The Christian Legal Centre and the Darlington nurses have responded to the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) new trans guidelines.
The new guidelines come a year after the Supreme Court that biological sex must legally determine a person’s gender, as opposed to self-identification.
The NHS has been criticised for failing to respect the ruling in places. The Darlington Nurses won an employment tribunal after raising complaints at having to use the same changing facilities as a biological male who identified as female.
The nurses were allegedly told to be more inclusive and to receive more education on the matter. They were later given an inferior space in which to get changed.
Despite winning their tribunal, four of the nurses may still face repercussions from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
In a similar case, Christian nurse Jennifer Melle was suspended from work for nearly a year for “misgendering” a biologically male patient who was a convicted paedophile and had been brought in for treatment from a male prison. Although Melle was reinstated by her employer following a disciplinary hearing, she is still subject to a NMC investigation.
The Christian Legal Centre has supported both Melle and the Darlington nurses.
The group’s CEO, Andrea Williams, gave a mixed response to the new EHRC guidance.
“This Code of Practice confirms what should never have been in doubt: the law has always required the protection of single-sex spaces. Public bodies, including the NHS, have had a legal duty to comply, yet many have failed to do so, choosing instead to hide behind ‘awaiting guidance’ while pursuing unlawful policies," she said.
“We remain deeply concerned that, as Bridget Phillipson acknowledged in her February meeting with Christian nurse Jennifer Melle, this Code will not even extend to workplaces. That gap must not become another loophole for inaction. There can be no more delays. The law is clear and must now be implemented in full."
Bethany Hutchison, President of the Darlington Nursing Union, echoed her comments, arguing that NHS bodies could no longer claim to be “waiting for guidance” following the Supreme Court ruling.
“Frontline nurses have paid a heavy price for speaking up, and in Darlington we have seen first-hand the consequences of institutional failure. We now need urgent, system-wide reform to restore confidence, protect patient dignity, and ensure staff can carry out their duties without fear of reprisal," she said.
