An updated Equality and Human Rights Commission code of practice states that single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms must be used based on biological sex. It also says transgender people may not access spaces that match their lived gender. People described uncertainty and stress after an April 2025 Supreme Court ruling on biological sex, with some feeling forced into a “limbo” while waiting for practical guidance. Gender-critical groups welcomed the update as confirmation of a court victory, while others reported increased anxiety and humiliation about everyday logistics. Concerns included reduced attention to broader issues such as healthcare access and the daily struggle of navigating facilities.
"It confirmed, among myriad updates, that single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms must be used on the basis of biological sex, and that transgender people may not access those that accord with their lived gender."
"For many in the trans and wider LGBTQ+ community, as well as those running businesses and services, there has been a sense of limbo since the supreme court ruling on biological sex in April 2025, as they looked to the equalities watchdog to provide practical guidance on how to implement the judgment."
"Just watching the evening news was kind of humiliating, says Blake, a data analyst based near Liverpool. Having this frame of where are people going to pee?' It's such a reduction of the problems we have in our lives, like access to healthcare, and also a real day-to-day struggle."
"For gender-critical groups who have campaigned specifically for the exclusion of trans women from women-only services, yesterday's updated code was welcomed as a consolidation of last year's court victory. But for others it prompted more questions, and for some, the guidance confirmed their worst fears."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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