A revised version of the Equal Treatment Bench Book is out.

It’s interesting from the perspective of those of us who manifest our belief that sex matters.

judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl… Disappointing in fact.

This is novel interpretation of Forstater. And in my view it is incorrect.

Mayor Andy Burnham

“For too long, women and girls have had to put up with behaviours in public spaces that have made them feel uncomfortable, frightened or threatened.” manchesterworld.uk/news/the-probl… In which case I am sure he will understand objections to granting Hooters, a restaurant which styles itself as a venue where sexual objectification of women is the USP

Here are some of the urban dictionary entries for “hooters”

If your reaction to the new EHRC guidance on single sex guidance is that it should be thrown in the bin.

Then this reveals something of your attitude to women and single sex spaces... Or if you are CEO of a Women’s Foundation Trust and you decide to follow your friend’s advice to ignore the EHRC’s expert guidance on single sex spaces....

I’d have hoped you would have taken a minute to ask your legal team to undertake due diligence.

A personal highlight from the new U.K. Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on single sex services is that it will overturn the original sexist guidance.

Neither sex should be expected to conform to sexist stereotypes in how they present There is no correlation between dress sense and sex.

To make a link between the two, when women are socially pressured into feminine presentation in uncomfortable and often impractical clothing is intensely sexist.

Sex and gender issues in the workplace might seem difficult to navigate but the Forstater decision has created a useful blueprint.

building.co.uk/sex-gender-and… 1. Prioritising one religion over others can get employees into hot water, the same applies to gender critical beliefs.

All protected beliefs and protected characteristics have to be treated equally.

#MayaAppeal

Ben Cooper’s closing submissions in Maya’s appeal against the original Employment Tribunal Judgment (that her beliefs are not worthy of respect in a democratic society) are playing on my mind this evening.

I thought maybe they should play on your mind too... Ben Cooper QC submitted that no one disputes that gender identity beliefs meet the Grainger criteria for section 10 of the Equality Act

(Translation: those people who believe in gender identity are protected from discrimination)

I have been accused of “bad faith” by some of the great and the good in legal circles. Possibly the greatest and the best in fact.

Why?

Because I believe that sex matters. The EHRC submission today in front of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the #MayaAppeal was that Maya’s belief - one which I share - is one that the Tribunal should have concluded was a protected belief.

Single Sex Spaces and Sex Based Rights

1. Sex is a protected characteristic in the EqA2010. It is defined as being either male or female.

Everyone has a birth sex and a legal sex. Mostly they match. A small number of people change their legal sex. 2. In order to provide single sex spaces it is necessary to discriminate on the basis of sex. Men must be barred from entry into women’s spaces.

Sex and Gender Pay Gap Reporting (GPGR)

GPGR originates from s 78 EqA2020 which talks about the differences in pay between male and female employees The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 was enacted in April 2017 to kick s78 into gear.

It refers to male and female pay but doesn’t define either.

(Which ought to be unnecessary as S212 EqA provides definitions)

Equality Impact Assessments and Sex Based Rights

I read the Scottish Government’s Draft Equality Impact Assessment so that you don’t have to; They think the GRA Policy is not designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination.

That’s ironic since changing sex means that discrimination claims on the basis of sex are erased

Equal Pay is a Sex-based Right

We still live in sexist times. BBC presenters paid less than their male equals. Female youth squad footballers thousands less per hour than their male counterparts.

#EqualPay
#ThinkAboutIt You can only sue for equal pay if you are paid less than someone of the opposite sex and you are doing equal work.

The Equality Act tells us it’s based on sex. Not on fairness, not on gender and not on a “glint in the eye”

#LetsTalkAboutSex

Sex Exceptions and Gender Recognition

The Scottish Government says that opening up state mandated gender recognition on a self certification basis will not change women’s rights.

They are wrong.

#gavel #StockImage Current law is that where an individual has not aquired certified and state-mandated legal sex status then service providers may treat them as their born sex.

So women have female-only provision.