Interim guidance published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision could become a “bigot’s charter”, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer writes exclusively for PinkNews.

We’re living in deeply divided times – with many of us fearful for our rights and our freedoms. For years, culture wars have whipped up a culture of hatred and fear against minority groups – and all too often, instead of standing against this rising tide, political leaders have leaned in to scapegoating and division.

In recent years, trans people have become one of the most vilified targets for these culture wars, with toxic ‘debates’ over bathrooms and genitals pushing hate crime against trans people to record levels, and leaving trans people fearful for their safety in public spaces. 

Now, a ruling from the Supreme Court, and subsequent guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), risk making life even harder. After the Supreme Court ruled that under the Equality Act, ‘woman’ refers only to so-called ‘biological women’, the EHRC put out interim guidance saying that trans people should not be allowed to use facilities or services that correspond with their gender – but also that trans people could, in some circumstances, also be barred from using those which correspond with their birth sex. 

The implications of these guidelines are deeply worrying. At best, trans people face having to out themselves in order to use facilities and services – which violates their right to privacy. At worst, this guidance will act as a bigot’s charter, unleashing vigilante harassment, intimidation and violence against trans people when they try to use facilities in public spaces – and of course this won’t be limited to trans people, but to anyone who doesn’t meet a stranger’s standard of how a man or woman should look, dress and act. 

I was also particularly distressed to see the guidance suggest that lesbian organisations or spaces wouldn’t be allowed to include trans people if they choose. To put this in context, non-trans lesbians are the group who tend to be the most supportive of trans people – and many lesbian groups, venues or organisations have been happily including trans women for many years. It feels heartbreaking that a state body could now mandate that they can no longer do so. 

It’s clear that the EHRC’s guidance was rushed and ill thought-through, and crucially that they did not consult with any trans people in producing it. I’ve called for it to be withdrawn, and replaced with something that takes into account the experiences and needs of everyone who will be affected. I’ve also been putting pressure on the government to spell out how they’ll guarantee trans people’s rights in the wake of the judgement, something which so far they have failed in appallingly, leaving trans people worried and scared. And if it emerges that new laws are needed to protect trans people’s basic rights, I won’t hesitate to push for them. 

But while we’re forced into a toxic debate about who uses what toilet – something trans people have just been getting on with for decades with no problem – I don’t want us to lose sight of the real issues facing all women, who have been badly let down by successive governments. Today mums are having to skip meals to feed their children – and yet this government refuses to scrap the cruel two-child benefit cap, keeping hundreds of thousands in poverty. Women are being left in unbearable pain by impossibly long waiting lists for gynaecological care. Chronic underfunding of refuges and domestic violence support is leaving victims and survivors without the resources and help they need. 

Shortly after the Supreme Court judgement was handed down, the British Transport Police announced that trans people will now be strip-searched according to their ‘biological sex’ rather than their gender. When I heard this news I couldn’t help thinking of the horrific stories of police officers abusing their power over women – like the case of Koshka Duff, who was left with PTSD after a degrading strip search, or the woman in Greater Manchester who was subjected to a ‘demeaning’ intimate body search after she reported that she’d been choked by her partner. I can only imagine the risk that trans women will be at from degrading or humiliating treatment during a strip search by a male officer.

Meanwhile, as some have pointed out, what’s to stop a predatory police officer claiming that he believes any given women is trans in order to strip search her? 

These legal and political restrictions over our bodies don’t keep any of us safe – trans or not, they put us at greater risk of harassment, violence, and interference by the state. My feminism is not about policing body parts or drawing divisions – it’s about fighting for a world where all of us have our needs met, where none of us are subject to violence or harm, and where we can all thrive. Along with all feminists and trans allies, that’s the world I’ll keep fighting for.

The post Carla Denyer: EHRC’s trans guidance is a bigot’s charter that makes all women less safe appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.