Thread by @stephenwhittle

What astonishes me is how little, GC/‘Sex realist’ activists actually had/have understood the law

The SCt Judges confirmed that ‘sex’ discrimination is based on
- the biological differences
OR
- the perceived biological differences
between people

https://twitter.com/sharrond62/status/1912529181906276521

2. Since inception, the EqAct has had an exemption for Single & Seperate Sex Service Providers, which allows/allowed Service providers to exclude TP from A service, provided:

a. It is a genuinely Single or Seperate Sex Service (S/SSS)

b. there is a legitimate reason …

3. … for the exclusion of Trans people

c. The exclusion of TP is a proportionate response to that legitimate reason

For example:
a Sexual Assault Referral Service which sees victims individually & seperately, would struggle to say it had a legitimate reason to exclude..,

2. … either a trans man or woman who was a SA victim, as there could be no legitimate reason claimed such as female victims don’t want to see ‘male’ or men who are victims (whether a TW/ TM) as it could be triggeringfor them, IF victims don’t meet.

The EqAct doesn’t only…

3. … protect women & men from discrimination BECAUSE of their ‘sex’
But as the Judges very clearly pointed out
It also protects TW & TM because of
- their sex &/or
- their perceived sex, &/or
- their undergoing or having undergone a process of gender reassignment. ..,

4. GC/‘SR’ activists are making a huge song & dance about having gained NOTHING

Consider applications for a place on a Scottish Public Board;

An excluded TW can claim discrimination because they are perceived to be a woman
Or because of their gender reassignment …

5. An excluded TM can claim discrimination because they are perceived to be a man
Or because of their gender reassignment

A TP is not required to disclose they are ‘not’ a wo/man as per some strict interpretation of the words man/male/woman/female in the Eq Act s11 .,,

6. Service Providers (SPs) get to decide who they provide services to, provided they do not discriminate because a person has a protected characteristic

If a trans person is excluded from a S/SS service, & makes a claim that this was discriminatory ...

6. … the SP may present a defence which shows

- it is a genuine S/SS service
- that there is a legitimate reason for excluding a TP (not just that the person is T)
AND
- the exclusion was proportionate

So what have these hateful women achieved - a clarification…

7. … of the law, as it already existed from the inception of the EqAct

NOT a change to the law

Any TP who is excluded from any space should ask -

Is it a genuinely single/ seperate sex service?

eg do users have to share toilet stalls/changing spaces?

Is there a …

8. … legitimate reason for their exclusion

eg. Is it legitimate to say it’s because people don’t want to see you in here

Is the exclusion a proportionate response

eg. Is it proportionate to exclude a TP from a changing room when only 1 user out of 400 complains.

9. Nothing has changed - TP are still entitled to use S/SS Services if their exclusion is not legitimate nor proportionate

Not every supposedly S/SS service is a S/SS service eg loos cannot be claimed to be for the exclusive use of non-TP, as they are not shared spaces & …

10. … it would not be legitimate or proportionate to exclude TP as TP have been safely & quietly using loos for as long as they have existed.

The law has clarified SPs cannot use this clarification to discriminate just because a person is Trans

@threadreaderapp unroll