Sign up
Donate

Where sex matters | Workplaces

Workplaces

Employers that replace sex with “gender identity” risk undermining fairness at work.

Good employers promote diversity and inclusion, both to attract and retain talent, and to meet their legal obligations. There are nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 including sex, disability, religion and belief, and gender reassignment.

The law on sex discrimination protects both men and women. Employers must avoid discrimination on grounds of sex, and take action against sexual harassment and sex-based harassment. They must ensure that there is equal pay for equal work between men and women. They can treat men and women differently where it is necessary for privacy and dignity, such as providing separate toilets and changing rooms. Some jobs can be restricted to persons of a particular sex. Employers can take positive action: to address under-representation or disadvantage within the workforce, for example. Larger employers are required to publish and report specific figures about their ’gender pay gap’ (in fact: sex pay gap).

In order to protect against discrimination and harassment at work employers should should undertake reviews of policies, working practices and outcomes to remove unfair discrimination and bias. As part of this they should make sure that staff who identify as transgender are treated well, on a par with others, and with reasonable steps to accommodate particular needs.

What is the problem?

Employers are going much much further than this, adopting trans-specific policies which take an approach of “self-ID” for sex and disregard the needs and beliefs of others. They are adopting the idea of “gender identity” in place of sex and recording this instead of sex in their equality monitoring and employee records:

“Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of their own gender and what feels right for them. This might be male, female, non-binary, genderless, or some other gender identity.” 

Warwick University

Many large employers are members of Stonewall’s ‘Diversity Champions Programme’ which promotes this approach. As a condition of membership, specialist trans policies and programmes are rolled out, such as encouragement to start meetings with an announcement of pronouns, and replacement of “sex” with “gender identity” in equality monitoring. Staff are discouraged from disagreeing with the mantra that “trans women are women” and risk disciplinary action if they speak up against these changes.

In adopting this approach, employers refuse to acknowledge the different realities of female staff or clients and male staff or clients who identify as women (and vice versa), or the legitimate diversity of views and beliefs about gender identity and sex.

When it comes to providing separate-sex services either to staff, or to clients and customers, sex matters. When monitoring equal pay and the pay gap between men and women, sex matters. Being able to talk clearly about sex is necessary in talking about sexual harassment, and safeguarding. By enforcing the belief that sex is overwritten by gender identity, employers risk discriminating against other staff on the basis of sex, religion or belief and disability.

The case of Forstater v CGDE and others proved that a belief that sex is real, binary, immutable and important is covered by the Equality Act. Other legal cases are also reaching Employment Appeal Tribunals.

Updates

  • Be kind, be nice

    “Be nice!” says the BBC’s director-general 

    The director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, appeared at the parliamentary select committee for culture, media and sport this week. He was asked by Damian Green MP about the complaint upheld against Justin Webb for clarifying that transwomen “are, in other words, male”. Webb was reprimanded by the BBC’s...

    22nd March 2024

  • Badges were just the beginning

    What is the indelible mark left by the NHS Rainbow Badge scheme?

    The organisers of the NHS Rainbow Badge scheme have announced that it has come to an end due to lack of funding. But project lead Alex Matheson says that “the project has left an indelible mark” on NHS trusts.  The scheme was created in a London hospital in 2018...

    22nd February 2024

  • A campaign of harassment against the EHRC

    GANHRI should stand up for the EHRC, not join in the abuse

    Together with 38 groups defending sex-based rights, Sex Matters has written to GANHRI calling on it to stand up for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as reported in The Telegraph today. Britain’s human-rights regulator is facing a campaign of reprisals for acting to protect those with gender-critical...

    5th February 2024

  • Trans-identifying men are bullying their way into women’s spaces by threatening litigation.

    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

  • It’s time to act

    Following the judgment in the For Women Scotland appeal, it is time for the government to act.

    2nd November 2023

  • Ask a simple question. Expect a simple answer.

    Data matters

    The easiest way to ask about sex is to ask a simple question and expect a straightforward answer. 

    19th October 2023

  • Ask Sex Matters: toilets

    Ladies and gentlemen

    By Naomi Cunningham, Sex Matters’ Chair

    5th June 2023

  • Poll finds less than a third agree with Stonewall

    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

  • "Biological"?

    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

  • Bring your whole self to wok?

    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

  • "My column was published at 11am... just before 5.30pm the publisher apologised publicly for the anger and upset it had caused and stated that he was parting company with me as a columnist."

    Beware the Gender Borg: a cautionary tale

    Guest post by Paul Chase

    11th January 2023

  • "On no other subject had I ever been told, ‘You are not allowed to write about this’."

    Hadley Freeman interviewed on Woman’s Hour

    On 5th December 2022, Hadley Freeman was interviewed by Emma Burnett on BBC Woman’s Hour. She talked about why she was leaving the Guardian, after 22 years of working for the paper. The audio with subtitles available on Youtube. We have added links to relevant media articles, and to...

    7th December 2022

  • Mass harassment in HM Prisons and Probation Service

    As reported in The Telegraph today, HM Prisons and Probation Service’s Pride in Prison and Probation (PiPP) staff network has circulated documents for Trans Awareness Week telling MoJ staff to recognise a series of words and phrases as “transphobic dogwhistles”. The PiPP is an official staff network, with a...

    20th November 2022

  • What happens when speech is silenced.

    Helen Joyce speaks at Caius College

    On 25th October 2022, Sex Matters’ Director of Advocacy Helen Joyce spoke at an event at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, entitled “Criticising gender-identity ideology: what happens when speech is silenced”. This page documents the events surrounding the talk. Criticising gender-identity ideology: what happens when speech is silenced...

    15th November 2022

  • Lib Dems revise “transphobia” definition

    The Liberal Democrats have revised their definition of transphobia in the light of recent legal cases.  The previous policy which drew on the work of “organisations such as Stonewall and TransActual UK”. But following advice from two KCs (one, from Karon Monaghan KC, has been published), it has now...

    14th November 2022

  • Compromises that destroy the human rights of one group are unfair. Solutions are needed that respect everyone’s rights.

    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

  • Toilets Matter: a Sex Matters webinar. Friday 18th November, 7pm to 8pm

    Toilets Matter: a Sex Matters webinar

    Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce of Sex Matters were joined by journalist Rose George, author of The Big Necessity, on 18th November 2022 in the run-up to World Toilet Day.

    8th November 2022

  • Join the petition champions

    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

  • Gender-critical at work? Tell us about it

    Sex Matters launches survey

    Sex Matters is launching a survey about being gender-critical at work in the UK. Please take the survey and share your experiences

    17th October 2022

  • Being wrong about sex

    By Naomi Cunningham, Sex Matters Chair

    27th September 2022

  • NHS Confederation: leadership needed

    “It is now — not the good times — where all that work you did on purpose and values matters. Like a winter coat, integrity is only tested in storm.” Matthew Taylor The NHS Confederation is the membership body for NHS services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its...

    26th August 2022

  • The NHS Confederation's approach to “Trans Allyship” promotes discrimination.

    Sex Matters writes to the NHS Confederation

    The NHS Confederation is the membership body for NHS services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its members employ over 1.5 million staff, care for more than a million patients a day and control £150 billion of public expenditure. It recently sought bids for a piece of work to create:...

    24th August 2022

  • Interpreting the law canbe hard – we've made it easy for you

    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

  • Employers must reconsider their policies and relationship with Stonewall after Allison Bailey’s victory

    Allison Bailey has won her claims of direct belief discrimination and victimisation against Garden Court Chambers. The Employment Tribunal unanimously found that Miss Bailey was discriminated against and victimised by her barristers’ chambers on the basis of her gender-critical beliefs. Importantly, the judgment recognises that the whole of Allison Bailey’s...

    27th July 2022

  • If you can’t say sex, how can you say sexual harassment?

    An employment tribunal in Leeds has handed down judgment in a case involving catering staff at a Sheffield NHS Hospital Trust.  A female employee reported that a male colleague had asked her to go into a private room and then had quipped about removing his underwear. Another reported having...

    20th July 2022

  • Why do single-sex services matter?

    In February 2022 Sex Matters undertook a survey to find out why single-sex services matter to people. The response was astonishing. In a little over a week we received over 7,000 replies, nine out of ten of them from women. Many included details about how the loss of everyday...

    19th July 2022

  • The Forstater judgment – what does it mean for employers?

    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

  • "My case matters for everyone who believes in the importance of truth and free speech."

    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

  • Information Commissioner strikes down secrecy of Stonewall scheme

    The Information Commissioner has ordered the University of Oxford to disclose the scores and feedback it received from Stonewall as part of the lobby group’s controversial Workplace Equality Index scheme.  Following a Freedom of Information appeal undertaken as part of the “Don’t Submit to Stonewall” campaign initiated by Legal...

    1st July 2022

  • Impartial?

    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

  • Sex Matters response to “More in Common”

    More in Common is an organisation that seeks to “build societies and communities that are “stronger, more united, and more resilient to the increasing threats of polarisation and social division”.  Perhaps as a response to this challenge from Maya Forstater, it has applied its approach to the gender wars....

    16th June 2022

  • The Equality Act 2010 protects people with gender-critical beliefs

    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

  • Misgendering is inherently transphobic? Yes. In any circumstances? Yes, unless that trans person as an individual has asked you to do so, to refer to them as men for their own safety. Is that Stonewall’s position? Yes.

    Highlights from Kirrin Medcalf’s evidence

    From our live notes of the evidence of the Allison Bailey v Stonewall Equality Limited and Garden Court Chambers Case – cross-examination of Kirrin Medcalf, 10th May 2022 (all screenshots are from documents in the public domain). Background: Kirrin Medcalf had been employed by Stonewall as its head of...

    16th May 2022

  • More than 1,500 women say NO to unexpected me in women's changing rooms

    Yes, sex DOES matter in changing rooms

    Following our blog post, more than 1,500 customers wrote to Monsoon to tell them why female-only changing rooms are important. Here’s one letter: “Dear Monsoon,What on earth are you thinking? Please get a sense of proportion here. The vast majority of your customers are female and will not take...

    13th May 2022

  • Union proposes boundaries on gender-critical speech

    Union to vote on putting “boundaries” on gender-critical thought in the civil service

    The FDA is the trade union for managers and professionals in public service. It includes the most senior civil servants and specialists such as lawyers and statisticians. Delegates at tomorrow’s annual conference will be considering a motion that would put “boundaries” on gender-critical speech and adopt the position that...

    11th May 2022

  • "We recommend the simplest, clearest, most neutral and most coherent approach reporting based on sex."

    Sex Matters’ advice to companies on the FCA’s new reporting requirements

    Last week, we reported that the Financial Conduct Authority had issued new rules about its requirements for listed companies to report on the proportion of women on corporate boards, scrapping its earlier proposal for this to be based purely on gender self-identification. The new regulations let companies choose whether to report...

    29th April 2022

  • Sex matters in changing rooms

    A story was reported in the media last week about Charlie, a “non-binary teenager”, being excluded from the fitting rooms of the women’s clothing retailer Monsoon in Birmingham. According to the report, Charlie (for avoidance of doubt, a young man) was told to leave the cubicle and then the...

    20th April 2022

  • Financial regulator scraps self-ID plan

    Financial Conduct Authority says corporate boards can use sex not gender

    The Financial Conduct Authority has issued new rules requiring listed companies to report on the proportion of women on corporate boards, scrapping its earlier proposal to require this to be based on gender self-identification. 439 people and organisations (over 80% of respondents) raised the issue of gender vs sex...

    20th April 2022

  • What does it take to get into Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index?

    Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index (WEI) has had a revamp, with new “gold”, “silver” and “bronze” awards. Are these medals anything to be proud of?

    25th February 2022

  • The Insolvency Service is the latest organisation to leave Stonewall

    Government organisation leaves Stonewall over concerns about impartiality and cost

    The government’s Insolvency Service is the latest organisation to leave Stonewall, stating in its internal communications: “Unfortunately, there are concerns around impartiality and upon review, we found that the contract did not represent value for money.” The Insolvency Service joins a growing list of companies and organisations who have...

    10th February 2022

  • “Should UCL subscribe to programmes and submit to an evaluation scheme that are politically and ideologically contested?”

    Why UCL decided to leave Stonewall

    UCL (University College London) has published the documents about its decision not to re-join Stonewall.

    1st February 2022

  • Principles for clarity and respect

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is planning to release new guidance on single-sex services imminently. To support this Sex Matters is publishing two briefings. The first one sets out principles for clarity and respect for single-sex services. From everyday facilities such as toilets and changing rooms to...

    28th January 2022

  • Getting it right: diversity and inclusion

    The business risk of misaligned D&I

    Sex Matters in the City

    16th December 2021

  • Exposing disinformation about Kathleen Stock

    The intensification of targeting of Professor Kathleen Stock attracted public attention to the long-term campaign against her, and to the larger issue of academic freedom. Claims have been circulating which seek to discredit her and those who support her. We assess each one.

    25th October 2021

  • A concerning response to the academics’ letter

    Signatories to our letter addressed to Baroness Kishwer Falkner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission have received correspondence criticising their decision to sign it, some of which we consider coercive, threatening or discriminatory.

    23rd October 2021

  • The Sex Matters guide to: Pronouns at work

    Pronouns at work

    You often ask us what you should do when a workplace asks you to ‘state your pronouns’, in your email signature or during introductions in meetings. We explain the laws surrounding the issue and what to do if this new ritual makes you uncomfortable.

    19th October 2021

  • Sex matters in the City

    The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator for the financial services sector in the UK. They are proposing to set new rules to encourage big companies to have more “female” directors on their boards. The new regulations would cover over 1000 firms, employing tens of millions of people, and...

    19th October 2021

  • Academics write to the EHRC

    In the face of ongoing harassment and discrimination against university staff and students because of their beliefs on sex and gender 240 academics have written to Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chair of the EHRC asking for the EHRC to undertake a “Reindorf Review” for the higher education sector. Download the...

    16th October 2021

  • The EHRC must step up and provide clarity on single-sex services

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission is consulting on its strategic plan for 2022–2025. We have made a submission in the form of a letter to the incoming head of the EHRC, Marcial Boo. Sex is one of the nine protected characteristics for which the EHRC is responsible. Fostering...

    5th October 2021

  • Ofcom bows out of the Stonewall Champions scheme – but read the small print

    Sex Matters has recently learnt that Ofcom is leaving the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme because of concerns that remaining a member “could harm perceptions of Ofcom’s impartiality”. Ofcom, the communications regulator, has been a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme since 2007, spending over £12,000 in 2019 and...

    25th August 2021

  • 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

  • "I hold a knife to your throat"

    Gender studies and sexualised threats

    Students of Gender Studies at the London School of Economics are taught to view sexualised threats against women in public life (if dressed up in the language of “queer”) as something to applaud.

    26th July 2021

  • Employers: consider Stonewall risk

    Should I stay or should I go? At least 40 organisations that we know of have left Stonewall including the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice, Ofsted and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Anglian Water Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Care Commissioning Group Cabinet Office Cancer Research UK...

    7th July 2021

  • Laughed at, then listened to

    Sex Matters Anonymous: How I got braver.

    27th June 2021

  • Cover of the report: Leadership Starts with the Law

    The Reindorf Review: a wake-up call for universities

    In May 2021 the University of Essex published a review by barrister Akua Reindorf concerning the “deplatforming” of two academics because of their “gender critical” views. The university apologised to the two academics and is working to remedy the deeply concerning issues raised by the review. Sex Matters has...

    23rd June 2021

  • Beyond the rainbow: a view from inside the civil service

    Sex Matters Anonymous: A gay civil servant speaks.

    18th June 2021

  • The Royal Academy and Belief Discrimination

    Sex Matters has written to the Royal Academy about Jess de Wahls. You can download our letter. Jess de Wahls is a textile artist. Her work tackles feminism, misogyny and fetishism. She has expressed her gender-critical views, most notably in an essay she posted in 2019, and since then...

    17th June 2021

  • A letter to Fawcett

    The “Forstater” judgement clarifying that gender critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act will have far reaching implications. Here we write to Fiona MacTaggart, Chair of the Fawcett Society.

    16th June 2021

  • 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

  • Truth and reconciliation

    How should the public sector leave the Stonewall Champions Scheme?

    6th June 2021

  • Oxford’s submission to Stonewall

    We are pleased to announce that Michael Biggs, Associate Professor of Sociology at St Cross College, Oxford University, is joining the Sex Matters Board of Directors. Professor Biggs has written this post, as well as a letter to Professor Louise Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, calling...

    6th June 2021

  • 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

  • Response to mySociety

    mySociety, the organisation that runs the “What Do They Know” freedom of information platform has written a post following complaints about our #dontsubmittoStonewall FOI project with Legal Feminist. Their post and our response is below. Dear mySociety  #DontSubmitToStonewall FOIA campaign  We are the two groups involved in this campaign:...

    26th May 2021

  • EHRC and Stonewall logos splitting

    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

  • 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

  • Watching the watchdogs

    The job of the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) is to hold Government to account on equality law and policy, particularly the Equality Act 2010. It also scrutinises the equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Committee has received over 2,000 submissions in its current inquiry...

    6th April 2021

  • The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education

    Guest blog post by Professors Alice Sullivan and Judith Suissa

    25th March 2021

  • Huddersfield University apologises for “transphobic tweets” investigation

    Huddersfield university has been forced to apologise and pay compensation to a PhD student after they subjected him to a lengthy disciplinary investigation over “transphobic” tweets. The University investigated Jonny Best for six months after a fellow student made an anonymous complaint about things he had written online. Best,...

    7th March 2021

  • 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

  • Toilets – a place where sex matters

    The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is undertaking a technical review on increasing accessibility and provision of toilets for men and women. We submitted a 60 page briefing . The submission is long, because the issue of who can use which toilets has become overly complicated and...

    19th February 2021

Other resources

Publications