Mick Hartley

Well now, we seem to be getting there. Eventually. From (yesterday’s) Telegraph – Phillipson to ban trans women from female toilets.

Trans women must be barred from female toilets, changing facilities and sports teams, new official guidance is to state.

Bridget Phillipson is expected to confirm on Thursday that official guidance will state what businesses and public bodies must do under the law to protect single-sex spaces.

The guidance follows last year’s Supreme Court judgment that trans women, who were born male, are not legally women for the purposes of the Equality Act.

The equalities minister’s failure to publish it until now has meant that hospitals and leisure centres are still allowing trans women into female spaces.

The guidance was written by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and submitted to Ms Phillipson in September, but she requested several revisions before agreeing to publish it.

It is understood the EHRC has agreed to make a number of “tweaks”, including adding more examples on how organisations can ensure trans people have access to toilets and changing rooms while ensuring women’s facilities remain single-sex.

Women’s rights groups said that while they did not expect major changes, they would be looking very carefully at the examples to ensure they did indeed protect single-sex services.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, called on public bodies to stop dragging their feet and implement the guidance.

“There never was any reason for employers and service providers to wait for this guidance before implementing the law,” she told The Telegraph.

“The Supreme Court was completely clear that when providing single sex spaces and services, sex has to mean sex – male and female.

“But once the EHRC’s new statutory guidance has been published, all delaying tactics must be over.

“All the organisations – including the NHS, local councils and government departments – which fell for the lie that equality law required them to allow people to self-identify their sex must now rewrite legally flawed policies.”

We’ll see.