Britain's biggest bank pledges ‘solidarity' with trans staff

Telegraph

17-04-2025

Britain's biggest bank has pledged 'solidarity' with transgender staff after the Supreme Court ruling on the legal rights of women.
Executives at Lloyds Bank, which counts one in two British adults as a customer, have backed transgender staff working at the company – saying they would support them during this 'this very tough time'.
It comes as businesses across Britain wrestle with the implications of a landmark Supreme Court judgment this week that ruled laws against sex-based discrimination should only apply to biological women.
The decision will herald a raft of changes around female-only spaces and businesses are now grappling with how it will affect their female and transgender staff.
Hours after the judgment, Andrew Walton, Lloyds's chief corporate affairs director, posted on the bank's intranet to say the lender would back its trans staff following the 'unsettling decision'.
'Thought I would come on here today with a note of support for our trans and non-binary colleagues on what I know will be an unsettling day following the UK Supreme Court decision,' he wrote on Lloyds's Rainbow network, the bank's internal group for LGBTQ+ people, according to messages reviewed by The Telegraph.
'Please know that we cherish and celebrate you and we remain committed to inclusivity. If you're a line manager, please be mindful of the potential impact on members of your team and be available to them. We are here to listen and support.'
Sharon Doherty, the chief people and places officer at Lloyds, said in response to Mr Walton's post: 'Very well said ... Standing in solidarity at this very tough time.'
Both Mr Walton and Ms Doherty are among the most senior leaders at the bank, sitting on a 14-person executive committee headed by Charlie Nunn, the chief executive.
A former Lloyds employee who saw the messages but wishes to remain anonymous criticised the two executives for wading into the trans debate without presenting a balanced approach.
'If you are the chief people officer this is a political matter which has very strong feelings on both ideas,' they said.
'It is risky. What about the women who are fighting for their rights? Employers should look after everybody.'
The ex-employee said the bank had previously made it clear to employees that trans staff could use the toilet facilities that were most comfortable to them.
Lloyds Bank declined to comment.
The bank's stance on trans issues has previously drawn criticism after it offered free counselling to its 30,000 employees in response to comments made by Kemi Badenoch and Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party conference in October 2023.
Ms Badenoch, then business secretary, told the Manchester gathering that she would 'not apologise for fighting for a society that knows what a woman is'.
Mr Sunak, then prime minister, said: 'A man is a man, and a woman is a woman; that's just common sense.'
In response, Sarah Underhill, then human resources director at Lloyds Bank, sent an email to employees saying she was 'appalled to hear the rhetoric coming from the Conservative Party conference this week, targeting the trans and non-binary community'.
She said: 'Hearing language that fuels hate and division is shocking. To all our trans and non-binary colleagues, please know that at Lloyds Banking Group you are not alone. You are valued. You are welcome here.'
A Conservative Party source dismissed the comments at the time as 'outrageous virtue signalling from one of the UK's biggest banks.'
The Supreme Court judgment is expected to bring about a host of changes across public life, including to rules governing who can access single-sex NHS wards and who can join female teams in elite sport.
The decision followed a years-long legal battle between campaign group For Women Scotland and the Scottish Government over the definition of a woman.