Updates
-
Human rights
This is the sixth in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s letter to the government on our proposal to clarify the Equality Act points out that if the Equality...
7th June 2023
-
Why the Equality Act should be sorted out with legislation
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. Stonewall argues that clarifying the Equality Act is unnecessary. But the Equality Act is ambiguous, with legal experts unable to say with certainty whether...
5th June 2023
-
Less than a third of Brits say transwomen should be allowed in female-only spaces and sports
Sex Matters has today released the findings from a representative national poll. It finds that less than one in three Britons believe that transwomen – men who identify as women – should be allowed in women’s sports, changing rooms and toilets, or to provide ‘female-only’ intimate care. The lack...
5th June 2023
-
How the public-sector equality duty was turned against women
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. One of the most important places where it matters that sex clearly means sex in the Equality Act is the public-sector equality duty. This...
2nd June 2023
-
Sex in the Equality Act: the Westminster Hall debate – webinar
Thursday 8th June 2023, 7.30pm to 8.30pm Our director of advocacy, Helen Joyce, will be talking to academic Michael Foran and barrister Naomi Cunningham about the upcoming Westminster Hall debate on clarifying the Equality Act. Among the questions we’ll be discussing are: The webinar will be recorded, and the...
1st June 2023
-
Campaign update: make the Equality Act clear
There will be a debate on our petition on Monday 12th June. Here is an update on the things you can do to support the campaign. Share our video on Twitter and Facebook. Write to your MP If you haven’t written to your MP yet to ask them to come to...
1st June 2023
-
Why sex must mean sex across the Equality Act
This is the third in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. Many people who have written to their MPs about the proposal have had a response that says something like this: “The current guidance from...
1st June 2023
-
Why “sex” and “gender” mean the same thing in law
This is the second in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. The language of sex and gender is a confusing quagmire. The amendment we are proposing aims to clarify one particularly important thing: that the...
31st May 2023
-
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
-
British Cycling excludes trans-identified males from competitive female cycling
In April 2022, British Cycling made global news when it revoked eligibility for Emily Bridges, a Welsh trans-identified male cyclist, who was poised to make his debut in the female category. This would have been in a major-track cycling event, against one of Britain’s most decorated cyclists, Dame Laura...
26th May 2023
-
Schools need clear guidance
The Department for Education has promised to publish new draft guidance on sex and gender for schools and colleges in England before the end of this school year. Schools need simple rules to give children, parents and teachers clear expectations. We are calling on the DfE to spell out that...
21st May 2023
-
Should a civil-service union promote harassment and discrimination?
At its annual conference starting on Tuesday 23rd May, PCS – Public and Commercial Services Union, the largest civil-service union – is planning to debate motions that denigrate gender-critical civil servants and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The motions seek to commit the union to a political stance...
19th May 2023
-
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
-
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
