The London LGBTQ+ Community Centre has joined over 80 organisations to write to MPs across the country, calling for a Parliamentary scrutiny of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) forthcoming Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations.
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to urge you to act now to defend your right as Parliamentarians to scrutinise, debate and vote on something which will have an impact on all of our human rights.
The Minister for Women and Equalities will soon lay in Parliament an updated Code of Practice to the Equality Act, created by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). This new guidance may bypass Parliament to implement one of the most significant changes to the application of UK equality law since the passage of the Equality Act itself.
The draft Code set out rules that mandate the exclusion of trans people from the gender-aligned spaces, services and associations they have used without harm for decades, from bathrooms to hospital wards, from women’s book clubs to men’s yoga groups. The system for operating such exclusion involves invasions of privacy and assumptions about gender presentation that will drastically affect cisgender people too. Concerns have been raised by UN Independent Human Rights Experts and the Scottish and Northern Irish Human Rights Commissions, about the new Code’s compatibility with human rights law and the Windsor Framework; and by trade associations and unions about the costly and onerous duties it may place upon small businesses and employers,,.
Parliament and the public are not expected to even gain sight of the Code until after it has had Ministerial approval, and MPs are expected to have no opportunity to debate or vote on this momentous change in Parliament. Changes of this scale by ministerial fiat sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the sovereignty of the House. We cannot let this happen in secret, behind closed doors.
We therefore ask you to write urgently to the Minister for Women and Equalities and Prime Minister to request that MPs be given the opportunity for full scrutiny, meaningful debate and a free vote on the new EHRC Code of Practice.
We also ask that you support any motion tabled in Parliament that seeks to prevent from coming into force a Code of Practice that infringes on human rights standards.
Following April’s Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “sex” in the Equality Act, an updated Code of Practice will soon be laid before Parliament by the Minister for Women and Equalities, under the negative procedure for statutory instruments. This means that, under normal processes, it would become Statutory guidance with no say from Parliament.
If passed in a form similar to the draft Code on which the EHRC have consulted, trans people would face increased risks of harassment and violence; forced outing and invasive questioning; and mandatory exclusion and segregation from places and services they were previously accepted and welcomed in. The dignity and privacy rights of cisgender people are also threatened. This is not hypothetical, but has already been documented following the publication of the draft Code.
On principle, any change to law or policy that risks the human rights of any group should be subject to proper Parliamentary oversight. There is significant legal uncertainty about the EHRC’s interpretation of the For Women Scotland ruling. And yet, unless MPs like yourself take urgent action, a new Code of Practice could enshrine all of this risk and confusion into Statutory Guidance with no oversight from Parliament.
Thank you for your support.
TransActual, who coordinated this letter, says:
The draft Code produced by the EHRC sets out a framework for exclusion and segregation. It undermines the rights and dignity of both trans and cisgender people, while also creating legal and logistical risks for businesses, service providers and public bodies. Concerns have already been raised by UN human rights experts, the Scottish and Northern Irish Human Rights Commissions, and professional associations, about its legality, cost, and compatibility with fundamental rights.
We are already seeing the terrible impact that this segregation policy has had, where businesses have taken the risk of implementing the draft Code before it has been finalised. Reports have revealed that trans and, in many cases, cisgender people are facing humiliation, forced outing, violence, vigilantism, and wholesale exclusion — whether they try and follow the discriminatory rules or not. People are already limiting the scope of their lives out of well-justified fear.”
We are also encouraging individuals to take action. We have provided a template letter that you can use to write to your own MP, outlining your personal concerns and asking them to push for proper scrutiny of the Code. It is vital that MPs hear directly from the people whose lives will be affected.
Actions
- A template, created by TransActual, to write to your MP
- Sign Trans Solidarity Alliance and Safe Space UK’s open letter to businesses to pledge support for trans and non-binary people
- Find your MP and call or arrange a meeting with them (guidance on Trans Solidarity Alliance’s website)
- Share our trans support page (email us at hello@londonlgbtqcentre.org if you have any other suggestions)