Update on Trans Rights

Thank you to all of you who wrote to me regarding the supreme court decision. I want to provide an update on what actions I have taken since my last statement, as many of you have asked this important question - what next? 

If you haven’t already done so, please read my original statement on the Supreme Court ruling: Statement on the Supreme Court ruling by Alex Sobel MP

I also want to reiterate again to those who have contacted me that I truly appreciate you reaching out and sharing your stories and experiences of yourselves, your friends and family. 

Action in Parliament

I am extremely conscious of ensuring all the actions I take adhere to the phrase ‘nothing about us, without us’. This is why I have taken the opportunity to talk to and hear from our trans community, both in our constituency in Leeds and in Parliament. 

Trans+ Solidarity Alliance and EHRC Consultation

Earlier this month, I attended a Parliamentary briefing from Trans+ Solidarity Alliance organised by Nadia Whittome MP’s team. This was an immensely well attended briefing by MPs, Peers and Staff alike. The panel included trans+ lawyers and legal scholars who are directly engaged in this area of law. It's more important now than ever to listen to the experts amongst a trans human rights crisis. We were shown how detrimental the Supreme Court ruling has been and will continue to be for trans people, and how we must address their rights and dignity. 

The panel of experts explained how the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has opened its draft guidance on the Equality Act for consultation in response to the Supreme Court Decision. Trans+ Solidarity Alliance  has explained that:

“It appears to mandate exclusion of trans people from all single sex services, associations and spaces including toilets and changing rooms. If this draft guidance is approved, and goes on to become law, it would have a devastating impact on the day to day lives of trans people in the UK. It would make the UK a global outlier on LGBTQIA+ rights.

The consultation is open for 6 weeks…TransActual will be publishing guidance that you can use to help you respond to the consultation”. 

I recommend following the excellent work of Trans Solidarity Alliance | trans advocacy network and TransActual online. 

Please also complete the EHRC consultation so that you can ensure your voice is heard. The online survey to submit your responses is here: Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations: consultation 2025 : Code of Practice Consultation. You can request a reasonable adjustment by emailing correspondence@equalityhumanrights.com or phoning 0161 829 8100.

Right to Self Declaration

At this briefing, one of the Trans+ legal experts from Ireland explained how we are coming up to the 10 year anniversary of Ireland’s ‘Gender Recognition Act 2015’. This legislation:

“provides that a person can apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate in order to have their preferred gender recognised by the State. 

Once a Gender Recognition Certificate is issued, the gender of the person named on the certificate becomes for all purposes the preferred gender from that date forward. 

Accordingly, if the preferred gender is the male gender the person’s sex becomes that of a man, and if it is the female gender the person’s sex becomes that of a woman.”

Learning about this Irish legislation and that other jurisdictions have implemented the self-declaration of legal gender without any detriment and, without any of the debates that we have had in this country resonated with me. I raised this in the Parliamentary debate on Gender Self-Identification on 19th May 2025 and you can watch this here: Alex Sobel Gender Self ID May 2025

I am continuing to meet and hear from our trans community directly, because I genuinely believe in ‘nothing about us without us’. Your experiences create the backbone of my work and advocacy for bodily autonomy, the right to self determination and echoing the work of TransActual “an individual knows themselves best, and it is unfortunate that the state seems to be deciding otherwise;”. 

Our constituency of Leeds Central and Headingley is in the top 10 constituencies to sign the petition to Allow transgender people to self-identify their legal gender. I am proud to represent a community that will not stand by the violation of trans rights and human rights. 

No one—not a Government, not a public authority, not a politician—has the right to define who another person is; only the individual can do that. This is a fundamental principle of dignity and respect that transcends political views and legal debates.

NC21

I was so pleased that our Labour Government voted down the Conservative proposed NC21 New Clause to the Data (Use and Access) bill earlier this month, with all 288 Labour MPs present voting against the clause.

This clause proposed to mark and track individuals based on “sex at birth”, regardless of their lived reality, legal recognition or consent. I wholeheartedly opposed this. 

Moving Forward

I am pushing for action through the Joint Committee on Human Rights of which I am a member, and working Professor Paul Johnson, (the leading UK expert) for the Government to adopt Protocol 12 of European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). 

Protocol 12 to (ECHR) is an additional protocol that establishes a general prohibition of discrimination.

Specifically: 

Article 1 of Protocol 12 says:

“The enjoyment of any right set forth by law shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”

Protocol 12 has been signed by 37 of the current 46 member states. However the UK has neither signed nor ratified the Protocol.

I asked the Lord Chancellor whether the UK should now ratify Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights during a JCHR meeting in April.

This is an important international measure because it creates a broad, general ban on discrimination — something I believe matters for fairness and equality in our society.

Past governments said they wanted to wait and see how the courts applied it before making a decision. Now, we have quite a bit of case law, including important rulings from other parts of Europe, showing how it works. So, I pressed the government on whether it’s time to revisit this.

The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, responded that the government still doesn’t think it’s necessary. She said the UK’s current legal protections are already strong and that the case law still isn’t fully clear. She also said they want to see how things develop in other countries before changing the UK’s position.

On 2 June 2025, Lord Cashman will ask the following Oral Question in the House of Lords:

“To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to sign and ratify Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights to promote the equality of all persons in the United Kingdom through a general prohibition of discrimination”.

This is the first time in many years that the House of Lords has focused attention on the merits of the UK signing and ratifying Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

I believe it’s worth pushing on this, and I’ll continue to hold the government to account on issues of equality and human rights.

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Column 233Wany detriment, and without any of the debates we have had in this country even without those reforms