Where sex matters | Legal system
Legal system
The argument for “No Debate” does not work in court: judges should listen to evidence and reasoned argument.
Sex matters in our laws, and evolving case law has sought to clarify questions about sex and gender identity in practice. Much of the case law to date has been driven by claims brought by those seeking to replace sex with gender, but recently there has been a growth in cases using the law to clarify where sex matters.
The law can help us answer questions about interactions and conflicts between trans rights and women’s rights, and about the right to discuss these subjects without fear of bullying, criminal prosecution or loss of livelihood. Where the laws are not working, it is sensible to seek to reform them. But this depends on both lawmakers and also judges making decisions on the basis of the law as it is, not as campaigners or pressure groups would like it to be.
What is the problem?
‘Stonewall law’
Stonewall and other organisations campaigning on related issues (GIRES, the Trans Equality Legal Initiative (TELI), Gendered Intelligence, Mermaids, to name a few) have for many years now been doing two things in parallel:
- Campaigning to change the law, so that the rights of trans people are extended at the expense of others, chiefly women.
- Lobbying that asserts – through ‘guidance’ documents, training and so on – that the law is in various respects already as they would like it to be.
Due to this it is now widely believed that trans people have an automatic right of access under the Equality Act 2010 to single-sex spaces and services hitherto provided for the use of the opposite sex. Not only is this widely believed among non-specialists: the myth has been repeated in official guidance from supposedly neutral bodies like Acas and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Training judges
Judges are subject to the same social pressures as the rest of us: career ambition, pressure to conform, and the desire to appear up-to-the-minute and “on the right side of history”.
And judges receive training.
Make a dubious, poorly evidenced or illogical claim as an advocate in court, and you can expect the judge to prod it, test it with pointed questions, hold it up to the light, and throw it out if it doesn’t stand up. But make the same dubious claim in the course of “training” for judges, or in an official document provided for their guidance, and there’s a real danger that it will bypass their critical faculties, and pass directly into the category of stuff they think they know.
Worse, judicial training seems to be secret. Freedom of Information requests for the content of whatever “trans awareness” training judges have received have so far been blocked.
We do know, though, from a document published on judiciary.gov.uk, that in 2018 employment judges were receiving training from an organisation called Gendered Intelligence. Gendered Intelligence is a charity that promotes a highly contentious set of beliefs about gender and gender identity, and is actively campaigning for gender self-identification to replace sex.
Where do judges come from?
The overwhelming majority of judges are former barristers or solicitors; a few are former academic lawyers, though all of course have been educated at universities, disproportionately Oxford and Cambridge. Stonewall lists 89 universities (including both Oxford and Cambridge) among its “Diversity Champions”, as well as 80 of the larger law firms. That means that many of the environments in which future judges are being educated and gaining their early-career experiences are now steeped in Stonewall law.
The Equal Treatment Bench Book
This is a guidance document provided to judges by the Judicial College, which judges are encouraged to take into account wherever it is applicable. Its stated aim is to help judges ensure that they achieve “equality before the law”.
Its chapter on “transgender people” departs from the Equality Act, defines transgender people as “people who cross the conventional boundaries of gender”, and then gives an inaccurate paraphrase of the meaning of “transsexual” in the Equality Act.
It then states that “It is important to respect a person’s gender identity by using appropriate terms of address, names and pronouns” and “Everyone is entitled to respect for their gender identity…”
It is not quite clear whether the authors of the ETBB are telling judges that these are legal entitlements (they are not), or just that it would be nice if they acted as if they were. Either way, they are contentious claims. It is far from self-evident that a male rapist or paedophile is entitled to respect for his gender identity if, at some point after committing his offences, he announces that he now identifies as female. But such expectations have become prevalent in the legal system to the extent that the victim of an assault has been reprimanded (and refused compensation) by a judge for referring to her assailant – an obvious male – with the male pronoun “he”.
Updates
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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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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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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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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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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 government wants examples of bad guidance on single-sex services
Send in the evidence! The government has issued a call for the public to input evidence of bad policies and guidance on single-sex services. UPDATE: Read Sex Matters’ guidance on how to submit evidence The Equality Act allows for clear single-sex services – including everyday facilities like toilets, showers ...
2nd May 2024
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Legal opinion says promotion policy discriminates on basis of gender-critical beliefs
Earlier this year Sex Matters was approached by Dr John Armstrong, a reader in mathematics at King’s College London (KCL). Dr Armstrong was applying for promotion, but was concerned that the “EDI” (equality, diversity and inclusion) section of the application, which required applicants to demonstrate their commitment to ideas...
20th April 2024
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“Misgendering” and the Scottish Hate Crime Act
On 1st April, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force. The law has generated headlines across the world, mainly due to concerns about its potential impact on freedom of speech; in particular, gender-critical speech. One of the most controversial aspects is the extension of so-called...
5th April 2024
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Will you ask your MP to support a bill to protect women and children?
This Friday a private member’s bill in the House of Commons presents MPs with a chance to discuss changing the law to clarify the meaning of “sex” in the Equality Act, stop the social transitioning of children in schools and ban healthcare providers from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex...
11th March 2024
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Bias at the BBC
What’s the issue? The BBC’s director of complaints has ruled that the presenter Justin Webb broke the BBC’s rules on impartiality when he commented, in a discussion about a women’s chess tournament on Radio 4’s Today programme, that “trans women” are male. This is shocking behaviour from the BBC:...
1st March 2024
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Lords debate conversion therapy
On Friday 9th February 2024 Baroness Burt’s Private Member’s Bill proposing a ban on “conversion therapy” was debated in the House of Lords. Twenty-nine peers spoke against it and fifteen in favour. This was the first time some important arguments had been heard in Parliament. While those in favour...
21st February 2024
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Sex and the police: confusion over the law and state-sanctioned sexual assault
Update on the review into activism and impartiality in policing HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has today published a letter with interim findings from his review of the politicisation of the police, which was started in September 2023 at the request of the Home...
10th January 2024
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Gender-critical civil society submits report to GREVIO on sex and the law
Sex Matters, Fair Play For Women and Transgender Trend, together with LGB Alliance, the Women’s Rights Network, For Women Scotland and Merched Cymru, have submitted a report on the UK’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The Istanbul Convention is about violence against women The “Istanbul Convention” is the Council of...
31st December 2023
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Resisting violations of women-only spaces
The chair of Sex Matters’ board, barrister Naomi Cunningham, was asked to speak at a conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday 5th December to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Beira’s Place. Beira’s Place, based in Edinburgh but covering the whole Lothian region, is a trauma-informed service for...
7th December 2023
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No conversion therapy in the King’s speech
Sex Matters welcomes the news that the government has not committed to bringing forward a bill to ban “conversion therapy” in the King’s speech today. We think that any bill which criminalises forms of talking in relation to gender identity would: What next? We note that those who have...
7th November 2023
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Sex matters in the hospitality industry
If you provide toilets to the public or to employees, take ten minutes to respond to the government’s consultation on its new building regulations for toilets before 8th October. Sex Matters has published guidance.
3rd October 2023
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Sex Matters welcomes review of police politicisation
The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman KC MP, has written to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Andy Cooke, to raise concerns about police involvement in politically contested matters including “gender identity”, critical race theory and climate activism. She has ordered a review of how much political involvement by the police “may...
2nd September 2023
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New guidance on trivial, malicious and irrational complaints
The College of Policing has published new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidance on ‘Responding to hate’, which states that non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) must not be recorded if the complaint is trivial, malicious or irrational. This follows on from the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the case of Harry Miller v...
19th June 2023
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Westminster Hall debate on our petition to make the Equality Act clear
Monday 12th June 2023 For the full official transcription of the debate, see Hansard. In the Chair, Judith Cummins began by reminding everyone that the petitions being debated indirectly related to two ongoing legal cases in the Scottish courts, but that reference to those would be allowed. Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower)...
13th June 2023
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Make the Equality Act clear: easy-read version
This is the seventh in a series of blog posts in the run up to the debate on 12th June about clarifying the Equality Act. When governments consult on major legal changes or produce guidance on laws, they often produce easy-read versions. These use simple words and pictures to...
8th June 2023
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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
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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
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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
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Sex in the Equality Act: the Westminster Hall debate – webinar
On 8th June 2023, Helen Joyce talked to academic Michael Foran and barrister Naomi Cunningham on about the upcoming Westminster Hall debate on clarifying the Equality Act. Among the questions discussed: Watch the recording For other Sex Matters webinars, see our YouTube channel. Background To learn more about the...
1st June 2023
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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
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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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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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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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New MoJ transgender prisoner policy: Sex Matters’ response
Sex Matters welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s announcement that men who identify as women will no longer be housed in women’s prisons if they have male genitalia or have committed sexual or violent crimes, with exceptions only to be made with ministerial authority. We join Woman’s Place UK and...
6th March 2023
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Why are lawyers giving faulty advice about women-only sports?
The governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom, UK Athletics, has called for the government to amend the Equality Act in order to guarantee the legality of female-only sports. While Sex Matters agrees with UKA that female-only sports are essential to provide safe and fair...
3rd February 2023
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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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The UK government is right to challenge the GRR Bill
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has made an order under Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from receiving Royal Assent, and Sex Matters welcomes this. We are particularly pleased that the government has recognised that changing both the size and...
17th 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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Stonewall is scaremongering: write to your MP
Stonewall has been sending out alarmist emails to MPs which misrepresent the law. On 9th January Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Women and Equalities, announced that the government would be updating its list of approved overseas countries and territories for gender-recognition certificates. She explained: “There are now some countries and territories...
13th 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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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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Sex Matters responds to CPS consultation
Sex Matters has responded to the Crown Prosecution Service’s public consultation on its proposed revision to the section on “deception as to gender” in its guidance on prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences. In fact what the chapter should be called is “deception as to sex”. The case law...
19th 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
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Clarify the Equality Act: sign the petition
The Equality Act 2010 protects everyone’s rights and covers everything from schools to hospitals, pubs to sports, and everybody’s workplace. It includes protection against sex-discrimination, and allows single-sex services. But on 13th December a judge in Scotland pronounced that Equality Act does not recognise biological sex as a protected...
16th December 2022
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Scottish court rules that sex is about paperwork, not biology
A judgment handed down on 13th December in the Scottish court of session highlights the importance of a Sex Matters campaign to persuade the UK government to clarify the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010. SIGN THE PETITION TODAY The ruling concerns the meaning of “woman” in...
13th December 2022
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Petition to make the Equality Act clear – campaign webinar
Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce of Sex Matters were joined by campaigners @MsGiveZeroFox and @satiricole on 6th December 2022. Watch the recording For other Sex Matters webinars, see our YouTube channel. About the webinar Since our petition was launched in early November, more than 38,000 people have signed, calling...
29th November 2022
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Trans rights are human rights!
Sex Matters is a human-rights organisation. We believe that universal human rights form a powerful framework for thinking about how a diversity of freedoms can be respected, while protecting against harm and maintaining an open and prosperous society. It is sometimes argued that those who call for clarity on...
9th November 2022
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Why are judges still calling rapists “she” in court?
The Equal Treatment Bench Book is a guide to judges on how to run an inclusive court room. But it is not based on the law, and it is leading judgments astray. Sex Matters has published a new report on the problems with the Equal Treatment Bench Book. In...
7th November 2022
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New guidance for barristers curtails freedom of speech and promotes discrimination
The Bar Standards Board has been holding a public consultation on its new guidance on the regulation of non-professional conduct use of social media by barristers. Barristers are bound by their duties “not to behave in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the...
6th November 2022
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Petition champions
After just three days we were over a quarter of the way to the 100,000 signatures needed to prompt a parliamentary debate. We’ve now got more than 40,000 signatures. Thank you to everyone who has already signed the Make the Equality Act Clear Petition. Every signature helps! If everyone...
5th November 2022
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Campaign update: Day 1
Yesterday we launched the Make the Equality Act Clear petition, calling on the government to clarify, with a legislative amendment, that sex means sex in the Equality Act 2010. It got an amazing response. In less than 24 hours, 15,000 people signed the petition, and the number is continuing...
3rd November 2022
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Sex Matters writes to MSPs
Tomorrow 27th October is the Stage 1 debate on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill by the Scottish Parliament. Sex Matters has written to MSPs and sent them a copy of our “Sex and the Law” booklet. Equality law remains an area which is reserved for UK wide legislation, yet...
26th October 2022
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Converting minds or bodies?
A riposte to the Good Law Project’s published advice on conversion therapy
16th August 2022
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Sex and the law – share our short guide
What does intersex mean? Are you allowed to mention someone’s sex if they don’t want you to? Has someone with a gender recognition certificate changed their sex? Do you have the right to privacy when you’re taking your clothes off? Is it discrimination to keep male people out of...
4th August 2022
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What does the Forstater judgment mean for employers?
On 6th July 2022 an employment tribunal found that Maya Forstater had been directly discriminated against by the Center for Global Development because of her beliefs. This follows on from the precedent-setting judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in June 2021, which found that the “gender critical” belief “that...
8th July 2022
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A win for free speech and sex-based rights
Sex Matters’ Executive Director, Maya Forstater, has won her employment tribunal case against her former employer. Here is her press statement: Maya Forstater, who took a claim for belief discrimination against her former employer, the Center for Global Development, has been vindicated by a ruling that she was unlawfully...
6th July 2022
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Edward Lord recused from hearing gender-critical belief case
A recent hearing of the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered whether trans rights activist Edward Lord was a suitable person to hear a case of gender-critical belief discrimination. The case of Kristie Higgs v Farmor’s School concerns whether restrictions of the free-speech rights of critics of the transgender movement are...
5th July 2022
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Male and female in the Equality Act
Last week Old Square Chambers hosted a seminar about single-sex services and the law. Barristers Nicola Newbegin and Robin Moira White argued that biological sex is something that “popped up” recently in relation to the Equality Act. The meaning of the protected characteristic of “sex”, they said, is ambiguous and...
21st June 2022
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Who is Edward Lord?
Can a person who accuses everyone who disagrees with radical gender ideology of “transphobia” be the right person to hear a case about discrimination for gender-critical belief?
20th June 2022
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Sex self-ID in Scotland and transgender unemployment
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 was an extraordinary piece of legislation intended for an extraordinary group of people. It was passed to allow people who had transitioned under medical supervision to change the legal sex recorded on their birth certificate “for all purposes”. Now the Scottish Government is...
14th June 2022
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We have been worthy of respect for a whole year!
A year ago today Maya Forstater won a critical judgment in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, establishing that gender-critical beliefs are “worthy of respect in a democratic society”. The judgment had many implications: Employers should not refuse to employ someone because they have expressed gender-critical views online. Organisations should recognise...
10th June 2022
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Sex realists gaining ground at Westminster
Debates on new laws in Parliament are one of the key battlefields between sex realists and sex denialists, with one side seeking clarity on sex, and the other seeking to conflate and confuse sex and gender identity. A long-term strategy of the sex-denial lobbyists has been to propose legislation seemingly...
31st May 2022
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Is Scotland going to turn the UK into an identity-laundering haven?
As part of Sex Matters’ response to the Scottish Parliament consultation on GRA reform we raised security concerns. This has been reported in the Telegraph and the Times, and Maya Forstater had a Thunderer piece in the Times. Identity matters The involvement of the state with an individual’s identity...
18th May 2022
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We’ve told the Scottish Parliament our views – have you?
We asked you to respond to the consultation on Scotland’s draft bill to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and introduce self-ID, whether you’re in Scotland or not (because if legal sex change just by self-declaration is allowed in Scotland, it will make it easier for it to be come...
16th May 2022
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Self-ID: tell the Scottish Parliament your views!
When the Gender Recognition Act came into force in 2004, it was a single regime for the UK. The Scottish Executive at the time considered whether Scotland should have separate legislation, but rejected this approach due to “cross-border anomalies”. In 2019 the UK government stepped back from its plan...
3rd May 2022
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Interview with Maya Forstater
Sex Matters’ Executive Director Maya Forstater won an important judgment in 2021 in her employment discrimination case. Now she is going back to court. Before her hearing begins next week on 7th March, Sex Matters interviewed Maya about her journey.
2nd March 2022
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A radically simpler system than gender self-ID
Critics of the Gender Recognition Act who call for gender self-identification say the current system is too much of an administrative burden. They are calling on the government to bring people together to find solutions.
21st February 2022
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Responses to the government consultation on banning conversion therapy
The government's consultation on conversion therapy has now closed, and the responses are being analysed. More than a thousand people used the form on our website to send the government their own responses to the consultation.
11th February 2022
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Do crime victims deserve respect?
We think crime victims deserve respect, dignity, sensitivity, compassion and courtesy, as specified in the Victims’ Code.
10th February 2022
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Will the Joint Committee on Human Rights defend the EHRC?
Sex Matters has written to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) to urge it to write to the United Nations to confirm its parliamentary role in overseeing the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and stating its confidence in the EHRC, after recent attacks which have sought to...
9th February 2022
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Organisations unite to praise the EHRC
Twenty different campaigning groups from across the UK have come together in a statement of response on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recent communications – with the UK Government about conversion therapy and with the Scottish Government about reform of the Gender Recognition Act. The EHRC has come...
31st January 2022
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Naomi Cunningham named in The Lawyer‘s 2022 Hot 100
Naomi Cunningham, employment and discrimination barrister and Chair of Sex Matters, has received a prestigious industry accolade, in part for her outstanding work in the debate on sex and gender, in The Lawyer’s annual “Hot 100”.
17th January 2022
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Opposing the return of gay conversion therapy: a lawyer’s view
On 16 November 2021, writes Sex Matters Chair Naomi Cunningham, I gave a talk at the Middle Temple LGBTQ+ Forum’s inaugural annual dinner, to an audience of barristers and Bar students, and their guests. Middle Temple is one of the four ancient Inns of Court: aspiring barristers must join...
16th January 2022
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College of Policing ordered to dial down the “chilling” effect on public debate
Sex Matters welcomes today’s landmark judgment from the Court of Appeal on the recording of non-crime hate incidents. It comes three years after Harry Miller received a visit from Humberside Police and had a non-crime hate incident recorded against his name after his tweets were reported as transphobic by...
20th December 2021
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X passports appeal dismissed
The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed Christie Elan-Cane’s case for an “X” passport. The judgment states “There is no judgment of the European Court of Human Rights which establishes a positive obligation to recognise a gender category other than male or female, and none which would require the Secretary...
15th December 2021
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No need for sex data on domestic abuse?
Yesterday the Domestic Abuse Commissioner launched a survey for survivors of domestic abuse about their experience of using domestic abuse services across England and Wales: “We are running this survey so that we can understand what is good about domestic abuse services in different areas of the country, and...
7th December 2021
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Law Commission recommends protection for gender critical views from “chilling effect”
The Law Commission today released its report and recommendations on hate-crime legislation. It recommends extending hate-crime laws but calls for specific protection from prosecution for gender-critical views. The Commission explicitly disagreed with Stonewall and GIRES (the Gender Identity Research and Education Society), which had said that there should not be...
7th December 2021
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Sex and gender: belief and agnosticism after Forstater
The August 2021 edition of The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) Briefing features a very helpful article by Akua Reindorf of Cloisters on the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) Judgment in the Forstater case. She asks “Has the EAT’s decision in Forstater brought any light to the heated debate on the...
2nd August 2021
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Fighting for the principle of collecting data on biological sex
A guest post by MurrayBlackburnMackenzie. Scottish Parliament Public Petition: Call for signatures In early June MurrayBlackburnMackenzie (MBM) lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee. It calls on the Scottish government to require Police Scotland to accurately record the sex of people charged or convicted of rape...
27th June 2021
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We are worthy of respect in a democratic society
Today, after two years of legal battles, Sex Matters co-founder Maya Forstater achieved a landmark legal ruling that looks set to change the direction of the sex and gender debates in the UK, and provide legal protection for gender-critical people against discrimination and harassment. Mr Justice Choudhury overturned an...
10th June 2021
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Truth and reconciliation
How should the public sector leave the Stonewall Champions Scheme?
6th June 2021
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Time to #LeaveStonewall
This is the letter we have sent to the CEOs of the 850 organisations that are members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme. Re: Leaving the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme We are writing to call on you to withdraw from the scheme, both for the sake of your own...
29th May 2021
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EHRC Chairwoman writes to Sex Matters: we have left Stonewall
This week we received welcome news in a letter from Baroness Kishwer Falkner. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is no longer part of the controversial Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme. She said that the Commission seeks to ensure that all staff enjoy “acceptance without exception”. We responded welcoming this...
23rd May 2021
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Open Letter to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
A letter to Kishwer, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Caroline Waters OBE, and the Commissioners of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
7th May 2021
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The Yogyakarta Principles: women’s rights were not considered
Julie Bindel and Melanie Newman talked to Professor Robert Wintemute in The Critic.
9th April 2021
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Sex (or gender?) as a hate crime: why the rush?
The push to adopt a gender neutral definition of “misogyny” as a hate crime with amendment 87B to the Domestic Abuse Bill (being debated this afternoon in the House of Lords) is another attempt at the political erasure of sex. Why the rush when the Law Commission is working...
17th March 2021
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Stonewalling the Domestic Violence Bill: Why make “misogyny” gender neutral?
A short month ago there was an attempt to rush a bill through parliament that would set a precedent of “gender neutralising” motherhood in law; replacing the words mother or woman with “pregnant person” in the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances (MOMA) Bill. As Baroness Noakes highlighted, this is...
13th March 2021
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Allison Bailey’s case against Stonewall will proceed
Allison Bailey is suing Stonewall Diversity Limited to stop them policing free speech. She is a barrister and helped to set up a new organisation for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, the LGB Alliance, to provide an alternative to Stonewall. In retaliation, Stonewall had her investigated by her chambers....
19th February 2021
Other resources
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Don’t Get Caught Out – a summary of gender critical belief discrimination employment tribunal judgments
by Ruth Birchall and Jo Phoenix
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Council admits discriminating against social worker over her gender-critical views
Cambridgeshire county council has paid social work manager Lizzy Pitts £54,000 in compensation after admitting discriminating against her for her gender-critical views.
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – July 2024 edition
This edition represents the first major revision for three years.
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A Woman’s Guide to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021
A brief guide to what the Act says, and other relevant legal references, explaining when you are entitled to free legal advice, and ways to find it.
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How identity politics infiltrated the judiciary
Laurie Wastell writes for The Spectator about the Equal Treatment Bench Book, quoting Sex Matters.
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Police SEEN UK
UK policing’s national sex equality and equity network, launched in January 2024 with a mission to restore fairness, impartiality and trust to policing. For all serving police officers and police staff who hold lawful sex-realist and gender-critical beliefs. Aims to ensure that police forces return focus to the Peelian...
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State sanctioned sexual assault: women pay the price for policing beyond the law
In December 2021, the Police Chiefs' Council approved a policy that permitted officers to strip and even intimately search suspects of the opposite sex if they self-identified as the same “gender” as the person being searched.
The WRN confirmed that of the 47 forces consulted, 35 have implemented, or are... -
The government needs to put safeguarding first – it should not allow social transitioning in schools
Stephanie Davies-Arai for The Critic
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Paused investigation into Baroness Falkner risks equalities watchdog ‘running adrift’
Edward Malnick for The Telegraph
EHRC head accused of discrimination in her efforts to rebalance quango’s approach to trans issues, with a greater emphasis on women’s rights.
Maya Forstater of Sex Matters is quoted. -
Maya Forstater hits out at ‘ideologically captured’ CPS for guidelines stating parents could be charged with domestic abuse for refusing to pay for their child’s transgender treatment or not using their preferred pronoun
Harry Howard for Mail Online
Maya Forstater is quoted at length. -
Maya Forstater on BBC 2 Politics Live
Maya Forstater is interviewed alongside Robin Moira White by presenter Jo Coburn for BBC 2's Politics Live.
12:42 on YouTube -
Maya Forstater: Today’s Common debate on sex, gender and the Equality Act. The Government must clear up this mess.
Maya Forstater for Conservative Home
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Sex and gender in legislation: the case against “legal sex change”
Understanding GRA2004 as making a "legal sex change" is erroneous and overstates the effect of a gender recognition certificate. "Legal sex” has been misconceptualised. Whilst clarification of the law is desirable, qualifying “sex” in legislation in any way is unnecessary, has undesirable consequences and carries significant risk throughout domestic...
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Equality Act and sex – important Scots cases on the horizon
Michael Foran for Scottish Legal News
Two cases concerning the meaning of sex within the Equality Act:
• the appeal of Petition of For Women Scotland CSOH 90 and the decision of Lady Haldane
• the Scottish government’s judicial review of the s.35 order used to prevent the Gender Recognition... -
Teacher who ‘misgendered’ pupil banned from profession
Louisa Clarence-Smith for The Telegraph
Joshua Sutcliffe, a Christian who also spoke out against gay marriage, says he is 'devastated' by ruling finding him guilty of misconduct. -
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. -
Minister defiant over trans rapist Isla Bryson
Mark McLaughlin for The Times
Maya Forstater is extensively quoted. The article was later revised.
The Scottish justice secretary has refused to stop the imprisonment of rapists in women’s prisons after a party colleague accused a double sex offender of “gaming the system”. -
Woman’s Place UK (WPUK)
Grassroots feminist campaign formed in 2017 by women with backgrounds in trade-union and broader social movements. Aim was to ensure women’s voices would be heard in the consultation on proposals for self-identification and to uphold single-sex exceptions. Played a large role in getting government plans to reform the Gender...
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Murray Blackburn Mackenzie
Collective formed in 2018 of three women with backgrounds in policy-making, research and communications: Dr Kath Murray, Dr Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Lisa Mackenzie. Produces blogs, briefings and submissions to government consultations on issues pertaining to sex-based rights. Seeks to improve policy-making and lawmaking, at both the Scottish level...
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Legal Feminist
Collective of solicitors and barristers, some anonymous and some not. Blogs on subjects related to sex, gender and the law, offers expert commentary on legal developments and makes submissions to government consultations on proposals related to equality and human-rights law, setting out how those proposals will affect women. Email:...
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – interim revision July 2022
A revision of the February 2021 edition.
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Forstater discrimination ruling will have profound effect
Rhona Darbyshire for The TImes
Trans people will still be protected against harassment, but must share that protection with those who disagree with them.
Rhona Darbyshire is an employment law partner at the law firm Cripps -
Forstater v CGD Europe & Others: Maya Forstater succeeds in Employment Tribunal
Press release from Doyle Clayton, workplace lawyers.
Gender critical beliefs are protected in the workplace. -
Maya Forstater: Warning on ‘quickie’ gender recognition certificates in Scotland
Jason Allardyce for The Sunday Times.
Maya Forstater of Sex Matters is quoted. -
“We hardly get any of those here” – working with girls and women
Charlotte Weinberg writes for Probation Quarterly on whether changes to the perception, treatment and approaches to work with women and girls affected by the criminal justice system have occurred, to what extent and to what effect.
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Gender representation on public boards (Scotland) – opinion of the court, 18th February 2022
For Women Scotland sought judicial review of the Scottish Government’s decision to change the definition of “woman”, an appeal against the decision of the Lord Ordinary made on 23rd March 2021.
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What do we stand for? Criminology, politically induced ignorance and gender identity politics
Criminologist Professor Jo Phoenix explains why sex matters in criminal justice.
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Changes to the Equal Treatment Bench Book
Changes made in chapter 12 in the December 2021 update.
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Passports must show M or F for sex
An appeal was made to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal had concluded that an applicant for a passport must declare their gender/sex as being either male or female, not “unspecified” (“X”).
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – interim revision December 2021
A revision of the February 2021 edition.
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Conversion therapy: the path to good law
Barrister Naomi Cunningham’s talk at the Middle Temple LGBTQ+ Forum Inaugural Annual Dinner
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Women’s prisons and male transgender prisoners
The ruling handed down in FDJ v SSJ in the High Court of Justice last week is further proof that UK law does not work for women. In dismissing the claim by FDJ, a woman prisoner who had suffered a sexual assault by a male prisoner while in a...
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Prejudging the transgender controversy?
Barrister Thomas Chacko of Policy Exchange, the UK’s leading think tank, explains why the Equal Treatment Bench Book needs urgent revision, based on the 2019 Employment Tribunal ruling in the Forstater case.
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Maya Forstater: One’s sex can’t change. The story of my fight to ensure that this view, held by so many, is judged “worthy of respect”.
Maya Forstater for Conservative Home
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The Times view on the Maya Forstater verdict: Right to Think
Leading article in The Times
. A judge’s ruling makes clear that holding an opinion is not a sackable offence. -
Equal Treatment Bench Book – February 2021 edition
Issued by the Judicial College, which says: “The ETBB aims to increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals. It helps enable effective communication and suggests steps which should increase participation by all parties.”
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Sex and the Equality Act
Julius Komorowski in the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland looks at what ‘sex’ means in the Equality Act, how it interacts with the Gender Recognition Act, and the implications for provision of services.
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Evidence and data on transwomens’ offending rates
Submitted to the Women and Equalities Select Committee by Professor Rosa Freedman, Professor Kathleen Stock, and Professor Alice Sullivan, this covers the Swedish study referred to; attempts to rebut it; Ministry of Justice data on transgender prisoners in England and Wales; and analysis of that data.
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – interim revision March 2020
March 2020 revision of the February 2018 edition.
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – interim revision September 2019
September 2019 revision of the February 2018 edition.
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – February 2018 edition
Issued by the Judicial College, which says: “The ETBB aims to increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals. It helps enable effective communication and suggests steps which should increase participation by all parties.”
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Religion or belief – is the law working?
A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission exploring whether the equality and human rights legal framework sufficiently protects individuals with a religion or belief, while balancing the rights of others protected under the Equality Act 2010.
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Equal Treatment Bench Book – interim revision September 2015
September 2015 amendments to the 2013 edition.
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Transsexualism: frequently asked questions
Legal advice about employment from the Equal Opportunities Commission, June 2004
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Government policy concerning transsexual people
Department for Constitutional Affairs, December 2002
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Report of the interdepartmental working group on transexual people
Set up by the Home Secretary in April 1999 to consider, with particular reference to birth certificates, the need for appropriate legal measures to address the problems experienced by transsexual people, having due regard to scientific and societal developments, and measures undertaken in other countries to deal with this...
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A Guide to the Sex Discrimination (Gender reassignment) Regulations 1999
Department for Education and Employment, April 1999 This Guide provides guidance in relation to the application of the Regulations; and suggests some aspects of good practice for employers and employees on the issues which may be encountered in accommodating an individual for whom gender reassignment grounds exist in the...
Publications
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Briefing on new poll on sex and gender
The law on sex and gender: what policies do the public want? Results of Sex Matters poll.
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Applying for a gender-recognition certificate: the facts
Is the process “intrusive, outdated and humiliating”? We examine the evidence.
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Counsel’s opinion in the matter of King’s College London academic promotions criteria
KCL’s promotion policy discriminates on the basis of gender-critical beliefs, and will also be likely to contravene the new law on academic freedom due to come into force in August 2024.
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Digital verification services
– how the government can solve the problem about sex (or else sleepwalk into chaos)
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What does the law say about “gender-questioning children” in schools?
An analysis of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s response to the Department for Education’s draft guidance for schools on gender-questioning children. See all our updates about this guidance.
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Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill – briefing
This private member’s bill‘s second reading is on the House of Commons agenda for the morning of Friday 15th March 2024. This single-page briefing explains why it’s important.
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Sex and the law in December 2023 – a briefing
Briefing from Sex Matters for a meeting of the Women and Equalities Committee on 13th December 2023
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Policy proposal: Legislation to ban modern conversion therapy
Any law to ban conversion therapy should seek to solve problems that exist today, not symbolically fight the battles of yesterday.
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Letter to the EHRC about its technical guidance on the Equality Act
Our letter to Kishwer Falkner and Marcial Boo flags the concerns raised in our post.
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Making the Equality Act clear – the story so far
This is the story so far, but it is just the beginning. The next stage in the campaign is to get the government to take action before the election, and get more people to stand up and say “I support single-sex services”. Will you be part of it?
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Sex Matters poll results as graphics (for printing)
A six-page graphical summary of the figures from our poll: a nationally representative sample of over-18s, polled online on 15th May 2023 by PeoplePolling. Optimised for printing.
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Sex Matters poll results as graphics (for screen)
A six-page graphical summary of the figures from our poll: a nationally representative sample of over-18s, polled online on 15th May 2023 by PeoplePolling.
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Letter to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)
Our 12th May 2023 letter, signed by 24 organisations, to Katharina Rose, Geneva Representative of GANHRI, asking it to support Great Britain and its national human-rights institution, the EHRC, in protecting everyone’s human rights and fostering dialogue between organisations that also respect rights.
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Letter to the College of Policing
Our detailed comments in response to to the consultation on the Authorised Professional Practice Recording and retention of non-crime hate incidents (APP) – the consultation draft is concerning.
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Freedom of belief matters
Sex Matters’ response to a call for input by the United Nations’ Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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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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Response to the Crown Prosecution Service’s consultation on deception as to sex
Sex Matters examines the proposed revision to the CPS’s legal guidance on Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, Chapter 6 – Consent
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Why Sex Matters is calling for clarification of the Equality Act 2010 – a briefing
Sex Matters has launched a petition calling on the government to clarify that in the Equality Act 2010, “sex” means biological sex, and is not modified by the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This would protect the rights of people of both sexes, as well as people who identify as...
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Why sex matters for human rights – our organisational framework
Sex Matters’ mission is to promote clarity on sex in law and policy in order to protect everybody’s human rights. This document sets out the key human rights that are relevant, and why and how our work is guided by the promotion of human rights. (Also see our short guide...
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How can the Equal Treatment Bench Book be made fit for purpose?
The Bench Book is produced by the Judicial College for judges and magistrates in England and Wales as a guide to the needs and characteristics of the diversity of people who may come into contact with the courts. We explain why it’s not fit for purpose, and what needs...
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Sex and the law
A short guide to your human rights in everyday life.
Speaking about the two sexes, male and female, should not be difficult. This guide uses ordinary language, and is based on science, universal human rights and UK law -
Groups defending sex-based rights
Overview of groups opposing sex self-ID in the UK, set up by individuals and collectives concerned by the failure of established third-sector organisations to defend women’s sex-based rights, child safeguarding and evidence-based policymaking. Also listed on our website.
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Briefing for conversion therapy debate
The Government has decided to introduce a law banning “gay conversion therapy’”, but following consultation decided not to introduce a law criminalising therapy in relation to “gender identity”. On Monday 13th June 2022 there will be a Westminster Hall debate where the issue will be raised again.
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Gender-critical: your rights at work
A leaflet to print at home. Or a glossier version for colour printing or sharing online.
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Response to Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
Sex Matters’ response to the government consultation, submitted on 9th May 2022. The rules for obtaining a GRC should not differ across the UK. There are serious implications to removing the medical diagnosis, reducing the qualifying period, and reducing the minimum age, and giving secrecy provisions.
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Sex and digital identities
How digital identities can solve the problem with sex and gender identity – and how getting it wrong will make the problem worse.
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Response to the government consultation on banning conversion therapy
We reviewed the government’s evidence base and, like the EHRC, found little evidence to support this legislation – and a great deal that concerned us…
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Letter to Joint Committee on Human Rights
Our February 2022 letter urging the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) to write to the United Nations to confirm its parliamentary role in overseeing the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and stating its confidence in the EHRC, after recent attacks which tried to undermine it.
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Submission to Victims’ Bill consultation
We agree with the principles set out in the consultation, but we think that victims also have the right to be treated with respect, dignity, sensitivity, compassion and courtesy.
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Getting it right – diversity and inclusion on company boards and executive committees
The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposal for monitoring diversity and inclusion is well intentioned, but flawed. Sex Matters and Legal Feminist outline the practical and legal problems in abandoning sex-based monitoring for the controversial concept of “gender identity”, and suggest a better solution.
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EHRC – submission to consultation on their strategic plan
Our letter to Marcial Boo, Head of Equality and Human Rights Commission, asking for urgent action.
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Gender-neutral drafting and the MOMA bill – briefing
Why was the word ‘woman’ taken out of the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances (MOMA) Bill?
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On toilet provision for men and women – technical briefing
A simple solution to replace ambiguous language and misleading guidance, for the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government.
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Submission to the Law Commission on communications offences
Our response argues for clarity in the terms relating to sex and gender reassignment as separate protected characteristics, and rejects the proposal to criminalise online communications on the basis of “likely emotional harm” – which would have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
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Response to consultation on proposal on hate crime
Why this reform extends legislation unnecessarily, is based on weak concepts, and ignores harm caused by the law itself.
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Gender Recognition Act reform – evidence submission
We answer the Women and Equalities Select Committee‘s questions and make six recommendations.