The extraordinary bit in the GRA is section 22 which makes it a *criminal offence* for someone who, in the course of their job, has acquired information about someone having changed their legal sex to share that information.
There are very few exceptions - such if that person has agreed to the disclosure of the information, a court has ordered it, it is for the purpose of investigating crime or for the purpose of social security or pensions.
How this works in everyday situations where #sexmatters - such as in your relationship with healthcare professionals, in safeguarding, and in single sex services was never considered.
In practice confidentiality about sex breaks information and decision making systems
Making information about someone's sex - which is often clearly knowable *confidential* and a criminal offence to reveal is an extreme intervention by the state.
It was perhaps thought justifiable when related to very few people - akin to going into witness protection.
The idea that this level of state enforced secrecy about a person's sex should be given to anyone who declares themself transgender (or non-binary) on the basis of a simple self-declaration is...... lunacy.
Doing this without first having worked out what it means for teachers & children, doctors & their patients, medical information systems, carers & vulnerable people, social workers & foster care, police officers & suspects, security guards prisoners would be utterly irresponsible
The climate of fear around talking about this is such that no established organisation has dared to publish any serious analysis about how secrecy-about-sex interacts with systems of safeguarding, consent and care for vulnerable people.
The silence of women's organisations, human rights experts and regulators has been the scariest thing.
Like everyone who has worked so hard, and at such great personal cost to have a serious public debate about this, I have everything crossed that @trussliz will not announce a move to self ID.
But even if self-ID is not brought in in law, it has already been brought in in practice, with institutions treating people's sex as unspeakable and unrecordable information.
- She posted a list of the 9 protected characteristics from the Equality Act and highlighting that gender expression, gender identity and gender are not PCs.
She shared a link to "my body is me" by @RooneyRach
I went to this yesterday, with my pal @charlesworth102
Professor Cooper was presenting on the findings of the £0.75m @ESRC funding research project.
We were underwhelmed.
As @_JVigo wrote at the start of the project in 2019 it did not define what it meant by gender or sex and consistently demonstrated a lack of understanding of bodies.
In 2024 that hadn't changed. Prof Cooper slipped between "gender" and "sex" throughout
The project hadn't delivered on its ambitious goals of offering policy and regulatory recommendations and influencing govt departments and shadow ministers.
Hey @hopenothate @lowles_nick remember in 2022 when you you smeared LGB Alliance in your "state of hate" report. HereSNP MP & Chair of the Human Rights Joint Committee praiss LGB alliance & talks about how branding opponents hate groups shuts down debate.
Judge said "The effect of police turning up..because of his political opinions must not be underestimated. To do so wld be to undervalue a cardinal democratic freedom. In this country we have never had a Cheka, Gestapo or Stasi. We have never lived in an Orwellian society."
MCloud was appointed "as the youngest and only second female ‘Master’" to be appointed to the Queen’s Bench division of the High Court in 2010.
McCloud was also on the Committee that writes the Equal Treatment Bench Book
In 2020 Mccloud spoke at this event in aid of Stonewall.
"Ensuring that all voices of minority/oppressed groups are heard" sounds nice, but it often means shutting down dissent as harassment.
In any case judges might have all kinds of characteristics but presenting themselves as being part of a community with responsibilities to that community undermines confidence in impartiality.
I complained about this but it was rejected as out of time.