For immediate release
TransActual has written to Nia Griffith, a junior Equalities Minister, to express grave concerns about the appointment of Mary-Ann Stephenson as Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
We reminded her of the complete lack of trust trans communities have in the EHRC. Persisting with this appointment further damages any trust that trans communities can have in this government.
We condemned the EHRC’s adoption of the flawed principle that the rights of different groups are in conflict. This is how they justify penalising one protected group as result of the intolerance of another group. But this is discrimination. It has nothing to do with any body claiming to concern itself with Equality or Equity.
We asked why government ignored interventions by Sarah Owen MP and Lord Alton of Liverpool, who chair the parliamentary committees that scrutinised this appointment.
We expressed concerns over EHRC declared plans to “weed out” responses to their “consultation” exercise using AI, leaving a subset of “valid” responses for analysis. This serves only to delegitimise an already questionable enterprise by enabling bias to be once again hidden behind an algorithm. As such, we asked the Minister to ensure no such automated censorship occurs.
Last, but by no means least, we highlighted fears that proposals put forward by the EHRC may breach the rights of trans people under the European Convention on Human Rights. These include Articles 3 (prohibition of torture and degrading treatment), 8 (right to respect for privacy and family life), 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association).
We reminded the Minister of the government’s earlier undertaking to judge the EHRC’s proposals against a Public Sector Equality Duty framework. We asked her to confirm that that will happen – and to publish the outcome of that analysis in full.
Our letter was also copied to Sarah Owen, MP, Lord Alton and Lisa Smart, MP.
In addition to the points made here, we fully support the statement by TACC, which expresses the danger this appointment poses not just to trans, non-binary and intersex people but to all marginalised groups whose rights are threatened by an EHRC without public trust:
“Effective immediately, we will no longer cooperate with the EHRC. We will not consult with them, we will not participate in their reviews, and we will not treat their outputs as representative of human rights standards.” The EHRC has repeatedly shown it is not fit to be an NHRI.
“We also call on all service providers, whether in healthcare, education, housing, or public services, to uphold their duties under the actual law, not the guidance of a compromised and politically directed body.”
Further Information
For further information, contact jane fae on press@transactual.org.uk
Full text of our communication is available on this site.