Who's Ignoring The Supreme Court Ruling - And Why? (Ft. Helen Joyce & Inji Duducu)

Trans women are not women, said the UK Supreme Court on 16 April – so why have some employers failed to bring their policies and practices in line with the law? Are they ‘captured’, conflicted - or just clueless?

How did we reach a point where the Prime Minister Keir Starmer felt he needed to remind public sector HR professionals of their duty to follow the law (underlining the judges’ confirmation that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, with or without a Gender Recognition Certificate)?

To answer these questions, we retrace our steps, examining how ‘trans inclusion’ was introduced to employers and embedded into organisations without proper scrutiny.

This groundbreaking conversation between Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, and Inji Duducu, an HR director with 30 years’ experience in retail and banking, is a world first. 

We address the questions above, plus:

* WHEN WAS ‘TRANS INCLUSION’ FIRST INTRODUCED TO EMPLOYERS – and what happened to HR professionals who pushed back against activists’ demands? Inji recalls the immediate, chilling and 'unbelieveably effective' impact of 'no debate'…

* HOW SHOULD ORGANISATIONS HANDLE SENIOR STAFF WITH A TRANS-IDENTIFIED CHILD? Why will they struggle to see this issue clearly? And is this about politics, identity – or faith?  

* WHY DID SOME LAW FIRMS MISLEAD EMPLOYERS ABOUT THIS ISSUE? Was this because of their links to Stonewall - or were young, activist lawyers poorly supervised?

* IS THE CIPD TO BLAME FOR EMBEDDING BAD LAW INTO POLICY? How much damage has its 2023 trans inclusion guidance done to its members' organisations? Which other regulators got this subject wrong, and why?

* DID THE HR PRESS FAIL IN ITS DUTY TO INFORM INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS OF THE LEGAL RISKS? Why are significant cases still being minimised or ignored, including by the CIPD’s magazine, People Management?

* WAS THE LAW FIRM CLIFFORD CHANCE UNWISE TO HOST THE PODCAST ‘QUEER AF’ – in which the Supreme Court judges were called ‘f***ing idiots’, to laughter and applause? Is it time for big firms to axe staff who continue to create legal, commercial and reputational risk for their organisation around this issue?

It’s a bumper episode… Get the popcorn and strap in!

NOTES: Sex Matters: Putting the Supreme Court ruling into practice
https://bit.ly/44eyQgh

Darlington nurse Karen Danson speaks to the Mail on Sunday: https://bit.ly/44sL0RD

Queer AF podcast at Clifford Chance:
- Audio ('F***ing idiots' segment from 33.36 - 36.16) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/live-episode-star-wars-abigail-thorn-and-sex/id1126301158?i=1000706763444
- Photos https://www.instagram.com/p/DJbHU67CER5/?igsh=anpkMXlodnNxZG5j