Equality Act - what next?

[ArabellaScott]

The petition to look at this seems sadly to have virtually ground to a halt:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2

Government have responded with a dismissive:

'providers are already able to restrict the use of spaces/services on the basis of sex and/or gender reassignment where justified. Further clarification is not necessary.'

What next?

We know that providers, while technically able to exclude males, just do not and will not. Nobody seems to agree on or understand the law fully. Legal experts get in huge tangles arguing about it.

The current situation means women are excluded from many women's spaces, there is no provision for single sex services apart from Beira's Place in Scotland, there are still males in women's prisons, and in hospitals.

What do we do if the government and EHRC won't listen? Whatever the law says, this situation is untenable.

Might be worth asking in Site Stuff?

85,543 signatures currently

I'm going to keep on asking friends and family to sign and share; I think I've got about 20 people so far.

I'm not sure that getting the EA updated will make a whole lot of difference to single sex spaces though. I've emailed the Sex Matters Team.

Linking to a thread I just started about the Statutory Code of Practice which explains why I don't think getting the Act changed will make much difference.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4757424-equality-act-2010-statutory-code-of-practice-needs-changing-to-protect-single-sex-spaces

Wonderful work!!!

85,594 signatures nearly at the next 100!

So we were starting with 85411 and we are now on 85,612 signatures, so 200 so far today. Unfortunately not good enough people. We need another 150!!!!

FriendofJoanne · Today 16:27
I'm going to keep on asking friends and family to sign and share; I think I've got about 20 people so far.

I'm not sure that getting the EA updated will make a whole lot of difference to single sex spaces though. I've emailed the Sex Matters Team.

Linking to a thread I just started about the Statutory Code of Practice which explains why I don't think getting the Act changed will make much difference.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4757424-equality-act-2010-statutory-code-of-practice-needs-changing-to-protect-single-sex-spaces

That’s so good about your 20 friends and family.

Are you a lawyer by any chance?
You may be right, but Sex Matters did it partly in response to Lady Haldane’s judgement.

Lady Haldane stated that the meaning of the word 'sex' for the purpose of the EqA 2010 'is not limited to biological or birth sex, but includes those in possession of a GRC'. It is a significant ruling that, on the face of it, appears to mean that a GRC constitutes a change of sex for the purpose of the EqA 2010.16 Dec 2022
didlaw.com/equality-act-case-study

Then if you look at these transcripts of committee meetings in the House of Commons, Oral Evidence with legal experts speaking, you will see that they feel there is now ambiguity about what sex means (compared to in 2010) and does need to be made clear.

Dr Michael Foran, the academic expert, said that there is definition denoting that sex is biological in the Act (female of any age or a male of any age) but there is not clarity.

Dr Michael Foran said it means that organisations with a blanket ban on one sex, could be open to discrimination litigation from someone with the ‘legal’ version of that sex (GRC).

Oral Evidence
23Jan
committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/12639/pdf/
10 Feb
committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1693/html/

So it’s worth signing here to try to make a difference ( ignoring what is said on the Parliamentary site about sex based spaces being allowed already, because that misses the question and the point that they may be allowed but the are open to actual, or perceived litigation.)
www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2

@ArabellaScott · Today 14:35
Might be worth asking in Site Stuff?

Where do you find that?

RotundBeagle · Today 01:28

EndlessTea · 27/02/2023 13:06

There could be a little bullet-point thing explaining.

”currently there is confusion in the Equality Act over whether providers of sports, hospitals, changing rooms, shared hostels and over-night sleeper trains, are allowed to keep men out of women’s provision”

”this means many services for women are scared to protect women from male predators, because they are worried they will be breaking the law”

”right now, women and girls have no guarantee that ‘single sex’ means truly single sex”

”Women and girls have already been sexually assaulted and raped in single sex hospital wards, prisons and toilets by men”

”Sign this petition to update the equality act to make it clear that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act means biological sex and not ‘any man who calls himself a woman”.

*Well summarised. Can't be much clearer than that.^

But where can it be put? Anywhere but petitions and they’ll move it to petitions won’t they? And Once there no one will see it.

The government response misses the whole point. Single sex spaces can be mixed biological sex if you define sex as meaning ‘legal sex’ not biological sex. It’s why it’s important that the Equality Act is clear.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff

Thank you Boiled

I posted this on my Facebook today, together with the link (which I can't add here or it will get removed). I found that the graphic needed to be a bit wider for Facebook. So this is the wider, Facebook-friendly version.

Brilliant!

Hello @ArabellaScott and @Boiledbeetle Thanks for the Site-Stuff suggestion. I did say what has been happening on there. Lily from Mumsnet wrote this back.

Hi OP
Thanks for raising this

We haven't excluded petitions from active so we're not sure why threads aren't appearing on there! We're going to investigate and will get back to you when we have an update

That image is perfect oldwomanwhoruns Today 19:57

Fab, well done Scrolling!

85658

In case anyone wonders what this is all about it is this:

EndlessTea · 27/02/2023 13:06

”currently there is confusion in the Equality Act over whether providers of sports, hospitals, changing rooms, shared hostels and over-night sleeper trains, are allowed to keep men out of women’s provision”

”this means many services for women are scared to protect women from male predators, because they are worried they will be breaking the law”

”right now, women and girls have no guarantee that ‘single sex’ means truly single sex”

”Women and girls have already been sexually assaulted and raped in single sex hospital wards, prisons and toilets by men”

”Sign this to update the equality act to make it clear that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act means biological sex and not ‘any man who calls himself a woman”.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2

85,703 signatures it's 10.45pm and we are after 85750 by the end of the day. Will we get there.........

If anyone happens upon this thread, please sign this.

The petition thread it is supposed to be on is not appearing on Active so doesn’t get seen.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2

85,713 signatures oof! Fallen slightly short of today's target figure. But I'm sure we'll get some overnight to make up for it.

I don't care if you sign now tomorrow or the day after. Just sign as soon as you get the chance!

We start this morning off at 85,738 signatures. 20 until a palindrome. No way I'm catching that one, I'm busy this morning!

Some of us are going to be in the city centre tomorrow with flyers from Sex Matters & Keep Prisons Single Sex celebrating IWD and asking everyone to sign.

We’ll see how that goes!

missed palindrome whilst getting ready to go out.. Everything is going wonky this morning! 85770

Just got back home and it's at 85,812 signatures. it's chugging along quite well isn't it today!

Sazzasez · Today 07:35
Some of us are going to be in the city centre tomorrow with flyers from Sex Matters & Keep Prisons Single Sex celebrating IWD and asking everyone to sign.

We’ll see how that goes!

That’s very good. I hope it goes well. It is a complicated petition to understand but it is an important start.

Mumsnet is hardly a help at the moment seeing as the petition thread on the Petitions board (the only one it is allowed on) is blocked from showing up on ‘Active’.

Yesterday, Lily at mumsnet hq said it isn’t supposed to be and they’d look into it, but I haven’t heard back yet.