Irish authority calls for trans equality review
Ireland’s Equality Authority is seeking tenders for a report on extending equal status legislation to cover discrimination against trans people.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is reviewing the grounds covered by the Equal Status Acts, which outlaw discrimination on the grounds of gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion and membership of the Traveller community.
The Equality Authority wants the review to include a report on equality legislation in other countries, the Sunday Business Post has reported.
It has sought tenders for a report which will identify anti-discrimination legislation covering areas other than those included in the acts, or which broaden existing grounds.
The tender documents say that the new report should also explicitly identify trans people as covered under the gender ground and include new grounds under the Employment Equality Acts, such as socio-economic status, political opinion, trade union membership and criminal convictions.
They also say that the report should not be a comprehensive examination, but should identify best practice in the coverage of similar anti-discrimination legislation.
Where possible, the report should set out the definition of the new ground, identify specific exemptions and establish the scale of discrimination. It should also identify any studies carried out in that jurisdiction in relation to that ground.
The report should build on and reflect work already carried out by the Equality Authority, including recommendations for a broader definition of ‘family status’ to include all carers, and of ‘age’ to remove the lower age limit.
Tenders have to be returned to the Equality Authority by 5pm on Wednesday.
