Equalities watchdog tells trans activists personal attacks ‘have to stop'
Baroness Falkner of Margravine, the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), appeared emotional as she revealed to MPs that she had to cancel one meeting after police warned of a ' serious risk ' of violence.
She said that while feminist campaigners had acted in a 'dignified and respectful' manner, trans rights activists had made it harder for her staff to come to work in safety.
'Personal attacks, libellous attacks, defamation'
'The level of agitation that they can cause in terms of personal attacks, libellous attacks, defamation, where our family members are affected – our intimate family members have to think about how they're going about to their place of work – has got to stop,' she said.
'I didn't come into public life to bleat on about myself and feel sorry for myself… I have chosen not to walk away, I have chosen to deliver in the public interest as has done every member of my board.
'And they don't need to do this, they do it because of a desire for public service, as do my senior staff.'
The watchdog also repeated that companies and organisations should be using EHRC guidance on access to single-sex spaces, rather than those of groups such as Stonewall.
Baroness Falkner also said guidance would be issued on how to 'respectfully' question transgender people about their biological sex.
Women's rights activists who do not believe in gender ideology, the idea that sex is a spectrum and that people can change their gender identity, have had to run the gauntlet of intimidating protests from the trans rights movement for years.
After the Supreme Court ruled in April that the word 'sex' in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, trans rights activists took to the streets, with one carrying a placard showing an illustration of a gallows alongside a slogan suggesting ' the only good Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) ' is a hanged one.
In 2022, a group called Pissed Off Trannies left more than 60 bottles of urine outside the EHRC offices and poured some of the contents into the revolving doors.
The EHRC has come in for greater criticism from trans rights activists after they published guidance confirming that organisations can bar trans people from toilets and changing rooms meant for the opposite sex.
'Serious risk of violence'
Appearing before the Commons women and equalities select committee, Lady Falkner spoke of the effect such violent threats had on her and her organisation.
'Sorry, I'm trying not to be emotional about this because it goes to the heart of what public service is about, and I've been involved in public service for 21 years now,' she said.
'The personal attacks – and I refer to personal attacks as well as the attacks on my staff, because we have a duty of care to our staff and we must ensure that our staff are able to work in a respectable, safe place of work.
'We were due to go to Glasgow for our regular annual board meeting in Scotland, and we were unable to go because the police hadn't been informed and there was serious risk of violence from messages that were seen.
'What bothers me more than my own personal security is that my staff should be able to come to their place of work in safety, and that has been somewhat lacking in the last several years.'
Lady Falkner said those on the gender-critical side of the debate, 'who felt disadvantaged or felt the law was not supporting them, did so in a dignified, respectful manner, frequently using the last resort of a tribunal or a court to pursue justice for themselves or their loved ones'.
Talking about trans rights activists, she said: 'Here we have a group that I appreciate is vulnerable, but I don't think it is fair because women and girls are vulnerable as well.
'I don't think it is fair to have a balancing act of 'who is more vulnerable'. Victimhood is not the way I approach things.
'The level of agitation that they can cause in terms of personal attacks, libellous attacks, defamation, where our family members are affected – our intimate family members have to think about how they're going about to their place of work – has got to stop.'
Lady Falkner was then prevented from continuing to talk about the attacks the EHRC has faced by Sarah Owen, Labour MP and the committee chair.
She then bizarrely asked her to clarify that she was not opposed to the right to protest.
'Overly hostile'
Last night, Maya Forstater, chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters, said she was 'shocked' by the 'overly hostile' questioning of some of the members of the committee.
'It was particularly shocking that when Lady Falkner talked about the pressures on EHRC staff of the protests and personal attacks, the chair of the committee, Sarah Owen MP, cut her off,' she said.
'The Supreme Court provided complete legal clarity on the meaning of 'sex' in the Equality Act. Today's proceedings suggest that some MPs simply refuse to accept that.'
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