> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Hackney mayor says trans women can continue using women’s toilets despite EHRC 'guidance'
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/hackney-mayor-says-trans-women-can-continue-using-womens-toilets-despite-ehrc-guidance/
- Published: 2026-08-26T10:35:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-26T10:35:23.000Z
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: Trans Rights

Hackney’s **Green Party** mayor **Zoë Garbett** has said trans women will continue to be able to use women’s toilets and other council facilities in the borough, despite new **Equality and Human Rights Commission** (EHRC) 'guidance' stating that single-sex spaces should be organised according to biological sex.

Garbett told *Metro* that Hackney’s services would remain “trans inclusive” and that council staff had been instructed not to police access to facilities while the authority reviews its policies.

“I consider trans women to be women and trans men to be men,” she said. “I want trans people to be able to access services they identify with and that they feel safe and comfortable using.”

The EHRC’s updated Code of Practice came into force this month following the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling that the terms “woman”, “man” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex. The regulator says the guidance does not create new law, but provides legally accurate advice on how existing legislation should be applied.

Under the guidance, transgender people are expected to use either gender-neutral facilities or facilities that correspond with their biological sex.

However, Garbett said Hackney would continue to welcome trans residents and criticised what she described as a broader push to exclude trans people from public life. “I’ve had trans residents and organisations asking if it is still a safe space to use our toilets, and I’d say absolutely yes it is,” she said.

Asked whether a trans woman could use a women’s toilet in a council-run building, Garbett replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

The mayor, who became the Green Party’s first directly elected mayor when she won the Hackney mayoral election in May, said she was “deeply saddened” by the current debate around trans rights. “I think the guidance deeply conflicts with equality law and is also unworkable,” she said.

Garbett said the council was taking legal and governance advice to ensure it remained compliant with the law while seeking to maximise inclusion for trans residents.

She added that Hackney had been “really clear” with staff and commissioned services not to begin policing access to facilities while the authority considered its response.

Hackney is among a number of London councils that have publicly opposed the EHRC guidance. Alongside **Haringey**, **Lewisham**, **Southwark** and **Waltham** **Forest**, the borough wrote to both the EHRC and the Government shortly after the code came into force, arguing for an inclusive approach to services.

According to Garbett, the councils are working together to review policies and challenge the guidance. “I really hope that we get to a position where we are not obsessing about a minority group in our society and the way that they wish to live their lives,” she said.

“We’re definitely trying to ensure that trans people’s voices are heard, that they have that engagement in public life, and we’re adopting that principle of maximum trans inclusion.”

Despite her criticism of the code, Garbett declined to say whether Hackney would launch a formal legal challenge, saying she recognised her responsibility not to place the council in “huge difficulty”.

The issue is already the subject of legal scrutiny. According to *The Times*, Hackney Council has been served with a legal challenge over its alleged failure to provide female-only services.