It's been a busy summer! Not one full week after BMC-BAMC we were off to the University of Loughborough for a workshop whose aim was to find out more about the queer experience in mathematics. Once again, the energy was incredible and we had a lovely time meeting members of the community in person, and meeting new folks to join our discord, mailing list, and other activites.

We had a really engaging plenary courtesy of Marina Logares, and then lots of collective discussions on a variety of aspects of the queer experience on mathematics. Problems were raised, solutions were proposed, and lots of questions were left open-ended! But this event was merely the beginning - we'll be using the ideas generated in this workshop as directions for future work, and a formalised report is coming soon (no pressure Dan) for anyone who might be interested in reading in more depth!

In light of universities beginning to take actions following the UK Supreme Court verdict on the definition of “sex” in the Equalities Act, the members of QEDnetwork have decided to make a statement which we hope will encourage members of our mathematical academic community to support their trans colleagues, and offer concrete guidance for individuals who may wish to challenge decisions made by their departments in response to the Supreme Court verdict in the coming weeks.

The recent Supreme Court verdict contentiously ruled that the definition of “sex” in the Equalities Act is supposed to refer only to “biological sex”, and the EHRC subsequently released guidance that

“trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities, as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities and must be open to all users of the opposite sex [...] in some circumstances the law also allows trans women (biological men) not to be permitted to use the men’s facilities, and trans men (biological woman) not to be permitted to use the women’s facilities”

After this statement was released a number of institutions, including the University of Warwick, have rushed to change their policies on trans inclusion. We would like to raise the fact that this EHRC “interim guidance” is not law, nor is it mandatory; is practically unenforceable; and has been widely contested as being illegal as it explicitly suggests discrimination against transgender individuals, in contravention of the Equalities Act. As a result of these major issues with this EHRC advice, many institutions which have attempted to change policy have been quickly forced to retract it, including the University of Warwick.

This ruling is a part of the wider pattern enacted by the UK governments in recent years aimed at eroding the legal and social rights and comfort of transgender people. These legislative attacks, as well as the overall worsening social climate, has had an impact on trans people across the UK, including those in our academic community. This has been rapidly reflected in the UK’s significant drop on ILGA’s LGBT rights ranking, demonstrating that the government’s continued stance and ongoing efforts has made the UK an increasingly unsafe place for transgender people.

Such decisions have widespread, negative impacts on our communities and colleagues. Members of our QEDnetwork community have expressed feeling more afraid of using facilities at work; those who are publicly out of trans are worried that they will be confronted by colleagues about the facilities they use, and those who are stealth (not out as trans) are increasingly worried about the consequences they could face if their trans identity were discovered in their workplace.

We expect that in the coming weeks and months more higher education institutions are likely to attempt to amend their policies; but even in institutions where no official policy changes are made, departments should take action to reassure their trans students, staff and employees, and provide a space in which they can carry out their work in safety and comfort. We would like to offer some concrete actions that mathematical science departments can and should take. Departments should:

• Not make changes in their guidance and culture in light of the EHRC guidance. If the wider university institution applies pressure to do so, this should be firmly rebutted by referencing the fact that many concerns have been raised around the legality of this guidance, and other institutions which have previously implemented this as policy (up to now the University of Warwick) have later admitted that its implementation was in error.

• Send a letter to all members of the department assuring them that trans students and staff are supported. Warwick UCU have compiled a short template for such an email.

• Reassure students and staff that no trans people (those who are publicly out, visibly trans, later discovered to be trans) will be penalised for choosing to use any facilities that they prefer or feel safest in.

• Highlight the existence of, or look into introducing, gender neutral facilities for the benefit of individuals who do not feel safe using single-sex spaces in the current climate.

• Note that they are not mandated to put resources into policing this single-sex space guidance, and that any attempts by staff or students to actively police the facilities used by others should not result in penalty or punishment.

• Ensure, or continue to ensure, the presence of sanitary bins in mens’ bathrooms.

• Emphasise to trans students who feel their academic performance is affected by this difficult period, that many universities and departments consider experiences of discrimination, as well as distressing personal circumstances related to marginalised identities, to be a valid case for mitigating circumstances.