A pro-trans motion was passed at the town hall yesterday (16th July), with councillors criticising the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) guidance on the use of single sex services and spaces, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
Waltham Forest Council will introduce mandatory equality training for staff and councillors as the Green-run administration passed a pro-trans motion that declared “trans women are women and trans men are men”.
The Supreme Court ruled last April that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer strictly to biological sex assigned at birth.
Though the Act protects transgender people from discrimination, the ruling means that a person born a biological male cannot obtain the same legal protections as women by changing their gender with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
At a full council meeting last night (16th July), the Greens – which control the council with a majority of 31 out of 60 seats – passed a motion that criticised the potentially “invasive” nature of asking people their biological sex and committed to believing “trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities are valid”.
“This is consistent with, and not in conflict with, the council’s commitment to equality for all residents,” the motion read.
Going forward, the corporate director of culture and workforce development will “ensure that trans awareness and inclusion form part of mandatory equalities training for all staff and elected members”.
The council’s HR policies, including on name, prefix, and pronoun use, facilities access, and dress codes, will also be updated to “reflect best practice”.
All new and refurbished council-owned buildings and leisure centres will also include non-gendered toilets and changing rooms “where practicable”.
Asking someone “intrusive questions” about biological sex is a “potential breach of data protection legislation, their privacy rights, and human dignity, and is unlikely to be necessary and justified in most ordinary circumstances,” the motion adds.
During a council-wide debate, the Greens said it was a “very niche issue” and joked that residents would expect the first motion from the party “to be about nature”.
In a later statement, shared via the council leader Paul Perkins’ weekly newsletter, Cllr Perkins and cabinet member for finance Em Dean said: “We believe that misinterpretation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) current guidance on the use of single sex services and spaces – published earlier this year following a supreme court ruling on the definition of sex – presents a significant risk of exclusion for transgender people. The government’s own equality impact assessment admits as much.”
The motion received cross-party support, with Labour councillor Miriam Mirwitch said she saw transwomen as “my sisters and not a threat to my safety”.
Conservative group leader Emma Best, however, said the Tories could not support the motion.
Cllr Best said she was “unconvinced” it would “stack up legally” and the motion “felt like a mish-mash” between the monitoring officer’s advice and the Greens.
She also pointed to constraints on funding that could lead to “money being wasted” on ultimately ineffective policies, adding that “DEI [diversity, equality and inclusivity] training isn’t something we agree with”.
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