Single sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC

Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales, and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women under updated guidance from the equalities watchdog. The guidance requires public bodies, businesses, and service providers to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex. Providers should offer practical alternatives, including gender-neutral toilets, for people who do not want services based on biological sex. Clubs and associations can remain trans inclusive by offering access based on multiple protected characteristics. In healthcare, trans patients must be accommodated on single-sex wards that match their biological sex when mixed-sex accommodation is not available. Excluding a trans man from obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient services based solely on objections from female patients is not proportionate. If a provider admits a trans person to a service aligned to lived gender, the service cannot be described as single sex and faces legal risk.

"Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women, according to a new code of practice from the equalities watchdog. But the long-awaited guidance also says that businesses and service providers have to offer practical alternatives such as gender-neutral toilets for people who do not wish to use services for their biological sex."

"The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) document sets out how public bodies, businesses and other service providers should respond in practical terms to April 2025's landmark supreme court ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex. The guidance will be seen as an incremental victory for gender-critical campaigners, who have long argued that trans women specifically should be excluded from women-only services."

"The guidance does suggest it is feasible for clubs and associations to remain trans inclusive, by making themselves open to several protected characteristics at once, for example women or men and trans people. But in healthcare, where mixed-sex accommodation is not available, trans patients must be accommodated on the single-sex ward that accords with their biological sex."

"The code is clear that if a service provider admits a trans person to a service that aligns to their lived gender, that service can no longer be described as single sex and the provider is very likely to be at risk of legal challenge. But the code also states it would not be proportionate to exclude a trans man from obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient services based on the objections of female patients."

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