Scottish Trans and Equality Network have written to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) following the announcement that they plan to restrict access to female and male toilets across the parliamentary estate on the basis of “biological sex”.
They described the decision as being “rushed, unworkable and exclusionary”.
The SPCB said they had taken the decision after the Supreme Court judgement last month in the case of For Women Scotland vs. Scottish Ministers on the meaning of the words “sex”, “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act 2010, and an interim update produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about the implications of that judgement.
In their letter, Scottish Trans and Equality Network point out that the interim update from the EHRC was produced without any consultation, including with the UK Government or Parliament. The EHRC have announced that they will consult on an update to their Statutory Code of Practice following the judgment shortly.
They also ask if the SPCB have considered how the change in policy will be practically enforced without severely impacting on the privacy and dignity of all people working at or visiting the Parliament, whether they are trans or not.
Finally, they make clear their view that this change will make trans people feel significantly less welcome at Parliament. Trans people, Scottish Trans say, “have been using toilets in line with their gender identities across Scotland and the UK for decades”.
Scottish Trans adds “changes to policy and practice to restrict trans people’s access to facilities on the basis of their “biological sex” after the Supreme Court judgement will profoundly change trans people’s ability to participate in public life as who they truly are”.
Vic Valentine, Manager of Scottish Trans, said: “If banning trans women from women’s toilets and trans men from men’s toilets turns out to be a genuine requirement of the recent Supreme Court judgment once the Statutory Code of Practice is in place, then we do not expect Parliament to ignore or to flout the law. But we do expect parliamentarians to be honest and to show leadership when laws are clearly unjust, and cause harm to groups of people.
“We cannot understand why this decision has been described as one that will bring “confidence, privacy and dignity” to everyone. It will not do so for trans people. It will exclude us and segregate us in the heart of Scotland’s democracy.”
