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

Something none of these people had a problem with when it was only genderists who had a seat at the EHRC etc table.

Naturally. They are the only ones allowed to speak, how very dare you think to the contrary.

A bit late to the party but I've only just put two and two together.

I've met her and was potentially going to work with the WBC in future and she's excellent. But for a couple of reasons which are really relevant here.

Firstly, she's an expert on Equality Impact Assessments, which are the best way we have at the moment of Getting Shit Done. Properly. So this will be very good news.

But - and this is really just a wider version of the same thing - she's spent the last few years arguing via data - which the WBC did an excellent job of, across the board - and so will not put up with feelz but just ask them for their data.

I cannot think of anyone better.

That's good news. EIA's have been much neglected by the "Let's get rid of the crimes of voyeurism and indecent exposure" brigade. With facts and data being replaced by the demands of feelz.... 😁

I agree. EIAs are supposed to flag up areas where you might discriminate without meaning to. Like "our building design is good for wheelchair users but bad for the visually impaired".

Lots of public authorities (looking at you, Welsh Government) use EIAs to mean "we asked Stonewall and they said it was legit".

The audit of NHS trusts has thrown up the following entertaining but worrying trend in EqIAs:

For a policy that allows trans-identifying people to use the accommodation that matches their chosen gender (rather than their actual sex), EqIAs often have “this policy will have a positive impact across the board for all protected characteristics”, because “trans people can be disabled, trans people can be people of colour, trans people can be religious…etc”

Anyone who can get rid of that absolute ridiculousness gets my wholehearted support.

I cannot say too much without it being clear who I am - this is a niche area after all - but a big part of my work is persuading people councils that EIAs are important and need to be done properly. Even more so if you are a government organisation and so have to act to redress discrimination as well as just not be shite.

The good news is that there are a few other people now who have realised how much use they can be as well.

However, if anyone does have examples of really bad ones (like @TwoLoonsAndASprout ), please do say. I know a couple of people who collect them...

I wonder if the threads looking over NHS trusts might be of use? @KnottyAuty may be able to help?

Was going to suggest (as I see the always-on-the-ball @ArabellaScott has already done) that you have a look through the NHS audit threads, but also yes, do DM me or @KnottyAuty.

Victoria Smith has a pertinent article in the Critic

https://thecritic.co.uk/are-you-or-have-you-ever-been-a-terf/

All the fig leaves the tras wore to try try to disguise the shrivelled truth of their real objections.

The petition mentioned in the article seemed to have garnered relatively few signatures (less than 4k). There was a link to it in the Attutude article that was hyperlinked in VS piece. There may have been other petitions that did better.

"They have not only nearly destroyed their own party"

The current intra-Democratic frustrations don't really have that much to do with nailing down their stance on the gender identity movement (though it could be a factor down the line), but have more to do with the old guard and young progressives disagreeing with the direction the party should take.

"they have foisted Trump on the American people"

It's important to keep in mind that the portion of US voters concerned about the clash of gender identities and material reality (including some gender-critical feminists) had a chance to attempt to untangle this mess via the legal system, public pressure campaigns, etc., a good while before the presidential election campaigns really kicked into gear and Trump seized the narrative.

It's not as if they had no choice but to helplessly stand by and watch right-wing politicians and commentators control the narrative for their own private gain.

No direct equivalent of the Equality Act exists in US federal law, so concerned people could not have sought legal clarity the exact same way UK feminists have sought it via the FWS v The Scottish Ministers case.

But it's telling that despite the sociopolitical and legal differences there were still legal avenues left unexplored in the US before the transgender issues became politically salient, and yet there are some who appear to essentially espouse "well, I haven't tried much but I'm out of all ideas".

Back to the thread topic, I wonder if anyone is familiar with the Housing Quality Network or how much of their work is relevant to EHRC; they published an article on the appointment of Dr Stephenson.

https://hqnetwork.co.uk/news/new-chair-of-equality-and-human-rights-commission-to-be-appointed-despite-mps-concerns/