The LGBT Foundation has announced it has severed ties with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after it made a number of ‘extremely damaging’ statements.
The Manchester-based charity said the EHRC’s recent statements relating to conversion therapy legislation and reforms to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) ‘cannot be supported in any circumstances’.
Yesterday (January 26), the EHRC wrote to the Scottish Government to say it was ‘concerned at the polarised debate’ regarding reforms of the GRA, which would enable trans and non-binary people the right to self-identify.
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Scottish Government ministers have already expressed plans to reform the act and make it easier for people to legally change their gender and self-identify.
But the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said ‘further consideration is needed before any change to the law should be made’.
In a letter to Shona Robison, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, EHRC Chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner said there were ‘concerns about the potential implications of changing the current criteria’ for obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)’.
Baroness Falkner said that ‘potential consequences’ included drug testing in competitive sport, measures to address barriers facing women and practices within the criminal justice system.
While the letter recognised how ‘many trans people have criticised the current process to obtain a GRC as being intrusive’ and also said it was concerned ‘about the unacceptably long waiting times for gender identity services’, Baroness Falkner said there was a need to ‘collectively provide the correct balanced legal framework that protects everyone’.
Leading LGBT charity Stonewall said it was ‘deeply troubled’ by the letter, while LGBT Foundation called it an ‘extremely damaging’ statement.
The EHRC also sent a separate response to the UK Government regarding its consultation on conversion therapy.
It said there needed to be a ‘differentiated approach’ when approaching trans conversion therapy, and was something requiring ‘further careful and detailed consideration’ before it could be outright banned.
Instead, the EHRC suggested banning conversion therapy and seperately looking at proposals to ban trans conversion therapy.
The report stated : “Legislation to ban conversion therapy attempting to change a person to or from being transgender should follow, once more detailed and evidence-based proposals are available which can be properly scrutinised.”
The EHRC also suggested faith-based conversion practices should remain in place.
The response recommended that people shouldn’t be ‘prevented from seeking spiritual support from their faith leader in the exploration of their sexual orientation or being transgender’.
It added: “Encouraging people to comply with religious doctrine that requires refraining from certain types of sexual activity should not fall within the definition of conversion therapy either.
“However, faith and community leaders should be made aware of the ban on conversion therapy in order that they understand the importance of compliance.”
In a response to both statements, LGBT Foundation said it had made the unfortunate decision to sever ties with the EHRC.
In a letter, the charity said : “These statements are extremely damaging and cannot be supported in any circumstances.
“EHRC has ignored the experiences of trans and non-binary individuals who have undergone unnecessary trauma.
“They suggest that LGBTQ+ lives are up for debate and medical scrutiny. They disregard expert opinion and lived experience - a humiliating and dehumanising action against our community with real-world consequences.
“EHRC should exist to regulate, promote, and uphold human rights, and we believe it is no longer fit for purpose. Our position from today is clear: EHRC can no longer call itself a true human rights organisation.
“We will write an open letter to the Government Minister for Equalities Mike Freer MP to share our disappointment at today’s events.
“We join other organisations and colleagues in demanding a review of the EHRC’s accreditation as an A-status National Human Rights Institution. We will make this letter public.
“We stand with our peers that are rightly horrified by today’s events and reassure the LGBTQ+ community that we will continue to fight for equality and justice in the UK.”
Commending the letter, political activist and author Christine Burns MBE tweeted: “A heartfelt and personal thanks to CEO @PaulMartinOBE, the board and staff of @LGBTfdn for taking the principled and powerful step which they have just announced: to sever all ties with the @EHRC — a regulator which, through government interference, has completely lost its way.”
Stonewall launched an open letter asking Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon to stand up for trans rights in response to the EHRC statements.
Stonewall said: “Recent statements from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are not just a betrayal of LGBTQ+ people and a specific attack on trans equality, but also fundamentally undermine EHRC’s core purpose of regulating, promoting and upholding human rights.
“The two statements – in response to plans to legislate for a ban on conversion therapy in England and Wales, and Gender Recognition Act reform in Scotland - effectively seek to exclude trans people from improved rights and protections.
“The EHRC appears to be attempting to stall and delay legislation that LGBTQ+ people have been waiting on for several years.
“We urge both the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and First Minister of Scotland, to continue showing leadership to recognise and protect trans people, and progress rights for our communities by supporting these key pieces of legislation.”
