Open Letter to Jo White MP on the EHRC Draft Code of Practice

As residents in Bassetlaw, we are calling on our MP, Jo White, to support Early Day Motion 240, tabled by Nadia Whittome MP, which calls for the EHRC Draft Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to be disapproved. The Draft Code was laid before Parliament on 21 May and is due to become statutory guidance on 30 June through a negative procedure, unless MPs take action to stop it.

We are deeply concerned that the Draft Code encourages approaches that would make it easier for local businesses, public bodies, healthcare providers, schools, charities, and community organisations to exclude trans people from everyday spaces and services. Rather than providing much-needed clarity, the Draft Code risks encouraging the implementation of blanket exclusionary policies and creating confusion for organisations seeking to comply with the law. The burden of that confusion will fall on trans people, who are likely to face increased scrutiny, exclusion, and barriers to participation in public life.

In practice, many trans people will be placed in an impossible situation, in which they will have to choose between avoiding the use of public spaces and services altogether or risk experiencing confrontation, humiliation, and the possible forced disclosure of their transgender status in order to use the service or enter the public space in question.

We also wish to highlight another serious concern: the impact that the EHRC guidance could have on service providers and other organisations active within local communities across Bassetlaw. Indeed, local businesses, charities, community groups, healthcare providers, and public bodies would all find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to interpret and implement guidance that encourages the exclusion of transgender people, even when they wish to be trans-inclusive. Such a situation would almost certainly lead to greater confusion for service providers and greater discrimination against transgender residents.

We do not believe that these measures are either necessary or proportionate, particularly given that there is no credible evidence to suggest that transgender people pose any particular threat to the safety of women and girls. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of violent crimes that are committed against women are perpetrated by cisgender men. Conflating the existence of transgender identities with systemic male violence does nothing to improve women’s safety and instead distracts from the real work needed to tackle abuse, harassment, and misogyny in our community.

Trans people are part of our communities here in Bassetlaw. They are our friends, neighbours, family members, and colleagues. They deserve the same safety, dignity, and access to public life as everyone else. At a time when trans people are facing increasing hostility, Parliament should be working to strengthen equality protections, not to weaken them.

The Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers has made clear the need for Parliament to provide greater clarity in this area of equalities law. That clarification should come through the implementation of legislation, debated and scrutinised by parliamentarians, and grounded in the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is not appropriate to allow these ambiguities in the law to be filled by guidance that risks entrenching an exclusionary interpretation of the Equality Act 2010. Parliament has a responsibility to provide moral leadership on this issue; it must not allow gaps in the law to be used in a way that disadvantages an already marginalised group.

As our member of Parliament for Bassetlaw, we ask Jo White MP to stand with her transgender constituents, to add her name to Early Day Motion 240, and to make clear that she will not support the implementation of exclusionary and segregationist guidance, to the detriment of the trans community.

Signing this letter
This letter is open to residents of the Bassetlaw parliamentary constituency only.

You can also contact Jo White directly. Personal emails from constituents can have a significant impact. A template that can be adapted and sent in your own words is available at: https://equalrecognition.eaction.org.uk/rejectthecode