Updates
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To see updates organised by topic, go to Where sex matters. Click on a tag at the end of any update to see other updates and resources with the same tag.
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The government’s Data Bill: sleepwalking into self-ID?
The first day of the committee stage of Parliamentary scrutiny in the House of Lords on the government’s Data (Use and Access) Bill was on 3rd December 2024. Several peers moved and supported amendments to address the problem with unreliable sex data that Sex Matters has been raising. The...
5th December 2024
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For Women Scotland in the Supreme Court
What was the case about? For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers was heard by the Supreme Court on 26th and 27th November 2024. It concerned the effect of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 on the definition of “woman” and “man” for the purposes of the Equality Act...
3rd December 2024
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There’s still a fatal flaw in the government’s digital trust framework
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes last week published the latest version of the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework (0.4). But it has still not recognised the problem of inaccurate sex data provided by the public authorities that underpin the system. The trust framework is a...
2nd December 2024
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The legal status of women-only sport
British law is on our side. The Gender Recognition Act says that a person who gets a gender-recognition certificate (GRC) becomes their acquired gender “for all purposes” – though it also states exceptions. There is legal uncertainty about how this interacts with the Equality Act. This will be tested...
26th November 2024
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Sex matters at the Supreme Court!
An important legal case will be heard in the UK Supreme Court this week (on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th November) about the meaning of woman (and man) in the Equality Act. This is the third round in an ongoing legal fight by the campaign group For Women Scotland...
25th November 2024
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Sex Matters threatens British Transport Police with legal action
At the end of last week Sex Matters sent a pre-action letter to the British Transport Police (BTP) challenging its new Transgender Search policy. The pre-action letter (which also names the National Police Chiefs’ Council as an interested party) is the first step towards taking the BTP to court...
24th November 2024
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A new scandal on the horizon?
Yesterday the Data (Use and Access) Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords. Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, parliamentary hero of the Post Office scandal, mentioned our report Sex and the Data Bill: beware of building digital identities on sand after talking about how people’s lives were...
20th November 2024
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The Data Bill will fail if the government can’t be clear about sex
The Data Use and Access Bill is being debated in the House of Lords on Tuesday 19th November. The government promises that it will boost the UK economy by £10 billion across 10 years and free up millions of staff hours in the police and NHS, saving hundreds of...
18th November 2024
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Answering questions about data protection
As part of our ongoing work on defending the female category in sport, we recently asked people to get in touch and tell us how male inclusion in women’s sport has affected them. We want to be able to demonstrate the extent of the problem across teams, leagues and...
4th November 2024
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NHS England training calls staff “transphobic” if they won’t share toilets with the opposite sex
Sex Matters has written to Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, to raise concerns about NHSE’s “mandatory and statutory” training on “Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights Skills”. The training is required for all its 6,500 staff. It presents disagreement with extreme gender ideology as “transphobia”. The...
28th October 2024
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Digital identity verification can end the gender wars
The government has unveiled its new Data Bill, which it says will unlock the power of data to grow the economy and improve people’s lives. The bill proposes new rules to support digital identity verification, which will make it easier for people to prove who they are when doing...
25th October 2024
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Sex Matters at the Battle of Ideas
The three Sex Matters directors, Fiona McAnena, Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce, all spoke at the Battle of Ideas on Saturday 19th October. This is what they said. Fiona McAnena: “Gender Wars: no end in sight?” I’m going to talk about three things: The first female driver of a...
25th October 2024
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Sex Matters’ intervention to the Supreme Court
Yesterday we lodged our intervention in the For Women Scotland appeal which is being heard in the UK Supreme Court on 26th to 27th November 2024. At the core of the case is the question of whether the meaning of “sex” (man or woman) in the Equality Act 2010...
23rd October 2024
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Cricket, where male feelings come first
A fudged decision that serves no one The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the highest-profile national governing body in UK sport to declare that, in effect, male feelings matter more than women’s safety and fairness. That is the implication of its new two-tier policy, which protects the...
21st October 2024
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WPATH evidence on trial
In the past three years, the US federal government has been strongly in favour of so-called “gender-affirmative” treatment, while over 20 US states have taken the opposite view, enacting laws banning puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery for gender-distressed children. In July 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected...
21st October 2024
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UN special rapporteur calls for sex screening in women’s sport
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, has published her report on violence against women and girls in sport. Together with her team, she took evidence in writing and in person, including meetings with Sex Matters and other groups in the UK. In her...
17th October 2024
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Sex Matters responds to EHRC strategy
Sex Matters has responded to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s 2025–2028 strategic plan. In 2021 we called on the EHRC to step up and address the issue of sex and gender. We told it about women who stand up against gender ideology being bullied at work and in...
4th October 2024
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Why is Sex Matters intervening in the case of Kristie Higgs?
Sex Matters, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Church of England Archbishops’ Council, the Free Speech Union and the Association of Christian Teachers are all separately intervening in a belief-discrimination case, Higgs v Farmor’s School, being heard at the Court of Appeal this week. The appeal concerns the...
1st October 2024
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The standards crisis in Rape Crisis
The board of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) has decided that “the time is right for a change of leadership”. Mridul Wadhwa, the charismatic, sari-wearing transgender male who convinced it to appoint him “as a woman” into the top job, is out, and ERCC says it is dealing with...
22nd September 2024
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Sex Matters appoints new trustees
Sex Matters, the human rights charity which campaigns for clarity on sex in law and policy in the UK, has announced the appointment of four new trustees to its board. On 18th August, Sex Matters appointed Tim Allan, Kate Owen, Anya Palmer and Claire Weir as new trustees, joining...
20th September 2024
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When child safeguarding meets gender ideology in sport, children are the losers
An organisation meant to protect children has built gender-identity ideology into its policies, putting children at risk. There is an intrinsic conflict between treating people as the opposite sex to what they are in reality, and protecting children and vulnerable adults. Indeed, there is a conflict between this and...
19th September 2024
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How should schools respond to “gender questioning” children?
Sex Matters has published a model policy on sex-based rules and data collection. Our policy applies to a whole school – all the pupils, not just the gender-questioning ones – and concerns how a school records, communicates and uses data and language on the sex of all pupils. It...
17th September 2024
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Anneliese Dodds must listen to women
Anneliese Dodds, the Minister for Women and Equalities, has said in response to a written question asking whether the government plans to amend the legal definition of what a woman is: “We are proud of the Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women. The Government does...
9th September 2024
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What about pronouns at school?
Sex Matters has published a model policy for schools to help them communicate clear expectations to staff, pupils and parents and let them respond lawfully and safely to children who are “gender questioning”. We are calling on the Department for Education to provide a similarly clear policy for schools...
6th September 2024
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Why schools need clear rules not “watch and wait”
Sex Matters has published a model policy for schools to help them to be clear about why they have sex-based rules and policies, and to respond lawfully and safely to children who are “gender questioning” and who want different rules to be applied to them. We are calling on...
4th September 2024
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New safeguarding guidance for schools in England starts to close loopholes
The Department for Education has finalised its statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), closing a loophole that had been introduced as a result of lobbying by Stonewall. Statutory safeguarding guidance says that schools should make sure that all staff are aware of issues that can put...
3rd September 2024
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A model policy that protects all children’s wellbeing
Teachers and pupils in England are going back to school this week, and are still lacking finalised guidance or a model policy from the Department for Education on what to do if children ask to be allowed to “socially transition” and be treated as the opposite sex. Sex Matters...
2nd September 2024
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Sporting crises foretold
The awkward truth about “trans inclusion” that regulators need to heed The furore surrounding women’s boxing at the Olympics should be a warning to every international federation. International Olympic Committee media briefings were dominated by questions about eligibility for boxing in the women’s category. Both the IOC spokesman and...
23rd August 2024
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Dr Cass puts a spotlight on the scandal of a “magical” medical service
A damning letter from Dr Hilary Cass about adult gender clinics was sent to NHS England in May and published on 7th August (together with a reply from NHSE). The letter draws into question the basis of “gender medicine”. Although Dr Cass’s mandate was to review services for children,...
9th August 2024
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Sex Matters in sport – media briefing
Fiona McAnena, Sex Matters’ director of campaigns, chaired a webinar to brief journalists on the Olympic boxing situation and the science of DSDs (disorders of sexual development) in sport, with a question-and-answer session. Speakers Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist widely regarded as a leading voice on the...
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The IOC doubles down on unfairness for women in boxing
The International Olympic Committee’s media briefing on 2nd August was dominated by questions about the eligibility of boxers in the women’s competition. Algerian Imane Khelif had won an opening bout in 46 seconds, amid concerns that the boxer is male. IOC spokesman Mark Adams was asked how the IOC...
2nd August 2024
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Will the Church of England repeat old mistakes?
The Church of England is responsible for some 4,600 schools (including one in four primary schools) educating around 1.1 million pupils. In 2017 it began work with Stonewall as part of a £3 million government programme focused on “homophobic, biphobic and transphobic” bullying. It published guidance that promoted gender...
31st July 2024