All public bodies have to follow what is called the Public Sector Equality Duty. This Duty covers three responsibilities: • • •
to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation against anyone with a protected characteristic to promote equality of opportunity between people with and without a protected characteristic to foster good relations between people who do and don’t share the protected characteristic.
Promoting equality includes removing the disadvantages experienced by trans people, meeting trans people’s needs and encouraging trans people to take part in public life or other activities where participation is disproportionally low. Fostering good relations includes tackling prejudice and promoting understanding between people who do and don’t share a protected characteristic. The Public Sector Equality Duty applies to organisations that aren’t public authorities but are doing public functions (for example, commercial leisure organisations running the local authority’s swimming baths and charities running housing or advice services). The Equality Act states that the Public Sector Equality Duty still applies even if the numbers in a protected group are small. The Equality and Human Rights Commission note, for example, that organisations may have a very small number of staff who are trans but the impact on them of harassment at work is likely to be very significant. The Duty states that it is permissible to treat a group of people sharing a protected characteristic more favourably than those without if this action achieves the above aims. It states that organisations can take positive action which is a proportionate means of people overcoming disadvantage, meeting their needs and enabling or encouraging people to participate. Organisations need to have some evidence to demonstrate the need for positive action but this does not have to be sophisticated or statistical in nature. 83
YOUR RIGHTS AS A TRANS PERSON Wherever you are in your process of transition, wherever you are aiming to get to and however you define your gender identity, you have these rights: • For public authorities to take action to make things fairer for you and make it more possible for you to participate. • For public authorities to treat you more favourably if this will make things fairer in the end. The word trans is an umbrella term to describe people whose appearance, personal characteristics or behaviours differ from socially accepted stereotypes about how men and women are ‘supposed’ to be. Its use here does not imply that everyone coming under this umbrella uses this term to define themselves.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS AN ORGANISATION These responsibilities apply to your employees, volunteers, service users and/or customers and to your organisational procedures: • •
To take action to implement the Public Sector Equality Duty. to treat trans people more favourably if you have some evidence that trans people are discriminated against, have different needs or participate less in things.