SEEN in Publishing Statement on Supreme Court Ruling

We are pleased that the Supreme Court of the UK has ruled that 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 means (and has always meant) biological sex.

The ruling means that:

· Men, with or without a GRC, do not count as women in the EA

· Men, with or without a GRC, do not have the right to demand admission to services and spaces provided for women only

We await with interest a response from the publishing industry to this clarification of the law.

Most pressingly: What do CEOs propose to do about the widely adopted HR policies which have eliminated single-sex facilities and established self-ID in the workplace?

There are many books for children and young adults, published by a wide range of companies, which misrepresent the protected characteristics, the nature of biological sex, the possibility of humans changing sex and the law around the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

This is serious misinformation aimed at a vulnerable and impressionable demographic. Will these books be withdrawn, or amended, to reflect both UK law and reality?

Authors and staff in publishing have long been subjected to hostility, abuse, threats, ostracization and hounding from colleagues because of their so-called ‘gender-critical’ beliefs. Some of them have had to leave the industry and seek alternative employment. What steps will publishers take to put a stop to this harassment?

At many companies, the interests of women are no longer represented by any of the staff networks. How will publishers remedy this?