UK equality commission: Transgenders CAN BE DENIED access to single-sex spaces

04/07/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

The United Kingdom’s equality body has issued guidance stating that male-to-female (MTF) transgenders can be denied access to spaces meant for certain sex only.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued new guidelines on April 4 that sought to outline “the lawful application of sex-based discrimination regarding the provision of services to men and women … under the [British] Equality Act [of] 2010.” It said: “[There] are circumstances where a lawfully established separate or single-sex provider can exclude, modify or limit access to their service for trans people.”

“The Equality Act also allows a service provider to provide separate services in a different way for each sex. [Companies] can only provide a separate service differently [for two reasons.] First, if a joint service for people of both sexes would be less effective. Second, if the extent to which the service is required by one sex makes it impractical to provide the service other than separately and differently for each sex.”

EHRC outlined several instances where MTF transgenders can be refused access. These include areas used for “special care, supervision or attention,” such as single-sex hospital wards and nursing homes. Changing rooms – including dressing rooms and bathrooms – are also included as they “are likely to be used by more than one person at the same time, and a woman might reasonably object to the presence of a man and vice versa.” (Related: Transgender mob howls at “men only” campground for homosexuals.)

Group counseling for female victims of sexual assault and refuges for domestic abuse victims are also permitted to exclude MTF transgenders, the EHRC added. It argued that females present in those two scenarios “are likely to be traumatized by the presence of a person who is biologically male.”

“When rights between groups compete, [it is the EHRC’s] duty as an independent regulator to help providers of services and others to balance the needs of different users in line with the law. Organizations are legally allowed to restrict services to single-sex in some circumstances, [but] they need help to navigate this sensitive area. That is why we have published this guidance – to clarify the law and uphold everyone’s rights,” said EHRC Chair Kishwer Falkner.

EHRC guidance denounced by some, lauded by many

The April 4 EHRC guidance applies to England, Scotland and Wales – but not in Northern Ireland, as the Equality Commission for Northern Island oversees the matter there.

However, Northern Care Alliance National Health Service (NHS) Group Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Tara Hewitt did not take too kindly to the EHRC’s guidelines. “She” slammed the ruling as “transphobic” and exhorted her colleagues to ignore it.

Hewitt, an MTF transgender, said: “This guidance is highly likely to be found unlawful at judicial review and is incredibly transphobic. I urge my equality professional colleagues to give this guidance the credibility it deserves by putting it in [the trash can] and [continuing] as usual.”

But many others lauded the guidelines issued by the commission.

Susan Smith of the group For Women Scotland welcomed the guidance during an April 5 appearance on GB News. She, however, noted that the need for EHRC to step in when it comes to single-sex spaces is “an indication of how far [pro-LGBT] organizations have completed this institutional capture and managed to reframe … and reinterpret the law.”

Kat Barber of Sex Not Gender Nurses and Midwives, meanwhile, said the reactions from Hewitt and other NHS equality and diversity officials shows “what their attitude is to women wanting single-sex care.”

“What concerns me is the attitude displayed toward the EHRC by NHS equality and diversity teams. The EHRC [has] considered that there is an argument for women’s rights and set out that single-sex exemptions need to be considered.”

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Watch this video of a woman complaining about the presence of an MTF transgender in a female-only spa below.

This video is from the Truthchannel channel on Brighteon.com.