A LABOUR minister has been slammed for giving an “extraordinarily inflammatory and dangerous” statement on guidance for single-sex spaces and the impact on transgender people.
On Monday, parliamentary under-secretary of state for equalities Seema Malhotra gave a statement in the House of Commons, while Bridget Phillipson, the Women’s and Equalities minister who laid the code of practice from the UK’s equalities watchdog, was absent.
On May 21, just before the House of Commons went into recess, Phillipson laid the guidance in Parliament, but it took until June 1 for MPs to be able to discuss the sweeping changes.
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance follows the Supreme Court ruling in April last year that said a woman is defined by biological sex under the Equality Act 2010.
The draft code was published just before the Westminster Parliament broke up for recess on May 21.
It states: “In separate or single-sex services, a trans man will be excluded from the men-only service because his sex is female, and a trans woman will be excluded from the women-only service because her sex is male.”
The changes have been described as removing rights from transgender people in the UK, and as “authoritarian and cruel”.
In her statement, Malhotra said that the draft code does not provide the “right for members of the public to challenge one another on their sex and access to those spaces”.
“People have been using single-sex spaces with a sensible and respectful attitude to other users for years and will continue to do so,” she said.
“Most people have the common sense to step in when necessary, when a person of the opposite biological sex enters a single-sex facility in error, for example, or to know when to alert a member of staff.
“The draft code provides clarity to service providers to ensure that people have access to services that are private and safe.”
The draft code also states that it can be deemed legitimate to ask someone to confirm what their sex is if “there is clear evidence of an issue with members of the opposite sex accessing or seeking to access the single or separate-sex service or association”.
The code states: “Evidence of such concern might include the individual’s physique or physical appearance, behaviour or concerns raised by other service users.
“However, service providers, those performing public functions and associations must keep in mind that it is not always possible to be sure of a person’s sex from their appearance.”
In response to Malhotra’s comments, a spokesperson for Trans+ Solidarity Alliance said: “Her statement in Parliament is an extraordinarily inflammatory and dangerous contribution.
“This risks a dark era of people being challenged for their compliance with gender stereotypes.
“This comes just after the UK was roundly condemned by international LGBTQ+ rights bodies for encouraging ‘cruel and inhumane’ gender policing.
"This coming on the first day of pride month contributes to a sense that this Labour government see trans equality and safety as disposable."
During the debate, Labour MP Nadia Whittome said the EHRC practice “fails everyone” and “effectively pushes trans people out of public life, it subjects all women to gender policing based on stereotypes, and it does not provide clarity to organisations that want to be trans-inclusive”.
Whittome warned the UK Government that the code could lead to “increased harassment of anyone who does not conform to gender stereotypes”, urging Labour ministers to withdraw it and legislate to “clarify” that the Equality Act 2010 was “always intended to be inclusive”.
“The Government are proud of the Equality Act, and we will always protect and uphold it,” Malhotra said in response.
