UK civil service unions are promising industrial disruption in support of ‘transwomen’ (i.e. men) who wish to continue using female-only toilet facilities in the workplace. The call to action follows the recent common-sense Supreme Court ruling that ‘transwomen are not women,’ which has started to shape government policy on single-sex spaces.
According to Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) representatives, the ‘new’ rules would lead to government departments “segregating our trans and non-binary members in the workplace.” PCS activists are reacting against the legal shift to transgender women not being women in law, while “sex” in equality law refers to biological sex, as distinct from ‘gender identity.’
The proposal is on the agenda at the annual PCS conference, stating
Conference believes any Cabinet Office guidance which prevents trans and gender non-conforming workers from fully accessing their workplace should be opposed in coordination with other civil service unions.
The practical consequences of the motion being accepted would likely be some form of strike action to overturn the legal guidance, but it is unclear whether the union’s membership would follow through on the outlandish proposal (which also condemns the protections extended to women’s sports).
For Helen Joyce of Sex Matters, this is a worrying development:
If PCS members pass a motion that denies the biological fact there are two sexes, it will indicate the union has descended into the depths of extreme gender ideology … Describing single-sex facilities as segregation is grossly offensive, suggesting women’s need for safety and privacy from men is comparable to the horrors of apartheid.
