Single-sex spaces for women will become more dangerous, not safer, after Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, a transgender campaigner has warned.
Sitting down with The Independent, Jaxon Feeley said the landmark ruling that trans women are not legally women is impossible to enforce in practice.
The judgment, which states that the definition of a woman in equality law is based on biological sex, means trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces and has been billed as a victory for biological women.
But Mr Feeley warned that the emphasis on biological sex opens up a whole host of other issues for single-sex spaces, including that trans men will now be forced to use women’s spaces, including bathrooms and changing rooms.
Outlining the myriad difficulties in enforcing the policy, the campaigner – who transitioned from female to male while serving as a prison officer in the UK – said: “If I walk into a [women’s] toilet now and say: ‘Well, I was assigned female at birth’, people are not going to be happy about that. I feel like people are going to be quite intimidated by that.
“It not only obviously puts [biological women] in a difficult situation, but it also allows any [cisgender] man to walk into any so-called official single-sex space now and say, ‘Well, I was assigned female at birth.’ How are you policing that? You can’t police that.”
He added: “The frightening thing is the fact that you’ve not just made women’s spaces more dangerous for trans women, you’ve actually made spaces more dangerous for biological women because of that lack of understanding.”
Mr Feeley warned that Wednesday’s “shocking” judgment is likely to lead to an increase in hate crime and suicides among the trans community.
“As heartbreaking as it is, there’s going to be an increase in attacks, there’s going to be an increase in hate crime, there’s going to be an increase in suicide, because people feel they can’t do it, they just can’t transition. They can’t live in this world.”
It comes after jane fae, the director of trans campaign group TransActual, warned that the ruling will “exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society”. She said that society will “divide more sharply into queer-friendly and queer-hostile spaces” as a result of the ruling.
Mr Feeley claimed that Wednesday’s judgment gives “permission to those who already hate and discriminate”, warning that it will “increase and amplify the level of abuse and hate towards trans people and any woman who doesn’t look woman[ly] enough”.
He added that the ruling is “a step towards controlling women again”, explaining: “I think it’s a situation where you’re effectively looking at whether you look woman enough – ‘Do you look woman enough to come into this toilet?’”
On Thursday, Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said access to single-sex facilities such as changing rooms “must be based on biological sex” in light of the ruling.
Asked how she would respond to trans people who are worried about not being able to use public loos or changing rooms as a result of the ruling, Baroness Falkner said they “should be using their powers of advocacy” to ask for “third spaces” that are not single-sex.
But Mr Feeley warned that any trans person using a so-called “third space” would be outing themselves as trans.
“It’s not OK to just out people. We don’t want to be visible in this world when the abuse is increasing. All people want to do is go for a wee. They just want to go to the toilet,” he said.
The TV personality also argued that “something has gone seriously wrong” if biological women think that “trans women are the biggest threat to them in today’s society”.
“If you ask a woman, would they rather be in a room full of 50 straight men or 50 drag queens or 50 trans women, I guarantee the answer is not going to be the straight men,” he said.
Mr Feeley added: “Trans people aren’t trying to erase anything or anyone. They’re not trying to erase language. They’re not trying to erase gender. They’re just asking for choice, asking for freedom, asking for healthcare, asking for acceptance.
“They’re asking for anything that a human has the right to ask for in today’s society. That’s it. They’re just people dealing with their own problems. We’re all human beings at the end of the day, before anything else; all human beings struggling with one thing or another.
“If women think that trans women are the biggest threat to them in today’s society, something has gone seriously wrong.”
In the wake of the verdict, the government reaffirmed its support for the “protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex”, with women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson saying the ruling brings “clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs”.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government,” she added.
Officials have since confirmed that the NHS is looking at updating its official guidance on same-sex wards to reflect the ruling, which currently says trans people “should be accommodated according to their presentation: the way they dress, and the name and pronouns they currently use”.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
Source: independent.co.uk
