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More than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex, Labour has finally published its long-awaited trans guidance. The 342 page policy document pushes organisations towards providing male toilets, female toilets and an additional mixed-sex or private option where possible. Where there is no gender-neutral option, biology takes precedence. The guidance says trans people should not be allowed to enter single-sex sports that do not match their biology. Domestic abuse service providers must also maintain single-sex spaces.
Despite the insistence from the Education Secretary’s team that her motivations in taking it slow were entirely well-meaning, others will argue they were more political
All the above seems like common sense and will leave many scratching their heads as to how it took more than 12 months for civil servants to give it the rubber stamp. Today, allies of Bridget Phillipson launched into defence mode as the Education Secretary – who also serves as equalities minister – was heavily criticised for taking so long to produce the guidance.
A source close to Phillipson justified the lengthy process as necessary to guarantee a bulletproof document that would survive an onslaught of legal challenges from the trans lobby and its charity accomplices. They insisted that while ‘the ruling was simple, the application has been anything but’. Phillipson’s allies argue that the government is responsible for a vast array of services, from women’s refuges to hospitals, and that there is a huge breadth of businesses and other organisations to which the guidance will apply. As such, they claim, it could not have been produced any faster.
