WARNINGS from United Nations experts that a landmark Supreme Court’s ruling on trans rights will “marginalise” the community should be a “wake-up call”, campaigners have said.
Experts including special rapporteurs said that the judgment, which has already seen a roll-back in trans rights across the UK, may lead to “increased discrimination” against trans women.
In a joint statement, they said: “The judgment does not remove the legal protections trans people currently enjoy under the Equality Act.
“But it may be used to justify exclusionary policies that further stigmatise and marginalise an already vulnerable population, as well as human rights defenders working to protect and promote transgender rights.
“We are deeply concerned that the application of this judgment may lead to increased discrimination and exclusion of transgender women in various sectors, including the workplace, at a critical time when employers should be striving to foster and maintain inclusive environments for all employees.”
The experts said that the ruling may also promote outcomes that its proponents say they are against.
““In effect, the ruling could produce precisely the outcomes its proponents claim to avoid: (trans) men in women’s spaces, (trans) women in men’s spaces, and no safe access for trans people at all,” the experts said.
“It is essential that the UK’s legal framework reflects the realities of people’s lives and upholds its human rights obligations.”
The Supreme Court ruling, which found that women and sex are defined by biology for the purposes of the Equality Act, has already resulted in trans women being barred from female football teams in Scotland and England.
People must also use the toilets which align with their sex not their gender in the Scottish Parliament, it was announced earlier this month.
Christopher Clannachan, policy and campaigns officer at the Equality Network, said: “The statement and concerns raised by international human rights experts is a wake-up call.”
Vic Valentine, the manager of Scottish Trans, added: “Last week we fell to 22nd place in Europe for LGBT+ rights and this week UN human rights experts feel they need to warn the UK about the escalating situation for trans people following the Supreme Court ruling.
“Forcing trans people to use spaces that align with our so-called ‘biological sex’ or segregating us from others will make our lives unliveable. It doesn't have to be this way – the UK Government should do what these experts have urged them to and take action to make sure that we can all live freely as who we truly are.”
