The United Kingdom will require toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards and other gender-segregated public spaces to be used according to a person's sex at birth rather than their gender identity, under a new code of practice that took effect on Wednesday.
The "code of good practice," issued by Britain's equality regulator, could force reforms to nearly 18,000 facilities. Around 13,000 toilets and more than 5,000 changing rooms in gyms, hospitals and leisure centers across England, Scotland and Wales may need to be altered, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of pounds.
The guidance follows an April 2025 Supreme Court ruling in a case brought by the organization For Women Scotland, which limited the legal definition of a woman to biological sex. That decision was widely criticized at the time as discriminatory toward trans people.
Exceptions for service providers
Under the code, service providers may choose to exclude a trans person from a single-sex space in order to avoid causing "discomfort or distress" to other users, or in cases where other people object to sharing that space based on physical appearance.
The code adds that it would be "very unlikely" to be proportionate to leave a trans person with no facility they are permitted to use, and it urges providers to ensure an "adequate alternative" is available to them.
How the code became law
Bridget Phillipson, the British secretary of state for women and equalities, presented the draft code to Parliament on May 21. It was automatically approved on July 9 after the 40-day review period expired, without being debated or voted on by either chamber, despite requests from several LGBTI+ associations for a vote.
Criticism from trans rights groups
The Trans+ Solidarity Alliance said in July that trans people would be left "exposed to risks" and that their access to essential services would become more limited once the guidance took effect.
In a manifesto, the group said the issue was about trans people's ability to live their daily lives safely and with confidence, and that the code of practice would not make the problem disappear, as some seemed to wish.
