The head of Britain's rights watchdog has called for a "common sense approach" to toilet provision as newly-published guidance confirmed single-sex services must be on the basis of biological sex.
The updated guidance has been published more than a year after a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 which said the words "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
The new code covers a range of scenarios from sport, where it states trans people should compete alongside others of their birth sex rather than gender identity, to hospital wards, which it says can lawfully exclude trans patients if single-sex. An NHS spokesperson has said they will review the updated code "with the aim of publishing draft guidance for the health service shortly."
For Women Scotland, who were behind the Supreme Court ruling last year, hailed the publication of the long-awaited guidance as a "significant milestone in ensuring women's rights are upheld and protected." But the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance argued the new code has an "exclusionary core" and could risk "pushing trans people yet further out of public life."
The guidance, which was published on Thursday evening on the last day before Parliament broke off for recess, reads: "In separate or single-sex services, a trans man will be excluded from the men-only service because his sex is female, and a trans woman will be excluded from the women-only service because her sex is male."
The guidance, compiled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), also suggests it can be deemed legitimate, in limited circumstances, to ask someone to confirm what their sex is but that this must be done "as sensitively as possible, and must respect their privacy." On toilets, which the commission says are "necessary for everybody," the code states that it would be "very unlikely to be proportionate to put a trans person in a position where there is no service that they are allowed to use." It says it is "unlikely to be either practical or appropriate to approach any particular individual to make enquiries about their sex in relation to facilities, such as toilets, which are incidental to the primary service."
While the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance appeared to suggest the guidance was "worryingly similar to a US bathroom ban," commission chairwoman Mary-Ann Stephenson rejected any notion of the policing of toilets and called for common sense to be used. She told the Press Association: "I think we have to have a common sense approach to this. We've had separate toilet services for women and men for decades, and we don't have people on the door checking who goes in." She said unisex services such as self-contained lockable cubicles could be provided for trans people "who can't or don't want to use the services for their biological sex." She added: "The code makes it very clear that it wouldn't usually be proportionate to be going up and asking people about their sex in toilets in a train station or shopping centre."
Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said that Supreme Court ruling had "made it clear that sex means biological sex" under the Equality Act, "and that trans people are still protected by the Act." The Government said the new code "gives organisations clear, workable guidance which will enable them to take a pragmatic approach to protecting and serving the needs of our society" and supports service providers such as hospitals, cafes and leisure centres "in ensuring they can make practical, and ultimately sensible decisions for every day scenarios, such as toilet provision."
The code of practice for services, public functions and associations, which runs to more than 300 pages, covers nine protected characteristics including age, sex, disability, race and gender reassignment, and has been updated in full for the first time since 2011. A draft code was handed to ministers by the EHRC last September and the Government had faced criticism for the delay in publishing it. In the intervening period, Ms Phillipson had argued the Government was "taking the time to get this right" and said it was both important that "women have access to a single-sex provision" and that trans people "should be treated with dignity and respect."
The Prime Minister's spokeswoman reiterated this on Thursday, rejecting a suggestion it was attempting to bury bad news by publishing just before Parliament went on a week-long break. In response, the Downing Street spokeswoman said: "No, as I said, we've been focused on getting it right and ensuring duty bearers are able to uphold the law." Ms Phillipson, in a written statement to Parliament, said: "This Government is proud of the Equality Act 2010 and will protect and uphold it; this Code is an important step in ensuring that organisations across Great Britain have clear guidance regarding its implementation, protecting people's rights across our country."
The code of practice, which would apply across England, Scotland and Wales has now been laid before Parliament for scrutiny from both MPs in the Commons and peers in the Lords. It will not be enacted for 40 days. While a vote would not be required to enact the code and make it statutory, either House could pass a motion to reject it within that period. Ms Stephenson acknowledged there are "strongly held views throughout our society" about balancing people's rights in law, but described the code as providing "legally accurate, practical guidance" to service providers. She said: "What we've done in the code is try and show how you can both provide single-sex services, but also make sure that trans people aren't left without the services that they need." She said she hoped the guidance is clear enough to "help reduce the risk of litigation," but women and equalities committee chairwoman Sarah Owen suggested there would be "expected legal challenges" and that for trans people "this hellish limbo will continue." She added that the committee will be calling Ms Stephenson and Ms Phillipson to answer questions on the issue "as soon as possible."
