Following the Supreme Court’s decision on biological sex, the Equality and Human Rights Commission extended their planned consultation regarding an updated code for services and public functions and associations from two weeks to six.
The Women and Equalities Committee and translobby groups have all criticized the plan, which was only meant to be consulted for a week.
The EHRC issued a statement saying: “In view of the public’s interest and the representations of stakeholders from Parliament and the civil society, we have extended the consultation period.”
It now plans to launch the consultation Monday (19 May), and end it by 30 June 2025.
The Supreme Court decided on 16 April that, for the purpose of the Equality Act 2010 “sex” is biological sex, and “women”, biological women.
The EHRC released a interim report nine days later on the practical implications in the FWS case. The EHRC said, “We are aware that many people still have questions regarding the ruling and its implications for them. Our updated guidance will give you more clarity. This update, while this work is still ongoing, is intended to highlight some of the main consequences from the judgment.
The EHRC stated that trans women (biological males) should be prohibited from using the facilities for women and trans men should be banned from using the facilities for men.
The law allows trans men to not use women’s restrooms, but trans women to not use men’s.
Carla Denyer (co-leader of Green Party) described the interim update as ” clearly hasty and poorly thought-out“. She called for its withdrawal.
Compose a letter
Sarah Owen, the chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, wrote to Baroness Falkner last week to question the reasoning behind the EHRC’s decision to hold a consultation period of two weeks.
The letter stated: “As members of the committee, we believe that a minimum six-week period would allow for all stakeholders to participate, including individuals and charities, disability groups and businesses, as well as health providers, local authorities and local governments.”
The Supreme Court also asked what steps EHRC would take to ensure the code of conduct supports the rights of everyone (as stated in the Supreme Court’s judgment) and if there were any legal implications that went beyond the Supreme Court’s ruling.
‘Settled view’
TransLucent, a transgender advocacy group, said this week that it felt a consultation of two weeks was insufficient and had started the legal process against the EHRC.
It said: “We made this decision as we believe the commission has acted unlawfully in its response to the Supreme Court’s judgement last month on the status trans people under Equality Act.”
The EHRC has a duty under the law to approach this process with an open-mindedness and not a preconceived idea of how it will update its guidance. We believe the EHRC has a closed mind and a predetermined view of the implications of this judgement because two senior EHRC staff have made public comments expressing an apparent settled view.
The EHRC said that the consultation would focus on the Code of Practice sections that needed updating after the Supreme Court’s judgement. They added that a draft code of practices was discussed between October and January.
It said in a statement released yesterday: “The Supreme Court has made its legal position regarding the definition of sexuality clear. Therefore, the EHRC does not seek views on these legal aspects.”
Q&A session
The EHRC has announced that it will be holding Q&A sessions during the consultation period with representatives of protected characteristic groups.
The statement read: “These meetings are intended to answer questions about the EHRC’s understanding of Supreme Court’s judgment, consultation process, where opinions are sought, and what can or cannot be changed in draft code of conduct
Participants will still be required to submit a response. The EHRC also plans to meet with government officials from all over Britain, and will hold briefings on the subject for parliamentarians.
The EHRC will examine the responses to the consultation and amend the code as necessary.
The EHRC, despite the fact that the consultation ended a month ago, told Personnel Today they still expect the revised code to be presented to the Parliament, subject to approval by the minister, before the summer recess from 22 July to 1 Septembre.
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