Latest news with #KishwerFalkner
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Swinney government accused of twisting EHRC advice
The comments earned a stinging rebuke from Baroness Kishwer Falkner, the Chair of the EHRC, who said the Commission had made it "clear" to civil servants that public bodies should not wait for updated guidance before acting on the judgment. The peer said she was "very concerned that our conversations with officials appear to have been misrepresented". FWS told The Herald they were stunned by the claims from officials: 'At what point does this stop being ignorant incompetence and tip into wilful malpractice?' Read more: In April, the UK's highest court ruled unanimously that a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) does not alter a person's sex for the purposes of the Equality Act. The judgment clarified that the terms 'man' and 'woman' in the legislation refer to biological sex, not acquired gender. The EHRC then issued interim guidance in May related to trans people's use of facilities including including changing rooms and toilets, and participation in sports. It also launched a consultation on changes to parts of its code of practice for services, public functions and associations, which is due to conclude on June 30. The watchdog is due to publish the updated code later this year. While First Minister John Swinney initially welcomed the 'clarity' provided by the ruling, the Scottish Government has repeatedly said it is waiting for this further guidance before issuing new guidance of its own to Scotland's public bodies. However, the EHRC has repeatedly said that the ruling applies now and that "those with duties under the Equality Act 2010 should be following the law and looking at what changes, if any, need to be made to their policies and practices". For Women Scotland following the court ruling (Image: PA) After the meeting with the Equalities Directorate, FWS wrote to the EHRC to question the claims made by officials. Baroness Falkner replied: "As you rightly point out, our public messaging has been that the law as set out by the Supreme Court is effective immediately. "We have been clear in our public messaging and in direct conversations with duty-bearers, including the Scottish Government, that they should not wait for our guidance but should be seeking to update their policies and practices in the light of the new understanding of the law, taking their own specialist legal advice where necessary." Earlier this week, FWS wrote to the Scottish Government's Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin calling for a full investigation, saying it was "extremely concerning that statements made by a senior government official to a third party about EHRC advice have been directly contested by the regulatory body itself". In a letter to the campaigners on Friday, seen by The Herald, Mr Griffin did not challenge FWS's account of the meeting, and said his team would "revert in due course" with a fuller response. He said the Government accepted the Supreme Court's judgment and "acknowledges the EHRC statement that duty-bearers should not wait for our statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to be in place to review their policies to ensure they are complying with the law as now settled by the Supreme Court". This, he added, "aligns with the approach the Scottish Government has taken since the judgment was issued in April". Read more: In Holyrood on Wednesday, Mr Griffin was pressed by SNP MSP Michelle Thomson to name any concrete action the Government had taken since the ruling. Mr Griffin said only that the "short life working group" had been established to prepare for implementation. He could not identify any specific changes made to guidance or policy. Asked whether the threat of legal action — including two formal pre-litigation notices issued by FWS and Sex Matters — had prompted a rethink, Mr Griffin insisted that his advice remained that it was appropriate to wait for final EHRC guidance. Susan Smith from FWS told The Herald: 'After the rambling performance of the Permanent Secretary at committee, it was clear that the Scottish Government has done nothing to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. 'To justify this, the civil service has materially misrepresented the advice given by the EHRC. There is no justification for Ministers or civil servants to ignore the law, and these highly paid public servants and politicians should not sit on their haunches while grassroots women's groups with little power or funding explain to them the basic principles of law and professional standards. Scotland deserves better. 'To say we are shocked is an understatement. At what point does this stop being ignorant incompetence and tip into wilful malpractice? 'The only recourse open to us is to return to court. But given the Scottish Government resoundingly ignored earlier Court of Session rulings and is now seemingly intent on not implementing the UK Supreme Court judgment it appears largely futile and a further waste of taxpayers' money. Has the Scottish Government really put itself beyond the law?' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment and that public bodies have a duty to comply with the law. "Work is proceeding at pace to implement the ruling across Government. We have established a Short Life Working Group to ensure support and consistency in this. "We expect public bodies to be analysing policies and procedures and this is what is happening. For example, Police Scotland this week issued interim guidance on searching, including searching of transgender people. "The Scottish Government has also updated the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 guidance to reflect the judgment in relation to the definition of 'woman' under the Equality Act and this is now published online. "The recent changes to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's interim update demonstrate the complexity of this work and the need for extensive legal advice and consultation with stakeholders. We will continue to take this work forward at pace in a way which protects the rights of everyone in society. "The Permanent Secretary has responded to For Women Scotland."
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Trans support is on the rise despite Supreme Court ruling endangering rights
Google Trends analysis shows that support and ally-ship for the trans community has doubled since last June with searches for "transgender" and "trans flags" peaking after UK Supreme Court ruling 2025 has seen a decline in rights and safety for the British transgender community, after the UK Supreme Court ruled in favour of the definition of a woman being biological in sex. However, recent analysis of Google search trends show support for the trans community has risen 50 percent in the last year. On April 16, UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge confirmed the Equality Act would now refer to the term woman as "a biological woman and biological sex". At the time, Judge Hodge was adamant that the ruling was not a clear win for either the community or For Women Scotland (FWS), and insisted that the law protected trans people against discrimination. The LGBTQ+ community and trans charities disagree. Trans charities and activists shared their worries with the Mirror on the day of the ruling, sharing how they believed the Supreme Court decision would allow space open for further hate-crimes on trans individuals. A spokesperson of trans charity Gendered Intelligence said: "Sadly, this judgement is likely to empower those who want to exclude trans people, but we trust that this remains a small minority". Since the ruling, both activists and allies for the trans community have come together in solidarity and support for the minority suffering the societal displacement, especially after the new definition saw an active exclusion of the community from general public places like gendered toilets. Download festival came under fire after stating their decision to abide by biological-gendered toilets, excluding both trans attendees and artists from using bathrooms that aligned with their gender identities. Charity TransActual also made a stand on May 21 after planting a trans-flag themed toilet on the UK Supreme Court steps after Baroness Kishwer Falkner's, active chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, stated that trans rights groups should create their own separate "third space," effectively adding to their exclusion of women's spaces. And yet, despite all of this, Google Trends has found that that " Transgender" terms have been searched more than ever in 2025, with searches for the " trans flag" increasing by 50 percent compared to last June. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you! By this, we can infer that the general British public are showing up in solidarity against this ruling that endangers both the trans community and women who claim the real harm to women and general perpetrators are cis-gendered (biologically born and identifying) men. Women's Aid states that, from an On Track national data report which relates to female service users, an overwhelming majority of alleged perpetrators are male, at 94.4 percent, in 2024. Many LGBTQ+ allies have argued that the ruling, which directly effects segregated places like bathrooms and prisons, puts both cis-gendered women, and trans men and women, at risk of harm and abuse. The Mirror also reports that, in the 2021 Census in England and Wales, only 0.5% of the population said that their gender identity was different to their biological sex at birth, making them a clear minority group in the UK.
South Wales Guardian
16-06-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Guardian
Almost 10,000 gender certificates granted amid rise in Gen Z applications
Some 1,169 GRCs were issued in the year to March 2025, more than three times the number in 2019/20, when it stood at just 364. It is also the highest annual total since 2005/06, which was the first full year that the scheme – which allows a person's acquired gender to be recognised legally in the country – was in operation. The surge is likely to reflect recent changes in the certification process, including a big cut in fees, combined with more applications from young people. Nearly a quarter (24%) of certificates granted in the latest year were for people born since 2000 – loosely known as Generation Z – and 68% were for those born since 1990, up from 4% and 41% respectively in 2019/20. The analysis has been compiled by the PA news agency using data published by the Ministry of Justice, which shows a total of 9,633 GRCs had been granted in the UK up to March 2025. The findings come after the Supreme Court's ruling in April on the definition of sex, which followed a dispute centred on whether someone with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the UK 2010 Equality Act. In a long-awaited judgment, the court confirmed the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. This means transgender women with a GRC can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'. In the wake of the ruling the boss of Britain's equalities regulator suggested that while it does not mean GRCs are 'worthless', their 'efficacy' could be re-examined. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told BBC Radio 4's Today programme in the days after the ruling: 'I think the next stage of litigation may well be tests as to the efficacy of the GRC, and or other areas.' Asked about whether she thinks GRCs are now 'worthless', she replied: 'We don't believe they are. We think they're quite important.' Government advice on how to apply for a GRC states that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the application process, but advises people to contact the EHRC if they have questions. The Gender Recognition Act came into effect on April 4 2005, giving adults the right legally to change the gender that was recorded on their birth certificate. This is done by applying for a GRC, a document that shows a person has satisfied the criteria for changing their legal gender. Applications are made to the Gender Recognition Panel, a body of legal and medical experts, who issue a certificate only if the application meets the necessary criteria. GRC applications hit a record 1,517 in 2024/25, up from 1,397 the previous year and 443 in 2019/20. The application fee for a certificate was cut in May 2021 from £140 to £5, while there was a switch to online applications in July 2022. A GRC is granted if the applicant has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has lived in the acquired gender for at least two years, and intends to live in that gender for the rest of their life. PA analysis shows the age of those receiving GRCs has changed considerably over the past decade. Some 63% of certificates issued in 2014/15 went to people born before 1980 – but by 2024/25 this had dropped sharply to just 17%. By contrast, people born from 1980 onwards accounted for 83% of certificates in the most recent year, up from 37% a decade earlier. More recently, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of certificates going to people born since 2000, up from 4% in 2019/20 to 24% in 2024/25. The age group currently responsible for the biggest proportion is people born in the 1990s, who accounted for 45% of the total in the year to March 2025. The balance in applications between males and females has also changed over time. In 2005/06, the first full year that certificates were available, more than three-quarters (77%) were granted to people whose sex at birth was male, with just under a quarter (23%) going to those who were female. By 2015/16 the gap between these percentages had narrowed at 67% and 33%, and in 2023/24 the figures were almost equal, at 52% for males and 48% for females. In the most recent year of 2024/25, the gap widened slightly with 55% of certificates granted to people whose sex at birth was male and 45% for those who were female. Nearly one in 10 people receiving certificates in the year to March 2025 were part of a married couple – a proportion that has been relatively stable since the law was changed in 2014 to allow some applicants to remain married while obtaining gender recognition. Of the 1,169 certificates granted in 2024/25, 109 (9%) were for married applicants with the vast majority – 1,033 (88%) – for people who were single, while 27 were recorded as 'other/unknown'.
South Wales Argus
16-06-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Almost 10,000 gender certificates granted amid rise in Gen Z applications
Some 1,169 GRCs were issued in the year to March 2025, more than three times the number in 2019/20, when it stood at just 364. It is also the highest annual total since 2005/06, which was the first full year that the scheme – which allows a person's acquired gender to be recognised legally in the country – was in operation. The surge is likely to reflect recent changes in the certification process, including a big cut in fees, combined with more applications from young people. Nearly a quarter (24%) of certificates granted in the latest year were for people born since 2000 – loosely known as Generation Z – and 68% were for those born since 1990, up from 4% and 41% respectively in 2019/20. The analysis has been compiled by the PA news agency using data published by the Ministry of Justice, which shows a total of 9,633 GRCs had been granted in the UK up to March 2025. The findings come after the Supreme Court's ruling in April on the definition of sex, which followed a dispute centred on whether someone with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the UK 2010 Equality Act. In a long-awaited judgment, the court confirmed the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. This means transgender women with a GRC can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'. In the wake of the ruling the boss of Britain's equalities regulator suggested that while it does not mean GRCs are 'worthless', their 'efficacy' could be re-examined. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told BBC Radio 4's Today programme in the days after the ruling: 'I think the next stage of litigation may well be tests as to the efficacy of the GRC, and or other areas.' Asked about whether she thinks GRCs are now 'worthless', she replied: 'We don't believe they are. We think they're quite important.' Government advice on how to apply for a GRC states that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the application process, but advises people to contact the EHRC if they have questions. The Gender Recognition Act came into effect on April 4 2005, giving adults the right legally to change the gender that was recorded on their birth certificate. This is done by applying for a GRC, a document that shows a person has satisfied the criteria for changing their legal gender. Applications are made to the Gender Recognition Panel, a body of legal and medical experts, who issue a certificate only if the application meets the necessary criteria. GRC applications hit a record 1,517 in 2024/25, up from 1,397 the previous year and 443 in 2019/20. The application fee for a certificate was cut in May 2021 from £140 to £5, while there was a switch to online applications in July 2022. A GRC is granted if the applicant has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has lived in the acquired gender for at least two years, and intends to live in that gender for the rest of their life. PA analysis shows the age of those receiving GRCs has changed considerably over the past decade. Some 63% of certificates issued in 2014/15 went to people born before 1980 – but by 2024/25 this had dropped sharply to just 17%. By contrast, people born from 1980 onwards accounted for 83% of certificates in the most recent year, up from 37% a decade earlier. More recently, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of certificates going to people born since 2000, up from 4% in 2019/20 to 24% in 2024/25. The age group currently responsible for the biggest proportion is people born in the 1990s, who accounted for 45% of the total in the year to March 2025. The balance in applications between males and females has also changed over time. In 2005/06, the first full year that certificates were available, more than three-quarters (77%) were granted to people whose sex at birth was male, with just under a quarter (23%) going to those who were female. By 2015/16 the gap between these percentages had narrowed at 67% and 33%, and in 2023/24 the figures were almost equal, at 52% for males and 48% for females. In the most recent year of 2024/25, the gap widened slightly with 55% of certificates granted to people whose sex at birth was male and 45% for those who were female. Nearly one in 10 people receiving certificates in the year to March 2025 were part of a married couple – a proportion that has been relatively stable since the law was changed in 2014 to allow some applicants to remain married while obtaining gender recognition. Of the 1,169 certificates granted in 2024/25, 109 (9%) were for married applicants with the vast majority – 1,033 (88%) – for people who were single, while 27 were recorded as 'other/unknown'.
North Wales Chronicle
16-06-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Almost 10,000 gender certificates granted amid rise in Gen Z applications
Some 1,169 GRCs were issued in the year to March 2025, more than three times the number in 2019/20, when it stood at just 364. It is also the highest annual total since 2005/06, which was the first full year that the scheme – which allows a person's acquired gender to be recognised legally in the country – was in operation. The surge is likely to reflect recent changes in the certification process, including a big cut in fees, combined with more applications from young people. Nearly a quarter (24%) of certificates granted in the latest year were for people born since 2000 – loosely known as Generation Z – and 68% were for those born since 1990, up from 4% and 41% respectively in 2019/20. The analysis has been compiled by the PA news agency using data published by the Ministry of Justice, which shows a total of 9,633 GRCs had been granted in the UK up to March 2025. The findings come after the Supreme Court's ruling in April on the definition of sex, which followed a dispute centred on whether someone with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the UK 2010 Equality Act. In a long-awaited judgment, the court confirmed the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. This means transgender women with a GRC can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'. In the wake of the ruling the boss of Britain's equalities regulator suggested that while it does not mean GRCs are 'worthless', their 'efficacy' could be re-examined. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told BBC Radio 4's Today programme in the days after the ruling: 'I think the next stage of litigation may well be tests as to the efficacy of the GRC, and or other areas.' Asked about whether she thinks GRCs are now 'worthless', she replied: 'We don't believe they are. We think they're quite important.' Government advice on how to apply for a GRC states that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the application process, but advises people to contact the EHRC if they have questions. The Gender Recognition Act came into effect on April 4 2005, giving adults the right legally to change the gender that was recorded on their birth certificate. This is done by applying for a GRC, a document that shows a person has satisfied the criteria for changing their legal gender. Applications are made to the Gender Recognition Panel, a body of legal and medical experts, who issue a certificate only if the application meets the necessary criteria. GRC applications hit a record 1,517 in 2024/25, up from 1,397 the previous year and 443 in 2019/20. The application fee for a certificate was cut in May 2021 from £140 to £5, while there was a switch to online applications in July 2022. A GRC is granted if the applicant has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has lived in the acquired gender for at least two years, and intends to live in that gender for the rest of their life. PA analysis shows the age of those receiving GRCs has changed considerably over the past decade. Some 63% of certificates issued in 2014/15 went to people born before 1980 – but by 2024/25 this had dropped sharply to just 17%. By contrast, people born from 1980 onwards accounted for 83% of certificates in the most recent year, up from 37% a decade earlier. More recently, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of certificates going to people born since 2000, up from 4% in 2019/20 to 24% in 2024/25. The age group currently responsible for the biggest proportion is people born in the 1990s, who accounted for 45% of the total in the year to March 2025. The balance in applications between males and females has also changed over time. In 2005/06, the first full year that certificates were available, more than three-quarters (77%) were granted to people whose sex at birth was male, with just under a quarter (23%) going to those who were female. By 2015/16 the gap between these percentages had narrowed at 67% and 33%, and in 2023/24 the figures were almost equal, at 52% for males and 48% for females. In the most recent year of 2024/25, the gap widened slightly with 55% of certificates granted to people whose sex at birth was male and 45% for those who were female. Nearly one in 10 people receiving certificates in the year to March 2025 were part of a married couple – a proportion that has been relatively stable since the law was changed in 2014 to allow some applicants to remain married while obtaining gender recognition. Of the 1,169 certificates granted in 2024/25, 109 (9%) were for married applicants with the vast majority – 1,033 (88%) – for people who were single, while 27 were recorded as 'other/unknown'.
