the holders of GRCs [gender recognition certificates]. So in terms of changing things at all, those are the people affected. But the level of agitation that they can cause in terms of personal attacks, libellous attacks, defamation, where our family members are affected, our intimate family members have to think about how they are going about their place of work and so on, has got to stop.'
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
People could be asked to prove biological sex under new EHRC code
Sports clubs and hospitals could ask for a person's birth certificate if there is "genuine concern" about their biological sex under an updated Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) code of regulator published updates to the code on Tuesday in light of a Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities changes include guidance that trans people can be excluded from sport "when necessary for reasons of safety or fair competition".EHRC chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner said the changes, which will be subject to a six-week public consultation, were intended to satisfy a "demand for authoritative guidance" after the ruling. The EHRC, a public body which enforces the Equality Act 2010, issued a code of practice to public services and businesses on how to comply with the regulator began redrafting its code after the Supreme Court ruled in April that the terms "woman" and "sex" in the 2010 act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex".Shortly after that ruling, the EHRC published interim guidance intended to "highlight the main consequences of the judgment", including on the provision of single-sex said trans women "should not be permitted to use the women's facilities" in workplaces or public-facing services like shops and hospitals, with the same applying for trans men using men's Tuesday, the regulator published a more comprehensive update to the code and began a public consultation, which it said had been extended to six weeks, from two, due to high levels of public interest and input from a range of says people can be asked to confirm their birth sex in some circumstances if it is "necessary and proportionate" for a service provider to "know an individual's birth sex to be able to discharge their legal obligations".Any request should be made in a "sensitive way which does not cause discrimination or harassment", it commission adds that if there is "genuine concern about the accuracy of the response to a question about birth sex, then a birth certificate could be requested".As some trans people who have obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate may also have an amended birth certificate, the draft code says any further enquiries about biological sex at birth should be "made in a proportionate way which is discreet and sensitive" in the "unlikely event" they are code says: "Where obtaining information on birth sex is not necessary and proportionate, asking a trans person about their birth sex may risk unjustifiably interfering with their human rights..."Therefore, care should be taken, particularly by public authorities, that this is only done where necessary and justified."Discrimination or harassment could occur if, for example, individuals are asked about their birth sex in a way which may require them to disclose this information in public, or if the language or manner of a request is rude, combative or offensive."Elsewhere, the draft guidelines say a service provided only to women and trans women or only to men and trans men "is not a separate-sex or single-sex service" under equalities law, and could amount to unlawful sex discrimination against those of the opposite sex who are not allowed to use a statement published alongside the draft updates, Baroness Falkner said: "People with protected characteristics should never be discriminated against or harassed when using a service. "Where services are provided on a single-sex basis, that needs to be done in a way which is consistent with the law, which protects the rights of all service users and which ensures everyone is treated with respect and dignity. "It's vital that service providers know what they need to do to comply with the law, and that service users have confidence that every provider is doing so."
