The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has updated its code of practice, stating that single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women. The guidance follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that sex in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex.
The code requires businesses and service providers to offer practical alternatives, such as gender-neutral toilets, for those who do not wish to use facilities for their biological sex. The EHRC chair, Mary-Ann Stephenson, emphasised that separate toilets for women and men must be based on biological sex, but called for a wider conversation on accommodating different needs.
In healthcare, trans patients must be placed on single-sex wards according to their biological sex unless mixed-sex accommodation is unavailable. However, the code states it would not be proportionate to exclude a trans man from obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient services based on objections from female patients.
The government's equality impact assessment acknowledges a negative impact on transgender people but highlights mitigating factors like third-space provision. The guidance warns that admitting a trans person to a service aligning with their lived gender means the service can no longer be described as single sex, exposing the provider to legal challenge.
Reactions remain divided. The Trans+ Solidarity Alliance criticised the guidance as a 'section 28 moment' that risks pushing trans people out of public life. For Women Scotland, which brought the original case, co-founder Susan Smith called it a 'significant milestone' that should end delays in implementing the Supreme Court ruling.
