Some time ago I signed one of these online petition things asking the UK government whether the proposed ID card scheme would provide protection for transgender people who could be put at risk if their full personal history were made available to anyone doing ID checks. The Government’s response is now available on the 10 Downing Street web site, and it includes this:

As such, when an individual is using an identity card to prove their identity to an employer and a confirmation of their details is requested from the Register, their gender history would not be revealed.

Unfortunately, since that petition was submitted, the Government has published a new “Equality” Bill. The provisions of that bill include granting firms the right to declare any job as unsuitable for transgender people, and making it a criminal offense for a transgender person to fail to disclose his or her status when applying for such a job.

Um, #joinedupgovernmentfail?