Response from MP / Penny Mourdant - Equalities act exemption

[Poosnu]

I am delurking for this, having followed the debate on this board for about a year. I have received a letter from my conservative MP, enclosing what I assume is a standard letter from Penny Mourdant.

I have particular concerns with the following paragraph:

The Equality Act allows service providers to provide single- or separate-sex services for women and men, or provide services differently to women and men, in certain circumstances. An example of such a circumstance may be the restriction of access to a domestic violence refuge to women only. A provider of such services is expected to treat transgender people according to the gender role in which they present. However, the Act permits the service provider, in certain circumstances, to provide a different service or exclude a person who they think has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment from the service, whether or not that person has a Gender Recognition Certificate. This means that trans women may, in certain circumstances, be prevented from accessing women-only spaces under the Equality Act. I would like to reassure [redacted] that the Government has no intention of removing these protections.

In my letter I explained my concern that although this exemption exists, it would be rendered unworkable in practice by self-ID. She does not appear to have read my letter.

I am going to write again to my MP (or possibly directly to Penny Mourdant). Could anyone assist with some more detailed points to include?

Identifying information removed by MNHQ

I think many of us have had that self-same paragraph contained within replies our MPs received following our letters of concern to them.

You are correct that self-id renders the 'exemptions' unworkable, which is what I pointed out when I wrote to my MP. Mordaunt simply parrots the same old nonsense.

Someone with a better grasp of the wording you need will, I hope, help out here.

You are right.

1. There is no way on earth that a traumatised woman and her children should be asked to put aside their terror and accept sharing space with a man in a refuge. There has to be a blanket ban with no exceptions
2. Refuges are being coerced into providing mixed-sex refuges for fear of losing funding. There is now a risk that women and children will not be able to use their services.
3. Women's services are prevented from discriminating against men, and excluding them, on production of a Gender Recognition Certificate/new birth certificate. In law, the transwoman is a member of the female sex and can bring an action for discrimination.
4. The case-by-case 'in exceptional circumstances' legal advice has already led to harms against women

• they have been assaulted in prison
• they have vacated 'mixed sex' spaces
• they have been injured in mixed sex sports
• their rights to dignity and privacy have been overridden by a directions from the state to extend trans privileges

-they are made more vulnerable to predatory men, voyeurs etc

The Minister needs to look at strengthening and clarifying the law on single sex spaces. Personally, I condemn any political party that tries to coerce me into accepting that men can be members of the female sex. They aren't. No exceptions. No case-by-case review.

#nodebate

Personally, I condemn any political party that tries to coerce me into accepting that men can be members of the female sex. They aren't. No exceptions. No case-by-case review. #nodebate

Correct.

I got that exact same para in the boilerplate response from my (Labour) MP. A friend who lives in the same constituency got a carbon copy of the letter I got. None of them give a flying fuck. It couldn’t be any more explicit.

Personally, I condemn any political party that tries to coerce me into accepting that men can be members of the female sex. They aren't. No exceptions. No case-by-case review. #nodebate

#SpoiltBallot

Personally, I condemn any political party that tries to coerce me into accepting that men can be members of the female sex. They aren't. No exceptions.

Transsexual people already are exceptions.

Remember that before the 2010 Equality Act there was the 1999 Sex Discimination Act (Gender Reassignment). There is nothing new to TS people having access.

What is new is the 100 fold increase from medicalised TS people to the exhibitionists and fetishistic masses.

Transsexual people already are exceptions

You mean people with a GRC and a new birth certificate? Let's not forget the half a million others waiting for self i/d. An unknown number already intrude and colonise as a result of their protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment'. These are loopholes that need to be closed off, if politicians have any sense.

No one considered an alternative solution that protected and supported those who suffer from gender dysphoria. They just changed the definition of 'woman' and gave priority to 'gender' over 'sex'.

The sooner politicians realise that the GRA and Equality Act were flawed, short-sighted and harmful, the sooner we can really move forward on transgender rights. Leave women out of this.

But let there be no mistake about this - the public take the view that a man can't become a woman, no matter what laws and guidance are imposed on us from the top-down.

It follows that the public do not want to see men anywhere near women's spaces, facilities, sports and services. Politicians are starting to feel the heat and personally, I intend to turn up the heat evern more.

NB - Penny Mourdant is the Minister for Women and Equalities. I suppose we can read that as Minister for Women and Equalities except when transgender rights are more important than women's rights?