Mick Hartley

From the Times:

Members of Britain’s largest teaching union hosted an event where teachers were told that there is no legal definition for biological sex.

The claims were made at an online seminar held last month by the trans and non-binary network of National Education Union (NEU) members to advise non-trans “allies” how to support transgender rights.

The event, entitled “Solidarity in Practice: Building Sustainable and Effective Cisgender Allyship”, attracted more than 150 people including teachers and other trade union members.

It was organised after the Supreme Court judgment in April, which ruled that the definition of a “woman” and “man” under the Equality Act 2010 related to biological sex.

In one presentation, given by a member of the LGBT network at the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents civil servants, attendees were told: “There is no legal or even scientific definition of ‘biological sex’.”

It was claimed in one presentation that under the country’s equality laws, transgender people can use the facilities — such as lavatories and changing rooms — that corresponded with the gender they identified as rather than their biological sex.

A summary of the claims states: “The Supreme Court ruling excluded trans voices. But thanks to the Equality Act 2010 we can use correct gendered facilities. For now, no law has changed. Anyone enforcing discriminatory policy on trans people is breaking the law.”

This advice appears to go directly against the interim guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equality watchdog, on how organisations should interpret the Supreme Court ruling.

It does go against the law. They're flat-out wrong.

Naomi Cunningham, a barrister, said the “trans activist network” at the NEU was among a large number of bodies that are “misrepresenting” the law “because they don’t like the outcome of the Supreme Court judgment”.

Cunningham, the chair of the campaign group Sex Matters, added: “It is both wrong and dangerously irresponsible to suggest that the exclusion of trans-identifying people from opposite sex facilities is breaking the law.

“Schools have safeguarding responsibilities for the children in their care, and the risks of letting teenagers self-identify into opposite-sex facilities should be obvious.

.“The NEU needs to rein in extremists within its networks and ensure that guidance given at any official event is compliant with the law.”…

Dr Emma Hilton, a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester, said: “It is extremely concerning that a teacher’s union, presumably including science teachers, is hosting an event where ridiculous claims that there is no scientific definition of sex are being made.

“‘Male’ and ‘female’ refer to two different types of people with two different patterns of anatomy, and how those different bodies function in reproduction.

“This biological definition of sex in humans is authoritative, supported by biology textbooks, academic publications and medical consensus statements.”

The NEU’s national executive body voted last month to campaign to allow male-born trans teachers who identifed as women to continue to use female lavatories.

The motion, called “trans rights are human rights”, said the Supreme Court ruling “contradicts human rights and dignity of trans and other gender-diverse staff and encourages discrimination, harassment and hate crimes”.

According to reports of the vote, it commits the union to “call on employers to support the right to use gendered facilities which match gender identities”.

Some coughing and spluttering from the NEU:

A NEU spokeswoman denied that the “Solidarity in Practice” event was an official union meeting.

She said: “The NEU has not yet provided advice to its leadership members, or union reps, since the Supreme Court ruling.

“The NEU is considering the implications and wants the Department for Education to provide helpful support to schools. “The NEU recognises that employers in schools and colleges must comply with legal requirements.

“All employers continue to be bound by the Equality Act 2010 and the Supreme Court ruling means they need to take proportionate steps to avoid discrimination against staff but school leaders can find it tricky to navigate the balancing of these rights.

“Leaders need to aim to make sure women feel supported in the workplace and that any staff who are trans also feel supported.”

It reminds me of Jeremy Corbyn reacting to accusations of antisemitism. The response was always that he opposed all types of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. He couldn't mention antisemitism without Islamophobia. Just couldn't do it. Now these people can't talk about discrimination against women without bringing in discrimination against "staff who are trans". They can't do it.