TUC votes to condemn EHRC code of practice and back self-ID for trans people
Delegates backed a motion branding the EHRC guidance 'discriminatory and unworkable'
Delegates at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton have voted to condemn the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) code of practice, branding it an ‘attack on LGBT+ equality’. It also called the guidance ‘discriminatory and unworkable’.
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.
TUC delegates voted for a motion which stated that “trans, non-binary and gender diverse people are entitled to be treated with equal dignity at work and in wider society”, and that “the new guidance is discriminatory and unworkable and effectively excludes trans people from swathes of public life including working life”.
The motion will see the TUC campaign to oppose the EHRC guidance, and to push for guarantees that trans people can access equal civil rights and justice in the workplace.
The motion also explicitly called for a change in the law to enhance protections for trans people, including for allowing trans people to self-declare their gender.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office – Creative Commons
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