Has “Transgender” replaced “Gender Reassignment” in protected characteristics of Equality Act?

[Gacapa]

This is what I’ve been told after I questioned the change in my council’s terms of reference.

I’ve no idea what this actually means or how best to challenge it.

No it hasn't, they are listed here;

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

It's still listed as "gender reassignment," not "transgender"

The characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010 are:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage or civil partnership (in employment only)
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex

-sexual orientation

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/about-discrimination/equality-act-2010-discrimination-and-your-rights/

OP - I am sure you're already looking at this thread, but going to link for reference

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3271841-does-your-local-authority-equality-policy-exclude-sex-as-a-protected-characteristic

No they are talking shite. If you are on twitter tweet them and copy in WPUK

A fraud has been perpetrated on many Councils and organizations by transgender advocates who under the guise of helping them provided them with false information which they then wrote policies on the basis of.
As a result they are discriminating against women in violation of the law.
Women's rights groups have been alerting councils and other organizations to the fraud that has been perpetrated against them. They could use your help. Check the policies of your council and the charities and businesses you know and if they have been a victim of the fraud send them the EA.
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/7

This may help OP:
womansplaceuk.org/grassroots-womens-pressure-forces-local-authorities-to-comply-with-the-law-over-sex-and-gender/

Gacapa

Tell them they are in violation of the law. That might get through to them.

Then if they still won't listen report them to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The procedure is online.

Fairplay for Women have a lot of resources:
fairplayforwomen.com/

No it bloody hasn't. And furthermore the government have said they will not be touching the equality law.

It was, however, a massive goal for TRAs. They desperately wanted to change the wording. Change it to gender identity, though. Which basically is the same as transgender.

They haven't. They are lying.

In practice, yes, transgender has replaced reassignment.

Whoever has trained people in schools, workplaces, the NHS and businesses has convinced them that reassignment means "living as a woman/man".

I think the training (publicly funded) is the root cause of 'transwomen are women'.

This statement from the EHRC is as interesting as it is infuriating:

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/our-statement-sex-and-gender-reassignment-legal-protections-and-language

Women's rights groups have been alerting councils and other organizations to the fraud that has been perpetrated against them. They could use your help. Check the policies of your council and the charities and businesses you know and if they have been a victim of the fraud send them the EA.

Also check your children's schools, nurseries, after school clubs etc.

Most will, in good faith, have used as templates diversity & equality statements from what they believed were trusted sources.

Many will be incorrect and will not list sex and gender reassignment as two of the nine protected characterstics.

No, the EA has not been amended.

However loads of organisations incorrectly list the protected characteristics.

For example, the NSPCC omitted both gender reassignment and sex and instead referred to gender. I emailed them and they quickly changed it.

It's really worth challenging.

This, from that linked statement, strikes me as reflecting a serious misunderstanding of what has driven "underlying social and power structures":

"'Gender’ refers to socially constructed roles of women and men and/or an individual’s conception of their identity. The term is often used interchangeably with ‘sex’, partly in recognition that much of the inequality between women and men is driven by underlying social and power structures rather than by biological sex."

This idea that you can separate the oppressive power structures from the differences in biological sex and how they make women vulnerable, seems to be a key problem here. Does anyone know of any academic literature that might be used to counter this?

No it hasn't replaced it but gender reassignment includes all people who are "transitioning" and at whatever stage they are at doing so.

The sex characteristic is quite separate.

Interesting. My school's equality policy lists "gender (sex)" and "gender identity and reassignment" as two of the protected characteristics. I don't know that they are different enough to the truth to warrant marking myself out as a troublesome parent by emailing them about it, but it's frustrating.

Their actual policy doesn't seem to mention anything to do with transgender, but refers to gender rather than sex throughout.

I believe a number of organisations and individuals proposed the change
for example in evidence to Womens & Equalities Transgender Equality
First Report of Session 2015–16

5.4 Galop recommends that the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’ be renamed
as ‘trans*’ or ‘transgender’. Legal protections need to encompass the modern understanding
of what ‘trans’ means and who is ‘trans’

NB from earlier in document,
1.1.1 In Galop’s experience, confusion remains about what ‘trans*’ means. We recommend
an agreed standard of terminology that is reviewed regularly to account for changes in
language.
1.1.2 The definition of the word ‘trans*’ needs to be:
1
Written evidence submitted by Galop to the Transgender
Equality Inquiry
Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses
 Inclusive, not just about binary options.
 Based on self identity, not physiology/biology.
 Defined by trans* people themselves.
 Linked to the appropriate use of pronouns, as defined by the person.

data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/women-and-equalities-committee/transgender-equality/written/19594.pdf

It also seems that without a change in the legislation, some parties went ahead employing these legislative changes they proposed.

for example:
TELI Co-founder Tara Hewitt's report for UHSM which records data on 'gender' and 'trans' as 'protected characteristics':

"As part of monitoring access to services and to meet our statutory reporting duty under the Equality Act 2010, the Trust produces reports breaking down patients who have accessed our services by age, ethnicity, gender and religion/belief. We recognise the need to extend this reporting to cover more of the protected characteristics included in the Equality Act and have actions in place to move towards this goal"

p5-7

www.uhsm.nhs.uk/content/uploads/2015/12/Annual-Equality-Diversity-Inclusion-Report-2017-Publish-Version.pdf

see thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3325623-Jess-Bradley-a-government-advisor-on-womens-rights-suspended-by-NUS-over-indecent-blog-Part-iii?pg=2

The question was: how to challenge it?

I've asked my council whether men who live as women can, on the basis of their gender re-assignment, use facilities reserved for females.

I've had a 'holding' reply because key people are on holiday.

Thanks.

The council still has sex as a protected characteristic but says it has changed gender reassignment to transgender as it was recommended by Women and Equalities Committee in 2016 and local transgender groups prefer it.

How can that mean wording of an Act can be changed?

Gacapa
The committee may have made a recommendation but the legislation was not changed.

Many committees make recommendations.

The act exists at the moment with 'gender reassignment' a protected characteristic.

The council has made an error.

( I have no doubt that as part of the Govt consultation into the Equalites Act, there will be considerable lobbying for this change from gender reassignment to transgender)

I have an LA policy which states that sex and gender can be used interchangeably. Can anyone point me in the direction of something that says they can't?

They've also confused gender reassignment and trans - taken gender reassignment to mean anything trans related.

The Woman's Place UK link has examples of how this was challenged, clicky links in article:

womansplaceuk.org/grassroots-womens-pressure-forces-local-authorities-to-comply-with-the-law-over-sex-and-gender/

It should be quite straight forward as the Act is a piece of legislation. The nine protected charcteristics are clear and defined (so not up for re definition) Fairplay for Women have good resources.

It is interesting to listen to Ann Sinnnot explain how the circumstances in Cambridge with the regards the Equalities Act. Ann Sinnott resigned when it became clear the extent to which Cambridge had and were failing to uphold women's sex based protections:

thread discussing her resignation:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3322389-labour-councillor-quits-in-row-over-facilities-for-trans-people-the-times

I’ve just phoned my borough council as they have only 8 characteristics on their list, which includes gender but not sex nor gender reassignment, and bizarrely, lists “nationality” as a characteristic!

I spoke to a lovely man on the phone (who said, “so aren’t gender and sex the same thing?”) and talked him through finding the list on the legislation.gov.uk website.

I’ve told him I will check again in a month and if the list hasn’t been corrected, I will be coming down to the civic offices to have a word