Hackney’s Green mayor has said trans women can still use women’s facilities in the borough, appearing to defy official guidance. Zoë Garbett told Metro that male and female spaces in Hackney remain ‘trans inclusive’ and she has ordered council staff not to ‘police access’ to these services.
Her stance appears to conflict with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) code of practice, which came into force this month and says single-sex spaces should be organised based on biological sex.
Mayor’s Stance on Trans Inclusion
Garbett said her borough would continue to be a home for trans people as others implement the EHRC’s legal advice. She said: ‘I consider trans women to be women and trans men to be men. I want trans people to be able to access services they identify with and that they feel safe and comfortable using. I’ve had trans residents and organizations asking if it is still a safe space to use our toilets, and I’d say absolutely yes it is.’
The EHRC issued the guidance in response to the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling that the terms ‘woman’, ‘man’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act referred to biological sex. The regulator stresses they are not creating new law, but are providing services such as cafes and leisure centres with impartial, legally accurate guidance on existing law. Their code states that a transgender person must use either gender-neutral facilities or facilities matching their biological sex.
Councils Unite Against Guidance
The new advice has been backed by gender-critical campaigners, but Garbett said the rules were part of a ‘huge wave of action to exclude trans people from life’. She added: ‘I’m deeply saddened by where we’ve got to in this country around the life and existence of our trans people. I think the guidance deeply conflicts with equality law and is also unworkable.’
Garbett said Hackney was ‘taking a lot of legal and governance advice’ to ensure they can remain ‘legally compliant’ while ‘maximizing trans inclusion’ and respecting their ‘equalities duties’. In the meantime, she told Metro that the council had been ‘really clear with our staff and commissioned services to not start policing people’s access to services’. When asked if that means a trans woman can walk into a council-run women’s bathroom, the Green politician replied ‘Yes, absolutely’.
Hackney, along with Haringey, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest councils, wrote to the EHRC and government within days of the guidance coming into force to protest its rules. The councils, run by the Greens and in some cases in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, vowed to keep their services ‘inclusive’.
Legal Challenges and Response
Garbett, who leads the London council’s Green group, said the local authorities were working together to review their policies and to ‘unite and challenge’ the guidance. She added: ‘I’d love for us to get to a position as a society where we do challenge the whole construct of gender and what that means. 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. 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.’
Garbett refused to be drawn on whether they would issue a formal legal challenge against the guidance and said she recognised her ‘responsibility’ as a leader not to put the council into ‘huge difficulty’. Hackney Council has already been served with a formal legal challenge over its alleged failure to provide female-only services, according to The Times.
The chair of the EHRC, Mary-Ann Stephenson, has said there was ‘potentially a degree of performativity’ from councils speaking out against the code, adding they will soon realise ‘they are obliged to follow the law’. Garbett is undeterred and has vowed to continue welcoming trans people in Hackney. Asked if Hackney’s doors were open to trans people, she said she ‘send[s] all my solidarity to people living in areas’ which are enforcing the code of practice.
She added: ‘Absolutely. People know that London and Hackney have historically been a place where queer people have always sought solace. There is a lot of queer history in Hackney, and I know people feel comfortable here. We will continue to make sure that is the way.’
A spokesperson for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: ‘The EHRC exists to safeguard everyone’s right to a fair chance in life. Our statutory guidance helps services across the country comply with the Equality Act, protecting service users from discrimination and harassment while reducing the risk of the provider being subject to litigation. The Equality Act, the Supreme Court’s judgment and our Code of Practice all make clear that people should not be discriminated against, harassed or victimised in relation to the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Trans people must not be left without access to services. As we have said consistently since the Supreme Court clarified the law in April 2025, those with duties under the Equality Act should be following the law, seeking independent legal advice where necessary and updating their policies if needed. This includes local authorities.’
