Gender reassignment

Gender equality means the fair and equal treatment of all genders, including trans* people of all genders. By trans we include people to choose to live in or identify with a different gender to the sex they were assigned at birth and those who have gone through or are going through gender re-assignment including medical and/or social transition.

A person has the protected characteristic of 'gender re-assignment' if that person "is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex."

It should be noted that a person is protected once they have proposed to transition, even if they later change their mind. This is the case whether or not they are under medical supervision.

When providing goods or services it is unlawful to discriminate against or harass a trans person and the University takes great care to avoid any type of discrimination, either by management or workers in the course of their employment.

The University was named as one of the UK's Top 10 trans employers by Stonewall in 2018.

Guidance

August 2021: Updated guidance 'Supporting Trans* Staff and students' has been published by the ED&I team Supporting Trans* Staff and Students

This guidance covers many aspects including support for colleagues and students when transitioning; how to change gender markers on records; and practical considerations along with a useful checklist for both individuals who are transtitioning and the managers supporting them through this. You can also indicate your pronoun on your e-mail account.  More details can be found at this link.

We also have a useful FAQ and Dress Code Guidance

People and OD have also produced a 'how to' Guide on Supporting a Member of Staff Undergoing Gender Reassignment

July 2022: We have further updated our Trans Policy 

Advance HE also provide useful guidance in their Supporting a student or member of staff who is transitioning report.

A list of Universal Toilets is available on our Interactive Map.

If you would like any further information on this or any other equality issue please contact the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team

Training Course

We ran a training course Trans*fer: A Journey for two years.  This course has now ended, and has been replaced by local training which will be rolled out further in late 2022.

*Trans is an umbrella term encompassing all those who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, including but not limited to those who are transgender, genderqueer, agender and non-binary.