Judge me on what I do, says new EHRC chair after transgender groups’ criticism | Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
The new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has asked campaigners who expressed doubts about her appointment to “judge me by my actions”.
In one of his first media interviews since his appointment at the beginning of December, Dr. Mary-Ann Stephenson has vowed to “protect everyone’s rights across all their protected characteristics” after the UK government rejected objections from the parliamentary women and equalities committee over her fitness for office.
Stephenson argued that the open letters she signed against censorship on campus and violence against campaigners had “really been largely mischaracterized as anti-trans letters”.
Instead, he said they were consistent with his “lifelong commitment to protecting and preserving human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of association and fundamental democratic rights.”
Stephenson donated to the 2022 campaign of attorney Allison Bailey, who was found to have been unlawfully discriminated against by her chambers for her views critical of gender equality.
Asked what she would say to those who felt they were taking sides in the debate, Stephenson said: “I was concerned that women who were being harassed, or sometimes losing their jobs, for expressing legally protected views were at a time when there was a public debate about changing the legislation.”
He continued: “I would say judge me by what I do. I’m really keen, I think it’s really important that the chair of the EHRC supports everyone’s rights across all protected characteristics.”
Admitting that she “needs to engage openly” with the LGBTQ+ sector in her new role, she said: “When we look at this issue within single-sex spaces, I think it’s really important to make sure you’re also protecting the rights of transgender people.”
A number of LGBTQ+ organizations have challenged previous public statements after Stephenson was announced as the government’s preferred candidate. The open letter, signed by Stonewall, Galop and TransActual, among others, said: “We recognize that Dr. Stephenson has an impressive track record in the industry. However, he has also previously supported views that contradict inclusion for all.”
Stephenson’s most pressing issue in the new role is official guidance on how public bodies, businesses and other service providers should respond to April’s landmark high court ruling on biological sex, which the equality watchdog submitted to the government for approval in September.
While his predecessor Kishwer Falkner criticized the time ministers took to approve the new rules, the draft leaked last month caused consternation among LGBTQ+ advocates by suggesting transgender people could be banned from single-sex spaces based on their appearance.
Stephenson said he did not accept the characterization that it was “a license to discriminate based on appearance.” He said: “I think my starting point in all of this is that you need to ensure that everyone has access to the services they need as much as possible.”
“He said it’s important to provide services to people who can’t or don’t want to use services for their biological sex. It’s about recognizing that everyone has rights in this situation, but if you’re providing single-sex services, the high court has said they have to be on the basis of biological sex.”
The UK government has previously insisted that new rules on access to single-sex spaces will take as much time as necessary to “get them right”.
Asked whether he would be prepared to accept ministers’ changes to the draft guidance, Stephenson said he believed it was “legally sound” and that the EHRC was “really happy to provide it”. [the government] along with any evidence they need”.
