Latest news with #SusanSmith
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Schools Scotland: Teachers 'hung out to dry' as SNP Government stalls on single-sex space guidance
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Head teachers are being 'hung out to dry' by a lack of updated and specific guidance on single-sex spaces in schools, campaigners have claimed. Just days before the new term begins, the Scottish Government is still not in a position to issue clarified instructions on how to manage toilets and changing facilities. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Scottish Government is under pressure to issue updated guidance on toilets in schools. Recent court rulings have led to local authorities seeking clarity on balancing the rights of trans-identified pupils and girls. Existing guidance promotes gender self-identification and, experts say, is unlawful. Pupils are due to return to school for the new academic year in a host of council areas, including Edinburgh, from Wednesday, heightening the pressure on Government officials to issue fresh guidance. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A judge's ruling in April forced Scottish Borders council to concede it had been wrong to install no sex-segregated bathrooms at the new Earlston Primary School. This followed a Supreme Court ruling that month on the definition of 'sex' in law in a case taken by feminist organisation For Women Scotland against the Scottish Government. Susan Smith, a co-founder of For Women Scotland, said: 'The Scottish Government seems prepared to hang schools out to dry rather to step up and provide clear guidance. Members of For Women Scotland celebrate the Supreme Court ruling that the word 'woman' the 2010 Equality Act refers to a biological woman (Picture: Lucy North) | PA 'There is little excuse now to procrastinate - they must withdraw all unlawful guidance and ensure that safeguards are robust. 'If they don't, we expect that many more cases will come before the courts, at increasing expense to the public.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Scottish Government spokeswoman confirmed it was still 'considering' whether guidance requires to be updated. She said local authorities had statutory responsibility for the school estate, including provision of toilets. 'As with any significant legal or policy developments, we consider whether guidance requires to be updated to reflect recent legal decisions and this consideration is underway,' the spokeswoman said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lady Ross KC said she would issue a court order making legal obligations on Scottish state schools clear after parents brought a judicial review over their concerns around transgender policies at Earlston primary school. Kath Murray, of the policy think-tank Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, said: 'Local authorities are relying on Scottish Government schools guidance, which continues to promote gender self-identification. 'After the For Women Scotland ruling and Earlston Primary school case, which specifically clarified that schools must provide single sex facilities, it is hard, if not impossible, to understand why the Government has not withdrawn this.' When asked in June by The Scotsman if she was concerned about schools being left to make their own decisions on single-sex toilets, Ms Gilruth said: 'As you'll be aware, in relation to the Supreme Court ruling, we are working across government. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Jenny Gilruth Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills meets pupils receiving exam results at King's Park Secondary School | Getty Images 'Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville is leading that work and the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] has launched a consultation. We will respond to that in due course. But we have published updated guidance, which is shared with all local authorities, and we are engaging directly with the EHRC.' At least six schools in Aberdeenshire, the Borders and Shetland, which previously only offered gender-neutral toilets, had previously said they would be creating single-sex facilities on the back of the Supreme Court verdict. Meanwhile, Police Scotland has issued updated guidance to its officers about single-sex spaces on the police estate. New rules say all toilets and changing facilities must be used on the basis of biological sex. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said: 'As we continue to navigate this complex and sensitive area of policing, the wellbeing of our officers and staff remains an absolute priority.' Ms Paton went on to say the situation may be 'difficult and upsetting', but urged staff to be 'patient and kind' to one another. The force came under fire in June for guidelines that allow transgender suspects to request officers of different sexes to frisk various parts of their body. The advice — designed to accommodate people who have not completed a full surgical transition — would mean detainees could ask for a woman to search their top half and a man to search below the waist.
Spectator
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Fringe venue under fire over mixed-sex toilets
While the Supreme Court in April backed the biological definition of a woman, it would appear that in Scotland the ruling hasn't yet been taken into account. Women's rights campaigners have taken aim at an Edinburgh Fringe venue – Underbelly Bistro Square – for allowing biological men to use women's toilets. Dear oh dear… The venue has been accused of breaking the law, after it added a disclaimer below the female bathroom sign – which told attendees to 'use whichever toilet best fits your identity or expression'. While the men's toilets featured a similar note, the cubicles themselves were reportedly still labelled 'gents'. This is despite the Supreme Court ruling prompting new guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which says that although it is not compulsory for public services to have single-sex facilities, it could be indirect discrimination against women if the only toilets available are mixed sex. The landmark case was brought to the Supreme Court by women's rights campaign group For Women Scotland – after its argument (that the definition of women in the Equality Act referred to biological sex) was rejected by two Scottish courts. Susan Smith of the organisation told the Telegraph about the latest Fringe furore: 'This is plainly unlawful. You can't have a sign like that. You can either have a mixed sex space or a single sex space. It's not possible to have both at the same time. It's either one or the other.' Helen Joyce of charity Sex Matters added: 'Organisations that fail to get this right risk enabling sexual harassment and ultimately being sued.' Oo er. Will Underbelly push back? Stay tuned…
Boston Globe
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Today in History: Army airplane crashes into Empire State Building
Advertisement In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In 1945, an Army B-25 crashed into the 79th floor of New York's Empire State Building, the world's tallest structure at the time, killing 14 people. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate. In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics officially opened; 14 Eastern Bloc countries, led by the Soviet Union, boycotted the Games. In 1995, a jury in Union, South Carolina, rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons (Smith will be eligible for parole in November 2024). Advertisement In 1996, 8,000 year-old human skeletal remains (later referred to as Kennewick Man) were discovered in a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington. In 2004, the Irish Republican Army formally announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. In 2015, it was announced that Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst who had spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel, had been granted parole. Also that year, a four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game was upheld by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. In 2018, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. Both died in April of 2025. In 2019, a gunman opened fire at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy, California, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, and wounding 17 others before taking his own life.
Scottish Sun
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Scots pro-trans group launches bizarre defence of ‘men who can BREASTFEED'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TRANS lobby group funded by the Scottish Government has been blasted for moaning that the rights of males 'who are able to breastfeed' are at risk after the Supreme Court ruling on gender. Scottish Trans has raised concerns over the protections available to those who have transitioned seeking pregnancy and maternity support. 1 Scottish Trans has complained that the EHRC's consultation threatens the rights of men "who are able to breastfeed" Credit: Getty The charity's complaints came in a response to watchdog the Equality and Human Rights Commission's consultation on a new code of practice for interpreting the law. But Susan Smith, from For Women Scotland, blasted the controversial practice of men who have transitioned to women breastfeeding. The campaigner said: 'Men who do this should be investigated for putting the health of a baby at risk.' Scottish Trans, part of the Equality Network, has received hundreds of thousands of pounds of Scottish Government funding in the past decade. The charity said they 'strongly disagree' with EHRC's statement that the explanation of the legal rights and responsibilities set out in the new content defining sex at birth is clear. It has published a response, complaining that there is 'now significant uncertainty following the ruling on whether trans women who are able to breastfeed can access pregnancy and maternity protection if they experience discrimination. 'We think that if they are unable to access these protections as a result of the ruling, that this is a further significant impact on trans people's equality and protection from discrimination, that the Commission has a statutory duty to highlight.' The group added: 'In addition, there is now significant uncertainty, following the Supreme Court ruling, on whether trans women who are able to breastfeed can access protection under section 13(6)(a) of the Equality Act if they experience discrimination because of this. 'We think that if they are unable to, as a result of the ruling, that this is a further significant negative impact on trans people's equality and protection from discrimination, that the Commission has a statutory duty to highlight.' Transgender women claim to be able to breastfeed, a process known as induced lactation, through therapy that mimics the hormonal changes of pregnancy. Man, 39, dies in hospital after 'major incident' in Scots town as cops lock down street & arrest suspect Medications such as estrogen and progesterone are often used to stimulate breast tissue development, followed by a transition to a medication called domperidone and a reduction in estrogen, to trigger milk production. But activists have voiced safety and nutrition concerns over trans women breastfeeding. Ms Smith said: 'Scottish Trans didn't seem worried when the Scottish Government lawyers argued that pregnant women who identified as men should lose all legal protection to maternity rights, but they have sprung into action to defend men who want to feed drug-induced discharge to babies. 'Women are routinely told that they should avoid alcohol and medication while breastfeeding, so far from being encouraged and protected, men who do this should be investigated for putting the health of a baby at risk.' Scottish Tory shadow minister for equalities, Tess White MSP, said: 'This is absolutely ludicrous. The Supreme Court's ruling in April couldn't be clearer; sex is based on biology. 'It's simply a matter of common sense that only women can become pregnant and breastfeed healthy milk to a baby. Health and Safety are paramount. 'It is vital John Swinney and his Ministers ensure that public bodies are upholding the law rather than bowing to irrational gender self-ID zealotry.' In April, Supreme Court judges clarified that sex in equality law is based on biological sex — not whatever gender a person says they are. It came after a challenge by feminist group For Women Scotland, who defeated the Scottish Government in court. SNP ministers had argued that anyone with a gender recognition certificate should be treated as the sex they say they are, for all purposes. New guidance related to the ruling and how organisations should act is now being drawn up by the EHRC.
Los Angeles Times
05-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Los Angeles Times
Prestigious Beverly Hills Flats
Luxury living at its finest in prestigious Beverly Hills Flats, this iconic estate exudes elegance and sophistication. Italian marbles, bespoke woodwork and Miele appliances adorn the expansive interior. Sustainability meets luxury with solar power and a generator. Elevator access, dual garages and sprawling living spaces offer convenience. Location: 616 North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Asking Price: $59,500,000 Living Area: 20,520 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms Features: The master suite boasts indulgence, while entertainment options abound. Outside, a tranquil oasis awaits with a pool and hot tub. With seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, a pool bath and three powder rooms, this estate defines Beverly Hills luxury living. Contact: Carolwood Estates Susan Smith, DRE#: 01187140310.415.5175susan@ Richard Maslan, DRE#: 01304570310.435.2196rmaslan@
