The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) LGBTQ+ staff network is refusing to march under the organisation’s banner at Pride after being told the regulator would be designating office single-sex facilities, such as toilets, as based on “biological sex”.

In an email seen by PinkNews, members of InsideOut said that in the wake of discussions with senior leaders, the steering group “cannot, in good conscious, organise and support the [financial regulator’s] attendance at any Pride celebrations this year”.

The FCA, which regulates financial services and markets in the UK, was included in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list last year and has previously published content about the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The decision by the staff network comes after a post was shared by management on the internal staff intranet, which outlined the change in policy – labelled an “ill-thought out, knee-jerk reaction”, and a subsequent meeting between staff and senior leadership which led one employee to say it made trans people working there feel like “freaks”.

In the email, a spokesperson for InsideOut said: “[We] do not believe we can march under the FCA’s logo and promote inclusivity at and on behalf of the FCA”, following the decision to update internal policies in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s ruling about the definition of “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act and subsequent interim guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

“We know for many this may be disappointing, many feel the need more than ever to attend Pride and stand alongside the community protesting the current decisions being made. So, although we will not be marching under the FCA’s logo, we have taken the decision to organise attendance groups for our members. We will be attending as individuals, united in our support of the transgender community.”

The Supreme Court issued its verdict in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd vs The Scottish Ministers, in April. In an 88-page judgement, the UK’s top judges ruled that the words “sex” and “woman” referred to a biological woman and biological sex – specifically excluding trans people.

In response, the EHRC, the UK’s equalities watchdog, issued interim guidance instructing organisations, bodies and services to ban trans people from single-sex facilities which matched their gender and, in some cases, also from those matching their “biological sex”.

The court’s verdict was predicted to have wide-ranging implications for the trans community and within weeks, the Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Scottish parliament took steps to implement the EHRC guidance, including implementing bans on trans women in female spaces and from women’s activities.  

Alongside email evidence, PinkNews has also seen the post shared on the FCA’s internal intranet system which outlined plans to prevent trans people entering single-sex spaces.

Acknowledging it is a “sensitive issue”, the post said: “Based on the Supreme Court ruling, [the] ERHC update, and having reviewed our existing provision of toilet and washing facilities across all three offices, we have decided to update our internal guidance to be clear that our single-sex toilets and showers should be used by colleagues of that biological sex.”

The post went on to say accessible toilets would be made “available more widely” for trans, pregnant and disabled members of staff. Described as an “initial solution”, the policy will be reviewed over six weeks with feedback from staff and staff networks.

One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told PinkNews the post “caused a lot of anger and frustration” and was published without consultation with the LGBTQ+ network.

A meeting was held later between the senior leadership team and staff, where employees could share their views on the changes.

Senior managers were said to have sat in “stunned silence” as staff members shared their views candidly with them.

One employee allegedly told the SLT directly that the change in internal guidance “makes people from the trans and non-binary community feel like ‘freaks’” and said the senior management “have made it clear that they consider trans women who work at the FCA are, in fact, men”.

Staff asked for clarity about how a “biological” understanding of single-sex spaces would be enforced – such as what the reporting system would be or if they would have to self-police colleagues – but received “no answers to any of these points”, the anonymous employee went on to claim.

An FCA spokesperson said: “This is a sensitive issue and we understand it is impacting colleagues. Being a diverse and inclusive organisation remains of paramount importance to us. In light of the Supreme Court ruling, the EHRC interim update and existing facilities in all offices, we concluded we needed to change our approach.

“We did this promptly to give clarity to colleagues on which facilities to use, which in itself offers individuals confidence, privacy and dignity.

“We respect the decision some colleagues have taken not to represent the FCA at Pride. We want to work with our LGBTQIA+ community to identify ways we can continue to create an inclusive working environment where everyone feels valued and respected.”

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