New government guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has sparked widespread concern among transgender individuals and human rights advocates across the UK.
What the leaked guidance proposes
The guidance, reported by The Times on November 20, 2025, advises ministers on implementing April's Supreme Court ruling that defined 'sex' under the Equality Act as biological sex assigned at birth. According to Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, who wrote about the development, the guidance suggests that transgender people could be excluded from single-sex spaces such as hospital wards and gyms based purely on their appearance or behaviour.
The most alarming aspect is that service providers could question or ban individuals simply on the basis of how they look or concerns raised by other people, without requiring birth certificates or official identification.
Broader impact beyond trans community
This development doesn't only affect transgender people. Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir highlights that masculine-presenting cisgender women frequently face harassment and challenges when using women's facilities.
Many cisgender women have reported being followed into bathrooms, shouted at, or physically blocked from entering because someone decided they 'looked trans'. This includes lesbian women, butch-presenting women, sporty women in hoodies, women with short hair, and tall women who don't conform to narrow feminine stereotypes.
The fear of using public spaces, long familiar to trans people, now extends to any woman who doesn't fit society's expectations of femininity.
Legal challenges and international concern
The guidance has already drawn criticism from multiple quarters. International human rights bodies including the Council of Europe and UN experts have warned that the UK's anti-trans direction breaches established rights and protections.
Service providers and companies have raised concerns about the practical implementation of such guidance, with at least one legal challenge already underway.
Government minister Josh MacAllister stated that Labour is waiting to act on the guidance because they 'want to get it right.' However, activists argue that getting it right means rejecting this advice outright.
Polling shows that 91% of trans people distrust the current government on their rights, suggesting significant erosion of confidence in political leadership regarding transgender issues.
Critics describe the guidance as part of a 'slippery slope' that could lead to more invasive physical inspections and further erosion of privacy rights for all women, regardless of their gender identity.
