Teachers want clarity on single-sex spaces in schools

Teachers are calling on the Scottish government to urgently publish new guidance on how schools should deal with single-sex spaces.

The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) said ministers need to provide clarity following the UK Supreme Court's landmark ruling over the definition of a woman.

The union says schools "don't have the luxury of waiting for updated guidance" because the ruling means they are required to comply with the Equality Act now.

The Scottish government said it is working towards a "state of readiness" for an update from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the body in charge of regulating the Equality Act.

First Minister John Swinney last month told MSPs that new sex-based rights guidance is being developed after the Supreme Court ruled that biological sex defines a woman for the purposes of the Equality Act.

The SSTA says 2021 guidance from the Scottish government on supporting transgender pupils in schools is now incompatible with the Supreme Court ruling and interim guidance from the EHRC.

Last week the Scottish Parliament announced trans women will no longer be able to use the women's toilets at Holyrood and is also installing a new gender-neutral toilet following the ruling.

Gordon West, of the SSTA, says the union is concerned that teachers are caught in limbo waiting for new guidelines and, while waiting, they may be breaking the law.

Mr West, a deputy headteacher who is on the union's equalities committee, said ministers need to immediately withdraw the 2021 guidance which is now "out of date".

He added: "We have a duty now to uphold this ruling, not in three months' time and yet we have been told to wait for new guidance.

"We know from the Supreme Court ruling that the 2021 guidance is no longer compliant with the law. Yet we are being kept waiting and we are being kept hanging on.

"The 2021 guidance needs urgently removed and replaced. If the Scottish Parliament can make decisions on this why can't the Scottish ministers?

"Very soon the P7 children and parents will be coming to secondary schools for their transition into secondary schools and they will be asking what is happening with changing rooms."

Teaching union the NASUWT recently raised concerns at its annual conference that the Supreme Court ruling could lead to an increase in hate crimes against trans and non-binary teachers.

The union in Scotland also said it was vital that gender-neutral spaces be made available for transgender pupils who are uncomfortable using the changing rooms or toilets of their sex assigned at birth.

Trans people are still protected by the Equality Act.

The protected characteristic of gender reassignment is not affected by the Supreme Court judgement, and while explaining the ruling, Lord Hodge stressed there were other defences against direct and indirect discrimination and harassment.

He was clear that trans people are a "vulnerable and often harassed minority", who "struggle against discrimination and prejudice as they seek to live their lives with dignity".

A Scottish government spokesman said that all organisations were expected to consider the EHRC's revised code of practice and guidance when it is published by the summer.

He added: "The Scottish government has established a Short Life Working Group to ensure support and consistency across government.

"This work will position us towards a state of readiness to take all necessary steps when the EHRC's code of practice and updated guidance are published."