22/09/2020
A long standing uncertainty in the application of the 2010 Equalities Act has been sorted out by an Employment Tribunal, which has pleased activists for non-binary identities and other gender fluid people under the LGBTQ spectrum, as it ruled firmly in favour of plaintiff Ms Taylor, was was pursuing a case against car manufacturer Jaguar UK over her treatment as a person with a non-binary gender identity. Jaguar Land Rover argued that because of their non-binary identity, they did not fall within the definition of gender reassignment in the Equality Act 2010. However, according to Forbes Business Magazine, the tribunal totally rejected the employers case, saying that it had always been the intention of the writers of the Equality Act to cover people whose gender fell on what they termed a “spectrum”. The tribunal upheld Ms Taylor’s claims of harassment, direct discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal. Stonewall and the Scottish Trans Alliance had provided support to Ms Taylor's case. A specialist in LGBTQ interpretation of law is Doctor Chevlan from The Number 5 Barristers chambers. They said ““Recognition of gender fluid and non-binary identities within the gender reassignment protected characteristic in the Equality Act, marks the coming of age of LGBT+ law. What makes us human, is our differences. What makes us a free society, is our ability to celebrate and protect our right to be different, across the human spectrum.”