UK single-sex policy branded 'chaotic and cruel' as it comes into force today

The updated Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) code comes into force in the UK today (August 5), despite over 160 MPs signing a 'prayer' motion to block it - including more than 90 Labour backbenchers defying the policy. The code has also faced backlash from trans organisations across the UK, who say it's a major back step for trans rights. The updated code addresses a variety of scenarios from sport, where it states trans people should compete alongside others of their birth sex rather than gender identity, to hospital wards, which it says can lawfully exclude trans patients if single-sex. Alexandra Parmar-Yee, Director at Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, called for the law to be changed to protect trans people’s ability to go about our day to day lives safely and with confidence. "The Code of Practice has already caused serious harm to trans people across the UK, and these harms will only increase with implementation. Trans people will be shut out of the services they need, made to feel unwelcome and unsafe in public spaces. Our lives will feel smaller and more precarious," she said. "Organisations of all kinds have been left with no clear or safe route for inclusion and will be stuck in the crossfire of lawfare. The legal framework that protects all of our human rights has been fundamentally undermined. "This is the UK Government’s flagship policy for the trans community, and it is chaotic, unworkable and cruel. It leaves the UK an outlier, no longer living up to its human rights commitments. It must change for the UK to once again be considered a nation that protects the human rights of all LGBTQ+ people," she concluded. Good Law Project’s trans rights lead, Jess O’Thomson said: “It’s difficult to believe just how far backwards our government has gone on trans human rights. "This Labour government pushed through its transphobic guidance in the face of opposition from many MPs, including nearly a hundred of its own backbenchers. It’s not just immensely harmful. We think it’s unlawful, and completely against human rights." As part of their statement, Trans Advocacy and Complaints Collective said: "We refuse to accept a future in which our rights are dismantled piece by piece while those responsible insist that nothing fundamental has changed. Our rights are not a political bargaining chip. Our lives are not up for debate. Our existence is not something that can be negotiated away." "Equality was never supposed to be something that needed defending but history has shown that rights survive only because ordinary people refuse to surrender them. We intend to be those people." What's included in the EHRC updated guidance? The code of practice for services, public functions and associations, spanning more than 300 pages, encompasses nine protected characteristics including age, sex, disability, race and gender reassignment, and has been comprehensively updated for the first time since 2011. The updated guidance has been released more than a year after a landmark Supreme Court judgment in April 2025, which ruled the words "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. It indicates it can be considered legitimate, in limited circumstances, to request someone to confirm their sex, though this must be done "as sensitively as possible, and must respect their privacy". Regarding toilets, the code states that it would be "very unlikely to be proportionate to put a trans person in a position where there is no service that they are allowed to use". It states it is "unlikely to be either practical or appropriate to approach any particular individual to make enquiries about their sex in relation to facilities, such as toilets, which are incidental to the primary service". What's the Government's response to the EHRC guidance? In May, Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said the Supreme Court ruling had "made it clear that sex means biological sex" under the Equality Act, "and that trans people are still protected by the Act". As the new code came into force, a Government spokesperson told The Mirror: "The government is committed to upholding single-sex spaces while protecting the rights of trans people. There are clear laws in place to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment, which we continue to uphold. "We have strengthened protections for trans people against hate crime and just a month ago published our trans-inclusive conversion practices ban, as well as promoting LGBT+ rights internationally and improving LGBT+ healthcare." If you have been affected by this story, contact Mindline Trans+'s emotional and mental health support helpline for anyone identifying as trans, non-binary, gender variant, and their families, friends, colleagues and carers. Their phone line is open Mondays and Fridays, 8pm to midnight. Ring 0300 330 5468.