Council of Europe commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, said he is ‘concerned’ over the UK’s treatment of trans people. (Getty)
A human rights regulator has expressed concern at the treatment of transgender people in the UK.
During a visit to the UK, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights said that transgender men and women faced “acute marginalisation across all areas of life” and have been subjected to “intense political and public debate and scrutiny”.
Michael O’Flaherty’s comments come in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which deemed that the definition of a woman in the 2010 Equality Act referred to “biological women” only, excluding trans women.
While the verdict had been criticised by human rights groups and activists, prime minister Keir Starmer welcomed the decision and has urged public bodies to bar trans people from single-sex spaces “as soon as possible”.
Keir Starmer wants public bodies to fall into line behind the Supreme Court ruling. (Getty)
Following the ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the UK’s human rights regulator, issued interim guidance for service providers, recommending that trans people be banned from facilities associated with their gender identity and, in some cases, their birth sex as well.
O’Flaherty was critical of the focus on the “exclusion of trans people” rather than committing to their “inclusion and dignity”. The human rights of all people should be a “zero-sum game,” he said, and all legal or policy decisions should be “human rights-compliant”.
Genocide prevention group issues ‘red-flag’ warning over trans rights in UK
His words echoed those of the Lemkin Institute, an international genocide prevention group, which condemned “judicial and governmental” decisions that rescinded trans rights.
Issuing a “red-flag” alert, an institute spokesperson said the government and the EHRC, were trying to “harm transgender and intersex people in the UK by stripping them of privacy and segregating them as ‘others’.”
The media narrative, which acts as part of a “broader process of erasure”, also came in for criticism.
A human rights specialist has voiced his fears about trans rights in the UK. (Getty)
The UK’s legal and policy actions against transgender people matched the Lemkin’s ninth Pattern of Genocide: denial and/or prevention of Identity, the spokesperson claimed.
“Genocide does not only manifest in the killing of an entire group. In the case of trans and intersex people, genocide is often perpetrated by making it impossible for individuals to exist as their true selves,” they said. “We see evidence of genocidal intent and actions targeting these communities.
“This hostile environment is a subtle, pernicious and clear attempt to eradicate transgender and intersex people from British life because their existence causes ideological discomfort to some… the anti-trans movement is based solely on ignorance and bigotry, whether it is cloaked in religion or ‘feminist’ or any other doctrinal or ideological belief system.”
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