¶ The EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) UK
Since the EHRC is an institutional player, with leadership that changes over time based on governmental changes in the UK, it has done good work on trans rights in the past, and may again in the future. It is important to be aware of the timeframe of any of their content. It may, in the future, become fit for purpose again as a human rights organization, but at the time of writing, this has not happened and all of its output on trans people should be held suspect. The content on this page will mostly be from late 2020 to the present, as that is the term of the current leadership.
The EHRC is the UK's statutory human rights watchdog, established by the equality act of 2006. It is alleged to be an independent organization (a non-departmental public body), but as we will see, that independence is highly dubious, and may exist more on paper than in reality.
¶ Lack of Real Independence
While some of the problems of the EHRC's independence are clear, and fairly well-known, it may be much worse than it appears. The first aspect of it is the fact that the chair and the commissioners are appointed by a government minister. But, it's also been deliberately politicized, being treated as if it's a branch of government.
¶ Timeline of Anti-Trans Actions
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Alasdair Henderson emails collegues seeking cases the EHRC can intervene in on the basis of free speech. Subject line "Freedom of speech trans cases".
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December 1st, 2020:
a. The Conservative government's minister for women and equalities, Liz Truss, appointed Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine as its chair. appointment
b. The original ruling, now overturned, in Bell v. Tavistock was announced, banning trans children from accessing puberty blockers on the NHS. -
8th February, 2021:
a. Baroness Falkner writes to "gender critical" groups seeking their input on transgender issues, despite these groups being clear hate groups. See "Platforming of 'Gender Critical' Groups" below.
b. Melanie Field invites Stonewall – Europe’s largest LGBTQ charity, and Williams’ Fair Play For Women to give input on trans rights. -
March 2021: The EHRC withdraws from the Stonewall Diversity Champions program. The program had reviewed organizational policies to ensure they were widely inclusive.
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Apil 2021: The EHRC intervenes in Forstater v. GCD, a major Gender Critical case, arguing that gender critical beliefs are protected because they are "worthy of respect in a democratic society is such as to exclude only extreme beliefs; for example, a belief in “racial superiority” (Code of Practice, §2.59) or a “cult involved in illegal activities” (Explanatory Notes, §52)."[1] They were criticized for this position by trans people.[2] The EHRC was represented by Karon Monaghan KC, a seemingly gender critical lawyer.
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May 2021: Baroness Falkner gave an interview to the Times, a Rupert Murdoch publication, she argued that "Women must have the right to question transgender identity without being abused, stigmatised or risking losing their job". She was announcing the EHRC's intervention into Maya Forstater's appeal of an initial ruling by an employment tribunal that she was not fired inappropriately for expressing her "gender critical" view at work. With the EHRC's support, Forstater was able to win a ruling that her views were protected under UK law.
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13th of May, 2021: Multiple LGBTQ+ organizations write to the EHRC.[3] They said:
We are disappointed that, despite the realms of possibility to improve LGBTQ+ people’s lives and our access to our human rights, the EHRC has driven forward very little for our communities in recent years. Against that backdrop of a lack of support for LGBTQ+ people, we are frustrated that you then chose to intervene in a case to say that so-called ‘gender critical’ beliefs should be a protected philosophical belief.
It was a kick in the teeth to trans people to see the EHRC appear to put their organisational weight behind a movement that has only contributed to rising hate for trans people in communities, creating a policy environment where it is harder for trans people to access their rights.
- 28th of May, 2021: Baroness Falkner responded on behalf of the EHRC.
The suggestion that in upholding freedom of belief we are “putting our weight” behind “gender critical beliefs” misrepresents our position. We are disappointed to see you use this line in your communications, as we fear this contributes to damaging misunderstandings about our reasons for intervening in this case. Defending the right to believe that sex is immutable in no way impacts on our commitment to uphold the rights of trans people.
The EHRC seems to want to pose as merely trying to protect the right to freely believe in gender critical ideology, but this modest position does not last long.
- 22nd January, 2022: The EHRC write an open letter opposing Scotland's effort to reform the Gender Recognition Process in Scotland. Although they mention the difficult and dehumanizing process of gaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, they don't really seem to offer anything other than the following as justification for not scrapping it:
We consider that more detailed consideration is needed before any change is made to the provisions in the Act. The potential consequences include those relating to the collection and use of data, participation and drug testing in competitive sport, measures to address barriers facing women, and practices within the criminal justice system, inter alia.[4]
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26th January, 2022:
a. The EHRC release a position statement on banning conversion therapy. In it, they pretend that it is somehow necessary to definitely define terms like "transgender", and therefore advocate for banning conversion therapy for gay people only, but not transgender people.[5]
b. The LGBT Foundation severed ties with the EHRC over their transphobic stances.[6]
c. Liberty, Stonewall, Mermaids, and 20 other LGBTQ+ organizations call for the EHRC to be investigated as a National Human Rights Institution.[7][8] -
2nd February, 2022: Vice reported that EHRC had met privatey with anti-trans hate groups, including LGB Alliance, Nicola Williams of Fair Play For Women.[9]
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4th February, 2022: VICE reports that EHRC staffers are quitting and facing discipline for objecting to changes at EHRC on trans rights. Staff also report documents they created being edited to be transphobic.[10]
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4th April, 2022: The EHRC publishes guidelines for Single Sex Spaces, ignoring trans rights, and implicitly insisting trans people are their sex assigned at birth.[11]
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23rd November, 2022: The EHRC meets for their monthly board meeting to discuss proposed Amendments to the Equality Act of 2010.[12]
a. Alasdair Henderson did not declare any interests, despite the fact that he had worked on the Bell v. Tavistock case.
b. Under Declaration of Interests, the following statement appears:
2.2 The following existing interests were noted, and the Chairwoman determined that the conflicts were not reasons for the Commissioners to recuse themselves from the discussion on the Equality Act 2010 at the meeting:
a) David Goodhart is an employee of the think tank Policy Exchange which has published on equality issues; and
b) Akua Reindorf has been instructed by the charity LGB Alliance to represent them in an unrelated legal case. (emphasis added)
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21st February 2023: Kemi Badenoch wrote to the EHRC asking them to consider changing the Equality Act 2010 definition of sex and whether it was clear enough. This is an invitation for the EHRC to ask the government to strip trans rights.[13]
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28th February 2023: Extraordinary meetings of Scotland and Wales Committees of EHRC, rejecting the organization taking up making recommendation on reforming EA2010. They raise concerns that it will be used to roll back trans rights.[14][15]
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30th March 2023: EHRC board finalized letter to reform EA2010, legalizing discrimination against trans people.[16]
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3rd April 2023: Baroness Falkner sends the letter.[17]
¶ Platforming of "Gender Critical" Groups
The EHRC under Falkner has gone out of their way to engage gender critical groups on transgender issues. This is a strange approach, since it is hard to imagine it being considered appropriate for any other group protected by civil rights legislation to have their rights balanced against the demands of hate groups, including having the civil rights watchdog actively soliciting their input.
Baroness Falkner sent the following email (emphasis added):
Dear Kate and Bev,
Apologies to email you out of the blue. I have a time limited request which I wondered if you could help with. Tomorrow we are holding a briefing session for our board on issues relating to trans people. We had asked three organisations with an interest in the debate on balancing trans peoples rights with other peoples rights to provide short (3 minutes) videos explaining their positions and policies. Unfortunately one of the organisations we asked (Women’s Place UK) have been unable to provide a video at the last minute. I know you have recently been in touch with colleagues at the Commission and will soon be meeting with Melanie Field. She has asked me to contact you to enquire whether you would be able to provide a short three minute video outlining LGB Alliance’s main policy positions and why you think it is important to separate trans and LGB issues for us the share with our board at tomorrows session. The video can be filmed on someone’s phone, it doesn’t need to be in any way finessed.
Both Women's Place UK and the LGB Alliance are anti-trans organizations. Especially strange, though, is that the LGB Alliance pretends to be a rights group for lesbian, gay, a bisexual people, and not an anti-trans group, so seeking their comment on transgender issues, which is nowhere in their stated interest seems to reveal a shared understanding of the true purpose of the LGB Alliance and coordination between the EHRC and these groups. Why is the char of the a civil rights watchdog coordinating submissions of hate groups, to the extent that they're actually seeking them out? And moreover, why is she making the LGB Alliance's argument for them? Shouldn't she wait and let them do that?
Melanie Field sent an email soliciting input from the LGB Alliance.
The video by the LGB Alliance had the following note:
We don’t need to go into much detail about that because Alasdair Henderson, on your board, will be able to explain all about it.[9:1]
¶ Capture of Labour
- In 2024, the newly-elected Labour government Bridget Phillipson extended Baroness Falkner's term in office.
¶ Known Anti-Trans Collaborators
- Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine
- Alasdair Henderson - EHRC trustees vice chair, also involved in the Bell vs Tavistock, which stripped trans children in the UK of access to puberty blockers through the NHS. As Translucent pointed out[10:1], he was also listed as a director/trustee of the Lawyer's Christian Fellowship at a time when they were working with the ADF, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group recognized by the SPLC.
- Kemi Badenoch[11:1] - Current leader of the Conservative Party in the UK and under the previous Conservative government the Minister for Women and Equalities and previously the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. She reappointed Henderson.
- Melanie Field - executive director of strategy.
- Akua Reindorf
- Liz Truss
¶ See Also
- Translucent UK has done great work exposing the sham of the EHRC.
- EHRC undermined by pressure to support No 10 agenda, says ex-chair
Major LGBTQ+ organisations spark international review of the EHRC ↩︎
Translucent: The links between the EHRC, Alliance Defending Freedom & Christian Concern ↩︎ ↩︎
Letter from Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch ↩︎
[Letter to Minister for Women and Equalities on the definition of the protected characteristic of 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 (3 April 2023)]
(https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/our-work/advising-parliament-and-governments/letter-minister-women-and-equalities-definition) ↩︎