12-04-2025
Women's rights prioritised in equality law revamp
Women-only spaces will be protected in an overhaul of equality laws under plans being considered by the Government.
Transgender people will be routinely asked to present Gender Recognition Certificates and organisations compelled to define the difference between sex and gender under proposed changes to the equality code.
Britain's human rights watchdog last week submitted a 310-page revised version of its Statutory Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations.
The guidance, which was last amended in 2010, is considered to be 'out of date' by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The EHRC is pushing for a radical overhaul following fears existing guidelines on sex and gender were being loosely interpreted by hundreds of public bodies, allowing self-identifying trans people into single-sex spaces.
The code is currently being scrutinised by ministers and officials, including government lawyers, and could be presented to Parliament before the summer recess.
It will protect biological sex over gender identity as far as is possible under current law.
The aim is to update equalities guidance in line with more than a decade's worth of legal cases, court rulings, tribunal outcomes and new legislation.
It will heavily base its protections of philosophical belief on the outcome of the Maya Forstater case, according to those familiar with the plans.
In 2021, an employment tribunal brought by Ms Forstater ruled the belief that trans women are not real women is a belief that 'must be protected'.
The tax expert had been dismissed from her job after expressing gender critical views on the social media platform X. The tribunal ruled that her belief was protected under the Equality Act, setting a new legal precedent.
The overhaul comes after the case of the Darlington Memorial Hospital nurses, who are currently suing their employer on grounds of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment.
Darlington NHS Foundation Trust allowed a biological man who identifies as a woman but does not have a Gender Recognition Certificate to use the hospital's female changing room. The case will be heard in October.
'Transform the weather'
A government source familiar with the plans told this newspaper 'it will transform the weather' on sex and gender.
Its provisions include greater protections for single-sex spaces, including compelling all service providers and public facing organisations to clarify the difference between sex and gender.
It also permits organisations to routinely ask for a Gender Recognition Certificate from trans individuals seeking access to single sex spaces.
If implemented in full, it is expected to put the Government on a collision course with activist groups such as Stonewall, which has fought for trans people to be allowed into single-sex spaces.
The revision follows concerns at the EHRC and in government that there was widespread non-compliance with the spirit of the Equality Act, as gender identity has become a creeping stand-in for biological sex.
Last month, the independent Sullivan Review claimed that criminals are free to pick their gender because the Government is refusing to force police to record biological sex. It warned trans men and trans women were at risk of missing vital cervical and prostate cancer exams owing to confusion over their biological sex on official records.
The independent review recommended police forces and the NHS should collect data on sex rather than just a person's self-declared gender identity.
Last year, Baroness Falkner, the current chairman of the EHRC, said she had identified some 400 instances in which the Equality Act had been misinterpreted in recent years.
An update to the sister Code for Employers is expected to follow the revision of the code for service providers.
A Government spokesman said: 'Ministers will consider the proposals in due course.'
The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that single-sex spaces should be protected.
Government sources said ministers have not yet fully digested the revised code and that a timetable for implementation was yet to be set out.
The code could also be further updated in the coming weeks depending on the imminent outcome of a landmark Supreme Court case on sex and gender.
On Wednesday, Britain's highest court of appeal is due to rule on the case of For Women Scotland vs The Scottish Ministers.
The appellants, a gender-critical campaign group, have argued that sex-based protections for women should only be afforded to those born female. The Scottish government has argued that the definition of women should include trans people with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
If the court rules in favour of For Women Scotland the code could be further updated to reflect the change.
