UK: Single-sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC

Source: The Guardian

Single-sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC

Updated code of practice covering England, Wales and Scotland also relates to changing rooms and follows supreme court ruling

Libby Brooks
Thu 21 May 2026 19.33 BST
Last modified on Thu 21 May 2026 21.01 BST

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. But critics fear it will consolidate a chilling effect as trans people avoid public places altogether.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/21/single-sex-toilets-exclude-transgender-people-england-wales-scotland-code-of-practice