Well, well, well. At long last, the Westminster parliament has issued an update on where it stands over the Supreme Court ruling, which saw judges unanimously backed the biological definition of a woman. But despite the ruling being announced in April, it is only now that the UK parliament has published guidance on the subject for both visitors and staff. Talk about dragging your heels, eh?
On its internal site, parliament issued a notice that read:
The UK Supreme Court recently issued a decision regarding the legal definition of ‘men’ and ‘women’ for the purpose of the Equality Act 2010.
Following the ruling, members of the public should use toilet facilities which correspond to their biological sex, or one of the gender-neutral facilities available.
We have updated our visitor information accordingly. We have provided briefings, and plan additional training for our visitor-facing staff and managers. Those staff do a fantastic job in making visitors feel welcome and safe when they are in Parliament and we are grateful for their hard work and professionalism.
Yet for staff things remain a little unclear. Parliament noted that employees would be considered ‘separately’ and only ‘once’ the EHRC has issued more on the matter. The notice added:
Staff will be considered separately once the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) statutory guidance is published as there are additional complexities in the way the law is applied for employers. We expect that the EHRC will publish revised statutory guidance on this issue in due course and that will inform additional steps that we may need to take.
We are reviewing the provision of facilities across the estate and will make any necessary changes identified.
We appreciate this is a challenging and sensitive issue. We are not alone as an organisation in seeking to ensure that we comply with the law in a way which aligns with our inclusive and welcoming culture.
And – taking a leaf out of the Beeb’s book – there followed support links and a list of services for ‘anyone who feels affected by recent discussions on this topic’. Roll out the House of Commons Inclusion and Diversity team…
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