If implemented as written, this is a dangerous rollback of trans rights implemented for seemingly no reason other the current moral panic. As far as I know, there has never been a recorded instance of a trans woman acting inappropriately in a woman’s ward in this country, even though the current policy has been in effect for almost 20 years. [An investigation inquiring into 10 separate trusts as to if there has ever been a single complaint about the issue turned up nothing.](https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/05/study-of-trans-women-in-hospitals-didnt-find-one-single-complaint-none-zilch/)
Trans people already huge face obstacles in obtaining non-trans related healthcare due to lack of training concerning the issue among doctors, and this policy will intensify that to an extreme degree. Anyone who has interacted with the NHS in any capacity in the last several years will know that the proposal to accommodate them in single rooms is completely unrealistic, and even beyond that, many trans people are stealth and not comfortable being public with their history. If a trans person late into transition – especially someone post-op – is only given the option of being housed in a ward for their birth gender, many will just end up avoiding medical care outright because it’s such an appalling indignity and public humiliation.
It’s extremely questionable if this policy is even legal. As far as I’m aware, the current judicial precedent is that a trans person with a GRC is effectively their transitioned sex in the eyes of the law, and that’s without even touching on the possibility of a challenge on the basis of protected gender reassignment.
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If implemented as written, this is a dangerous rollback of trans rights implemented for seemingly no reason other the current moral panic. As far as I know, there has never been a recorded instance of a trans woman acting inappropriately in a woman’s ward in this country, even though the current policy has been in effect for almost 20 years. [An investigation inquiring into 10 separate trusts as to if there has ever been a single complaint about the issue turned up nothing.](https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/05/study-of-trans-women-in-hospitals-didnt-find-one-single-complaint-none-zilch/)
Trans people already huge face obstacles in obtaining non-trans related healthcare due to lack of training concerning the issue among doctors, and this policy will intensify that to an extreme degree. Anyone who has interacted with the NHS in any capacity in the last several years will know that the proposal to accommodate them in single rooms is completely unrealistic, and even beyond that, many trans people are stealth and not comfortable being public with their history. If a trans person late into transition – especially someone post-op – is only given the option of being housed in a ward for their birth gender, many will just end up avoiding medical care outright because it’s such an appalling indignity and public humiliation.
It’s extremely questionable if this policy is even legal. As far as I’m aware, the current judicial precedent is that a trans person with a GRC is effectively their transitioned sex in the eyes of the law, and that’s without even touching on the possibility of a challenge on the basis of protected gender reassignment.