Protect Trans Rights at the University of Leeds

Who am I?

I am fundraising on behalf of an employee of the University of Leeds whose previous name (‘deadname’) and gender marker were revealed to colleagues and third party organisations, thereby ‘outing’ them as a transgender person, unlawfully and without their consent. This individual is just one of many trans staff members and students at the University of Leeds whose private information has been made widely available without regard for their legal rights, safety, or personal wishes.

What’s going on?

The University of Leeds has shown a disturbing disregard for the dignity and legal rights of its trans staff and students. This is most apparent in the University’s failure to update its archaic IT systems, which the University itself has acknowledged are not fit for purpose. This means that at present, trans people’s previous name(s) and/or their previous title, gender, or their natal sex is shared in ways the University cannot control, predict, or prevent, including being revealed to colleagues, classmates, course tutors, and even groups outside the University.

This poses a significant safety risk to trans staff and students, putting them at increased risk of transphobic violence by ‘outing’ them against their consent. It is a breach of GDPR, the Gender Recognition Act, and the Equality Act 2010. Evidence exists that the University has been aware of these issues since at least 2017, however no adequate measures have been put in place to prevent these data breaches from occurring.

One staff member described the situation to the LGBTQ+ Staff Network:

“I came out as trans and changed my name, following all instructions given to me by the University in order to do so. However, my deadname continued to show up on many systems, and indeed still does over a year later. IT did not seem to have a process in place to prevent this, and I have felt like a guinea pig as they test various ways of updating systems on me. This has led to me being outed as trans and deadnamed to new colleagues who did not know me before my transition. This is humiliating and dehumanising.

"The level of ineptitude and what occasionally feels like genuine malice from the university has been beyond shocking. I cannot believe a workplace can treat its employees this way and still declare itself not only a safe place to work, but specifically a workplace friendly to the LGBTQ+ community.”

The LGBTQ+ Student Society shared one of their member’s experiences:

"My friend requested a change of name on all IT systems at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year and, in August 2021, they still receive two emails from the university that contain their deadname every single week, from two different centres at the university. Their deadname shows up on their account on Leeds Language exchange which immediately outs them as trans to every single user of the language exchange platform. Their deadname has shown up on module lists that are public to everyone on their course, it has shown up on multiple different systems to professors and their personal tutor which has also immediately outed them as trans.

For the longest time they felt that they just had to put up with this because the culture that is fostered at the University of Leeds is one that gaslights, and trivialises the suffering of, trans people. Instead of being met with empathy, instead of tutors knowing what my friend was going through was wrong, it was met with complete indifference, and sometimes even the implication that they were making too much of a ‘fuss’ and nothing was wrong.

"This is not a standalone issue; this is a culture of gaslighting and minimising the experiences of trans people that permeates the entire university.”

What else has happened?

In 2017, the University of Leeds Equality Policy Unit created a Trans Equality Policy which was progressive and fit-for-purpose. Commitments made in this policy document include: ‘The University will respect the confidentiality of all trans staff and students’ identities and will not reveal information relating to their trans status without the prior agreement of the individual,’ and ‘Requests to change staff and student titles, name and gender on records will be handled promptly and individuals will be made aware of any implications of the changes.’

However, in late 2020, following calls from staff and students to uphold the promises made within the policy, the University attempted to roll back on the 2017 policy and replace it with a regressive and unfit policy which replaced previous commitments with vague, watered-down language. The Equality Policy Unit told staff unions that because they were unable to update the current IT systems, the previous 2017 policy ‘promised things that were out of [the University’s] control and that they made promises they cannot actually keep.’

Rather than update its IT systems, or act to ensure the limitations of its existing systems were effectively managed, the University attempted to simply roll back on its policy commitments to uphold the safety and legal rights of its trans staff and students.

This new policy draft was concocted without any input from trans staff and students. The draft was given to staff unions for feedback, but the Equality Policy Unit failed to incorporate any of the feedback in a revised version. It was only after students launched an online petition calling for the draft to be scrapped that the University backed down and agreed to retain the existing policy.

Despite this interim victory, the University of Leeds continues to be a hostile environment for trans staff and students as the institution continues to ignore its policy and legal commitments:

These and other systemic problems at the University of Leeds were detailed in a letter sent to Vice Chancellor Simone Buitendijk from the local branch of the University and College Union, the LGBTQ+ Staff Network, and the LGBTQ+ Student Society. A redacted copy of this letter is available online via UCU’s website.

How can we stop this?

We believe that legal action is the only recourse left, as every other avenue of persuading the University of Leeds to meet its responsibilities under the law has been exhausted. Therefore, we are raising funds to bring the University of Leeds to account in an employment tribunal.

The University has ignored its obligation to protect the privacy of its trans staff and students on the grounds that modernising its outdated IT systems in line with existing legislation would be an expensive and complex undertaking. Together, we have to show them that this is not an excuse to shirk their legal responsibilities.

Holding the University accountable for its failure to protect the rights of trans staff and students, and ensuring that these rights are upheld in future, is an important step towards overcoming the deeply entrenched culture of transphobia at the University.

Conversations with trans staff and students at other UK universities have sadly revealed a widespread disregard for trans people’s right to have their personal information protected. We need to show that legal rights under GDPR cannot be upheld selectively.

What happens now?

The legal fees for this case are estimated to cost between £40,000 and £60,000 altogether, which is a tremendous burden for an individual facing the considerable financial resources and dedicated legal team of the University. In order to uphold the legal rights of all trans staff and students at the University of Leeds, and support our trans siblings in other higher education institutions, your support is desperately needed to see this case through to completion.

There is no donation too small to make a difference. Widespread grassroots support is vital for a safe, inclusive, and respectful future for trans people, and we are deeply grateful for all contributions as this struggle continues. Please support and share this page. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.