Trans people could be barred from services based on appearance, leaked guidance reveals
– 2 min read
Trans people in the UK could be excluded from single-sex services such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards based on their appearance or behaviour, according to leaked guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The draft code of practice, seen by The Times, was drawn up following an April Supreme Court ruling that clarified “sex” under the Equality Act refers to biological sex rather than gender identity. This means trans women are not legally considered women for the purposes of single-sex spaces.
We cannot believe that government would be so foolish
Under the proposed guidance, service providers - including gyms, leisure centres and healthcare facilities - would be permitted to question individuals about whether they should be using a particular space if concerns arise. Decisions could be made based on “how they look, their behaviour or concerns raised by others”. The document also acknowledges there is no official record in the UK that reliably proves sex, as markers on passports and driving licences can be changed without a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Critics have condemned the guidance as discriminatory and dangerous. A Spokesperson for TransActual said “Astonishingly, the UK’s ‘human rights watchdog’ is attempting to mandate that staff at cinemas, hospitals, bars and cafes must try and judge whether users are trans or not based on appearance alone. This is a license to discriminate based on looks, plain and simple.
“We’ve seen this before - people trying to make our society into a place that is only safe for ‘normal’ ladies. Not just loos. But sports centres, changing rooms and more. We know from experience that women of colour and butch lesbians are more likely to be seen as unfeminine by strangers, so this policy would have racist and homophobic impacts as well as being obviously incredibly harmful for trans people.
We’ve seen this before - people trying to make our society into a place that is only safe for ‘normal’ ladies.
“We offer our solidarity to the many cis women who have been targeted and harassed for their appearance by ‘gender critical activists’ who believed they were trans, and who would be put even further at risk by these rules.
“We cannot believe that government would be so foolish - so hell-bent on shooting itself in the foot - as to go along with this. We therefore trust that Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson will treat it with the contempt it deserves and reject this costly, cruel and unworkable guidance, sending it back to the EHRC to be completely rewritten.”
The EHRC says the code aims to provide clarity for organisations following the court ruling, stressing that trans people should still be treated with “dignity and respect”. However, the guidance also states that offering alternative arrangements for excluded individuals may not always be possible due to space or cost constraints.
The document, reportedly running to 300 pages, was sent to ministers nearly three months ago but has not yet been published. Bridget Phillipson said she is taking time to “get this right”, citing the need to balance access to single-sex services - such as rape crisis centres - with protections for trans people.
Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister warned the proposals have “big implications for individuals, businesses and public services”, adding that the government wants to avoid a situation where “toilets are being policed by people”.
