UK: One year on from Supreme Court ruling, confusion and fear persist amongst lack of guidance

Amnesty International UK has called for urgent, rights-respecting guidance to ensure service providers can lawfully protect trans people from discrimination following last year’s Supreme Court judgment.

Chiara Capraro, Amnesty International UK’s Gender Justice Programme Director said:

“One year on from the Supreme Court ruling, it has been a confusing, frightening and deeply concerning time for trans people, their loved ones and for the services that support them.

“Service providers and associations are still waiting for clear guidance on how to interpret the judgment. It is welcome that the government has asked the EHRC to review its draft guidance.

“The guidance the EHRC put out for consultation last year was a recipe for confusion and discrimination. It suggested that providers should determine the sex assigned at birth of service users, while also acknowledging that doing so could risk violating trans people’s right to privacy, and it included dehumanising language that is wholly unacceptable.

“The Supreme Court was clear that trans people are protected from discrimination under gender reassignment. Guidance must now support providers to uphold these protections in practice. Many services want to remain trans-inclusive and need confidence that they can do so lawfully.