Is it possible to repeal the GRA but still stay signed up to rest of the EHRC treaty?

[happydappy2]

There are 9 protected characteristics....can Parliment not realise that Gender Reassignment is incredibly problematic for the safeguarding of women & Children, keeping single sex spaces actually single sex etc and just repeal that part of the legislation? As a country we could still agree to protect the other 8 characteristics. I've been advised this is possible-would there be any unintended consequences if Parliament did that?

Yes they could add a gender marker to birth certificates, passports and drivers licences that can be updated by self id, whilst the sex marker can never be changed and is always prioritised when it matters.

The equality act protects against discrimination on religious grounds, it isn't as if people have their beliefs written in official documents to meet the clause. I can't see why it would be hard to do this. I think I would change the phrasing to "gender presentation," though, so people can dress the way they like, as long as appropriate (thinking of big breast TW teacher).

The problem is legally defining which is the reference category for discrimination. Is it when you treat a man with a gender identity differently than a man without one? I would say that is what it originally meant, that Sean could come to work the next day as Susan and not be fired. Susan should be treated the same as Sean, allowed to use male toilets etc.

The same way you cannot treat someone differently or fire them if they take up a religion or acquire a disability.

However, it's being implied it means that identifying as a woman is the same as being a woman and it is discriminatory to treat TW differently to women.

Nailing down the reference category as being the sex of the person, is the real fight.

Repealing the GRA and removing gender reassignment from the equality act are 2 different things. Both politically and legally difficult to do I would think.

The Tories proposed the more subtle change of clarifying sex in the equality act to mean biological sex. And without being an expert my gut feeling is that minor tweaks like this can have a big effect on the fine balance of competing rights set out in the equality act, are probably far easier to achieve and would have fewer unintended consequences.

The GRA itself is in breach of the Equality Act, in that it doesn't bestow the same rights to females as it does to males.

So on those grounds it could be repealed as illegal law.

IMO its no use clarifying that sex means biology as long as you can get a new birth certificate, driving licence or passport.

So true! It should be repealed