UK issues new rules on single-sex spaces after court ruling

THE GOVERNMENT on Thursday said new guidance on single-sex spaces still protects transgender people, after publishing long-awaited advice following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.

The guidance follows the Supreme Court’s decision in April last year that a woman is legally defined by sex at birth.

The ruling was welcomed by gender-critical campaigners, while transgender people and groups said they feared discrimination.

The newly published code says a service must be used on the basis of biological sex for it to qualify as single-sex under Britain’s Equality Act 2010.

It means trans women should not be allowed to use women’s toilets or join women-only sports clubs. The same applies to trans men using male toilets and joining men-only organisations.

However, the guidance also says it would be “very unlikely to be proportionate” to stop trans people from using toilets if there was no alternative facility available.

The advice also states that it “may be legitimate” to ask someone to provide confirmation that they are of the “eligible sex”, but says this “should be done as sensitively as possible, and must respect their privacy”.

Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said trans people “are still protected” under the Equality Act following the court ruling.

“This code is an important step in ensuring that organisations across Great Britain have clear guidance regarding its implementation, protecting people's rights across our country,” she said in a written statement to parliament.

But Alexandra Parmar-Yee, director of the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, said the government “risks pushing trans people yet further out of public life”.

Following the court ruling, the football associations in England and Scotland barred transgender women from women’s football.

The Women’s Institute and youth organisation Girlguiding have also banned trans women from becoming members.

According to the latest census, 0.5 per cent of people aged over 16 in England and Wales identify with a gender different from the sex assigned to them at birth.