10th August Update – Book bans, Bathroom ban & Staff Trans Awareness Training
Following multiple contradictory statements from KCC members, most notably Cllr Paul Webb and Cllr Linden Kemkaran, we have issued FOI requests to ascertain the truth of the situation.
From this, we have discovered that Cllrs Webb and Kemkaran have lied about the removal of books containing transgender content within public libraries. We have sought clarity on why the official KCC Statement states a book was relocated and instructions issued to staff, yet the FOI requests claim no such thing has happened.
We have also asked whether statements on Councillors’ official KCC socials are subject to the council’s Media Management Protocols provided as part of the FOI requests.
We have also learnt that from these FOI requests that the Council has indeed removed their Trans Awareness staff training, under the grounds that, “there is reference to there being no UK law that men must use male toilets or women female ones which is not in line with the interim guidance published by the EHRC.”
Moreover, we have learnt that they have implemented a bathroom ban for their staff, “asking trans men and trans women to either use the facility designated to their biological sex or use a gender-neutral facility. All KCC office buildings have a gender neutral, accessible toilet facility which can be used.”
You can access these FOI requests below.
Further Information on the Situation
Code of Conduct Complaint Template
Following on from the results of the FOI requests, it is imperative that we hold Cllr Paul Webb and Cllr Linden Kemkaran accountable for their wilful attempts to bypass procedural scrutiny, by attempting to lie about official policy and guidance via their social media channels, when they knew there was a legitimate expectation that they would be believed.
We believe that both Councillors are in breach of KCC’s Code of Conduct for Members. They have publicly denigrated and harassed a protected group by labelling transgender identities as “harmful” or “ideological,” using their official channels to coerce library staff into removing trans-themed books and withdrawing trans-awareness training. In doing so they breached the Code’s prohibitions against offensive or abusive behaviour (21.56(a)), intimidation of staff and potential complainants (21.56(b)), misuse of power that undermines professional integrity (21.56(c)), disclosure of confidential internal materials (21.56(d)), and denial of lawful access to information and training required under statutory equality duties (21.56(e)).
Their inflammatory rhetoric and public celebration of these actions have compromised the Authority’s impartiality and reputation, directly contravening the requirement not to bring their office or the council into disrepute (21.56(f)). This conduct erodes trust in Kent County Council’s commitment to fairness, exposes the council to legal challenge under its Public Sector Equality Duty and Human Rights obligations, and damages its standing as a neutral, inclusive public body.
There is a different process for submitting a complaint about a County Councillor, and we suggest that you go to this page on the KCC website to find out more.
Otherwise, we have also attached a template document that you can use to submit your complaint to democratic.services@kent.gov.uk. As always, make sure anything you submit is in your own words, and avoid the use of AI that can generate false information.
Open Letters of Public Support
Prior to the FOI requests, we also submitted an open complaint to KCC about the alleged book ban and the removal of staff training. We are currently on stage 2 of the complaint process and will keep you updated. We have also submitted our own complaint about Councillors Webb and Kemkaran, which we are waiting a response from.
There is also a public open letter that you can sign regarding the removal of trans books from libraries.
A lot of the information contained in these letters may now be out of date, but you may find them useful to help you articulate your views when submitting additional complaints now that we have more information.
KCC Trans Policy Impact Survey
It’s very important that we hear from the community about the impact that this has had on you. This will help to strengthen the work that we are doing to hold Kent County Council to account.
If you have been personally affected, you may be able to seek legal recourse – with funding and anonymity potentially granted. Please get in contact to discuss further.
Support US
Join our mailing list to stay informed about the actions that we are taking, events that we are running, and important news relating to the Trans+ community that we think you will be interested in. We are very aware that many people in the community are burnt out, so we are mindful to not send too many emails, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
We would also appreciate it if you could support us on our ko-fi page by contributing a one-off donation, or setting up a monthly donation. We are a small grassroots group, entirely volunteer led, so even as little as £1 goes a long way.
Also consider donating to the Good Law Project – who are helping to hold the EHRC to account.
Letter Templates
Complaint to KCC Template
We suggest that you email Kent County Council you own letter of complaint, at this email address: county.hall@kent.gov.uk
We have provided a template of what you might send, and you can use the slides above to help you, but it is very important that you use your own words as otherwise your email will likely be deleted. Be mindful of using AI, as AI is very good at simply making up facts and referring to laws that don’t exist.
Dear Kent County Council Complaints Team,
I am writing to lodge a formal complaint regarding the recent archiving and removal of the Trans Awareness EDI training on 27 June 2025, and the new instruction that transgender staff must use toilets corresponding to their sex assigned at birth or a gender-neutral facility. These actions were taken without meaningful consultation, transparency, or an Equality Impact Assessment and have undermined the dignity and safety of trans employees.
[OPTION TO PERSONALIZE] You might begin this paragraph with a personal reflection or motivation: “As a Kent resident and LGBTQ+ ally…” “As a member of the local trans community…” “As someone who values transparency and inclusion in public services…” “As someone who works within the KCC…”
[BACKGROUND INFORMATION] Decide what information you want to include – the main points are:
On the 27th June 2025, following a discriminatory article reposted by Cllr Linden Kemkaran which leaked internal training documents, including identifying information on KCC Rainbow Network Members, Trans Awareness training was archived, “as there is reference to there being no UK law that men must use male toilets or women female ones which is not in line with the interim guidance published by the EHRC.”
Additionally, staff guidance was issued, “in advance of the full position from the EHRC and in acknowledgement that this guidance has been issued very suddenly, we are asking trans men and trans women to either use the facility designated to their biological sex or use a gender-neutral facility. All KCC office buildings have a gender neutral, accessible toilet facility which can be used.”
[OPTION TO ADD] Talk about how this impacts you, your communities, and your rights. Go into further detail about how they are failing in their legal obligations. Mention a lack of Equality Impact Assessment, and what the impact has been, or might be, for you and the wider community. You could talk about confusion or distress, impact on team cohesion or morale, the risk of harassment and outing, the caving to discriminatory pressures etc.
The removal of trans-inclusive training without an Equality Impact Assessment is in breach of the Equality Act 2010. If this results in a deterioration of workplace culture and/or marginalised employees facing exclusion or loss of support it could be in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and your HR duties under employment law, which could open you up to litigation.
Directing trans staff to use facilities based on assigned sex stigmatizes a protected group, and research has shown it increases the risk of harassment. It is also contrary to your Transgender Guidance for Managers, which states “it is not appropriate for management to expect an individual undergoing gender reassignment to use the disabled toilet or a separate toilet or changing facility.” The only gender-neutral toilets provided are disabled toilets and you have disadvantaged trans+ staff members. This highlights how this decision should never have been taken without an Equality Impact Assessment.
This goes far beyond the Supreme Court Ruling, which should only have impacted upon the rights of Trans+ people with gender recognition certificates. As trans+ people without GRCs have always been permitted to use the bathroom of their lived gender, it does not make sense for this to have not been restricted following this ruling and will likely open you up to further legal challenges.
The Equality Act 2010 only permits the exclusion of trans+ people from single-sex services when this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. There is no evidence that trans+ people using the bathroom of their lived gender poses any risks to cisgender people, and plenty of evidence to suggest that such bathroom bans negatively impact trans+ people, as well as disproportionately impacting people who are not considered traditionally feminine, such as butch lesbians and ethnic minorities. How has the decision then been reached that this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim?
Especially when the only public statements about this have come from the official social media of Cllr Kemkaran, who uses disparaging terminology about transgender individuals to justify the removal of such training. This creates an unsafe workplace.
[OPTION TO AMPLIFY OR ADD PERSONAL EXPERIENCE] “This has made my workplace feel less inclusive…” “I worry that LGBTQ+ people I support are now at greater risk…” “I have worries about how my job might be impacted…” You can refer to the EHRC interim guidance creating confusion, and how a councillor misrepresenting the current law is making things less safe for trans people.
I thus request that you immediately reinstate Trans Awareness Training and follow your own Transgender Guidance for Managers document permitting trans+ staff to use the bathrooms of their lived gender, until an Equality Impact Assessment is conducted, otherwise you are at risk of litigation.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your written response and to working with you to restore trust, fairness, and legal compliance.
Yours sincerely,
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Location—optional]
[Your Organisation/Role—optional]
Contacting your Representatives Template
We suggest that you reach out to your local representatives to raise concerns about the actions of Kent County Council. You can find the contact details for your local MP at https://www.writetothem.com/.
Once more we remind you that it is important to write it in your own words, and to be mindful of the use of AI in helping you with this due to the likelihood of it producing incorrect information.
Dear [Recipient Name],
I am writing to draw your attention to Kent County Council’s recent decision to archive and remove Trans Awareness EDI training on 27th June 2025 and to instruct transgender staff to use toilets corresponding to their sex assigned at birth or a single gender-neutral facility. These steps were taken without meaningful consultation, transparency or an Equality Impact Assessment, and in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. They undermine the dignity and safety of trans employees and set a worrying precedent for other local authorities.
[OPTION TO PERSONALISE] As a constituent of [YOUR CONSTITUENCY], I am deeply concerned because… As someone who works in or uses our local libraries, I feel… As an LGBTQ+ ally/trans community member, this matters to me because… As someone who cares about equality…
[BACKGROUND INFORMATION] Decide what information you want to include – the main points are:
On the 27th June 2025, following a discriminatory article reposted by Cllr Linden Kemkaran which leaked internal training documents, including identifying information on KCC Rainbow Network Members, Trans Awareness training was archived, “as there is reference to there being no UK law that men must use male toilets or women female ones which is not in line with the interim guidance published by the EHRC.”
Additionally, staff guidance was issued, “in advance of the full position from the EHRC and in acknowledgement that this guidance has been issued very suddenly, we are asking trans men and trans women to either use the facility designated to their biological sex or use a gender-neutral facility. All KCC office buildings have a gender neutral, accessible toilet facility which can be used.”
[OPTION TO ADD] Talk about how this impacts you, your communities, and your rights. Go into further detail about how they are failing in their legal obligations. Mention a lack of Equality Impact Assessment, and what the impact has been, or might be, for you and the wider community. You could talk about confusion or distress, impact on team cohesion or morale, the risk of harassment and outing, the caving to discriminatory pressures etc.
I am deeply concerned that these actions not only harm trans staff in Kent but also send a signal to other councils that such discriminatory measures are acceptable
First, archiving and removing trans-inclusive training without conducting an Equality Impact Assessment risks non-compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. Without that assessment, councils cannot demonstrate that changes do not disproportionately disadvantage a protected group, and may face legal challenge if the decision leads to a decline in workplace culture or exclusion of marginalised employees.
Second, instructing trans staff to use toilets based on sex assigned at birth stigmatizes a protected group and directly contradicts KCC’s own Transgender Guidance for Managers, which prohibits requiring an individual undergoing gender transition to use disabled or separate facilities. Research shows that such bans increase the risk of harassment and outing. By limiting gender-neutral provision to disabled toilets, this policy both disadvantages trans+ employees and fails to follow best practice on inclusion.
Third, the decision far exceeds the Supreme Court ruling’s narrow impact – applying only to trans people with Gender Recognition Certificates – and risks extending restrictions to those never affected by that judgment. Under the Equality Act 2010, excluding trans+ people from single-sex services is only lawful where it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. There is no evidence that trans people using the bathroom of their lived gender poses any threat, whereas ample evidence shows that bans harm trans+ people and disproportionately affect other users, such as butch lesbians and ethnic minorities. Any representative considering this policy should ask how it could meet the proportionality test.
Finally, the fact that the only public rationale has come from Councillor Kemkaran’s social media – where disparaging language about transgender individuals was used – only deepens the sense that this decision was driven by prejudice rather than evidence or legal obligation. These actions create an unsafe workplace and set a troubling precedent for councils across the country.
[OPTION TO AMPLIFY OR ADD PERSONAL EXPERIENCE] “This has made my workplace feel less inclusive…” “I worry that LGBTQ+ people I support are now at greater risk…” “I have worries about how my job might be impacted…” You can refer to the EHRC interim guidance creating confusion, and how a councillor misrepresenting the current law is making things less safe for trans people.
I therefore ask you to commit, on behalf of your council, to protect trans+ employees’ right to inclusive training and to use toilets matching their gender identity. I also urge you to hold Kent County Council to account by raising these issues in council meetings, requesting they reverse this decision until an Equality Impact Assessment is conducted, and through publicly affirming your support for trans-inclusive policies.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your written response and to working with you to restore trust, fairness, and legal compliance.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Location—optional]
[Your Organisation/Role—optional]