Six London councils demand new legislation to protect trans people following EHRC ‘attack’ on trans community

Six London councils have called for the government to introduce new legislation to protect trans people following the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) code of practice on single-sex spaces coming into force.

The EHRC code of practice follows the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex under the Equality Act, which determined that this refers to the sex someone has been assigned at birth.

Under the EHRC code of practice, service providers are required to ensure that where ‘single-sex’ spaces exist – such as toilets – trans people should use facilities that match the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity, or use gender neutral facilities where these are available.

Local councils are among the bodies most affected by the new code of practice, given their provision of services around leisure, homelessness and healthcare.

Six council leaders in London wrote an open letter to the government on the day the EHRC code of practice came into force (August 5) demanding that it clarifies that the code must not be used to exclude trans people from services and pledged to resist its implementation. The six councils in question are all led by the Green Party.

In their letter to the minister for women and equalities Bridget Phillipson, the six council leaders said: “We say this to you in no uncertain terms: Trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities are fundamentally valid.

“It is simply unacceptable that the Code of Practice introduced today is harmful to the rights of trans people and will make their exclusion from public life more likely, not less. This will feel like an attack to the countless trans people in our communities who are simply trying to live their lives in safety and wish to be treated with respect.

“As councils who are proud to be boroughs of sanctuary, with significant LGBTQ+ communities, we are committed to being safe, welcoming and inclusive places for all residents, regardless of their background or identity. We have an unshakeable commitment to ensuring that Trans+ residents can access services safely, with dignity and free from discrimination or harassment.”

In their letter, the six council leaders also called for the government to introduce new legislation which protects the rights of trans and non-binary people, to ensure that “they are able to participate fully in public life and access services safely and with dignity”. They have also said they would be reviewing all their “internal practices to ensure that no trans person is excluded on the basis of our actions”.

The letter has been signed by the Green Party leaders of Lambeth (Martin Abrams), Southwark (James McAsh), Haringey (Mark Blake) and Waltham Forest (Paul Perkins) Councils, as well as the Green Mayors of Hackney (Zoë Garbett) and Lewisham (Liam Shrivastava).

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

Image credit: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Creative Commons