oasis norfolk

Probably like you, my heart sank when I learned that the EHRC guidance was going to finally become public on Thursday. Having read through it and looked at some of the legal commentary around it, including the position taken by the Good Law Project (The Code of Practice: what you need to know | Good Law Project), my response is: please don’t panic.

First of all, this guidance is not law; it is draft statutory guidance, that still has to go through Parliamentary scrutiny, and there remains scope for challenge, amendment and legal argument.

One practical thing we can all do is write to our MPs and ask them to ensure there is proper Parliamentary debate on this guidance, rather than allowing the government to pass through quietly without full scrutiny.

The guidance itself is primarily aimed at businesses and service providers in response to last year’s notorious Supreme Court ruling, rather than at individual Transgender and Gender Non Conforming people. It is largely about how organisations provide single-sex and mixed-sex spaces, and repeatedly refers to “proportionality” and practical accommodation.

Importantly, the Good Law Project argues that the EHRC has overstated how restrictive the law actually is. Transgender inclusive spaces can still be lawful under the Equality Act, and many organisations have been interpreting eatlier guidance far more harshly than may be required. The law in this area remains contested, and inevitably there will further court cases.

Where possible, organisations are being encouraged to provide alternative, gender-neutral or ‘ third gender’ facilities. Inevitably, in some places this may mean people being directed towards re-labelled disabled-access toilets, which many of us will understandably find frustrating and alienating. Personally I find this totally unacceptable, as such a policy will deny access to a toilet to people who really need accessible spaces. However, we also have be practical and above all safe, so Oasis will continue to provide ‘radar’ keys for the disabled-access toilets. If you would like a key, please just ask.

There are already examples of practical and inclusive solutions that work perfectly well. At the Nick Rayns Auditorium at the UEA, for example, the toilets are arranged with urinals to the left in a separate area and fully enclosed floor-to-ceiling lockable cubicles to the right, which are available to everyone and provides a safe private space.

Even those halfwits at the EHRC and in this government, realise that this guidance are almost impossible to enforce in day-to-day life. It is not a mandate for “toilet police”, although sadly some individuals may feel emboldened by the current climate to challenge or harass. I will continue to use the women’s toilets and the changing rooms in my beloved New Look.

The area where things remain most unclear is spaces that may involve nudity, such as sports changing rooms. At the moment, much appears likely to depend on how individual businesses interpret the guidance and attempt to balance competing rights and responsibilities. Unfortunately, the guidance itself is still as clear as mud in places. Please take care in these spaces.

Most importantly, none of this changes who we are. The guidance may create confusion, anxiety and hysterical headlines, but it will not erase us from public life, and it certainly does not end the ongoing legal and political challenges to these proposals. This guidance attempts to fix a problem that doesn’t exist and has never existed.

Oasis has been supporting Transgender and Gender Non Conforming folk for more that 45 years, and we are not going to stop now! There is hope, Oasis is hope. Our own little friendship group is something very special that will never be taken from us. We will not be erased.

Love
Lilly
xxx