Mick Hartley

When Jenny Watson insisted that only women could attend her lesbian speed-dating event, the hosting pub cancelled on the grounds that exclusion of trans women didn't align with their values. The decision was no doubt helped along by the complaints and abuse from outraged men at this supposedly outrageous transphobia. After the LGB Alliance got involved, however, and pointed out the true significance of the Equality Act, the pub chain backed down and overturned the manager's ban.

Here's the LGB Alliance's Kate Barker in the Telegraph, pointing out how – as in this lesbian speed-dating case – misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Equality Act is being used to push for "trans inclusivity" at the expense of equality:

Most reasonable people would think it absurd that a lesbian speed-dating event must put men’s desire to attend, above the needs of women who want to meet and socialise in a female-only space. So how did we get here?

The equality diversity & inclusion industry has grown rapidly over the last decade and the chances are that the pub manager, like many people who work for large organisations, will have attended at least one training session.

The source materials for these sessions are supplied by TQ+ lobby groups who misrepresent the Equality Act 2010 so that the rights of trans people can be prioritised.

Replacing the biological reality of “sex” with the nebulous concept of “gender” is commonplace. The result: people who are same-sex attracted are no longer permitted the language to communicate their experiences or the words to describe the discrimination they face.

It means that the level playing field the Act was created to deliver becomes, instead, a hierarchy of the marginalised, with same-sex attracted people at the bottom of the heap.

These sessions are delivered by an unregulated army of consultants, weighed down with flip charts and colourful presentations, but unburdened by an understanding of the law. In place of the facts they insert slogans and obfuscation. They speak, fervently, of kindness, acceptance and, above all else, inclusivity.

It’s an approach that leaves businesses with the erroneous impression that a trans identifying male may do whatever he chooses, whenever he pleases. And, furthermore, that to stand in his way would be unlawful.

It seems that the Stonegate Group, who own the pub in question as well as 4,500 other venues around the country, do understand the Equality Act 2010. When we approached them and made our case in support of Jenny, they swiftly agreed to reverse their manager’s decision.

They appeared to clearly recognise that banning a lesbian event was discriminatory and could be subject to legal challenge.

But they are the exception. Most organisations are not just wrong, but are dangerously blasé about the consequences of their inaccurate assumptions. They are then unprepared for the backlash, from people like Jenny, who believe that equality is a concept worth fighting for.

Lesbian speed-dating, by definition, is not for everyone, and the notion that all events must be “inclusive” make a nonsense of the specific protections afforded by the Equality Act.

That’s why it’s time to move away from the entreaty to “be kind” and instead insist that we “be fair”. A renewed focus on the Equality Act by Parliamentarians and a clarification of the meaning of sex is the first step.