Official rules requiring women-only spaces to be organised according to biological sex have come into force across England, Scotland and Wales, giving campaigners long-awaited clarity after years of institutional confusion.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated code of practice applies to public-facing facilities ranging from toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards to domestic violence refuges, leisure centres and sports clubs.
It follows the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in April 2025 that the terms “woman,” “man” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biology, regardless of whether somebody holds a gender recognition certificate.
Under the new framework, any facility admitting trans-identifying members of the opposite sex cannot legally be described as single-sex. A biological male may therefore be excluded from a women-only area where doing so is considered a proportionate way to protect safety, privacy or dignity.
People who claim to be transgender must not, however, be left without access to appropriate provision. Organisations are encouraged to offer alternatives such as self-contained or mixed-sex facilities where necessary.
Although the measures do not create additional legal obligations, they can be cited as evidence in discrimination cases and must be considered by courts and tribunals. Challenges are expected from transgender activists as well as women’s rights groups seeking to enforce the Supreme Court judgment.
However, several London councils run by the far-left Green Party are preparing to resist the guidance.
Lambeth has endorsed plans to develop its own policy protecting and “championing” transgender and so-called gender-nonconforming people, while Waltham Forest has passed a motion challenging the EHRC’s position.
Those boroughs have joined Hackney, Haringey, Lewisham and Southwark in demanding assurances that the measures will not be used to exclude transgender residents from local services.
Lambeth deputy leader Natalie Kane claimed they could expose people who identify as transgender to prejudice, declaring: “Trans women are women, trans men are men.”
Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell has meanwhile urged Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan to help local authorities remain “trans-inclusive,” saying residents had expressed “genuine fear and distress.”
Any attempt to admit biological males to facilities advertised as women-only, however, risks bringing councils into direct conflict with the legal definition confirmed by the country’s highest court.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of the women’s rights organisation Sex Matters, welcomed the change, saying: “The law is clear and the code is practical, giving many examples that apply to everyday services.”
