Mary Ann Stephenson confirmed chair of EHRC

[Theswiveleyeballsinthesky]

This is good news 😁

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-dr-mary-ann-stephenson-as-the-next-ehrc-chair

'the most marginalised communities'

OK, so who's that then? People with disabilities who require 'changing places' toilets with hoists and have specific accessibility needs?

Oh, silly me... it's people who identify as trans.

They seem to have emerged into some sort of prominence after FWS. I don't think they've got any serious legal expertise, but they get quoted a lot on trans reddit giving advice that TIMs have a legal right to access any single sex space they like and nobody can challenge them.

They've even got a wee nifty letter or card or something that the TIM can show officialdom saying you're breaching my Article 8 rights.

I suppose like a lot of these alphabet community groups they've got as much heft as institutions are willing to allow them.

I assumed TACC would be an alliance of trans advocacy groups/organsiations working together to increase their influence- like the Autism Alliance or the Mental Health Alliance. I was curious as to which TRA groups were managing to collaborate and ‘stay friends’, but discovered that my assumption was wrong!

Issacs destroyed women's rights and worked outside the law. He believed that TWAW was only a matter of time so they could get ahead of the law. At least there is now a chance that all the protected characteristics will continue to get more equal treatment when Baroness Falkner departs. Issacs was the start of the idea that the law can be ignored or bent. He has a lot to answer for.

What will TACC do? Hand out emotional support pets?

TACC Statement: Withdrawal of Recognition of the EHRC as a Human Rights Institution.

Did Lord Alton get a vote after the pre-appointment interview? Other than the fact he is a Lib-Dem I'm surprised at him if he did indeed go along with the agenda of the others.

I don't know about David Alton. He's a very idiosyncratic character. He's a bit of a social conservative, which is why he fell out with the Lib Dems, but I believe he's also quite tight with Helena Kennedy.

I imagine there was quite a bit of wrangling over that letter, reflected in the way it never explicitly mentions trans although that was obviously the big issue motivating committee members.

Is Helena Kennedy not GC?

She should be, based on her earlier work, but she's fanatically TWAW.

Don't know how that happened. I assume a trans identified family member or close friend.

I've just googled them and found this on their website.

About Us
The Trans Advocacy and Complaint Collective UK is a grassroots organisation started in 2024 by a pair of dedicated trans women to advocate for trans rights, address transphobia, and ensure that the voices of trans people are heard across the UK. Since our inception, we have grown to a membership of over 120 people.

Our mission is to create a united front for all trans, detrans, non-binary, queer, intersex and cis allies to push back against discrimination, hold media accountable for transphobic content, and ensure that our voices are heard. If you’re passionate about activism, need support, or want to help make real change, there’s a place for you in our collective.

We are an apolitical organisation, so we cater to all.

So basically a tiny trans start-up with inflated ideas of their own importance.

Have Stonewall made any kind of comment? Even a year ago, they would have been all over this. Yet we're hearing more from people in their bedsits than we are from the previously powerful Stonewall.

The times they are a changin', for sure.

I wonder what level the pair of them to start their own ‘collective’ rather than lend their weight to one of the existing organisation that shares the same mission as them?!

So they're a Trans Advocacy and Complaint Collective of just two men claiming to be women 😆😆

Worth knowing.

You are discounting their 120 followers.

However, I expect it won’t be long before they take restraining orders out on those 120 for following them [I’ll be here all werk]

"We no longer recognise the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as either independent or credible in its statutory role."

How absurd, they really are rebels without a clue. 🙄

I think it's a feature of the decline of Stonewall - there's no umbrella group that's built up heft and credibility, so the TRA space is filled with these tiny vanity projects pretending to be a movement. And they won't unite because they all have obscure personal beefs with each other.

It reminds me of something that used to be said about the Alliance for Workers Liberty - as soon as the AWL's membership crept above 100, Sean Matgamna would have a purge, because 100 was the biggest number he could control.

This looks interesting, I haven't had chance to study.
It's a review of the committee's behaviour by Murray Blackburn Mackenzie.

https://murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2025/08/02/appointment-of-new-ehrc-chair-revisited/

Process
For each of the preceding chairs, David Isaac and Baroness Kishwer Falkner, the joint Committees published a formal report, with supporting papers, including the candidate’s full CV. These are available here and here.

The Committees have so far failed to do this for Dr Stephenson. It is not clear why. A formal report would need to state if the Committee members are unanimous or there are minority dissenting views, for example. Comment from one member suggests that the letter does not represent a unanimous position, although it does not explain this. A report has in the past also meant all the information provided to the Committee on the candidate’s CV was made available.

It's all kicking off. How can the EHRC possibly survive this?!

Trans Exile Network
‪@transexilenetwork.co.uk‬
🔔 STATEMENT Trans Exile Network joins
@tacc.org.uk
in withdrawing recognition of EHRC as a human right's body. A parliamentary committee recommended against appointing Dr. Stephenson as chair of the EHRC. We condemn this appointment.

What's it say?

"Actual size."

..."the TRA space is filled with these tiny vanity projects pretending to be a movement. And they won't unite because they all have obscure personal beefs with each other."

For which we should be devoutly thankful. Such obscure fragmented opposition is unlikely to influence public opinion as they would hope to.

🤣

MBM have picked up on a point that might seem just a procedural detail, but is actually quite important.

With these pre-appointment hearings, IME the committee invariably publishes a formal report. Sometimes the report is even published the next day. It will include documentation provided by the government (the role description, the candidate's CV) and note the committee's take on the candidate's evidence. Usually it just says "we were impressed by the candidate's experience and are happy to endorse her"; sometimes it might raise concerns about the candidate, about the running of the recruitment campaign or about some issues the committee has with the body in question.

No report has been published, and it doesn't look like there's going to be one. The letter is all we've got. I assume this is because the report would have required committee members to go on record as endorsing or not endorsing the candidate, and they weren't unanimous; more importantly, it would have required the committee to show their workings and spell out exactly what their objections were, by reference to the candidates evidence.

They haven't done that. And, as MBM point out, they've produced instead this very allusive letter that dances around the issues that were very obvious in the hearing. I assume it took a lot of diplomacy to get the letter together, not just because the members weren't unanimous but because they needed Lord Alton's signature, and Lord Alton believes in God and has a strong aversion to lying.

I think it's extremely likely that Bridget Phillipson not only read the letter but also watched the hearing, and was not impressed.

Anyway, I can see TACC getting a bit of traction because the website looks relatively professional - no loud colours - and if you're not reading too closely, it doesn't look mad on its face. The person who's inclined to be trans-friendly might mistake it for something with substance.

They have a particular hate boner for Sex Matters. These seem to be the guys who are putting in all the FOI requests asking for details of any official interactions with SM. It never occurred to me that Maya was the sinister mastermind telling the government what to do, but what do I know.

Having seen all of the documents (and people) behind the current “single” sex accommodation policies in the NHS, the painting of Maya and SM as shady characters pulling the government’s strings is very, very classic DARVO.

Trans Exile Network?
#sad times

I can never get over the screaming hyperbole. It gives me the sense that a lot of these people are utterly self-obsessed with no sense of perspective.

"Mutual support & information for UK Trans, Non-Binary & Intersex people, parents of trans kids & families, escaping UK"

38 followers

The Underground Railroad this is not.