Latest news with #TransLucent
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trans group threatens legal action over toilet directive
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is being threatened with legal action from the transgender rights group TransLucent over its guidance stating trans women must use men's toilets. The guidance follows a Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act. TransLucent argues the EHRC's guidance misinterprets the ruling and was issued without consulting the trans community. The group has raised concerns about the guidance's potential to encourage harassment and discrimination against trans people. The EHRC plans to launch consultation on the draft guidance, while TransLucent is demanding clarification.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Equalities watchdog threatened with legal action after saying trans women must use men's toilets
The equalities watchdog has been threatened with legal action after saying trans women must use men's toilets, The Independent can reveal. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s was published in the wake of last month's Supreme Court ruling on gender, which ruled trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act. The guidance states that trans women 'should not be permitted to use the women's facilities' in workplaces or public-facing services such as shops and hospitals. But lawyers acting on behalf of leading UK trans rights group TransLucent have now sent a letter to the watchdog warning that the guidance 'incorrectly states the legal position' of the court ruling. The letter, seen by The Independent, criticises the body, saying it failed to consult with trans people before publishing its interim guidance, ahead of an ongoing consultation on the issue. It demands the EHRC issue a clarification statement and criticised the commission's chair Baroness Falkner's description of the ruling as a "a victory for common sense' and another which stated: "If a male is allowed to use a women-only service, it isn't any longer a single-sex space." The campaigners argue the remarks have caused 'immense distress to the trans community and confusion to both service providers and employers'. Meanwhile, lawyers Leigh Day warned: 'The worry for our client is that there has not yet been any consultation with trans communities and other affected groups, and the statements from the chair and commissioner that followed the publication of the update, particularly in relation to provision of single sex spaces, suggest that their minds are closed to any other outcome.' The letter adds: 'If those are their personal views, then, while still unsatisfactory, they should have made that very clear. In any event, it is incumbent on the EHRC to provide urgent clarity so as not to undermine the fairness of the forthcoming consultation.' It urges the EHRC to respond by May 19 and confirm whether it plans to issue clarification. Steph Richards, CEO of TransLucent, warned that the watchdog 'appears to have ignored the fact that trans people are still protected under the Equality Act and, as such, can only be legally discriminated against in circumstances when it is a 'proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim'.' It comes amid mounting concern over the impact of the EHRC's guidance, with Labour MP Nadia Whittome telling The Independent it was a 'devastating blow for trans people and their rights'. 'This guidance is not statutory but it indicates what the draft statutory guidance is likely to contain. It is essential that the government rejects it', the MP for Nottingham East said. 'The Equality and Human Rights Commission should be safeguarding trans people's rights at a time when they are being threatened. Sadly, this vital institution has fallen victim to successful attempts by the previous Conservative government to co-opt it in line with its agenda, undermining its independence and neutrality.' Meanwhile, Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said the interim guidance was 'rushed and ill-thought-through, and was clearly drawn up without consulting trans people on their experiences and needs'. 'I'm worried that the guidance could act as a bigot's charter, emboldening people to harass and victimise trans people in public places, and the Green Party has called for it to be withdrawn until something more considered can be produced.' jane fae, director of fellow trans rights group TransActual, told The Independent the organisation is also 'watching very carefully and are ready to take legal action should it be necessary'. 'We welcome this analysis from TransLucent. It is very clear that in her intemperate rush to self publicity, the head of the EHRC Baroness Falkner did not take the time to consult with groups affected and as a result she has caused alarm, distress and further encouraged vigilantism against trans people. 'We echo TransLucent's conclusion that her stance is very concerning and would question whether she is a fit person to be in charge of the equalities commission', she said. The letter was sent to the EHRC on Monday, The Independent understands. A UK government spokesperson said: 'The EHRC is an independent regulator, and we will review their Code of Practice and work with them to ensure it provides the certainty and clarity service providers and businesses need, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.'
The Independent
16-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Trans women like me are now effectively outlawed from public life – what are you so scared of?
The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 specifically says that someone with a gender recognition certificate shall be considered in law to belong to their acquired sex. This is being reversed thanks to today's Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of 'woman' is based on biological sex. Had the court allowed any trans people to give evidence or any doctors or scientists who work in the field of gender identity, they would have discovered two things. First, the supported 'threat' to women's rights posed by the existence of trans women does not exist. And second, the definition of 'biological sex' is infinitely more complicated and harder to pin down than a simple matter of X or Y chromosomes. Instead, they accepted a narrative of bigotry and prejudice that bears a sickening resemblance to that used as the justification for the segregation and persecution of Black people and Jews: this group is inferior, but it is also dangerous, and its very presence is a threat to a healthy society. But what threat do trans women actually pose? Name me the trans female who has won an Olympic medal or a tennis grand slam. There is no such name because it has never happened (and no, those two boxers at Paris 2024 were not transgender). Give me a case of a trans woman causing trouble in a female hospital ward. In 2024, the trans rights group TransLucent contacted 102 NHS hospital trusts and, using Freedom of Information requests, asked them to provide any records of complaints against trans patients in women's wards (of whom I was one, as it happened), over the past three years. Millions of women went to hospital at that time. Only one made any complaint about a trans patient, and that was so trifling that it required no further action. As for trans women in ladies' loos, here's an exclusive report on what we do there. We stand in line. We dash for the first available cubicle. We do our business. Then we wash our hands, check our face, brush our hair and leave. Sound familiar? Well, so would the rest of my life. Ten days ago, a couple of girlfriends (both 100 per cent XX-chromosome natal females) and I decided to treat ourselves to a very special lunch at the Ritz. I was called madam at the front door, at the concierge desk, by the man at the cloakroom and by all the waiters. When I used the ladies' loo, no one batted an eyelid. No one ever does. I've been going full Marie Kondo on my flat, and I'm 'luv' and 'darlin'' at the council tip where I'm dumping all my rubbish, too. It never occurs to people who meet me for the first time that I'm trans. If I tell them, they either don't care or are actively supportive. Above all, I am a woman-made woman. Quite apart from my mum, who started the process, the psychiatrist who approved me for gender surgery is a woman, as is the surgeon who, to be blunt, gave me my labia, clitoris and vagina. (My breasts, I might add, grew without anything more than oestrogen to help them.) A woman taught me how to speak like a woman. Women were my nurses and are my hairdressers. I go to a salon that only has female clients. Everyone knows I'm trans, and they are all friendly and absolutely at ease with my identity. Why wouldn't they be? I mean, why would I go through all the time, trouble, pain and expense of gender transition if I were hostile to women? And yet, for all the acceptance in my everyday life, I, like all trans women, have to live in a world of persecution without justification. In 2024, a UN report into the treatment of trans people in the UK reported on the worrying rise of transphobic speech in media and politics, which was leading to a dramatic increase in violence against trans people. The people who are supposed to be such a threat face more violence and abuse than any other group in society. The Supreme Court's judgement, coupled with the recent assault on gender-affirming medical care in the NHS in the wake of the Cass Review, just adds to the weight of state abuse of trans women, putting Britain on a par with the most bigoted states of the USA. But in America, there are at least some states that are still safe havens for trans people. There is no haven here. And don't think it will stop with trans women. As if to echo the Martin Niemöller poem 'First They Came', the White Christian Nationalist groups who fund the anti-trans campaign in the UK, and who are open about seeking the total eradication of 'transgenderism' (which is to say, trans people) aren't stopping with us. They are coming for abortion rights. They are coming for gay rights. You could be next. In the meantime, we trans women are being destroyed by lies and the suckers who support those lies. It's just a pity that some of those suckers sit on the Supreme Court.
