Statement from Equality Amplified on the Appointment of Dr. Mary-Ann Stevenson as Chair of the EHRC

Equality Amplified is deeply alarmed and outraged by the appointment of Dr. Mary-Ann Stevenson as the new Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Dr. Stevenson has a documented record of anti-trans views, including signing open letters opposing transgender rights and maintaining affiliations with lobby groups that actively undermine the safety, dignity, and equality of trans people.

This appointment marks a watershed moment in the EHRC’s descent from an independent human rights body into an institution that now openly undermines the very communities it is meant to protect. The Commission’s leadership should embody a commitment to equality for all people. Instead, this appointment places a person with a history of exclusion and hostility towards the trans community at its helm.

We can no longer recognise the EHRC as a credible or legitimate human rights institution. Under this new leadership, the EHRC is not merely failing trans people; it is actively hostile to them. This is a profound betrayal of its foundational purpose and statutory duties.

Trans rights are human rights. There is no equality without trans equality. We call on civil society, policymakers, and the public to join us in challenging the EHRC’s direction and to stand in solidarity with the trans community. We need institutions that uplift and protect the most marginalised; not ones that turn their backs on them.