Latest news with #EqualityAct
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Give trans staff extra breaks to adjust underwear, NHS trust suggested
An NHS hospital trust drew up plans to give trans staff extra breaks if they wore chest binders or had to tuck their genitals away. In draft guidance seen by The Telegraph, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust (UH Sussex) said trans colleagues 'may require extra scheduled breaks in their shift in order to have breaks from binding and tucking'. However, the trust said the new proposals, which also said women-only spaces should include trans women, had been put on hold in February and would not be pursued following the Supreme Court ruling last month. Judges ruled that the Equality Act referred to biological women and biological sex, rather than those choosing to identify as a woman. But critics said the draft guidance raised concerns about the time spent by NHS staff on working up and consulting on these types of policies. The NHS has no specific advice for trans people who wear chest binders or tuck their genitals, but the actions are considered controversial by some because of the harm they can cause. Chest binding is when a woman wears an item of clothing to compress their breasts to look more like a man, while the 'tuck' involves pushing the testes and penis back between the legs to appear more female. Both can cause infections, inflammation and other health problems, doctors have warned, which in some cases can be irreversible or lead to infertility in biological males. The proposed guidance said: It is understood that employees in the UH Sussex LGBTQ+ staff network had written the 15-page document last year and sent it to other groups for consultation. One former employee at the trust said: 'If we're going to make allowances for people who have to use the toilets to change and do this, that and the other, should we not be making allowances for women with heavy periods, or people who have to pray three times a day? Why are we making allowances for one group of staff over everyone else?' Dr Alice Hodkinson, a co-founder of Biology in Medicine, a doctors' campaign group, said people binding or tucking were 'risking medical and psychological harm'. She said tucking male genitals 'between the buttocks can cause pain, inflammation, fertility problems and testicular torsion', while 'binding can cause chest and spine deformities, cysts, infections and difficulties breathing'. Dr Hodkinson added that testicular torsion 'is a surgical emergency requiring an immediate operation to preserve fertility and sexual function', saying: 'The UK National FGM Centre considers breast flattening to be a form of child abuse.' Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at Sex Matters, a human rights charity, said the proposals for 'employees who are self-harming in pursuit of the impossible goal of sex change should never have made it onto paper, even as a draft'. She added: 'Tucking genitals and binding breasts are culturally motivated actions that cause permanent physical damage, just like breast ironing and the use of neck coils. The only difference is that self-harm in the name of trans identity is high status and fashionable. 'This blatant attempt to normalise such a harmful practice is particularly disgraceful coming from a healthcare body. It is a relief to know that NHS Sussex won't be taking it forward.' The draft guidance also told staff they should try and understand the impact of cross-sex hormones on any trans colleagues and their mood. 'It is also helpful to gain an understanding of if there are certain times that are better or worse for their mood and wellbeing e.g. when someone is prescribed testosterone, energy levels and mood can be lower towards the end of a medication cycle, and can vary greatly on the type of preparation,' it said. 'Feminising hormones can require a lot more consultation to achieve an appropriate dosage, and may similarly impact mood and energy levels.' UH Sussex said it had never had a policy on this and that this draft had been put on hold in February, after being reviewed by senior leaders and had now been dropped altogether. A spokesman for the trust said: 'This draft paper is not trust policy or guidance, it never has been, and never will be. 'A colleague submitted it to a manager in February, for consideration, but it was not accepted.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
STV News
a day ago
- Politics
- STV News
Scottish Government ordered to pay For Women Scotland's legal costs
The Scottish Government has been ordered to pay For Women's Scotland's legal costs from the landmark definition of a woman Supreme Court case. In April, the UK Supreme Court unanimously sided with the campaign group For Women Scotland and determined that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act refer to biological women and sex. It has already affected how both governments and public bodies manage access to single-sex spaces like toilets and changing rooms. Following the ruling, a court order was handed down on Tuesday ordering the Scottish Government – who lost the case – to pay for at least part of the campaign group's court costs. The price tag for taxpayers is still unknown, but For Women Scotland estimated that it will cost a 'minimum of £250,000'. 'The courts have a basic formula to be followed in calculating the amount to be paid by the Scottish Ministers and that will also be subject to some negotiation between the two legal teams before a final figure is agreed,' a spokesperson for the campaign group said. For Women Scotland said they will likely bill the Scottish Government for about 60-70% of the actual costs, and they spent approximately £417,000 over the course of both the Supreme Court and Court of Sessions cases. It will be some months before this total is known and finalised, but these costs are likely on top of the case's previously reported £157,816 price tag for the Scottish Government. Earlier this month, a freedom of information request revealed that the Government had spent at least £374,000 fighting the landmark definition of woman case. The most recent UK Supreme Court case was set to cost the taxpayers £157,816 in legal fees, on top of the previously documented £216,182 costs from the initial legal challenges. 'Final costs in relation to the case are still being determined and are not yet available,' the Scottish Government said. 'We will publish the total cost of the case when it is fully complete.' The Supreme Court has stated that the total will be negotiated by For Women Scotland and the Scottish Government. The Court said it will step in and assess the costs if an agreement is not made. A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: 'The Scottish Government has received the Supreme Court's order in respect of costs and final costs for this case will be calculated and published in due course.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Download Festival is engulfed by trans row as acts threaten a boycott after organisers follow Supreme Court ruling and enforce single sex toilet policy
LGBTQ acts have threatened to boycott the Download Festival after organisers followed the Supreme Court 's ruling and said trans men and women should use toilets according to their biological sex - not the gender they identify as. Trans pop-punk artist Noahfinnce says the decision will be put people 'in danger', declaring the decision means: 'My trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men's [toilets]'. The row has come to the attention of Harry Potter author and women's rights campaigner JK Rowling, who said of the complaints by trans artists and campaigners: 'Nothing short of women's total capitulation will be good enough for them'. The rock and metal festival held in Donington Park, Leicestershire, between June 13 and 15 will be attended by up to 130,000 people and will feature performances from Green Day, McFly, Korn and Weezer. And six weeks on since the Supreme Court ruled trans women are legally male and trans men are legally female for the purposes of the Equality Act, Download applied it to its portaloo policy. It said this year it would be following the guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission that 'trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men's facilities.' The vast majority of the portaloos on site will still be gender neutral. Yet Noahfinnce has threatened to quit claiming the decision is 'unsafe' - with some trans men and women vowing to defy the rules and use whatever toilet they want. 'I had a great time playing last year but will not be attending again if I have to queue up for the ladies' and my trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men's. All this does is put trans people in danger', the singer said. In a post on Twitter, Noahfinnce wrote: 'Hey @DownloadFest what the f**k are you doing? How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play your festival, then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can p*ss is by outing ourselves, then you've created an unsafe environment'. Manchester band Witch Fever said: 'The threat to trans people's safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don't associate with is a complete f***ing tragedy. We are hoping this decision gets changed'. American rock band Pinkshift then said on Instagram: 'Playing @downloadfest was fun last year but what f*cking music festival policies gendered bathrooms? 'Thanks Noahfinnce for being the only artist [we've] seen talk about this. If Download is part of your life, speak up. They think they can get away with discrimination in the year of 2025'. Download then issued a statement declaring that the 'Festival has always been and remains for everyone', adding: 'We want to reassure all of our customers that the majority of the toilets across the site are gender neutral'. Artist and campaigner Birdy Rose said that Download had done the right thing to offer single sex toilet facilities and gender neutral toilet facilities to be available to those who want to use them. But she added: 'This should have been a good and reasonable way to make everybody happy whilst also abiding by the law. Instead 'trans' activists seem to be having an absolute meltdown, claiming that this is 'immoral' and men should just ignore the law and enter the female spaces anyway. 'So what have we learned here? Nothing is ever good enough for the woke lunatics'. Olympian Sharron Davies then tweeted: 'This is exactly what happened in world aquatics. They put on a trans events at a World Cup in Berlin. After endless complains about inclusion. So they didn't even have to be the best in their country like everyone else. Yet no one turned up. These men only want an unfair advantage in a category they have no right to be in. Very revealing… every time'. Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson said last month that 'services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex', meaning trans women should usually use male toilets if there is no alternative provision, despite last year saying that a man who had legally changed gender 'would be using female toilets'. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has now issued guidance stating unequivocally that in workplaces and places open to the public 'trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men's facilities'. But Labour has been accused of being in chaos over the Supreme Court's April ruling. Guidance for schools on pupils who identify as the opposite sex may not be published before the summer holidays, for example. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded Keir Starmer apologise to women after the Supreme Court's biological sex ruling. The Leader of the Opposition told the Mail that the Prime Minister - who has now dropped his belief that transgender women are women - should say sorry to those who lost jobs or were harassed in the row over equality law. In Parliament she also urged him to apologise to MP Rosie Duffield who was hounded out of Labour after she spoke up for female-only spaces - and told him to crack down on the trans activists who defaced Westminster statues in angry protests against the landmark judgment. Her comments came after Sir Keir belatedly spoke out on the declaration by Britain's top court that the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological sex, saying: 'A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear.' He declined to repeat his previous statement that 'trans women are women' but his official spokesman later confirmed he no longer believes it.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gallego: Concerns about trans athletes ‘legitimate'
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) says Democrats should be more open to hearing 'legitimate' concerns about transgender students participating in girls and women's sports, the latest in a recent string of Democrats to break publicly with the party on an issue championed by Republicans. 'As a parent of a daughter, I think it's legitimate that parents are worried about the safety of their daughters, and I think it's legitimate for us to be worried also about fair competition,' Gallego said in an interview published Thursday with The Dispatch, a right-leaning digital magazine. 'And I think the parents of these trans children also are worried legitimately about the health and wellness of their kids.' 'There are some sports that some of these trans children should not be playing,' he continued, adding that it should be up to local entities such as school boards or athletic associations to establish eligibility requirements for trans athletes and determine sports where 'there should be a separation' based on sex at birth. But the overarching message to transgender youth, he said, should be rooted in compassion. 'Hey, listen, we love you. We want you to be part of our community, but this is just the one place you can't play, and let's find other activities for you to be involved,' Gallego said. The Arizona lawmaker, first elected to the House in 2014 before winning a competitive Senate seat last year, previously backed legislation in Congress supporting transgender rights. He is a four-time co-sponsor of the Equality Act, legislation to make sexual orientation and gender identity federally protected classes, and served as a vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which works to advance LGBTQ rights in the House. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group that endorsed Gallego's Senate bid, did not immediately return a request for comment on his remarks about trans athletes. More than half the nation, including Arizona, has adopted laws that either outright ban or restrict transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. Federal court rulings are blocking the enforcement of laws passed in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, West Virginia and New Hampshire. Gallego is the latest of a handful of Democrats to voice opposition to allowing transgender girls to participate in girls sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who, like Gallego, is a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination — said he believes trans athletes competing against and alongside cisgender girls is 'deeply unfair,' and he would be 'open' to having a conversation about limiting their participation in California. Responding to a policy announced this week by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) allowing more girls to compete in state track-and-field championship events where a transgender girl also qualified, a spokesperson for Newsom said the governor 'is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.' 'CIF's proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness — a model worth pursuing,' the spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, said. At least four other Democrats in Congress have said they oppose transgender student-athletes participating in girls and women's sports. Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Seth Moulton (Mass.) spoke out against the party's broad support for trans athletes in the immediate aftermath of the November elections, which saw Republicans retake control of both chambers and the White House. GOP candidates, including President Trump, zeroed in on transgender rights while on the campaign trail. In January, two Texas members, Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, were the only Democrats to vote with Republicans to advance legislation to ban transgender girls from competing in girls school sports nationwide. 'I believe that there should be rules to keep our sports fair and that boys should not play in girls sports,' Gonzales said following his vote. A spokesperson for Cuellar told The Hill in January that the Texas lawmaker, who voted against the same bill in 2023, changed his vote 'based on the concerns and feedback he received from constituents in his district.' In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in February, 79 percent of surveyed Americans said trans athletes should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. A Pew Research Center survey released the same month found Americans have grown more supportive of policies restricting transgender rights, including ones that require athletes to compete on sports teams that match their birth sex. An AP-NORC poll released this month found that roughly half of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of transgender issues, including 19 percent of Democrats. The president has targeted trans rights through sweeping policy changes and several executive orders, including one aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls and women's sports. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Gallego: Concerns about trans athletes ‘legitimate'
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) says Democrats should be more open to hearing 'legitimate' concerns about transgender students participating in girls' and women's sports, the latest in a recent string of Democrats to break publicly with the party on an issue championed by Republicans. 'As a parent of a daughter, I think it's legitimate that parents are worried about the safety of their daughters, and I think it's legitimate for us to be worried also about fair competition,' Gallego said in an interview published Thursday with The Dispatch, a right-leaning digital magazine. 'And I think the parents of these trans children also are worried legitimately about the health and wellness of their kids.' 'There are some sports that some of these trans children should not be playing,' he continued, adding that it should be up to local entities such as school boards or athletic associations to establish eligibility requirements for trans athletes and determine sports where 'there should be a separation' based on sex at birth. But the overarching message to transgender youth, he said, should be rooted in compassion. 'Hey, listen, we love you. We want you to be part of our community, but this is just the one place you can't play, and let's find other activities for you to be involved,' Gallego said. The Arizona lawmaker, first elected to the House in 2014 before winning a competitive Senate seat last year, previously backed legislation in Congress supporting transgender rights. He is a four-time co-sponsor of the Equality Act, legislation to make sexual orientation and gender identity federally protected classes, and served as a vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which works to advance LGBTQ rights in the House. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group that endorsed Gallego's Senate bid, did not immediately return a request for comment on his remarks about trans athletes. More than half the nation, including Arizona, has adopted laws that either outright ban or restrict transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. Federal court rulings are blocking the enforcement of laws passed in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, West Virginia and New Hampshire. Gallego is the latest of a handful of Democrats to voice opposition to allowing transgender girls' to participate in girls' sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who, like Gallego, is a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination — said he believes trans athletes competing against and alongside cisgender girls is ' deeply unfair, ' and he would be 'open' to having a conversation about limiting their participation in California. Responding to a policy announced this week by the California Interscholastic Foundation (CIF) allowing more girls to compete in state track-and-field championship events where a transgender girl also qualified, a spokesperson for Newsom said the governor 'is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.' 'CIF's proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness — a model worth pursuing,' the spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, said. At least four other Democrats in Congress have said they oppose transgender student-athletes participating in girls' and women's sports. Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Seth Moulton (Mass.) spoke out against the party's broad support for trans athletes in the immediate aftermath of the November elections, which saw Republicans retake control of both chambers and the White House. GOP candidates, including President Trump, zeroed in on transgender rights while on the campaign trail. In January, two Texas members, Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, were the only Democrats to vote with Republicans to advance legislation to ban transgender girls from competing in girls' school sports nationwide. 'I believe that there should be rules to keep our sports fair and that boys should not play in girls sports,' Gonzales said following his vote. A spokesperson for Cuellar told The Hill in January that the Texas lawmaker, who voted against the same bill in 2023, changed his vote 'based on the concerns and feedback he received from constituents in his district.' In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in February, 79 percent of surveyed Americans said trans athletes should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. A Pew Research Center survey released the same month found Americans have grown more supportive of policies restricting transgender rights, including ones that require athletes to compete on sports teams that match their birth sex. An AP-NORC poll released this month found that roughly half of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of transgender issues, including 19 percent of Democrats. The president has targeted trans rights through sweeping policy changes and several executive orders, including one aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports.
