Museums Galleries Scotland has warned that “every single person using [single-sex] toilets” would need to be “checked” following guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The organisation, which represents more than 400 museums and galleries in Scotland, has released a statement after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made changes to its Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations.
This updated advice on how to comply with the Equality Act when it comes to single-sex spaces such as toilets followed the UK Supreme Court’s April judgement that “sex” in law refers to biological sex, rather than “gender identity”.
Updated advice from EHRC
In an interim update on the practical implications of the Supreme Court ruling, the EHRC said “trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities, as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities and must be open to all users of the opposite sex”.
In its response, Museums Galleries Scotland said the EHRC guidance “does not uphold the spirit of inclusion” and that the human rights body did not consult with trans people or trans organisations during a consultation.
It said: “When there is a need to prove your sex, what proof will be acceptable given gender recognition certificates are not, nor are altered birth certificates – but how would you know?”
MGS said it is “likely this role would fall on front-of-house staff, which we believe puts undue pressure on them”.
According to MGS, the “practical application of policing toilets is unfeasible as, to avoid discrimination, it would require every single person using toilets to be checked adding substantial workload and staff costs to undertake this role”.
MGS also raised concerns that the provisional guidance does not make reference to intersex people and stated that there are 1.1 million intersex people in the UK.
Additionally, it said there could be consequences like “some museums temporarily closing to avoid breaching the law while they invest the required time and resources to ensure adequate facilities”.
“Policing toilets is unfeasible”, says MGS
“We strongly encourage the EHRC to review their processes around this guidance and take the necessary time to understand the impacts and needs of trans individuals and organisations committed to trans inclusion,” the MGS statement ended.
Susan Smith, co-founder of Scottish campaign group For Women Scotland, said the EHRC guidance “aims to protect organisations and ensure they adhere to law” and “does not mean [staff] are required to vet every user” (via the Telegraph).
She added, “What is clear is that MGS have had unlawful policies for some time.
“All parties at the Supreme Court understood that self-identification has never been lawful, including the Scottish Government, which funds MGS.”
