Equality Watchdog Must Be Allowed to Advise, Government Says, After Transgender Groups Report It to UN

Birds fly past the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, in London on Feb. 1, 2017. Jack Taylor/Getty Images

The equality watchdog must be allowed to advise without intervention, the government said after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was put under a U.N. review following lobbying by transgender activist groups.

It comes after EHRC Chair Baroness Falkner said the commission had been targeted by campaign groups led by Stonewall after it advised the government in April, backing the idea of defining “sex” as biological sex in the UK’s equality law.

As a result, the watchdog has been put under special review by the U.N.’s Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

Stonewall has also attempted to secure a special review last year before submitting evidence in September to GANHRI’s periodic review of the EHRC. In October, GANHRI re-accredited the British watchdog with an “A” rating.

If the EHRC loses its “A” accreditation status, it will lose independent participation rights at the U.N. Human Rights Council, its subsidiary bodies, and some U.N. General Assembly bodies and mechanisms, and the right to vote and hold governance positions at GANHRI.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the Cabinet Office’s Equality Hub said: “This review is a matter for the EHRC. However, it is right that the commission upholds its statutory and legal duty to independently advise the government on the effectiveness of UK equality legislation without intervention.”

The EHRC provided advice to the government in April, saying the commission believes defining “sex” as biological sex in the Equality Act 2010 would provide clarification and reduce risks for employers, sports organisers, and other service users and providers.

There are nine “protected characteristics” under the Equality Act, including age, disability, race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, and pregnancy and maternity.

But under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, those who obtain a gender recognition certificate would have their acquired gender recognised as their legal sex, causing issues in many areas.

Baroness Falkner said the commissioners believe defining “sex” as biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act would “bring greater legal clarity” in eight areas such as data collection, single-sex spaces and sports, and helping “trans men” access female-specific supports and protections.

She also cited three areas where she said the change would be “more ambiguous or potentially disadvantageous” and transfer rights “from some trans women to some trans men.”

Stonewall

After the letter was published, Stonewall wrote to Katharina Rose, Geneva representative of GANHRI, on behalf of 30 LGBT activist groups, calling for a special review. The group accused the EHRC of lacking political independence, being politicised and captured at the board level, opposing “the creation of a system of gender recognition based on legal declaration,” opposing “the legislative protection of trans people from conversion practices,” and issuing guidance on access to single sex spaces, which the campaign group says “sought to enable greater exclusion of trans women,” who are born males.

Baroness Falkner said commissioners “absolutely refute” the assertion that they are “in cahoots” with the UK government, and their positions on sex and gender have “received support from parliamentarians across the party-political divides.”

Robbie de Santos, Stonewall’s director of communications and external affairs, said in a statement that the group “welcome[s] the Special Review ” and will “continue to support it with evidence.”

Reacting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Maya Forstater, co-founder and executive director of gender-critical group Sex Matters, said what Stonewall is “really concerned about” is that the “EHRC has become independent of Stonewall,” adding, “They used to be really close.”

Posting screenshots of emails obtained via Freedom of Information requests, Ms. Forstater said the watchdog and the charity had been working closely, particularly when David Isaac, who had served as the chair of Stonewall, was chair of the EHRC.

The EHRC, along with other government departments and public bodies, were members of Stonewall.

According to 2021 research, the LGBT charity charged some 300 public bodies over £1 million a year in membership fees and payments for other programmes.

Departments began severing ties with the group after it reportedly gave organisations controversial advice such as replacing the word “mother” with “parent who has given birth.”

According to Sex Matters, Baroness Falkner told the group in 2021 that the EHRC had told Stonewall in March that year that the watchdog would no longer renew its Stonewall membership.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Stonewall for comment.