Reposted by Jake
Thank you, Graeme Reid (UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity)
www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
@iesogi.bsky.social
ohchr.org
UK: Revised Code of Practice risks institutionalising discrimination against transgender and gender-diverse persons, warn UN experts
GENEVA – UN human rights experts* today warned that the UK’s revised Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations, in force as of 5 August, may place transgender and gender-divers...
![Dear Bridget,
I am writing to you today to represent the concerns of the 41 constituents who have written to me in alarm and dismay at the recently published EHRC Draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, 2026. My constituents have described it as “regressive”, “authoritarian” and “just the first [step] down a very dangerous anti-trans path.” I urge you to listen to their concerns, and to allow a free vote in Parliament on whether to accept the EHRC guidance. In writing to you I seek to amplify the voices of those most affected; it is essential that trans people’s voices are heard and responded to.
My constituents are extremely disappointed by the quality of the guidance. They felt that although the changes had “promised clarity”, the guidance is “confusing, vague and sometimes contradictory”. Two examples given were whether it would be possible even to organise a something as innocuous as a trans-inclusive coffee morning, and that “a trans woman in a relationship with a cis woman is no longer protected as a lesbian couple.” Another constituent expressed their fear that the guidance will cause discrimination against them in searching for employment as businesses have to “worry about the legal consequences of hiring [them] due to the incredibly vague notion of what's allowed under this guidance”. These constituents were also horrified at the absence of trans people’s voices in developing the guidance.
Another key source for concern was the risk that the guidance would cause exclusion and trans people “being pushed out of public life”. One trans person shared that the bathroom ban suggests they are “pre-assumed to be a predator to women,” and another shared that trans women they know are “now considering crowdfunding for feminization surgery, because what a ‘woman’ looks like is being policed.” Fear for personal safety was a particularly worrying theme in many of my constituents’ emails. One constituent said that the bathr…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5ynfwhkywedytk2wwbwfz57g/bafkreihxwksxeeki2ubamyiw6pguyxyqhsa5h3uhjeahpgwdkfqt2u2vuq)
