Supreme Court Ruling on Sex in the Equality Act: Consultation on EHRC Draft Code of Practice

Florence Oulds from Scottish Trans shares information about the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Consultation on their draft Code of Practice for Organisations, services and spaces, including information for organisations who wish to respond.

'Following the Supreme Court judgement on sex in the Equality Act in April, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are currently consulting on a new draft Code of Practice (CoP), which is statutory guidance on how those running services and organisations can do so while complying with equalities legislation.

However, the changes proposed by the EHRC focus almost entirely on how trans people can be lawfully excluded from services and spaces, and gives little to no guidance on how and when we can be included.

If there are any organisations in the advice network who have previously run, currently run or would like to run trans inclusive services, then they may be interested in replying to the consultation and letting the EHRC know any ways in which the code complicates their ability to comply with the law and still respect everyone’s human rights and dignity.

The consultation closes just before midnight on Monday June 30th, and it can take around half an hour or so to respond to, but you can save your answers and come back to it later.

To learn more about the Supreme Court ruling and the EHRC consultation head to our website which provides an overview of the main issues for Trans People as well as guidance for individuals or organisations wishing to respond. It also includes a tool for those wishing to write to their MP.

Finally, if any organisations have any questions or would like to discuss their response, please feel free to get in touch at Florence Oulds and I’d be happy to chat.'