Spreadsheet of local authorities that record sex not gender - let's complete it together!

[DJLippy]

Started this in response to this thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3271841-does-your-local-authority-equality-policy-exclude-sex-as-a-protected-characteristic

We need to contact all local authorities and make sure that they record sex as a protected characteristic and not gender

Someone on Twitter (NorthernJugni) has set up an editable spreadsheet that anyone can add to. She’s added all of the local authorities

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hxZ6n4ovGRtGD2Q85NIrRnpGmMbdgc3XDsezQojxLXg/htmlview

It would be really useful if somebody could help those without much experience in contacting the local council by proving a basic message that they could copy and paste. It would save time and make us sound professional. Anybody feel confident with this?

I found a load of waffle on Bradford's. Will look again tomorrow. Surprising you have sex still in Leeds @Mrs Wooster@, with it being the home of Mermaids and all.

We still have sex in leeds!

Ooh err Mrs!

SameTerfDifferentUserName

This page uses sex (gender) like many of the councils are listing, could this be where they are getting it from?www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/sex-discrimination

"The Equality Act 2010 says you must not be discriminated against because:

you are (or are not) a particular sex (gender)
someone thinks you are the opposite sex (this is known as discrimination by perception)
you are connected to someone of a particular sex (this is known as discrimination by association)
In the Equality Act, sex can mean either male or female, or a group of people like men or boys, or women or girls."

Dover District Council has this

The Equality Act
The 2010 Equality Act increased the characteristics protected by previous Equality
Legislation. These characteristics are:
 Age
 Gender
 Disability
 Race
 Religion or Belief
 Sexual Orientation
 Gender Reassignment
 Marriage or Civil Partnership
 Pregnancy and Maternity

So that's not right is it, they're a no then.

I wouldnt bring trans into after all our concern is sex remaining protected characteristic, gender is too much of a variable and means different things. Lets focus on something that can be defined and is real.

How long before the TRAs hijack this?

It's a good idea but I think the tone of the letter is wrong.

Can someone add Cornwall Council in for me? They list sex and then gender reassignment. I’m surprised.

Also, they have their own guidance for schools on trans issues. And while not perfect, it’s certainly trying to address sex-segregated spaces too and talks about why it may not be appropriate for older trans children who are going through puberty to compete in sports against girls.

I can't edit the spreadsheet either..

I've kept things very simple and non-accusatory, just a request that they rectify their mistake:

I note with some concern that your equality and diversity policy conflates the term sex with gender

www.richmondshire.gov.uk/media/8372/equality-policy.pdf

ie Sex (gender)

The Equalities Act 2010

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/4

specifically states 'sex' as the protected characteristic, not' sex (gender)' which could lead to some confusion as the two are not interchangeable. In these days of identity politics, I'm sure you'll agree that accuracy in these matters is important. I would be grateful if you could look into this.

Thank you

Has anyone looked yet at the NHS or police forces

I checked DWP and Home office yesterday both had gender and gender identity. No reference to sex.

How long before the TRAs hijack this?

If it ends up editable by anyone, there's no way we will know if the content is accurate or not, as data could be so easily changed or falsified with malicious intent.

How long before the TRAs hijack this?

Surprised they haven't already TBH

I'm astonished at this. I'm not a lawyer but surely it's obvious that when giving guidance on the law you have to be absolutely scrupulous about the wording. All these organisations have in-house legal teams - why haven't they checked that the wording of the website pages accords with the law? Asleep on the job.

I'll check a few places later today.

Hi can anyone North West Leicestershire District Council for me please? Can’t edit on my phone....

It’s a no- they refer to gender throughout, no mention of sex!

I think one of the campaign groups on this (eg WPUK) needs to collate this offline & contributors use an email account or twitter feed to submit info, which should include html links to policy docs & page refs to make confirmation easier.

I checked my LA and they get a ⭐️ for correctly listing all the EA categories & getting sex right, but I’m not naming them here.

We should also be archiving copies of docs and listing refs/version numbers on the spreadsheet so when they all get yanked on Monday (as the Swim England guidance was), we have originals we can point to and/or share with local political representatives.

Yes boat, when they start telling us we have nothing to worry our silly little heads about...

Can't edit here so add a no to Dover District Council

Sex(gender) on Mine! . Not sure if that's a yes or a no. Gender reassignment is listed separately though

An Equality impact assessment looks at a policy or procedure and sees if it discriminates or is likely to discriminate against somebody because of their Race, Gender, Disability, Age, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Belief and any other likely characteristic

From Bolsover District Council

Protected characteristics which are covered by the Equality Act 2010 are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, gender and sexual orientation.

From Derbyshire County Council

Both confuse gender with sex.

This is shocking - that local authorities can just meddle with the Equality Act! And tweet it how they fancy

tweek not tweet

I think this is a really useful thing to do but sadly it will need to be done offline. there will be various people interested in this, not all for the same reasons.

www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/sex-discrimination

Link not clicky before so seeing if this works.

It is on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website, one click from the page that a poster suggested as good to send to confused councils. Just wanted to point out that they have sex (gender) on this page like many councils are using, so I don't think it will help in those cases.

The document linked is already inaccurate. I can't edit it but I checked my LA policy and it replaces sex with gender, no mention of sex. On the doc it's listed as Y.

I've emailed Derbyshire changing do feel free to join me!