Looking for help keeping a women's group to women only....

Yes, I think Article 8 would apply to policies about sharing rooms etc but probably wouldn't when it came to who the charity can offer to help - assuming the charity offers help to males with a legal sex of F who fit the criteria. Might be that they can come on the residential courses but have to be accommodated separately - solo single room/double room with any other male with a GRC.

But you can have a charitable aim to "get women onto fencing"

So your tw with grc can come along to the events and fence.

It is not an aim to "and share rooms at fencing events " so they just get own room (paid for off others are also covered)

What is a bit up in the air (until the FWS case is heard in the Supreme Court) is whether you have to include males with a GRC - and only those males - because their legal sex is F and women's Article 8 rights to privacy, dignity and safety are probably not in play, going by from what you say the charity's aim is.

Women's Article 8 rights to privacy, dignity and safety are surely relevant in this case:

the activities of our charity mean we are often away in small groups or pairs and staying overnight in various accommodation types/set ups and sharing bathrooms etc.

Sorry - no particular help but just want to say Don't Apologise - I (and I'm sure many others here) understand your concerns. I seem to be in a minority (20 yr old who sees a distinct difference tween Vs and Ps) and I'm encountering similar problems.

As PP have mentioned, the opportunities for excluding someone with a GRC from a single-sex group are more limited than for excluding merely self-identifying individuals, and your situation may not justify it.

A pragmatic approach might be to lean into the ambiguity and specify 'women-only' whilst reserving the right to ask for sight of a birth certificate.

Transmen with GRCs still have access to their original birth certificate (the original birth registration is not invalidated by the GRC but coexists with the entry on the GRR). But I suspect they wouldn't want to apply, and wouldn't kick off about being excluded as 'not women'.

A transwoman with a GRC would be able to provide a female birth certificate (so no need to ask about the GRC itself), but such individuals are rare compared with those merely self-identifying, so the magnitude of the problem is slashed.

It may then still be possible to impose special arrangements in intimate situations where safety and decency are at risk, but I would not write any of that into the rules, because it could attract complaints about 'bullying' or 'discrimination'.

In other words, kick the can down the road unless and until you have a specific situation to assess and deal with.

IANAL but I know you can’t ask to see a GRC.

The birth certificate effectively does the same thing, but I'm not convinced that no-one under any circumstances can ask to see a GRC. I think you can as long as you are not discriminating unfairly. I suspect that this is another situation in which people have been told there is an impossibly high bar to clear.

Anyhoo, OP, of course Harassedevictee is correct - birth certificates are the proof you could request uncontroversially.

Edited for clarity

Good luck with this OP. Just a suggestion - once you've established the legal situation for yourselves, as far as is possible keep quiet about it. NOT because it's shameful but because the idea of infiltrating / trashing a women only organisation is like catnip to a certain type of man and you'll find yourself tied up in battles with men supremely disinterested in your aims and values but over invested in wedging themselves anywhere they're unwelcome.

Sorry to sound cynical but experience suggests this is what will happen.

IANAL but I know you can’t ask to see a GRC.

As pp have mentioned the FWS judgements have established the importance of legal sex. Legal sex is based on birth certificates which can only be changed with a GRC. Passports and other ID can be changed without a GRC.

Ideally you specify Sex as recorded at birth and ask for birth certificates from everyone as evidence. As a minimum this would only allow males with a GRC, of which there are relatively few. It would automatically exclude most TW..

You also need to think about Transmen and whether you want to include or exclude them. This is where it gets complicated as if they have a GRC their birth certificate will say Male.

If you are basing your rules on biological sex then a TM with a GRC would not be eligible to join.

Consistent treatment of TW and TM I.e. legal sex or biological sex will be important to prevent claims of discrimination on the basis of gender reassignment.

I would consider researching existing organisations who are single sex or who have single sex provisions to see how they approach it. The Naomi Cunningham suggestion is a good one to follow.

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/your-rights-under-equality-act-2010/sex-discrimination

'Circumstances when being treated differently due to sex is lawful

The Equality Act has some exceptions that allow employers or organisations to discriminate because of your sex.

A difference in treatment may be lawful if:

Being a particular sex is essential for a job: this is called an occupational requirement. This includes some jobs which require someone of a particular sex for reasons of privacy and decency or where personal services are provided. For example, a gym could employ a changing room attendant that is the same sex as the users of that room.

An organisation is taking positive action. Positive action might be used to encourage or develop people of a sex that is under-represented or disadvantaged in a role or activity. For example, an engineering firm places a job advert for a trainee engineer stating that applications from women are welcome. '
...
'There are several situations in which an organisation can lawfully provide single sex services. In all circumstances they must be able to justify it. '

Brighton Sister Salon have dine this snd share wording re the process on their website

brightonsisters.wordpress.com/about/constitution/

Nia (charity for women) have a policy about women only services. Maybe they could help.

Also perhaps FiLiA could advise?

I know lots of women's groups want a policy allowing them to be single sex.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/193

This may help (see point 7) and:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/16/crossheading/single-characteristic-associations

Also EHRC guidance - self-ID is not the law.

Sex Matters and Naomi Cunningham's blog Legal Feminist are the places to look.

IANAL, but there is a section in the Equality Act which says that sex discrimination is lawful for Positive Action initiatives - initiatives to help or highlight groups who share a protected characteristic (Sex, in this case) and are underrepresented or disadvantaged in a particular area of work, or sport or some other endeavour.
So if you are asking whether you can remain women-only, you absolutely can.

What is a bit up in the air (until the FWS case is heard in the Supreme Court) is whether you have to include males with a GRC - and only those males - because their legal sex is F and women's Article 8 rights to privacy, dignity and safety are probably not in play, going by from what you say the charity's aim is.

Sex is a protected characteristic, gender is not - Gender Reassignment is the characteristic.

The above, I'm 99% sure is correct. But - again, IANAL - if you wanted to include males with a GRC, I think you would be able to ask to see a GRC, because you are not an arm of the state. I also think you could argue that a man could get a GRC tomorrow and acquire a legal sex of F - but that all the years of male privilege in the work sector would not have magically disappeared, so you wouldn't be helping someone who had been disadvantaged or underrepresented and wouldn't be fulfilling the charity's objectives.

I cannot stress enough that I am not a lawyer.