GCHQ, the government’s listening agency in Cheltenham, has been accused of flouting lobbying rules by declaring its support for Stonewall in the debate over transgender rights.
Today is the end of the consultation on proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act to streamline the process of changing legal gender to make it less bureaucratic and onerous for people who wish to live in a gender that does not match their biological sex.
The proposed reforms have divided opinion on how to balance rights for transgender people with the protections already afforded to other groups, particularly biological women.
Cabinet Office rules say that public bodies must not lobby and must remain politically impartial.
Critics have asked why government bodies such as GCHQ, the Intellectual Property Office and the Welsh government appeared with corporate sponsors and campaign groups in support of Stonewall, the lobbying charity, in a full-page advert in the Metro this week.
James Kirkup, the journalist, said: “GCHQ . . . is using public resources to support an organisation that is lobbying ministers to change the law. How does that fit with Cabinet Office rules?”
GCHQ’s support for transgender rights is a change of direction for the agency, which banned gay staff until the 1990s. Two years ago it apologised for its historic prejudice and its “horrifying” treatment of Alan Turing, who lost his job with the secret service after being convicted of indecency and was chemically castrated.
It has since been a keen supporter of Stonewall and made a concerted effort to appear in its top 100 employers’ list.
The charity has lobbied for the dismantling of single-sex spaces. Ruth Hunt, its chief executive, has insisted that there is no conflict between women’s rights and the rights of biological men who identify as women.
GCHQ said: “We are not seeking to lobby government, and did not pay for our logo to appear on Stonewall’s poster; we are simply proud of our diverse workforce. We have worked with Stonewall for many years as part of our work to make the organisation as supportive and inclusive as possible.”