Barclays confirms trans women will be banned from using female toilets after Supreme Court ruling
The boss of Barclays has confirmed the banking giant will ban trans women from using female toilets following the Supreme Court ruling earlier this month.
Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, said the group would not allow trans women to use female lavatories to ensure it complies with the law.
It follows recent guidance by the equalities watchdog in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on April 16 that the term 'woman' is defined by biological sex.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said trans women 'should not be permitted to use the women's facilities' in workplaces or public-facing services, such as shops and hospitals.
The same applies to trans men, who are biologically female, using men's toilets.
But the watchdog also insisted that trans people should not be put in a position where there are no facilities for them to use.
Venkat told reporters on a media call after posting quarterly results: 'Following the Supreme Court ruling... we believe that we have to comply with that by not allowing trans women to use female bathrooms.
'We strive in every way to make the appropriate facilities available in a comfortable way for people to use and to provide equality of opportunities and development,' he added.
Barclays also ditched the diversity targets at its American business earlier this month after US President Donald Trump issued executive orders cutting federal programmes aimed at supporting women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally under-represented groups.
But Venkat insisted the bank was 'committed' to its principles on equality and equal opportunities.
He said: 'There should be an inclusive working environment where everybody should be comfortable and have the best form of personal expression.'
Venkat added: 'The Wall Street that I joined was not as diverse as it is today. I've been given opportunities throughout my career... I'm a great personal believer in this.'
Companies, as well as schools, sports clubs and public services across the UK are among those reviewing their policies following the supreme court ruling.
The EHRC is working on a more detailed code of practice, which it said it aims to provide to the Government for ministerial approval by June.
Earlier this week, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch suggested transgender people can use disabled toilets after the ruling.
The court declared that the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
She told ITV's Good Morning Britain that the issue was 'not as complex a situation as it's often made out to be.'
Mrs Badenoch said: 'The thing that has created the biggest problem isn't trans people, it is predatory men who used lax rules to say, oh, actually, I'm a woman now, I'm going to women's loos.
She was asked if transgender people should have separate toilet facilities.
'Most, if not all, organisations have a way of dealing with this. Not having gender neutral loos is one of the easiest things that you can do.
'Almost all businesses I see have disabled loos. They are unisex, different from gender neutral. Trans people can use those. But if you are providing a single sex space, it has to be a single sex space.'
She said she had put out regulations around toilets two years ago and that 'lots of people laughed at the time'.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has said the 'logical consequence of the judgment' and the new guidance is that people will have to use toilets, changing rooms and other facilities of their biological sex.
But 'there isn't going to be toilet police', he told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, adding that the Government will need to look to new guidance from the EHRC.
The Department of Health and Social Care said yesterday that 'following the Supreme Court ruling, it is clear healthcare should be based on biology'.
But medics at the British Medical Association's (BMA) resident doctors conference in London have passed a motion which states that 'attempting to impose a rigid binary has no basis in science or medicine'.
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