The Times- Warnings that organisations’ policy could breach laws on trans rights
Warnings that organisations’ policy could breach laws on trans rights
Campaign group accuses Stonewall of ‘unlawfully discriminating against staff, especially women’ and says discrimination suits could soon follow
Original article here
A row over transgender rights has prompted warnings that private and public organisations in Scotland are at risk of breaching equality laws.
Stonewall promotes a “champions” scheme that helps hundreds of fee-paying members “embed” transgender policy in the workplace. The Scottish government, Police Scotland, Scottish Water and the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are among those signed up to the scheme that contributed to income of more than £3 million, according to accounts filed last year.
Concerns have been raised, however, that members could be vulnerable to legal action after Stonewall was accused of misinterpreting the 2010 Equality Act.
Akua Reindorf, a barrister who specialises in discrimination laws, was asked to review a decision by Essex University — a Stonewall champion — to drop speakers who had been accused of transphobia.
The university’s transgender policy advised that it was unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 to discriminate against someone based on their gender identity or trans status but Reindorf pointed out that the act protects an individual who has undergone, is undergoing or proposes to undergo gender reassignment.
The distinction is important because women’s rights campaigners fear that Stonewall’s interpretation could allow a man to gain access to female facilities, such as changing rooms, simply by self-identifying as a woman.
Marion Calder, from the campaign group For Women Scotland, accused Stonewall of “flagrantly redefining protected characteristics”. She added: “By following this guidance, organisations are potentially unlawfully discriminating against staff, especially women. At some point, they will face discrimination suits.”
Members of Stonewall’s champions scheme are being urged to reconsider how they implement the charity’s guidance. Scottish Water, which pays Stonewall £2,500 a year for membership, confirmed last week that a “working draft” of a transgender policy “supports the right of the individual to use facilities available to the gender they identify with”.
Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said it had previously raised concern that “over-reliance on very narrow interpretations and viewpoints would make policing of controversial issues like the transgender debate more difficult rather than easier”.
Reindorf concluded that Essex University failed to uphold free speech and that its policy, based on Stonewall’s guidance, was “founded on an erroneous understanding of the law”. University officials accepted the findings and apologised.
Stonewall, however, insisted its interpretation of the law is accurate and based on guidance provided by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
On Friday a spokeswoman for the EHRC said that Reindorf’s opinion was “correct”, adding: “While terms such as ‘trans status’ and ‘gender identity’ are in common parlance and are related to the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, they have no specific legal meaning in this context.”
Nancy Kelley, Stonewall’s chief executive, insisted that the Equality Act protected anyone whose gender was other than the one assigned at birth. “The statutory code of practice to the Equality Act, published by the EHRC, states that ‘gender reassignment is a personal process, that is, moving away from one’s birth sex to the preferred gender, rather than a medical process’.
‘The practical effect of this, in everyday language is that trans people are protected in law from discrimination based on their gender identity.”
The Scottish government, which has paid Stonewall £24,000 to be part of the charity’s diversity champion programme from 2013 until next year, said it would continue to work closely with LGBTI organisations, including Stonewall Scotland, “to engage with communities and develop effective policies to protect and promote equality within the LGBTI community”.
Scottish Water said that guidance and support material from Stonewall on a range of topics affecting gender identity was “just one source of input” to its diversity and inclusion approach. Glasgow University said: “We are aware of the Reindorf report and will consider it.”
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said that Stonewall provided Police Scotland with access to examples of best practice, toolkits, resources and training. “Inclusion is an operational necessity and morally the right thing to do,” he said. “In February we outlined plans to bring additional focus to equality, diversity and inclusion matters through an oversight board and with the critical oversight, challenge, and assurance of an independent review group.”
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