Waterside Arts Centre Sale clearly ignoring Supreme Court

[SigrunGard]

i was at the Waterside last night with my partner. The Women’s was marked “women’s” but then written on the door in large letters was something to the effect of please feel free to use whichever facilities” match your gender identity or gender expression “. Mentioned it to my partner who said the same was on the door to the men’s ( he said someone asked a friend what that meant and the reply was apparently” some modern bollocks” - hard to argue!)

I rather feel I should email them and point out that this is not right- anyone got suggestions for wording that doesn’t just make me sound bigoted!?

thanks

Hi - yes, same

I replied and said (paraphrasing) could they say what's taking them so long? Their policy was always unlawful, it was confirmed as such by the SC, why, 6 months later, are they still trying to decide whether to keep their facilities unlawful or not?

Any update op?

Did they respond?

No, so I reported them to the council as they previously suggested. Let's see if they reply...

How long have you been waiting?

10th October for Waterside, 14th October for council. Not so long. I was inclined to wait longer but then it will go out my head again, and really they've had since at least April to get sorted. Those signs should have been changed day after SC ruling.

No answer as yet

Are you the op?

Sorry that was to be a question, poor grammar.

My response from the council.

First bit says that Waterside were looking into it, I just hadn't given them time to respond properly yet before complaining to the council. I'm summarising that because it has employee names in. Then

"Waterside Arts is run by Trafford Council and endeavours to be a welcoming and safe space for all. The Council is aware that the Supreme Court ruling has had a significant impact around single sex usage of toilet and changing facilities. The implications of the ruling are wide ranging and complex, and apply differently in a variety of contexts.

Please be assured that Trafford Council is fully committed to protecting the rights of individuals and advancing equality of opportunity for all. The Council has a robust governance framework to ensure that it operates within the law when exercising its powers and duties, and that existing policy and practice is compliant with the law.

The Council strives to be inclusive both in regard to sex and transgender status and was already in the process of reviewing policy in this area before the Supreme Court ruling to ensure it remains up to date. The Council now awaits the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice to ensure that the review is informed by the guidance, which will provide legal clarity and practical support for organisations and public bodies. Following publication of the guidance, the Council will continue to review and update any relevant policy and practice to ensure it functions lawfully.

Whilst this is undertaken, the Council’s focus will remain on treating all with respect, dignity, and fairness, which is supported by the Equality Act. Any changes will be communicated with staff, partner agencies, stakeholders and our residents as appropriate.”

There are two Stages to our complaint process. We can look at your complaint at Stage 2 if:
We have not responded to all of the points in your original complaint
You feel like you have been treated unfairly
We haven’t fully investigated your complaint

Under these circumstances, you can ask for your complaint to be escalated to Stage 2 of our complaints process, within 28 days from the date of this email."

Phone numbers, signatures

Absolute joke. All this pretending that it's up in the air still and so complex they can't possibly call it.

The toilets are not compliant with the law. They are not self contained facilities with sinks in, so should not be mixed sex. This is not a new law, no changes should ever have been made! And when I say changes, it's literally just a sign on the door. 5 minute job to remove it and bingo, legally compliant again! Didn’t the interim guidance said "don't wait on us, just get yourselves sorted"?
I need to dig that out and reply when I have more energy.

@SigrunGard just re read your posts and seen it's not just an added on sign on the door any more. I'm sure it used to be, so they have obviously got more committed to the woo since I was last there.

No, it would mean replacing the actual doors, rather than just removing a sign

I haven't RTFT, but is it fair to say that, like the ongoing Brighton school thread (and others), this is another case of an org using the "awaiting the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice before we do anything" excuse, despite the fact that the law of the land has to be obeyed NOW?

Yes.

Have you had a response yet @SigrunGard ?

Nothing beyond that they are looking into it

Here is a picture for @roodlegum and others who asked.

You can't see on the photo, but it looks like the white sign is very securely, glued on the black door.

It could be removed or replaced but would probably damage the door to do so.

They could glue something over the small print. I've seen that done on signs when prices etc. have changed and they don't want to replace the whole thing. Or sand it off. Paint over it. There's probably inexpensive options. Sacking the fuckwit who ordered those illegal signs would actually save them money.

I agree it shouldn't break the bank to fix it. But they aren't using cost as a reason not to anyhow. I've just had notification my complaint is in stage 2 so let's see if that excuse comes up, or if they just trot out "waiting for guidance (in the hope it says something different from what the law says, despite there being no indication whatsoever that it will)" again.

The congestion charge that was proposed for Manchester, they put signs up on all the roads (even little side roads) to inform motorists they were entering the zone. When Burnham realised it would go down like a dose of cold sick, he back pedalled and stickers went up on each of these signs that it was 'under review'. Perhaps in the interim they should do something like this at the Arts Centre rather than potentially encouraging patrons to break the law.

I can’t believe they have fixed this

They have actually changed the sign?

There is nothing to say that they have changed the sign.