A victory so far ... but this is only the beginning
Claire McNab, Vice President of Press for Change, reviews a time for celebration … maps out the beginning of a new phase of our campaign … and explains what YOU can do
Monday 19th April, 1999
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The last week has seen not just one, but two government departments finally starting to do something to improve the status of trans people. Nearly thirty years after Ormrod’s awful judgment in the case of Corbett-v-Corbett, we are watching the iceberg starting to melt.
Especially for those of us caught up in all the detail and the hard work behind the scenes which has accompanied this process, it would be easy to overlook what a tremendous moment this is. Seven years after Press For Change was founded by a few brave pioneers in a London coffee-shop, it’s time to remember just how far we have come. In 1992, we had no legal protection at all: trans people could be, and all too often were, dismissed from their jobs just for being trans; in 1992 there was no group of organised trans people to provide the combination of legal advice, media skills, information, and spokespeople which we all now take for granted … and those working hard to provide personal support did so in the knowledge that their support for individuals wasn’t matched by any organised advocacy for the community as a whole.
That has all changed now: those still unlucky enough to suffer discrimination mostly have the law on their side, and access to campaigners who know how to use it in their favour. Journalists find that when they want to write or broadcast about trans issues, they have a growing pool of articulate and well-informed people to brief them and to be available for interview. And now, finally, one of the three great Departments of State is convening a working group to examine all the difficulties we face … and to devise solutions.
That hasn’t happened by accident, or because the government has suddenly had a fit of generosity: it has happened because YOU have put in the work of presenting our case, countering misrepresentations in the media, fighting and winning legal battles, briefing elected representatives, talking to opinion-formers … and working hard with no reward to put us on the political map. We’ve all played different roles in the campaign, and while some of the efforts we as individuals can do may seem small, together they have all added up to enough pressure to move a government.
Stop, for a moment, and think about that. Carefully.
Our estimate is that there are about 5,000 transsexual people in this country: that’s 0.01% of the population. Or an average of about 8 out of the 80,000 people in every parliamentary constituency. Or a fraction of the number of people who turn out to watch a premier division football match — in fact, you could comfortably fit us all on the football pitch! And WE, together, have got our message across loudly and clearly enough that the government is moving.
We know, of course, that one of the things which has worked in our favour, and which is crucial to the timing of these announcements, is the popularity of the nation’s favourite television couple: trans woman Hayley Patterson and her soon-to-be-husband Roy Cropper on Coronation Street. For that we owe a big debt to Granada television, and to our patron Julie Hesmondhalgh, who has done such a wonderful job of portraying a thoroughly likeable character. But Hayley Patterson isn’t just the creation of Granada Television, nor even of the Press For Change advisor to Coronation Street whose hundreds of hours of unseen hard work helps them get it right … it was possible for Granada to make Hayley such a popular character only because of all the work which YOU as campaigners have done over the years, publicly demonstrating that trans people may be different, but are also normal, decent folk like everyone else. Without that massive shift, Granada would never have dared include a trans character in their flagship production … and after her trial run, they wouldn’t have had to bring her back by popular demand!
Who’d have thought, back in 1992, that this would be possible? So seven years on, it’s time for a celebration. Let’s all take a wee break from the writing and the lobbying and the interviews and all the rest of the work we’re doing … and have a celebration of just how much we’ve achieved so far. Christine has some ideas of how we can organise this, and we’ll start trying to get things rolling over the next few days … but I really look forward to sometime in the next few weeks, having a chance to relax and celebrate with some of the hundreds of people who’ve made this wonderful moment possible.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, it’ll be back to work.
Because it’s important to remember that we have not yet won … we’ve started to win, but there’s a long way to go. So here’s an outline of what the Press For Change vice-presidents have been planning for this exciting new phase of the campaign.
The DfEE has legislated … and on May 1st, we will finally have codified in statute law the principle that it is illegal to discriminate against someone because they are trans. But as you’ll know from reading Christine Burns’s introduction a week ago, and from the text of the new regulations, the new legislation is flawed and contains unjust clauses which will perpetuate discrimination against some trans people.
Press For Change’s purpose has always been clear: we are seeking equality and respect for ALL trans people, so we want to overturn these restrictions. Within hours of the new regulations being laid before Parliament, we set to work to find out how to overturn these discriminatory sections … and the lawyers now advise that we have a very good chance of success in taking a prompt case for judicial review to have these clauses struck out. The details will be best explained by the lawyers closer to the time … but suffice it to say that soon after these new regulations enter into force, our legal challenges will begin. We have a series of options in how to pursue this … and if we don’t win first time, then we will follow the other routes … and in due course, we will succeed in correcting the DfEE’s blunder. We warned the ministers that if they didn’t get their legislation right, we would use the courts to correct it: and now we’re going to keep our word.
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THE HOME SECRETARY’S ANNOUNCEMENT of an Inter-departmental Working Group is, of course, great news: but it’s important to remember that it is only a beginning (for details of the announcement, see the parliamentary written answer). Many such working groups have in the past disappeared without ever producing workable recommendations … others have failed to examine the issues properly, and led to flawed legislation … and some have produced fine proposals which still gather dust on the shelves years later. It’s up to us to ensure that this working group does not just serve to satisfy the need for the government to be seen to be “doing something” when Coronation Street has placed the issues so firmly in the public eye.
To do its job properly, the working group must start by examining all the difficulties facing all trans people. It must continue by drawing on all the expertise available in finding real solutions to these problems, solutions which work for all trans people. And then the hard bit: its conclusions must be implemented by the government. A decade after the inquiry into the Clapham Junction rail crash, most of its recommendations for improving rail safety have been ignored: we mustn’t let this inquiry suffer the same fate.
The reason we are spelling out to you now all these warnings about the difficulties ahead is not to spread gloom and despondency: we are convinced that this a marvellous opportunity, and that the Home Secretary’s announcement is very good news. But we want to stress to everyone that to turn that good news into the sort of results we want, we are all going to have to work very hard over the coming year.
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Press For Change already secured agreement for Stephen Whittle to liaise with the Working Group. Stephen, as a senior law lecturer and acknowledged expert in the legal issues facing trans people is an obvious choice. From our perspective, as a community, it is also vitally important that our representatives in this process are people who have a deep knowledge of, and ongoing contact with, the community … people who understand its diversity and history. Stephen is probably best known to you as one of the founders of Press For Change, but has been involved with the community for a quarter of a century, working in support groups as well as campaigning, and continues that work as one of the co-ordinators of the FTM network for trans men.
With Press For Change and the Parliamentary Forum working closely with the working group, we can be sure that government will be made aware at all times of the real needs of the trans community … and cannot through ignorance or presumption make the sort of mistakes which led to the DfEE producing the awful consultation paper we saw a year ago. By ensuring their continued involvement, we can also ensure that the working group follows through on our feedback, and does not repeat the DfEE’s error of removing the worst mistakes, but still getting it wrong.
Stephen will not be working alone. He will liaise closely with the other Press For Change vice-presidents, and as far as we can manage without breaching any of the confidentiality necessary in dealing with government, will be regularly reporting back to you, seeking your input and advice.
The parameters within which we work are clear. Press For Change’s mission statement is available on the website; and two years ago, in preparation for a moment such as this, we produced our “Five principles” for evaluating legislative proposals. Every month, those documents are circulated on the UKPFC-NEWS mailing list; everyone joining the campaigners’ Forum is required to read them and agree to work to achieve them. If you haven’t read them recently, please do so again, and study them carefully: because now we have reached the point where we can start to put them into effect.
I want to stress the importance of those documents, because they represent the public commitment which we, as campaigners, have all made to the rest of the community: our commitment to work for the rights of ALL trans people. We are not involved in this process to strike cosy deals which would benefit only some trans people: we will be working in private as we do in public, to ensure that the solutions which the working group devises will meet the needs of ALL trans people. As I have said, it will not always be possible for all the details of our discussions with government over the next year to be circulated to all of you … so it’s important to stress now that the agenda to which we are working is the one you can see publicly, and to which you and the rest of the UK’s trans community can hold us accountable.
It is, of course, also in the government’s interest to find a comprehensive solution to the problems we face … because, as we will remind them whenever necessary, any trans people whose needs are not addressed this time, and who continue to be disadvantaged by flawed legislation, will continue to be a thorn in the side of the government. If the Home Secretary wants to avoid further cases being taken to the European courts, and ongoing actions under the new Human Rights Act, and continuing pressure from campaigners, then the solution is simple: work with us now to get it right this time.
THIS IS A NEW PHASE OF THE CAMPAIGN. We’re no longer trying to open the door to the government: thanks to your hard work, it is now open. It’s up to us to use that open door effectively.
So now, here’s what YOU can do.
- contact your MP and ask them to use their influence to ensure that this process really does start off with the advice and input of the people who have detailed knowledge of the issues that concern you, by including representatives of Press For Change at the heart of the working group. This really is important: it’s our way of indicating as a community that we are aware from the outset of all the pitfalls … and that we intend to keep up the pressure on the government to get it right … and to let your MP know that we expect them to help us to help the government live up to its promises.
- Start to make a list of all the things which YOU need out of this process … all the areas where the current laws let YOU down, or where you know they cause trouble for others. Take a look at the list below of government departments involved, and consider what we need from each of them. In the next few weeks we can start to assemble all these lists … and build to a coherent picture of exactly what we need the government to do to resolve all the problems.
This only a start. But it’s enough to be getting on with for now!
Claire McNab (Vice-President, Press For Change)
Further reading:
- Press For Change Mission statement
- Five principles
- Parliamentary question announcing the Inter-departmental Working Group
The government departments represented on the Inter-Departmental Working Group:
- Department for Education & Employment
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Department of Health
- Home Office
- <>Lord Chancellor’s Department
- Office of Law Reform, Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland General Register Office
- Office for National Statistics
- The Scottish Office
- Department for Social Security
- Welsh Office
