Statement on the recent Supreme Court judgement

We stand in solidarity with Trans, Non-binary and Intersex communities. Like many of you, we have been watching this news unfold with a great deal of concern for our Trans, Non-binary and Intersex communities, and including those already vulnerable in our audiences.  We welcome, and have pre-signed, an open letter to the EHRC , written by our partners at Watershed, in collaboration with trans activists, signed by a growing number of leaders from the UK Culture Sector, expressing substantial concern with the interim guidance they have issued. The letter calls for the EHRC to consult with the Trans, Non-binary and Intersex communities, and with those running public/cultural venues, on how to best keep people safe.  With 5% of our RTF audiences identifying as Non-binary, 4% as Trans, 1% as Intersex, and 46% as LGBTQI+, we know how important this is to so many who attend our events. Thanks to the work of yourselves as venue partners, and our various collaborators, speakers, etc, 91% of those who report feeling regularly excluded  at cinema events report feeling included  at Reclaim The Frame events. Our aim is to grow this. As part of our work towards this, we recently conducted an access audit across all partner venues, including information about venue provision of gender-neutral toilets. We found that some of our venue partners have gender-neutral toilet facilities. Others, as the letter recognises, aren’t necessarily able to ‘magic up’ new toilet facilities due to financial challenges or structural capacity. Of those, where possible, we will work with partner venues to facilitate more inclusive provision, having developed specific signage to display during our events. We will signpost audiences to this, along with our other access provisions in our communications and in-person introductions.  The letter is online and open for signatures and we encourage organisations within the film industry and wider cultural sector to share, read and sign.