The ICCL guide, entitled “Know Your Rights: A Guide for Trans and Non-Binary People”, which was published by ICCL with funding from IHREC, is dangerously one-sided and presents opinion as fact throughout. The guidance fails to recognise the rights of women or the requirements of safeguarding. As usual, the individual trans-identified person’s wishes are placed ahead of all other considerations and any conflict of rights is ignored.
A new paper from The Countess, On the Clash of Rights between Women and Men who “Identify as Women”, (for download at the end of this page) examines claims that denying trans identified men access to women’s single sex spaces is discriminatory, and tests those claims against the Equal Status Act, the Gender Recognition Act 2015, the Irish Constitution, and Ireland’s obligations under the EHRC.
The Countess paper sets out a legal analysis of the conflict created when the Gender Recognition Act 2015 and gender self ID is prioritised over biological sex. The paper identifies where the law is clear, where it is silent, and where the ICCL guidance goes beyond what the law provides. The analysis focuses on the impact on women’s privacy, dignity, and participation in public life, and explains why sex-based protections remain lawful.
Laoise de Brún, CEO and founder of The Countess said “We are calling on government to make the law clear, and in the meantime we urge all legal entities, schools, service providers, shops and sport clubs to be aware that the ICCL guidance is not legally binding and may in fact be dangerous for service providers insofar as it is inaccurate, misleading and not legally sound. The gender ground does not include ‘trans’. Trans rights and protections reside in the gender reassignment grounds, which protect trans-identified people from harassment and discrimination. The opposite to what this guide says, is in fact true: a woman or girl who loses her single-sex space or service would have a case against that service provider for direct discrimination.”
Schools in particular should be aware that the children in their care are largely minors to whom the GRA does not apply. Social transition in the form of name changes and opposite sex pronoun use is not a neutral act. Schools must comply with safeguarding regulations at all times. Another paper by The Countess, “The Impact of Ten Years of the GRA on Children in Ireland”, outlines in detail why social transition is in breach of safeguarding regulations.
The Countess maintains that there is no right in law for anyone to force someone else to use their “preferred pronouns”. Enforced speech is not a right and freedom of expression is. Declining to refer to someone as the opposite sex is not harassment, nor is it bullying.
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