Trans women visiting parliament will be barred from using women’s toilets under new guidance, The Independent can reveal.
Until now visitors to the estate could use toilets most appropriate for their gender, but new guidance advises them to use toilets based on their biological sex, or gender-neutral facilities – prompting accusations of a “knee-jerk response”.
It comes after barrister Robin Moira White, a trans woman, faced complaints from gender critical campaigners for using the women’s facilities while attending a meeting in parliament last week.
Following the Supreme Court’s April ruling, which said that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission issued draft guidance on a range of topics, including trans people’s participation in sport and use of toilets.
It was previously understood the Commons was waiting for the publication of the EHRC’s full guidance before updating their policy. However, the same rule had already been introduced into the Scottish Parliament.
It is understood that there has been no change to the policy for staff who work on the estate, meaning that trans women employed by parliament would be able to use the women’s loos.
Parliamentary staff have also been given new guidance on how to direct visitors to the toilets, The Independent understands. If an individual asks where the nearest toilet is, a Commons spokesperson said staff will be told to “signpost visitors to all available toilets, making it clear that a range of facilities are available.”
Last week, The Times reported that the Commons apologised to gender critical campaigners from the LGB Alliance after they raised complaints about Ms White using the women’s loos. It comes despite the barrister using a bathroom which was in keeping with Parliament’s guidance at the time.
On Monday, just days after the row unfolded, the Commons added a new clause to the guidance, with a spokesperson telling The Independent: “Visitors are subject to the provision of services elements of the Equality Act. As the Supreme Court judgment deals directly with interpretation of the Equality Act 2010 this applies to the provision of toilet facilities for visitors.
“Visitors should therefore use toilet facilities which correspond to their biological sex, or use one of the gender-neutral or accessible facilities that are available”.
Speaking to The Independent last week, Ms White asked: “Is this really what we want the state of the law to be? Where a responsible individual who has accessed parliament for decades now can’t use gender appropriate facilities. What harm does that do?”
The barrister – who is currently engaging with the EHRC as it formulates its guidance – says the body has “no clear plan of how this will work”.
“They can’t reconcile the Supreme Court judgment with our duties under the human rights convention.”
Responding to the updated parliamentary guidance, Steph Richards of TransLucent said: “There are trans women out there who are post-op, with vaginas, who will now be forced to use the mens loos in parliament. We consider this a human rights violation.
“Trans people go through the most difficult journey to start off with, and now having this thrown at them is just awful. This knee-jerk response will cause distress and anxiety for trans people visiting Parliament.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: “I respect the fact that the house authorities must comply with the guidance but I feel for all those who will now feel unwelcome visitors in our parliament and the centre of their democracy.”
“Restaurants, cafes and visitor attractions up and down the country now face similar dilemmas trying to cater for their customers and this just underlines how important it is that the EHRC comes up with clear, workable guidance which protects everyone’s rights and privacy”, she added.
It comes just days after a number of MPs on the women and equalities committee described how “fearful” trans people had become since the ruling, with claims some feel they might have to quit their jobs in the wake of the guidance, and others saying they had developed UTIs (urinary tract infections) “because they’re scared to use bathrooms without being challenged”.
EHRC chief executive John Kirkpatrick said among the things the regulator can do are “provide some appropriate guidance about how respectfully questions can be asked in the workplace or in services, and so on and so forth, in such a way as to respect privacy and dignity as as far as is possible”.
The EHRC guidance consultation period runs until June 30. The final guidance is then expected to be presented to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson by summer recess in July.
