LGBT+ Labour urges members to lobby party to oppose Equality Act change

LGBT+ Labour has called on its members to lobby the Labour leadership to defend the Equality Act “word for word” amid reports that the government is considering changing the definition of sex within the Act to refer specifically to “biological sex”.

It was reported last week that ministers are considering advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that amending the definition of sex would bring “greater legal clarity”, including in relation to single-sex spaces, though the watchdog concluded that there is “no straightforward balance”.

In a statement on Wednesday, LGBT+ Labour said: “The latest homophobic and transphobic attack from this Tory government has emerged in its attempt to rewrite the New Labour government’s 2010 Equality Act. This is a blatant attempt to remove trans rights from the previous Labour government’s 2010 Equality Act.”

The group said the proposed change in the definition of sex “must be opposed in accordance with the Labour Party’s existing policy to protect the last Labour government’s 2010 Equality Act word for word”.

The statement continued: “LGBT+ Labour calls on all socialist societies, trade union allies, Labour Party members, Labour Party affiliates and all our patrons in local government, in both Houses of Parliament and the Labour Party national executive committee to support the Labour Party’s existing policy.”

“We implore all our members, trade union affiliate members and supporters to write to and visit their local MPs and the frontbencher [sic] team in order to explain to them exactly what the LGBTQ+ community is going through at the moment and the need to protect Labour’s current policy position,” the group said.

The statement has been widely shared online, with more than 270,000 views on Twitter. It follows a Labour spokesperson telling the Times last week that “clarification is a good thing” and that the party “will look closely at what’s brought forward”.

Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch requested advice from the EHRC on the definition of sex within the Equality Act in a letter to the equalities watchdog earlier this year.

Responding last week to Badenoch’s request, the EHRC said there is “no straightforward balance” but concluded that defining sex as biological sex for the purposes of Equality Act would bring “greater legal clarity” in eight areas, including single-sex spaces, sport, pregnancy and maternity and occupational requirements.

But the EHRC also concluded that the change would be “more ambiguous or potentially disadvantageous” in three areas, specifically equal pay provisions, direct sex discrimination and indirect sex discrimination

Commenting on the EHRC’s conclusions, its chairwoman Kishwer Falkner said: “Our response to the minister’s request for advice suggests that the UK government carefully identify and consider the potential implications of this change.

“Should they wish to pursue work in this area, we recommend detailed policy and legal analysis be undertaken, in compliance with the public sector equality duty and with due regard to any possible disadvantages for trans men and trans women.

“There is a clear need to move the public debate on issues of sex and gender to a more informed and constructive basis. This would be welcomed by the many who do not take the polarised positions currently driving public debate.”

Asked earlier this month whether a person with a penis can be a woman, Keir Starmer said: “For 99.9% of women, it is completely biological… and, of course, they haven’t got a penis.”

The Labour leader said there is a “very small number” of people who “identify as a different gender to the one they are born with”, adding: “They need legal support and a framework.

“Most people don’t disagree with that, and that’s the framework within which we ought to look at these issues. But simply turning it into a toxic divide advances the cause of no one.”

Centre-left group Labour Together recommended in a report released last week that Labour “must hold its line on social and cultural issues”, concluding that the “majority of voters in the UK are socially conservative”.

The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.