U.K. sets out when transgender people can be excluded from single-sex spaces after court ruling

Campaigners take part in a rally organised by trans rights groups, trade unions, and community organisations following the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in equalities law, at Parliament Square, central London, Saturday April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON — Transgender people in Britain can be excluded from single-sex spaces such as public toilets and hospital wards when this is necessary to protect privacy, under new rules laid out on Thursday to clarify the law after a landmark court ruling.

Britain’s Supreme Court affirmed in April last year that “sex” refers to biological sex, meaning that a transgender woman is legally considered male and a transgender man is considered female.

The new code of practice will help ensure that organizations “have clear guidance regarding its implementation, protecting people’s rights across our country,” women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said in a statement.

Phillipson put the guidance, prepared by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, before parliament for a 40-day period of scrutiny, starting on Thursday. If there are no objections, it will replace the existing code from 2011.

The move follows a legal challenge brought by campaign group For Women Scotland against the devolved Scottish government, which led to the Supreme Court ruling.

While the ruling did not remove protections for transgender people under the characteristic of gender reassignment - and both Phillipson and the code say those protections continue to apply - it left many organizations uncertain about how the law should operate in practice.

New rules for service providers

The EHRC, Britain’s equality watchdog, had issued interim guidance shortly after the ruling, indicating that in some cases transgender women could be excluded from female-only spaces such as toilets, hospital wards or refuges.

The new guidance is also expected to affect policies on schools, prisons, sports facilities and healthcare settings.

Transgender rights groups had said the watchdog’s approach risked excluding transgender people from everyday life, while supporters argued clearer rules were needed to protect single-sex spaces.

The new guidance, approved by ministers, says single-sex services can be restricted on the basis of biological sex where this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as protecting privacy, dignity or safety.

It says decisions should balance the needs of all users.

The EHRC welcomed the code’s publication in a statement, saying its guidance reflects more than a decade of legal developments, including same-sex marriage and case law on disability and belief.

“We know there are strongly held views across society about how the law should balance the rights of different people,” it said. “It is our job to issue guidance which clarifies how duty-bearers can meet their obligations under the Equality Act while respecting everyone’s rights.”

Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Editing by William James and Gareth Jones, Reuters