Single sex services • Page 2
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Why we don’t want “biological” added before “sex” in the law
This is the first of a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. The word “sex” appears 268 times in the Equality Act 2010; “same sex” appears 48 times, “opposite sex” 28 times. Our petition says: Update...
30th May 2023
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We call on GANHRI to protect civic space
On 3rd May 2023 Stonewall and a group of organisations wrote to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) accusing Britain’s equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, of being a “failed institution” which is “actively harming trans people”. This is the third time Stonewall has...
16th May 2023
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Response to Victor Madrigal-Borloz’s report on the UK
The UN Independent Expert Victor Madrigal-Borloz has issued an extraordinary report at the end of his ten-day mission to the UK. The thrust of it is the familiar claim that speaking clearly about the material reality of the two sexes amounts to “hate”, alongside the equally familiar dismissal of...
12th May 2023
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Answers to questions on sex, gender, biology and identity
Sex Matters has written a set of frequently asked questions which seeks to provide answers in everyday language about the material reality of sex, and the idea of gender identity. The aim is to provide clear starting points for debate and discussion, for anyone trying to understand the competing...
28th April 2023
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Protection for single-sex spaces should not be a political battle, says Maya Forstater
Maya Forstater for the Express
Rosie Duffield and Miriam Cates stand up for women's protection during gender rights debate. -
When we are at our most vulnerable – the sickening extent of rapes and sexual assaults in hospitals
More than 6500 rapes and sexual assaults - some against children under 13 - have been committed in hospitals in England and Wales over nearly four years.
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Thank you, Kishwer Falkner
We have written to Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: Dear Kishwer Falkner Thank you for publishing your letter to the Minister for Women and Equalities setting out, with careful reasoning, why you support revisiting and clarifying the meaning of “sex” as a protected...
11th April 2023
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Two weeks to go!
Last October, Sex Matters launched a petition asking the government to amend the Equality Act 2010 in order to make clear what the protected characteristic of sex actually means. We think it should mean biological sex – male or female; the personal characteristic that is recorded on newborns’ birth...
6th April 2023
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Law change could aid single-sex spaces – watchdog
Lauren Moss and Josh Parry for BBC News
Ministers will consider advice from the human rights watchdog about amending a legal definition of sex - which would make it easier to exclude transgender people from some groups or services.
Sex Matters is quoted. -
EHRC publishes letter on clarifying sex in the Equality Act
Sex Matters’ press statement Sex Matters welcomes the letter from Kishwer Falkner, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Women and Equalities, responding to her request for advice on clarifying the definition of the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act...
4th April 2023
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Webinar: Sex Matters in the Equality Act
Helen Joyce talked with our chair, Naomi Cunningham, and our executive director, Maya Forstater, about the Sex Matters proposal to amend the Equality Act to clarify that the protected characteristic of sex refers to biological sex, and not “sex as modified by a gender-recognition certificate”.
Thursday 30th March... -
Sex Matters in the Equality Act webinar
Helen Joyce talked with our chair, Naomi Cunningham, and our executive director, Maya Forstater, on Thursday 30th March 2023 about the Sex Matters proposal to amend the Equality Act to clarify that the protected characteristic of sex refers to biological sex, and not “sex as modified by a gender-recognition...
20th March 2023
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I don’t think Sex Equality was meant to allow men to shower with girls
Maya Forstater for the Express
Maya Forstater starts petition which calls on the Government to clarify the Equality Act to make clear that "sex" means biological sex. -
MPs to consider gender petition backed by JK Rowling
Richard Wheeler for The Times
A petition backed by JK Rowling calling for the Westminster government to clarify equality legislation will be considered in parliament after it received more than 100,000 signatures. -
JK Rowling-backed petition for Government to make clear that ‘sex means biological sex, not sex as modified by gender recognition certificate’ in Equality Act will be considered for debate in Parliament
Madeleine Ross for Mail Online
A petition backed by JK Rowling calling for changes to be made to the Equality Act will be considered for debate in Parliament. The Harry Potter author was among those to support the proposal which seeks to 'make it clear' that 'sex' and 'gender reassignment'... -
A petition to sign on International Women’s Day: stop trans rights activists taking advantage of ambiguous wording in the Equality Act
Maya Forstater for The Daily Sceptic
The Equality Act is important because it sets the rules which allow single-sex services (including both specialist and everyday services), schools, associations, charities and sports. -
Lesbians without liberty
If you heard of a country that passed a law banning lesbians from creating formal associations based on their sex and their sexual orientation you would think that it was an authoritarian regime, stuck in the dark ages of gay rights. You would expect Stonewall and Amnesty International to...
24th February 2023
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Joanna Cherry KC speaks about the importance of sexual orientation under the Equality Act
For LGBT History Month 2023, Joanna Cherry speaks in the House of Commons.
Read a transcript. -
Charlie Falconer’s testimony
The Women and Equalities Committee held an evidence session on 31st January on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill and the Equality Act. It featured Robin White, Barrister at Old Square Chambers; Naomi Cunningham, Barrister at Outer Temple Chambers (and Sex Matters’ Chair); Dr Michael Foran Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange...
2nd February 2023
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Trans law is a ‘magic key’ for predators
Mark McLaughlin for The Times
Sex Matters Chair Naomi Cunningham is the legal expert quoted.
A legal expert has warned Scotland’s controversial gender laws will provide men “who cross-dress for erotic purposes” with a “magic certificate” to access women’s spaces. -
Sex in the Equality Act
The government has provided an initial response to our petition. It is over six weeks late and answers a different question from the one that we are asking. Its response focuses on single-sex services. Under the Equality Act 2010, providers are already able to restrict the use of spaces/services...
27th January 2023
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Freedom of belief matters
Sex Matters has submitted input to Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the United Nations’ Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He is compiling a report for the UN Human Rights Council on the right to freedom of religion or belief in relation to...
18th January 2023
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Statement on the UK government’s decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
We are very pleased that the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland have decided to use their constitutional powers to stop the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from going to royal assent. As we wrote in our briefing on the Bill and its implications for the...
16th January 2023
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Petition at 70,000. We write to the Minister again.
Our petition now has over 70,000 signatures, and those who have signed it will know that the Chair of the Petitions Committee has written to the Government calling for an initial response by Wednesday 18th January. We have also written to the Minister, Kemi Badenoch, asking for a response....
16th January 2023
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Why Scotland’s self-ID bill should be referred to the Supreme Court
The UK Government has to decide what to do about Scotland’s Gender Recognition Bill by 19th January. There has been quite a bit of legal commentary about using the power of Section 35 of the Scotland Act (read Michael Foran’s and Joshua Rozenberg’s pieces). Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has...
6th January 2023
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Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and the UK
This paper, prepared by Sex Matters, considers whether the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR Bill) is within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, examines the bill’s potential adverse effects and sets out considerations for a challenge under Section 33 or Section 35 of the Scotland Act.
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Gender identity ideology in the NHS
NHS Trust tells patient they cannot guarantee intimate same-sex care.
Lottie Moore
The NHS is increasingly becoming influenced by gender identity ideology, which disregards the realities and immutability of biological sex. This is being done in the absence of democratic consensus and with very little understanding for the consequences for... -
Was the concept of biological sex really ended in 2004?
This is the second in our series of posts about the Haldane judgment. Philip Larkin famously wrote that “Sexual intercourse began / In nineteen sixty-three Between the end of the Chatterley ban / And the Beatles’ first LP”. Protection against sex discrimination followed not long after, in 1975, with...
23rd December 2022
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The question for the next four weeks
The Gender Recognition Reform Bill looks set to be voted through by the Scottish Parliament. But before it becomes law it has to be given royal assent.
22nd December 2022
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Risks in the final rush to legislate self-ID in Scotland
The Scottish government’s plans to allow anyone from age 16 upwards who is ordinarily resident in Scotland to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without any medical assessment are due to be voted on by the Scottish Parliament tomorrow, 21st December. The vote comes barely a week after the...
20th December 2022
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UN expert calls for an “act of compliance”
On Friday 16th December Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, sent an extraordinary letter to the Scottish Government claiming that “legal recognition of gender identity” via self-identification is an “international human rights imperative”. He has now...
18th December 2022
