A survey to better understand how LGBTQIA+ civil society organisations and their staff are being affected by last year’s Supreme Court ruling has been launched.
Proud Changemakers, established in 2023 by a group of LGBTQIA+ charity workers, launched the survey this week to provide what it describes as “an important step towards understanding how this challenging environment is impacting LGBTQIA+ people and the charities they connect with”.
The survey is open to anyone who works, volunteers or receives support from any civil society organisations and aims to “capture experiences that people and charities may be having as a result of recent legal and regulatory changes relating to sex and gender in the law”.
This will include assessing the effects of the Supreme Court’s ruling on sex, and the now-withdrawn interim guidance published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in the following weeks.
Proud Changemakers said responding correctly to the ruling has been “a particularly contentious area, which many charities - across the sector - have been struggling to navigate and people have been deeply affected”.
In December last year, the Charity Commission confirmed that it would not be responsible for enforcing equality legislation after the Women’s Institute and Girlguiding both announced changes to their membership policies which meant that they would no longer offer memberships to transgender women and girls.
‘Increase of anxiety’ for LGBTQIA+ staff and volunteers
Proud Changemakers’ chief executive Luca Straker told Civil Society they had encountered many charities that were unsure about the legality of their existing inclusion policies following the Supreme Court Ruling.
They said that while some charities were being “very values-led” in their response, others were being “very reactive, probably led by fear of litigation”.
In a statement, Straker added: “LGBTQIA+ people contribute so much to the voluntary sector as employees and as volunteers.
“We are a cornerstone of the sector. And now we are faced with a constant increase of anxiety around how we will be able to work, volunteer and engage with charities in the future.
“We really hope that people right across the sector participate in this survey so we can highlight the true impact it is having on our LGBTQIA+ communities and help charities ensure their workplaces are a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ people - and ultimately for everyone else.”
The survey will be open until 25 February, after which the charity has said it will use the evidence gathered to inform its work.
