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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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
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Does sex matter at the BBC?
The national broadcaster’s mission is to provide “impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain”. It is obliged by its charter to be accurate and impartial. Accuracy is something you might expect of any news medium, but the BBC has constant pressure to ensure that...
25th July 2024
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Is Labour positioning itself to fix the mess in women’s sports?
On 23rd July The House magazine, a publication for MPs and peers, published an interview with the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP. In it, she said that sport governing bodies should make their own policies concerning trans inclusion, rather than leaving it...
25th July 2024
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Be more SEEN!
Last week Sex Matters hosted a meeting of people involved in the Sex Equality and Equity Networks (SEENs) and other sector and staff networks. The first SEEN was launched in October 2022 by a group of civil servants. It is a civil-service staff network that aims to challenge discrimination...
22nd July 2024
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The five tests that must be passed before any new law banning “conversion practices”
The government has announced in the King’s speech that a “draft bill will be brought forward to ban conversion practices”. In the briefing notes accompanying the King’s speech the government says: “There is genuine cross party and cross society consensus to see these practices banned”. Of course there is...
17th July 2024
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EHRC issues guidance on discriminatory adverts
As the EHRC says, an advert is a notice or announcement – written or oral – promoting a job opportunity, product, service or event. Adverts might appear in newspapers or magazines, on the television or radio, in shop windows or emails or on a website. They can also appear...
16th July 2024
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The new deal for working people and the definition of sex
We expect the government to take action in the first 100 days on its new deal for working people, and that we will see something about this in the King’s Speech on 17th July, when its immediate legislative programme is announced. Before the election the Labour Party said that,...
12th July 2024
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Sex matters and the new government
The UK has a new prime minister and we now know there will be a new Labour government, with a significant majority in the House of Commons. The Labour Party has pledged to provide greater support for victims of violence against women and greater protection for women’s rights at...
5th July 2024
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New poll finds voters want to make the Equality Act clear
As reported in the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Express and Sun today, voters across the political spectrum are more supportive of making the Equality Act clear than making it easier for people to change their birth certificates. Sex Matters commissioned a representative survey from an independent polling company to find...
1st July 2024
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Stonewall redefines trans to exclude crossdressers
Stonewall has expelled crossdressers from the trans umbrella Stonewall’s long-standing definition of “trans” changed on 27th June 2024 to drop “crossdresser” from the list. Before then, it said: “Trans people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender,...
28th June 2024
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Updating the NHS Constitution
The NHS Constitution is a crucial document that sets out commitments to patients and staff. All NHS bodies, and private and third-sector providers supplying services in England, are required by law to take account of the constitution in their decisions and actions. As part of the 10-year review, new...
26th June 2024
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What are the facts about applying for a GRC?
The Labour party says in its manifesto that it will: “modernise, simplify, and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law to a new process. We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance; whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a...
24th June 2024
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Why do people think “transgender rights” have gone too far?
It’s not just about self-ID Support for the law that allows people to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate has fallen a long way over the past few years, most sharply when self-ID was being proposed, in 2018–19 in the UK and then again in 2021–22 in...
14th June 2024
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Another fall in public support for changing sex on birth certificates
The latest results from the annual British Social Attitudes survey show a further fall in support for the law that allows people to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate. It seems that the more this is talked about, the less people like it. Each year the British...
12th June 2024
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Calls to ban conversion therapy put children at risk
Proposals to ban conversion therapy or conversion practices are likely to feature among the pledges of political parties as part of their general-election campaigns. On the face of it, banning conversion therapy sounds like an uncontroversial and positive step. But voters and the politicians who seek to represent them...
11th June 2024
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Despite the election, you should still respond to consultations
You can still make a difference by responding: here’s how.
7th June 2024
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It’s time to make the Equality Act clear
For the past 18 months Sex Matters has been calling for the government to make a simple one-line amendment to clarify that “sex” in the Equality Act really does mean biology, and not self-identification or paperwork. The Conservatives’ announcement today that they would do this if elected is hugely...
3rd June 2024
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Being clear about our beliefs
Sex Matters was founded as an organisation based on human rights. We believe that the rule of law, and the underpinning human rights, are crucial to protect people against unjust and capricious treatment by the state. We also believe that ideas and behaviours promoted in the name of gender...
29th May 2024
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GE2024: Stand up for single-sex services
A summer election has been called. Sex Matters calls for clarity in law and a return to policies based on the objective reality of sex, not the subjective feeling of “gender identity”. Parties must be absolutely clear when it comes to sex-based rights. Every party must STAND UP FOR...
22nd May 2024
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This damning judgment should be a wake-up call for the women’s sector
Adams v Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre This week, an employment tribunal ruled that caseworker Roz Adams was subjected to unlawful discrimination and constructive dismissal by Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC). The tribunal agreed with Adams’ description of what she had suffered as a “heresy hunt” at the hands of...
22nd May 2024
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The Charity Commission must step up to protect single-sex charities
Single-sex charities play an important role in meeting the needs of one sex or the other in many areas, including healthcare, mental health, social issues, sport and education. Although charities are a form of voluntary action, the state requires that charity trustees pursue the charity’s objects, including when those...
20th May 2024
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The Jo Phoenix case should be a wake-up call for universities
In 2019 Professor Jo Phoenix became the target of a campaign of harassment from her colleagues at the Open University (OU) after she raised concerns about the silencing of gender-critical voices in academia. This ramped up in 2021 after she co-founded an academic research network for the rigorous exploration...
16th May 2024
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Dispelling the suicide myth
For almost ten years, lobby groups have been promoting the idea that for gender-confused children there are only two options: transition or die. The claim that childhood transition prevents suicide has been used as an argument for social transition in schools, for giving puberty blockers and hormones, and for...
10th May 2024