The UK Government’s new Code of Practice offers cruelty, not clarity. Despite promises and spin to the contrary, this is a bathroom ban and a huge rollback for human rights in the UK.
The changes made will result in trans people being forcibly outed and excluded from services and equal access to public life – and the impact will also be felt by organisations whom the Government expects to spend millions in order to comply with this farcical guidance that is fundamentally incompatible with ‘dignity’ or ‘compassion’.
It represents a betrayal by this Government, passed without mandate or scrutiny, that has failed to protect the rights and dignity of trans people, to provide workable guidance, and to engage honestly with those who will be harmed by these ill-considered proposals.
The new Code of Practice is a weaponisation of equality law as a tool of discrimination, that will impact the lives of all people living in the UK, creating a bitter legacy for this Government that – if not fixed urgently – will take years to undo.
In the 15 years since the passage of the Equality Act, thousands of trans people took the courageous step of coming out, believing that they would be protected from being discriminated against in everyday life, and that getting a Gender Recognition Certificate would enable them to maintain their privacy.
Those promises lie shattered on the ground – the UK government has broken the social contract and betrayed LGBTQ+ people. They must now stop pretending to be powerless, reclaim the sovereignty of Parliament and legislate to restore equality legislation to a sound footing, or face a toxic legacy which LGBTQ+ people will fight to put right for years to come.
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Here’s how the guidance fails:
The new Code of Practice fails against all three tests set out for it being workable for trans people:
- It does not offer clear ways for gendered services to remain trans inclusive
- It does not clearly protect the freedom of association for gender-based organisations who wish to be trans inclusive, such as the Women’s Institute
- It does not uphold the UK’s human rights obligations, causing widespread outing, and requiring perception-based gender policing by service providers
Additionally, it represents a major step back for LGBTQ+ progress in the UK, providing a roadmap for people to launder prejudice against any LGBTQ+ person as legitimate belief. In its own impact assessment, the Government acknowledges that this new guidance may have negative impacts on trans people, disabled people and cis women who will be subjected to the same gender policing.
The new Code would conscript every receptionist and frontline worker into the ‘gender police’, leaving them to navigate the Government’s cruel and contradictory guidance or face legal consequences for either challenging the wrong person, or failing to challenge a trans person.
It will relegate trans people to third spaces, treating our community as a liability to everyone around us while imposing ridiculous costs – more than half a billion – on organisations that will have to adapt their spaces to meet these requirements.
Following the updated guidance will also mean that the UK effectively has no process for legal gender recognition, and will therefore be failing to meet the basic international human rights obligations that led to the passage of the Gender Recognition Act more than 20 years ago.
What next?
The Government has chosen to appease a rising far-right authoritarian movement rather than protect the rights and dignity of our community – but it isn’t too late to change course.
Government Ministers have challenged Supreme Court decisions on immigration and payouts from car lenders in the past – but chose to accept last year’s ruling without question. It is a choice to break and pervert the Equality Act to appease a powerful lobby – and it can be a choice to push back on these degrading measures, and to be accountable for the harm it has already caused.
If this Government wants to avoid a stain on their legacy akin to Section 28, it must legislate to restore equalities law to something that recognises the rights and dignity of everyone.
To trans people, the wider LGBTQ+ community and everybody affected by this terrible regression in equality; know that even when it seems nobody can understand or admit what is happening to you – we do. We will keep fighting for your rights until they are won back, and we will never stop working towards our vision of a safe and dignified UK where trans people can flourish.