This post is a part of a series that I am doing in the legal aspects and implications of the appeal in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers that will be heard by the UK Supreme Court at the end of November 2024.
Are you saying that the condition of gender reassignment- being in a process to change gender persists even when the holder of GRC has attained their target sex, and in fact become their desired sex by virtue of the piece of paper? Ie can a GRC holder be said to fulfill the requirements of gender reassignment if they have “arrived”? If a GRC holder is denied access can it be on the basis of gender reassignment if they are not in a process to journey back from their now sex to something else?
Yes it applies to anyone who has undergone processes or part of processes, including detransitioners. It means you can’t be treated less favourably compared to someone of your sex on the basis that you’ve gone through that. So if you excluded a detransitioner or a trans man who falls under the characteristic from a women only service that could be gender reassignment discrimination. What makes it complicated is if the Scottish government win, getting a GRC will change your sex so a trans woman with a GRC could being a gender reassignment discrimination case and the comparator would be whether you treated a non-trans woman more favourably.
Thank you. Didn’t that Sheffield NHS first instance case already use the wrong comparator? The whole thing is so torturous and employers are being left to muddle through
Are you saying that the condition of gender reassignment- being in a process to change gender persists even when the holder of GRC has attained their target sex, and in fact become their desired sex by virtue of the piece of paper? Ie can a GRC holder be said to fulfill the requirements of gender reassignment if they have “arrived”? If a GRC holder is denied access can it be on the basis of gender reassignment if they are not in a process to journey back from their now sex to something else?
Yes it applies to anyone who has undergone processes or part of processes, including detransitioners. It means you can’t be treated less favourably compared to someone of your sex on the basis that you’ve gone through that. So if you excluded a detransitioner or a trans man who falls under the characteristic from a women only service that could be gender reassignment discrimination. What makes it complicated is if the Scottish government win, getting a GRC will change your sex so a trans woman with a GRC could being a gender reassignment discrimination case and the comparator would be whether you treated a non-trans woman more favourably.
Thank you. Didn’t that Sheffield NHS first instance case already use the wrong comparator? The whole thing is so torturous and employers are being left to muddle through
Thanks, Michael, I shall ponder further! And thanks for this very helpful series.
I have cross posted
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/my-left-foot
On a practical point, do you know if the hearing is in Edinburgh or in London??
Dusty