A mass lobby by trans people and their allies will take place in Westminster at the end of June over the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) proposed changes its Code of Practice on single-sex spaces, following the UK Supreme Court’s gender ruling.
The event will take place on 25 June in Central Lobby, Palace of Westminster and will be led by the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance as part of its Unite for Trans Rights campaign.
A mass lobby refers to when a large number of people contact their MPs and members of the Lords in advance and arrange to meet with them at parliament all on the same day. Often, such activities are organised by campaign groups to showcase the strength of feeling on an issue to politicians.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in April that the definition of ‘sex’ in the 2010 Equality Act refers to ‘biology’ only, the EHRC issued interim guidance stating trans people should be banned from using single-sex facilities which match their gender and, in some cases, should also be barred from using those which match their ‘biological sex’.
This was subsequently explained by the EHRC to mean that when a trans woman or trans man present in an obviously feminine or masculine way “reasonable objection might be taken” to their presence in a single-sex facility, such as with masculine trans men – who are defined by the court ruling as ‘biologically female’ – using female facilities as per the guidance.
When the interim guidance was released, the EHRC noted it would provide an updated version of its Code of Practice – which will “support service providers, public bodies and associations to understand their duties under the Equality Act and put them into practice” – to the UK government by the end of June, saying it would be reviewing sections of the Code to incorporate the Supreme Court’s judgment.
The EHRC was swiftly criticised for making the consolation period for the changes to the Code of Practice just two weeks and eventually after pressure it extended the time frame to six weeks, running between 19 May and 30 June.
The mass lobby event comes a few days before the end of that deadline and organisers say they expect it to be the largest LGBTQ+ mass lobby of MPs since the fight against Section 28 and the largest ever by members of the trans+ community.
Jude Guaitamacchi, founder of Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, said in a statement: “We are going to parliament to tell politicians that if this bathroom ban becomes law it will have a devastating impact on the day-to-day lives of trans and gender non-conforming people and make the UK a global outlier on LGBT+ rights.
“The EHRC’s proposals would force workers in shops and pubs to become ‘gender police’ – told to demand birth certificates from anybody that they think doesn’t fit gender stereotypes – and require major facilities changes at great expense for businesses across the country.
“Unworkable and dangerous proposals like this show exactly why the LGBT+ community has no confidence in the leadership of the EHRC, and cause permanent damage to the organisation’s credibility as a regulator.
“Politicians must act to prevent trans people like me from becoming second class citizens and this is our chance to call for meaningful action to resolve the current human rights crisis.
“There is no dignity and respect in a bathroom ban: we now need real political leadership.”
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