The UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has just made a mess of its own rulebook—and this time, it’s trans people who could be left holding the toilet roll.
In a recent walk-back that’s left LGBTQ+ advocates fuming, the EHRC admitted that employers aren’t actually required to provide single-sex toilets, despite earlier saying so in interim guidance issued in April. That little “oops” came in response to a legal letter from the Good Law Project, who are not buying the EHRC’s new interpretation. The commission now says that separate toilet facilities are only necessary when they’re lawfully provided, and even then, only for “biological men and women.” If the restroom’s a private, lockable room? You’re all good, apparently.
Let’s be clear—this isn’t just semantics. The guidance already caused waves by recommending that trans people be excluded from facilities aligned with their gender identity. And now, with this clarification, it feels like trans inclusion is circling the drain. LGBTQ+ rights groups aren’t having it, warning that the EHRC is muddying already dangerous waters and giving a legal wink to discrimination in restrooms and beyond.
In Parliament, EHRC chair Kishwer Falkner admitted the guidance was rushed, saying they were trying to “strike the balance” between clarity and speed. That “balance” has resulted in confusion and anxiety across the board. With a statutory version of the guidance possibly on its way within seven or eight months, activists are sounding the alarm.
The EHRC’s own minimization of the guidance—calling it “some observations” that “remain subject to change”—only adds to the chaos. But trans people don’t live in hypotheticals. They live in a world where being told where they can pee safely can mean the difference between dignity and danger.
Whether it’s a stall or a statement, restrooms are the new front line in the UK’s culture war—and it looks like the EHRC is trying to sit on both seats.