Dear Prime Minister: women are still waiting

It is coming up to the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court judgment which should have led to the end of “Stonewall Law” in Britain. But the idea that people who identify as transgender have a legal right to be treated as if they have changed sex is deeply embedded in institutions and the government has failed to bring them into line with the law.

Sex Matters and For Women Scotland together with 26 women’s organisations have written to the Prime Minister to ask why women are still waiting.

Dear Prime Minister

It is now almost a year since the Supreme Court confirmed, in its judgment in favour of For Women Scotland, that the terms “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 carry their ordinary biological meaning. The Court made clear that any alternative interpretation “would turn the foundational definition of sex on its head” and diminish protection against sex discrimination.

Yet a year on, women are still waiting for our rights to be fully recognised and upheld in practice.

We are still waiting for the Minister for Women and Equalities to lay the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of practice for services, public functions and associations before Parliament.

We are still waiting for the Cabinet Office to withdraw its model policy advising civil servants that “refusing to accept an individual’s gender identity” constitutes unlawful discrimination.

And we are still waiting for government departments, local authorities, NHS bodies, regulators and publicly funded organisations to bring their policies in line with the law.

This continued failure to act has real and damaging consequences:

• Public servants fear being labelled “transphobic” when recognising biological sex.

• NHS staff, like Sandie Peggie and nurses in Darlington, are denied access to single-sex changing facilities, which undermines basic standards of dignity and privacy at work.

• Women are being denied lawful single-sex services, from gym changing rooms to rape crisis counselling. Some women, such as Miranda Newsom in Southwark, have been excluded from public services for raising legitimate concerns.

• Girls are missing opportunities to participate in single-sex activities, such as boxing training in Bristol, where girls-only services have been withdrawn.

• Women in custody continue to face the presence of male prisoners in the female estate and in probation hostels, with serious implications for safety and wellbeing.

• Lesbians continue to face exclusion from venues, associations and charities because they do not accept male individuals as lesbians.

Civil servants are required by the Nolan Principles to act with objectivity: impartially, fairly and on the basis of evidence “without bias or discrimination”. However, they are operating within institutions where the definition of discrimination has been widely misinterpreted, where the rights of women have been systematically undervalued and where concerns that the law is not being followed have been portrayed as “outdated” or “mean”.

Public authorities and regulators are exposing themselves to legal risk and creating ongoing uncertainty for employers, service providers and the wider public. This lack of clarity is harmful for everyone, including individuals who identify as transgender. It undermines both the rights of women and gay people, and the rule of law.

You have stated that violence against women and girls is a national emergency and that tackling it is a test of our values. That commitment must be reflected in the consistent application of the law that underpins women’s safety, dignity and equality.

The clarification of the law was secured through the efforts of ordinary women and small civil-society organisations, including For Women Scotland, Sex Matters, LGB Alliance and the other lesbian interveners. It is now incumbent on government to provide leadership and ensure that the law is properly understood and implemented.

We therefore call on you to:

• ACT urgently to ensure that all policies and guidance relating to single-sex services are brought in line with the Equality Act 2010, as clarified by the Supreme Court.

• COMMIT to addressing the issue of inaccurate recording of sex across public bodies.

• TELL the civil service to apply the law consistently across all government operations, policies and premises.

Yours sincerely

For Women Scotland
Sex Matters
LGB Alliance
Fair Play for Women
Women’s Rights Network
Women’s Declaration International
Transgender Trend
The Lesbian Project
Lesbian Fightback
Lesbian Persistence
Scottish Lesbians
Murray Blackburn Mackenzie
Genspect
Darlington Nurses Union
Cambridge University Society of Women
Merched Cymru
LGB Alliance Cymru
Scottish Feminist Network
Women Won’t Wheesht
Women o’ Scotland
Women of Surrey
Women of Wessex
Women of the Chilterns
Labour Women’s Declaration
Conservatives for Women
Liberal Voice for Women
Green Women’s Declaration
Lesbian Labour