URGENT ACTION: Write to your MP to protest the Supreme Court ruling and the EHRC's proposals to impose draconian bans on trans people from single-sex spaces.

The trans community is facing a major crisis in the UK after the Supreme Court ruled last week that for the purposes of The Equality Act 2010 sex should be classified as biological (i.e. as recorded at birth). The implications for trans people could be immense - not just from what is written in the long, opaque, often incoherent and deeply prejudiced judgment itself but as a consequence of the way it is already being exploited and weaponised by dedicated haters of the trans community in the media and the political classes who wish to see us eliminated from society. This is not the time to sit back and hope someone else is going to fix this. You need to act - if you are trans, if you love or care about a trans person, or if you are an ally who is simply appalled by the prejudice that guides how the national discourse treats trans people in the UK, and especially by this toxic Supreme Court ruling - produced after the Court heard evidence in depth from five committed anti-trans groups yet allowed no contribution at all from any trans person. Make a start by emailing your MP. Do it today. Time is short. Ask for a meeting to talk about all this. And share this guidance with five others asking them to do the same and who in turn can find 5 more people who will do the same. Here are some pointers about what to say. Don't feel you need to include them all - we feel that these are the key points. Use your own words and adapt as you see fit - this will greatly increase your chances of getting a reply. We lay these out in two sections - they are similar but have some differences of emphasis. Section 1 is for you if you are transgender. Section 2 is for you if you are cisgender. In each, one aspect is very important - clearly opposing the horrific proposals for Equality Act Statutory Guidance that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is planning to introduce soon. This will be the next battleground and it is vital that these proposals are stopped.

If you are trans Title your email with something like: The recent Supreme Court ruling has terrified me. Please meet me to discuss this. (NB - Use your own words) 1. Say that you want a meeting with them urgently about the Supreme Court Ruling which included in it a judgment on the meaning of a woman in The Equality Act 2010. 2. Say how the ruling has left you feeling. Don’t hold back, be clear and honest and as blunt as you like.

3. Say something brief about yourself. This might include how long you have been transitioned, your personal situation, family, partner, work or anything else important etc. You don’t need to say lots, but the purpose of this is to create in the reader a sense of you as a person – to combat the abstract and negative picture of trans people that the media and Gender Criticals like to promote. Maybe mention how long you have been using single-sex spaces without any issues. If you have been physically attacked or abused for being trans, consider saying that.

4. Say what you are frightened of now. Being detained and prosecuted for using a women’s toilet? Being forced to use the toilet of the sex you were assigned at birth? If you are a trans woman that may mean that you are humiliated, abused or attacked. If you are a trans man, who appears to the world identical to cisgender men, it would mean using women’s toilets and terrifying the women there? Perhaps being attacked by a male partner outside? And what’s to stop a predatory man walking in to a women’s toilet, claiming to be a trans man and then attacking someone?

(You might consider sharing – or bringing to a meeting – some photos of trans men or women who are completely physically indistinguishable from cis people - and ask your MP which toilet they should be in? There are lots of these online, with people making this point).

5. Say that you gather also that under other aspects of the law, you could be ejected from even the toilet assigned to your birth sex (even if you were ever prepared to use that toilet), leaving you with nowhere to go. Gender neutral toilets are only available in a tiny number of venues, and in any case, the last government passed legislation to ensure that it was more difficult for new venues to offer them.

6. Add that if you cannot use the toilet when you are out of your own home, be it at work, shopping, using a public building like a library, railway station, GP surgery, or elsewhere you will effectively be removed from society. You won’t be able to participate in that society. 6. Explain that the Supreme Court’s ruling – if enforced - would amount to gender policing for all women, cisgender or transgender, as women’s appearance will be assessed when they use a toilet or a changing room. Those women who don’t conform to stereotypical versions of femininity – i.e. long hair, make up, dresses, or who are ‘too’ tall or muscular, perhaps – can increasingly expect to be challenged and asked to prove their identity. This already happens - women of colour who may not conform to white Western images of femininity disproportionately experience it. And if cisgender women say that they are not trans, how are they to be believed? Will women be expected to carry their birth certificates around to enter a toilet or a changing room? Will their genitals be checked!? And even if they are, how would a post-operative trans woman’s genitals be distinguished from those of a cis woman? Chromosome tests in changing rooms!? Who’s going to do all this policing?

7. Consider saying that these questions seem not to have been considered by the Supreme Court in its ruling, and that you find that extraordinary. You might speculate that one reason is because the Court allowed five anti-trans organisations to make long submissions during the hearing but prevented any trans voices from being heard.

8. This one is very important – don’t miss it out. Say that you are very scared that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – the body that is supposed to oversee the law with respect to protecting minorities - has publicly announced that it is going to bring Equality Act Statutory Guidance (i.e. mandatory rules) to Parliament very soon that could bring about all the scenarios that you have described above by blanket-banning all trans people from facilities that are sex-segregated at all. The head of the EHRC even said (BBC Radio 4, Today, April 17th) that having been pushed out of all facilities of this sort, the solution would be for trans activists to campaign for more gender-neutral facilities, with the EHRC effectively washing its hands completely of trans people.  This is a bathroom-bill so complete and cruel that not even Trump and Republican states have introduced it in the United States. This must be stopped, urgently.

9. Finally, add that you feel the Labour government has also completely abandoned the trans community – less than 1% of the population – terrified of the long running campaign mounted by a deeply trans-hating British press and the fear of the culture wars. Say that you are very afraid that it will try to fast-track any new EHRC proposals through Parliament to try and make all this go away. Mention that you have already heard government ministers suggesting they want to do this.

10. Add that you really want your MP to meet you urgently to talk about this more and that you’d like their office to be in touch to set this up.

11. Don’t forget to add your full name and address and maybe a contact number on your email. This is essential as it proves that you live in that MP's constituency. There is no possibility that they will respond to you unless you do this. Once you have sent your email, try to ask 5 friends to do the same – trans or cis. And ask them to pass on the request.

You can find out who your MP is here https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

You can find out more about their views and how they have voted here https://www.mysociety.org/wehelpyou/who-is-your-mp

We encourage you to write to your MP irrespective of whether or not you feel they will be sympathetic. Some will respond and you’ll get an invite to a meeting. Some won’t. If they don’t, and you feel able, try again. But even if you sense you are getting nowhere, MPs do monitor how many emails they are receiving on certain topics and they take notice – especially MPs who represent marginal constituencies and who worry that if they miss something important it might end up causing them to lose their seat in the next election.

We hope to publish more material soon to support you as and when you manage to get a meeting with your MP.

Remember this above all else. Those who hate trans people think they have won a great victory, even a knockout blow. But they are wrong. Look at the number of people who turned out on the streets in support of the trans community in the days following the Supreme Court ruling. Remember that the repeal of the horrific, homophobic Section 28 legislation passed in the 1980s was achieved by people doing what you are doing – pressurising MPs, over and over, until they listened. **********

If you are cis

Title your email with something like: I’m not transgender, but I have a loved one/friend/colleague who is. The Supreme Court ruling has terrified them. Please meet me to discuss this. (NB - Use your own words)

(If you are writing not because you know someone who is trans, but you are an ally and you simply find what the Supreme Court has done reprehensible, thank you – adapt your email accordingly)

1. Say that you want a meeting with them urgently about the recent Supreme Court Ruling which included in it a judgment on the meaning of a woman in The Equality Act 2010.

2. Say how the ruling has left you feeling. Don’t hold back, be clear and honest and as blunt as you like. Focus here on the fact that you write as a cisgender person, and that you feel many cisgender people are shocked by what has happened or would be if they realised the full implications.

3. Say something brief about your relationship with a trans person (if you have one) – family, sibling, partner, child, colleague, friend etc. Don’t give their name or identifying details unless you have explicitly asked them if that’s ok.

4. Say what the trans person you know is frightened of now. If they are a trans woman, being detained and prosecuted for using a women’s toilet? Being forced to use the toilet of the sex they were assigned at birth? If they are a trans woman that may mean that they are humiliated, abused or attacked. If they are a trans man, who appears to the world identical to cisgender men, it would mean using women’s toilets and terrifying the women there – or maybe even being attacked by a male partner outside? And what’s to stop a predatory man walking into the women’s toilet, claiming to be a trans man and then attacking someone?

(You might consider sharing – or bringing to a meeting – some photos of trans men or women who are completely physically indistinguishable from cis people - and ask your MP which toilet they should be in? There are lots of these online, with people making this point).

5. Say that you gather also that under other aspects of the law, trans people could be ejected from even the toilet assigned to their birth sex (even if they are prepared to use that toilet), leaving them with nowhere to go. Gender neutral toilets are only available in a tiny number of venues, and in any case, the last government passed legislation to ensure that it was more difficult for new venues to offer them.

6. Add that if they cannot use the toilet when they are out of their own home, be it at work, shopping, using a public building like a library, railway station, GP surgery, or elsewhere then trans people will effectively be removed from society. They won’t be able to participate in that society.

7. If you are cis, you may want to focus on this section – even make it a central aspect. Every MP is (at least publicly) cisgender so this could resonate powerfully. 

Explain that the Supreme Court’s ruling – if enforced - would amount to gender policing for all women, cisgender or transgender, as women’s appearance will be assessed when they use a toilet or a changing room. Those women who don’t conform to stereotypical versions of femininity – i.e. long hair, make up, dresses, or who are ‘too’ tall or muscular, perhaps – can increasingly expect to be challenged and asked to prove their identity. This already happens - women of colour who may not conform to white Western images of femininity disproportionately experience it. And if cisgender women say that they are not trans, how are they to be believed? Will women be expected to carry their birth certificates around to enter a toilet or a changing room? Will their genitals be checked!? And even if they were, how would a cis woman’s genitals be distinguished from those of a post-operative trans woman? Chromosome tests in changing rooms!? Who’s going to do all this policing?

8. Consider saying that these questions seem not to have been considered by the Supreme Court in its ruling, and that you find that extraordinary. You might speculate that one reason is because the Court allowed five dedicated anti-trans organisations to make long submissions during the hearing but prevented any trans voices from being heard.

9. You might wish to point out that in a society in which 1 in 4 women are subject to domestic violence in their lifetime and that one woman is killed by an abusive partner or ex in the UK on average every five days, it is not trans women who are committing these crimes and that you wish campaigners would drop their vendetta against trans women to focus on supporting women who are really at risk.

10. This one is very important – don’t miss it out. Say that you are very scared that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – the body that is supposed to oversee the law with respect to protecting minorities - has publicly announced that it is going to bring Equality Act Statutory Guidance (i.e. mandatory rules) to Parliament very soon that could bring about all the scenarios that you have described affecting trans people by blanket-banning all trans people from facilities that are sex-segregated at all. The head of the EHRC even said on the BBC (Radio 4, Today, April 17th) that having been pushed out of all facilities of this sort, the solution would in her view be for trans activists to campaign for more gender-neutral facilities, with the EHRC effectively washing its hands completely of trans people.  

This is a bathroom-bill so complete and cruel that not even Trump and Republican states have introduced it in the United States. This must be stopped, urgently.

11. Finally, add that you feel the Labour government has also completely abandoned the trans community – less than 1% of the population – terrified of the long running campaign mounted by a deeply trans-hating British press and the fear of the culture wars. Say that you are very afraid that it will try to fast-track any new EHRC proposals through Parliament to make all this go away. Mention that you have already heard government ministers suggesting they want to do this.

12. Add that you really want your MP to meet you urgently to talk about this more and that you’d like their office to be in touch to set this up.

13. Don’t forget to add your full name and address and maybe a contact number on your email. This is essential as it proves that you live in that MP's constituency. There is no possibility that they will respond to you unless you do this. Once you have sent your email, try and ask 5 friends to do the same – focus on cisgender friends. And ask them to pass on the request to others too.

You can find out who your MP is here https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

You can find out more about their views and how they have voted here https://www.mysociety.org/wehelpyou/who-is-your-mp

We encourage you to write to your MP irrespective of whether or not you feel they will be sympathetic. Some will respond and you’ll get an invite to a meeting. Some won’t. If they don’t, and you feel able, try again. But even if you sense you are getting nowhere, MPs do monitor how many emails they are getting on certain topics and they take notice – especially MPs who represent marginal constituencies and who worry that they might not spot something that could cause them to lose their seat in the next election.

We hope to publish more material soon to support you as and when you manage to get a meeting with your MP.

Remember this above all else. Those who hate trans people think they have won a great victory, even a knockout blow. But they are wrong. Look at the number of people who turned out on the streets in support of the trans community in the days following the Supreme Court ruling. If all of them acted, and asked 5 more to do the same, what might be the effect of that? Remember that the repeal of the horrific, homophobic Section 28 legislation passed in the 1980s was achieved by people doing what you are doing – pressurising MPs, over and over, until they listened.

We fight on.

Trans Legal Project.