Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 07/07/2026If it affects you, then it would be lovely if you could spare a couple of quid. www.crowdjustice.com/case/challen...crowdjustice.comChallenging the EHRC Code of Practice: A Judicial ReviewChallenging the EHRC Code of Practice: A Judicial Review. 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 30/06/2026My understanding therefore is that the law gives us a clear, workable route to keep trans women included, and we should use it. We don’t have to surrender public spaces to exclusionary narratives. 001
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 30/06/2026The Act lets us design services around more than one protected characteristic. Female sex + gender reassignment = a lawful, protected category. Offer equivalent facilities for men and trans men, and you’re fully compliant. 100
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 30/06/2026IANAL, but here’s something important for anyone fighting for trans inclusion. The Equality Act does allow a toilet for women and transgender women. It’s simply not labelled “single‑sex”, but that’s no barrier to inclusion. 100
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Has 1502 now joined Correct Horse Battery Staple? IYKYK 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/06/2026As always, remember: a venue can ask someone to leave under its own rules, and refusing to leave after a lawful request could become a civil trespass issue. But that is not a criminal offence about “being in the wrong toilet”. committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...committees.parliament.uk 011
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/06/2026“There is no criminal offence of using the wrong space.” To put it plainly: there is no law in the UK that dictates which toilet or changing room you must use. This is simply a point of information, do with it what you will. 132
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/06/2026I’ve said this before and got a lot of pushback, so here it is in black and white from Dr Mary‑Ann Stephenson, Chair of the EHRC, giving evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee: 132
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 03/06/2026FYI: it has never been illegal for a man to use the women’s toilets. There’s no law in the UK that assigns people to specific toilets. 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 02/06/2026You are not required to disclose whether you have a GRC because having one makes fuck all difference. 030
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 02/06/2026The EHRC Code is guidance for organisations on how to stay within equality law when providing facilities. It does not create criminal offences, and it does not tell individuals where they can or can’t go. 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Can we stop saying it’s “against the law” for a trans woman to use the ladies’ toilet. It isn’t. There is no law, and never has been, that dictates which toilet anyone must use. 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 27/05/2026And unlike, I suspect, everyone else who gets to use this 'hotline', trans people cannot claim the cost of an accountant against tax, MPs certainly can. 060
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026adfinternational.org/en-gb/news/s... This is ADF International's press release about the letters sent out by Sharron Davies. She is Baroness Davies of Devonport, and is, therefore, eligible to sit in the House of Lords. She was nominated by Kemi Badenoch for her campaigning on women's rights.adfinternational.orgSports bodies threatened with legal action if they continue to allow men to compete in women’s sportTen sports bodies have today been threatened with legal action if they fail to protect women’s sport from transgender ideology, in formal warnings from former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and legal ... 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026In the minds of the people lobbying parliament, such as ADF International. 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Calling in the EHRC guidelines is necessary, but it’s not enough. The real fight has to run on two tracks: 1) challenging the Supreme Court ruling at the ECtHR, and 2) pushing Parliament to revisit the GRA and restore the principle that we can legally change sex. 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Yes. The situation as I understand it is that this guidance creates a system where trans people are treated differently from both men and women, which is the core definition of discrimination under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights 🤷♀️ 030
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026It seems to be the case that the guidance is leaning towards treating trans people as a third gender. How this all makes legal sense I am afraid I don't know. 220
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026No. To get a GRC you swear to an intent and that (sort of) binds you. There is no reciprocal binding on the government to maintain the situation that allows you to meet your intent. Sorry 😔 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026It is frustrating, but if we don't discuss these things then people's attitudes become entrenched 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Then I consider it my job to try to gently educate them if at all possible. 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Unusual to see someone referred to as a woman's (ex-)partner, it's normally the other, misogynistic, way round. 1140
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026The problem is that these two pictures of “a trans woman” are completely different, and no one seems willing to acknowledge that disconnect. Until we do, we’ll keep talking past each other instead of addressing the real fears and the real people involved. 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026That image is frightening and disgusting, and if that were what trans women were, I wouldn’t blame anyone for objecting. 110
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026But some people don’t see that. When they object to trans women in public toilets, they’re not picturing someone like me. They’re imagining a predatory man using a dress as a disguise to invade women’s spaces. 210
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026For many trans women, living openly brings peace, stability, and a sense of finally being at home in ourselves. We’re simply trying to be accepted by the group we belong to, other women. Wanting acceptance from your peers is a very human thing. 161
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 25/05/2026There’s a huge, unspoken gap between how most trans women see themselves and how some people imagine us. 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Fixing the guidance might ease the immediate pressure, but it only treats a symptom. The long‑term solution has to be restoring the GRA, and restoring the intended meaning of the Gender Recognition Certificate. 050
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 24/05/2026That raises a serious question: if the UK originally introduced the GRA to comply with the Convention, what does it mean when the GRA’s core function has now been hollowed out? 140
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 24/05/2026But after the Supreme Court ruled that “sex” in the Equality Act means biological sex only, a Gender Recognition Certificate no longer carries the meaning Parliament intended in 2004. It still changes certain records, but it no longer changes how the Equality Act treats us. 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 24/05/2026The GRA was created in response to the European Court of Human Rights finding that the UK had breached the Convention on the Right to respect for private life. Its whole point was to give trans people a legal mechanism to have their gender recognised across everyday life. 130
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 24/05/2026The EHRC guidance tabled last Thursday is causing a lot of understandable noise on social media, but we’re missing the deeper issue. The real problem is not the guidance itself; it’s the fact that the Gender Recognition Act 2004 has been stripped of its core meaning by the For Women Scotland ruling 1185
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 20/12/2023I am sure I once read that in the UK, curator's removed the sculpted genitalia of male statues to prevent embarrassment but being good curators the stone genitals were stored for posterity. Thus, there are drawers full of stone penises & testicles in some museums. I love this even if it is not true 020
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 18/12/2023 I am not sure which bit to get angry about "still dealing with referrals received in May and June" or "should contact you in the next year". Well, I am not going to actually get angry but seriously, is this the NHS service we should be getting? 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 18/12/2023 "They have also confirmed that at the moment they have a huge waiting list and they are still dealing with referrals received in May and June so they should contact you in the next year at some point." 100
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 18/12/2023 "Please kindly note that we have chased up your pending referral for ENT at Frimley Park Hospital and they have confirmed that your referral has been triaged and it is still on the waiting list to be booked in for an appointment." 100
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 18/12/2023Following some confusion about whether or not I had been referred for speech therapy at Frimley Park my local surgery have just responded to me with this message: 220
Reposted by Anne CoombesAnne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 15/12/2023It's a prime square © day. Today is the 349th day of the year, a prime number, and there are 16 days left, a perfect square. Talking of perfect squares, how did I not know this before this year? Not only is that a lovely equation but both sides, obviously, add up to 365! 051
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 15/12/2023It's a prime square © day. Today is the 349th day of the year, a prime number, and there are 16 days left, a perfect square. Talking of perfect squares, how did I not know this before this year? Not only is that a lovely equation but both sides, obviously, add up to 365! 051
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 13/12/2023Having left one swimming club I am off to try out another one this evening. Let's see how this one fares. 🏊♀️ 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/12/2023I am stunned by the name of that restaurant. It sounds like the most perfect title for an Autobiography/ 010
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/12/2023Feeling like I don't fit anywhere and wanting to run away, hide in a corner and not come out. Exactly how I felt this morning. Not much help to you but that feeling is definitely one I have suffered. 150
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 11/12/2023I had a long chat with a good friend on Friday and she recommended that for the sake of my mental health I get off the bird place. Consequently, I have deactivated my account. Which means I have more time to dedicate to here and mastodon . 020
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 10/12/2023Thank you for the answers which I have implemented. I just need to find a post with adult content to see if the fix has worked 😲 120
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 10/12/2023Why do I always forget that I'm rubbish at baking? The pastry was too dry, I'd not made enough pastry, the cutter was too small for the indentations in the pan, I don't even know what the proper name for the pan is. All in all a disaster. Back to Waitrose essentials. 000
Anne Coombes @iutba.bsky.social · 10/12/2023Looking for suugestions of a romantic christmassy film to watch this evening that is not Love Actually. 010
