Transgender people were misled about their rights to female only spaces by lobby groups, according to a senior member of an equality watchdog has said.
In April a Supreme Court ruling confirmed the terms woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act ‘refer to a biological woman and biological sex’.
Akua Reindorf, a barrister who is one of eight commissioners at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said trans people had been deceived about their rights were.
Speaking in a personal capacity during a debate about the recent ruling, she said there must be a ‘period of correction’ to acknowledge women’s right to women-only spaces.
The decision made it legal for trans people to be banned from women-only sports teams, and from using bathrooms and changing rooms for the gender they lived as.
These terms were later supported by interim non-statutory advice given by the EHRC last April.
When an audience member at the debate raised fears about the recent Supreme Court ruling and how it could strip away trans peoples rights, barrister and panellist, Naomi Cunningham said: ‘It can’t be helped, I’m afraid.’
In agreement with her fellow panellist, Ms Reindorf said she believed trans lobbyists were at faults for the misunderstanding.
Akua Reindorf has said transgender people were misled about their rights to female only spaces by lobby groups
The Supreme Court has announced that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex in a landmark ruling. Pictured: Campaign group For Women Scotland celebrating the judgement
‘Unfortunately, young people and trans people have been lied to over many years about what their rights are,’ she said.
‘It’s like Naomi said – I just can’t say it in a more diplomatic way than that. They have been lied to, and there has to be a period of correction, because other people have rights’
She claimed it boiled down to the law prior to the Supreme Court ruling being misunderstood due to groups contending trans people who self-identified should be treated as their preferred gender.
However, this was only the case for the those who had obtained a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
The barrister said the amalgamation of different rights made the Equality Act nonviable from a personal capacity.
‘The catalyst for many to catch up, belatedly, with the fact that the law never permitted self-ID in the first place,’ she said.
As such, the feeling of a loss of right of trans people was due to an overwhelming product of ‘misinformation’ perpetrated by ‘lobby group and activists’.
Author JK Rowling backed the barrister’s recent comments, saying lobby groups lied ‘about what the law said’.’
Marion Calder (centre), Helen Joyce (centre left) and Maya Forstater (left) celebrate outside the Supreme Court
However, the head of gender justice at Amnesty International UK, Chiara Capraro, hit back Ms Reindorf’s comments.
She said: ‘The EHRC has the duty to uphold the rights of everyone, including all with protected characteristics. We are concerned that it is failing to do so and is unhelpfully pitting the rights of women and trans people against each other.’
A spokesman for the EHRC told The Guardian: ‘Akua Reindorf KC spoke at this event in a personal capacity. This was made clear at the event and in the video recording published online.
‘As Britain’s equality regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission upholds and enforces the Equality Act 2010 to ensure everyone is treated fairly, consistent with the Act.
‘Our board come from all walks of life and bring with them a breadth of skills and experience. This helps us take impartial decisions, which are always based on evidence and the law.’
