The UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously in April 2023 that the term 'woman' in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, not self-identification or a gender recognition certificate. This ruling means service providers are legally required to enforce single-sex spaces based on biology for any organization providing services to the public. A Daily Mail audit found that hundreds of public bodies, including NHS trusts, police forces, town halls, and Whitehall departments, are failing to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.
Nearly 400 public bodies have outdated policies allowing trans-identifying biological males to use women-only spaces such as changing rooms and toilets. Within the National Health Service, compliance is particularly low, with 97% of 190 NHS trusts in England with inpatient facilities having outdated policies allowing trans-identifying biological males to use women-only spaces. Local government and police forces are also lagging in compliance, with more than half of England's 317 town halls failing to update their policies in line with the ruling.
More than 20 of 43 police forces in England and Wales have not updated their policies, allowing transgender staff and detainees to use whichever facilities they like. The Gwent police force in Wales admitted flouting the law by keeping its policy unchanged. Government delay in releasing enforcement guidance has created confusion, with ministers sitting on guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on how to enforce the ruling since September 2023.
Many audited organizations claimed they were effectively in limbo due to the delay in government guidance. It remains unclear what specific actions, if any, the government plans to take to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court ruling among public bodies. A new report shows that trans people have been excluded from society since the Supreme Court ruling, with approximately 53% of trans respondents and 17% of cis respondents reporting having ever been stopped, questioned, or harassed while entering a gendered space in the UK.
The trans community has responded with plans to leave the UK and expressed safety concerns, with one in four trans adults reportedly planning to leave the UK due to the ruling's impact. Trans activists and charities shared concerns that the ruling will open the doors to further harms on the trans community. The precise number of trans emigrants remains uncertain, as does the full scope of harassment they face.
' Amid the polarization, the activist group Not In Our Name was founded after the ruling to reject narratives that pitch trans rights against women's rights. The content and impact of the delayed EHRC guidance are still unknown.