Just whose side is the Equality and Human Rights Commission on?

2022-04-04T23:07:54Z

The EHRC exists to protect people with any of the 5 protected characteristics: religion, race, disability, gay or trans. Yet today EHRC published guidance making "I just don't like that kind of person" a valid reason to exclude trans people from services.

Trans people can be excluded from single-sex services if ‘justifiable’, says EHRC

Over and above EHRC being taken over by TERFs (which has been suspected by a while), there seems to be a major problem with the report; someone who's trans can't safely use opposite sex facilities, especially changing rooms, yet the reporting doesn't seem to suggest the report acknowledges that or requires it to be addressed.(Of course the Guardian's reporting on trans issue has been problematical for a while, but I don't expect any of the other dailies to be any better).

Also problematical with the EHRC report is it seems to explicitly place (fringe) religious dogma and anti-trans bigotry as more important than trans safety. That's hugely worrying for the future integrity of the Equality Act 2010 as it creates a precedent for undermining all the other protected characteristics,

If EHRC defines religion as a valid reason for excluding trans people from services, how long before someone tries to use it to justify excluding people with the other protected characteristics? I've literally had Christians tell me my disability is the mark of Satan....

Sadly EHRC has been on a solid downhill trajectory ever since it was created, with successive heads happily downgrading the protections of protected characteristic groups other than those they personally favour. And it looks like the Tory-appointed Baroness Falkner is up for finishing the job.

It's incredibly worrying that EHRC is allowing people who don't have a protected characteristic to exclude trans people from services simply because it might offend their dignity or whatever. "We don't what their sort around here" is the very reason we have EA2010, and the EHRC. By opening up an "I just don't like them" justification for not meeting EA2010's provisions for trans people, EHRC opens up a huge, steaming sinkhole under those protections for the other protected groups. And I honestly wonder if that isn't working as designed

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David Gillon

Just whose side is the Equality and Human Rights Commission on?

Trans people can be excluded from single-sex services if ‘justifiable’, says EHRC