Trans rights and the supreme court

[lnr]

Unions now have a meeting on Thursday with the Pro-VC, senior HR and EDI people. I'm going to be attending on behalf of UCU, along with our Equalities Officer Amanda. Our main requests are better communication of actual practical support for staff and students, not changing policies without consultation based on the rushed EHRC interim guidance, and asking for them to contribute to the consultation. There's a lot more subtle stuff involved, but that's kind of the absolute minimum.

It turns out I'm now having trouble getting back to sleep if I wake in the night, because I'm too busy thinking about how the hell we communicate this properly, and what our chances of success are in ensuring trans, intersex and non-binary people continue to be treated with dignity and respect and remain safe at work. Because that feels like a really basic thing to be asking for when you put it like that.

My HoD finally got back to me yesterday, to reiterate support, but it's meaningless if it's only said to *me*, and not to all staff and students.

Comments

[barakta]

My pet questions:

What is the legitimate aim?
How is that proportionate as in the least-restrictive way to achieve it?
How will you police it?
How can anyone prove they are not trans?

I will also be making the point that as a queer who's been around some form of queer community since the mid 90s, I deeply resent cishets speaking for all of us and will absolutely nix the fuck out of externally imposed definitions of our sexuality kthxfuckoff etc.

Make it as inconvenient and time consuming as possible for them to have any shitty policies. Also we should start targeting the open days of any uni who tries to bring in shitty policies "Don't come here, they're transphobic and you are not safe here!" which they will hate hate hate. Especially if we find receipts of their flag waving when it suited them.

[pseudomonas]

How will you police it?

and presumably a subset of that is "how will you make sure that it doesn't become a magnet for transphobes taking it upon themselves to interfere".

[barakta]

100% cos the TERFs are already trying to get trans folk kicked out of space by "running to mummy telling tales". I've seen cases where the "women's group" in question has replied "We are inclusive, including trams women and not excluding them, you can stay too if you behave" which is the best let TERFs self-exclude and might teach them how much of a minority they still are.

I am reminding lots of people, none of us can prove we're cis, and most places have no capacity to "chromosome test" where I guarantee a % of people will discover they are intersex. My view is if the alleged-trans person has to "prove their sex" then so does every single person who demands that data from the trans person. If the accusers/complicit won't do it, then trans folk and cis allies accused should not do it. Fuck up the system. Make it hard. Make it more hassle to challenge than not. Argue back. Derail. Delay. Deflect. Use all the tactics of power right back at them. Be More Annoying Than TERFS around transphobia and otherwise Be A Normal Human (which TERFs are incapable of doing)!

[pseudomonas]

yeah, if it becomes a community-policing-aka-vigilantism situation, asking the known terf "enforcers" on a regular basis to prove they're cis (bearing in mind that there is no piece of official paperwork that can do this) would be an appropriate response.