from The Christian Institute
Government statutory guidance protecting single-sex spaces has now come into force.
After lengthy delays, an amended version of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) Code of Practice for England, Scotland and Wales was approved in May and completed parliamentary scrutiny last month.
The guidance, which applies to services, public functions and associations, has been updated to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex. Separate guidance for employers will be published at a later date.
The document states that if “a service provider (or a person providing a service in the exercise of public functions) admits trans people to a service intended for the opposite sex” then it cannot rely on exceptions to sex discrimination laws and may be acting unlawfully.
“This means that if a service is provided only to women and trans women or only to men and trans men, it is not a separate-sex or single-sex service under the Equality Act 2010.”