A sign for unisex non-binary gender neutral toilets in south-west London
(Picture: PA Wire)Trans women can be excluded from single-sex changing rooms and toilets, the equalities watchdog has ruled.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has ruled organisations such as refuges and gyms can exclude transgender people from single-sex services if it can demonstrate its actions are proportionate.
Legitimate reasons for excluding trans people from single-sex spaces include enabling privacy, preventing trauma or to ensure health and safety.
The fresh guidance, published on Monday, is intended to help organisations such as hospitals, retailers, hospitality and sports clubs implement policies that are legal and balance the needs of different groups.
It is the first time guidance on this issue has been released and comes in the wake of calls for more clarity from women’s rights groups.
The watchdog said there are circumstances where organisations can legally prevent, limit or modify trans people’s access to such a service.
However, they must balance the impact on all service users and demonstrate “a sufficiently good reason”.
Doing so could be unlawful if the organisation cannot show such action is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, it added.
The EHRC has provided hypothetical examples of organisations using the Equality Act in practice.
These include a domestic abuse refuge excluding trans women from emergency accommodation if feedback from female survivors “indicates that they would feel uncomfortable sharing accommodation with trans women for reasons of trauma and safety”.
The refuge could compile a list of alternative sources of support for trans women in the local area, it said.
Organisers of a group counselling session for female victims of sexual assault could exclude trans women if they judge that those attending “are likely to be traumatised by the presence of a person who is biologically male”, it says.
The guidance added a leisure centre could choose to exclude trans women from female-only fitness classes “because of the degree of physical contact involved”.
Another example could be a gym introducing an additional gender-neutral changing room with self-contained units, due to concerns about the safety of trans men getting dressed in existing open-plan communal changing rooms.
When making decisions, providers should treat everyone with dignity and respect.
Guidance also set it providers must be aware trans people may need access to services relating to their biological sex.
It would likely be unlawful if a trans man is denied access to breast screening and told this service is provided for females only, the watchdog said.
Also it advised organisations to consider “less restrictive options where possible”.
It gives the example of a women’s clothes shop deciding it is not necessary to exclude trans women from changing areas as the privacy and decency of all users can be assured by the provision of separate cubicles.
It said it is most likely to be proportionate to exclude, modify or limit trans people’s access when a provider has limited resources and physical space to make changes or when dealing with groups with particular needs, such as female victims of male assault.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, EHRC chairwoman, said: “Our mission at the EHRC is to protect the rights of everyone and ensure that people across Britain are treated fairly.
“There is no place for discrimination against anyone based on their sex or gender reassignment. Where rights between groups compete, our duty as an independent regulator is to help providers of services and others to balance the needs of different users in line with the law.
“Organisations are legally allowed to restrict services to a single sex in some circumstances. But they need help to navigate this sensitive area. That is why we have published this guidance – to clarify the law and uphold everyone’s rights.”
