Transgender Action Online

SarahEL

Administrator

From: Minnesota

Registered: 2023-03-09

Posts: 170

Website

Will changes to the Equalities Act 2010 effect me obtaining a GRC?

I personally would not think it would, as the GRC was ratified into law under different bills than the Equalities act 2010.. so another bill or amendment would have to be passed.

I do believe that the talk around changing the EA2010 is all because some politicians are worried that the amendments that Scotland proposed will become law eventually across the whole of the UK.. it is certainly only the start of the push for these reforms, and like gay marriage.. it takes a while to win the minds of folk, but eventually it happens.

The 'biological sex' clause is already there, and for people without a GRC this has no bearing on you at all.. you should always be treated as your biological sex, on your birth certificate - as per the guidelines in the EA2010. What happens with this law, once you get a GRC then you are treated as female.. not trans, not anything.. and so it becomes a crime to exclude you from places that the EA2010 could of been used .. this is things like rape crisis centres and female only medical practices.. the EA2010 does not allow someone to ban you from using a bathroom or a changing room, unless it is linked to one of these 'sensitive' areas they outline. Whilst the wording of the act is not specific in actually what areas are excluded, it does say (sic) 'it has to be shown that a detrimental effect on the other members would be caused by allowing persons of the opposite biological sex to attend'...  That is quite a hard call and easily challenged in court. So far I think only a few rape crisis centres and some religious meetings even enforce this.

Therefore, obtaining a GRC actually makes even these few areas accessesable to a person such as myself. I am within my legal right within the UK to have this access with the full backing of the law behind me..  So, imagine the uproar if obtaining a GRC becomes the matter of simply sending off a form.. anyone could get one and so, anyone could access these delicate gendered places.

This is one of the reasons the amendments to the GRC in Scotland was blocked and I believe why it is the Equalities Act is now trying to be strengthened..

In the long view of this all.. it really does not matter that much. The number of people who transitioned to live in their opposite gender full time is a very small percentage of the whole population, much smaller than the amount of people with gender issues..  Of those very small transitioned minority, an even smaller number would want access to the excluded areas.. and there are alternatives available as well that do not discriminate behind an act of parliament.

Personally I do think there is a difference between someone who occasionally wears opposite gendered clothing and talks about gender in therapy.. to someone who has changed their name and gender markers and lives full time in their gender. There is a cut off, somewhere between those two extremes and finding that happy medium is fraught with problems. This is what the GRC is about, it is gatekeeping.. it is a pat on the head to say you are man or woman enough to go into society... but then maybe society needs that? eroding the gatekeeping is something I want to do.. making it easier for transsexuals to get their rights and recognition is a must.. At the same time, however, there is a need for female only spaces (which in my mind includes transitioned females) and how that works is a minefield. Better maybe to do away with all gender markers, gender designated bathrooms and changing rooms, meetings, clubs and religious stuff..

Make it illegal to ban anyone from anything on their gender alone and we solve this issue.. maybe that is for the next generation|???

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Sarahel-slang term: Coming from the Gewada region language in Ethiopia
-when two people are very close friends, it is said to be Sarahel
Ex. Those two really love each other, they are sarahel