Gscene News Archive

A month after Gscene reported on Brighton and Hove Council being named as a discriminatory employer by the Time Educational Supplement, the TUC has demanded an end to workplace discrimination against transgender people. This comes after the Council were found guilty of discriminating against a trans teacher by an employment tribunal.

Speaking at International Trans Memorial Day last month, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said:
“Discrimination, hatred and violence are part of the daily lives of far too many in Britain, and employers need to make sure all their employees are working in safe environments, free from discrimination. Unions need to step up campaigning for equality for trans people in the UK. We will shortly have a new Equality Act and the TUC will be pressing for complete protection for those people who identify with the opposite gender to the one that they were born with.”

Barber added:
“If Britain is to be a truly equal and inclusive society, we need to understand the issues facing trans people, and develop practical steps to end discrimination in workplaces and in society at large.”

According to the International Lesbian & Gay Association, in September 2008 alone at least 25 transgender people were murdered around the world, for no other reason than the fact that they were different. International Trans Memorial Day commemorates the victims of such crimes, and aims to bring them to public attention. The union organisation has worked with transgender union members and with representatives of the trans community to campaign for Britain’s equality laws to provide comprehensive protection from discrimination for trans people. But it points out: “Although there have been improvements to the law, there remain gaps and widespread exemptions that leave trans people without full protection.”