Clause 10 - Groups
Equality Bill [Lords]
6:15 pm
Vera Baird (PPS (Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Secretary of State), Home Office; Redcar, Labour)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I must tell the hon. Member for Epping Forest that I did not draft the amendment myself, although I do not think that it would have been better if I had. I consider
“a demonstrable commitment to maintaining the transgender identity”
to mean that every time that someone is seen over a measurable period, they are behaving in that way and are clearly embarked upon a lifestyle of a transgendered nature. I did not think that it needed to be more strictly defined than that. The point is for it to be inclusive, rather than exclusive.
Someone who has not yet taken a decision to undergo reassignment of gender—there is a quite long lead-in time while the person simply lives that way to ensure that they want to go through with gender reassignment—is likely to be discriminated against because they will be identified as part of that group in any event. However, I found what my hon. Friend said very reassuring. It is clear that the clause is intended to be as inclusive as possible. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.