Last week we responded to the EHRC’s consultation on their draft technical guidance for schools, which had been updated following the Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of “sex” in the Equality Act.

You can read our response here.

As with the EHRC’s Code of Practice, we are very concerned that following this guidance will lead to significant impacts for trans pupils, including on their mental and physical health and their ability to attend school, focus on their learning, and mix with other students.

We are already seeing these impacts at schools across Scotland, England and Wales, and fear that this guidance will only make this worse, as it focuses almost entirely on when trans pupils can be excluded and treated differently, and never explains how they can still be included and affirmed at school.

While the guidance is primarily focused on informing schools about their duties under the Equality Act, we are also concerned that only following this guidance will lead schools to neglect the human rights of trans pupils, especially those in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is enshrined in Scots Law.

We acknowledge that it is not the EHRC’s role to create the law, but to describe how they believe it works. However, as we say several times in our response, they also have a role in highlighting to the UK Government that the current legal framework requires treating trans children and young people in ways that will put them at risk of violence and abuse, clearly impact on their human rights, and cause them to face inequality and discrimination.

We do not understand how they can describe the law in the way they have without seeing it as a creating a significant and urgent risk to trans children and young people.

If you’re a young person in Scotland and need support, you can access 1-to-1 and other forms of support from LGBT Youth Scotland here. Support is also available for young people in Scotland and the rest of the UK from Mermaids here.