My council recently became green controlled with lots of new and inexperienced councillors. This weeks council email led with news of a motion passed that disagrees with the EHRC guidance on SSS.
My heart sank, I hope they aren't going to go the way of Bristol and Scotland on this.
I'm going to write to them to ask to clarify what this means for their delivery of SSS and question their wisdom of getting involved in all of this.
I will appreciate any advice and useful examples that the wise women here can throw my way.
Full text of the weekly email:
At a meeting of Full Council yesterday, the Council passed a motion committing to protecting the rights of transgender, non-binary and intersex residents in our borough.
We believe that misinterpretation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) current guidance on the use of single sex services and spaces – published earlier this year following a supreme court ruling on the definition of sex – presents a significant risk of exclusion for transgender people. The government’s own equality impact assessment admits as much.
Not only that, misinterpretation of the guidance also threatens the privacy and human dignity of women, ethnic minorities, and disabled people through intrusive questioning about “biological sex” or “sex at birth”.
Gender reassignment remains a protected characteristic under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). We believe that every resident of this borough deserves to access council services safely, with dignity, and free from discrimination or harassment.
As well as ensuring that the council’s mandatory training, human resources, and procurement policies reflect PSED best practice, we are committed to ensuring the provision and expansion of non-gendered safe and private spaces in all council-owned facilities, new and old.
As it stands, we believe the EHRC guidance leaves transgender people at risk of intolerance and discrimination. As a Borough of Sanctuary, we are proud to stand by our long record of inclusion, diversity and equality.