Great Britain now bars trans people from many public bathrooms and changing rooms

A new statutory code of practice is now in effect across England, Scotland and Wales that says bathrooms, changing rooms and hospital wards designated for women or for men must exclude transgender men and women. Effective Wednesday, the code issued by the U.K.'s Equality and Human Rights Commission says use of those facilities must be based on a person’s birth sex, and not the gender with which they identify.

On that basis, trans people can be lawfully excluded from using those single-sex facilities. However, demanding that an individual provide verification of their birth sex or questioning them at toilet doors is expressly considered inappropriate under the code. And that raises the question: How will the code be enforced?

This all follows a ruling in 2025 by the U.K.’s Supreme Court that said that only cisgender women fit the legal definition of a woman in the country. In its 88-page decision announced on April 16, 2025, the court’s five judges said the “concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.”

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The decision was unanimous, declaring that the terms "woman" and "sex" refer only "to a biological woman and biological sex," said Judge Patrick Hodge, the deputy president of the Supreme Court.

As the Advocate reported, anti-trans groups cheered that ruling. It followed years of anti-trans organizing within the U.K. and as trans people in the U.S. grapple with similar ramifications, between the Trump administration’s declaration that there are “only two genders” assigned at birth, and its subsequent attempts to enforce that executive order across a wide range of governmental agencies, as Them reported.

The biggest exception to the ruling and the code can be found in Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. but is still reviewing the changes in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has distinct and separate legal frameworks regarding transgender people's access to single-sex spaces like bathrooms and changing rooms.

A report by CNN posted to Instagram explained the potential impact in England, Scotland and Wales: "A transgender man could be placed on a female-only hospital ward based on his sex assigned at birth," reported CNN's Ben Hunte. "But here's where it gets tricky: That same man could be barred from accessing a women's locker room on the basis that his presentation as a man could make others uncomfortable."

Related: U.K. Prime Minister pushes to ban trans people from single-sex bathrooms, sports, and beyond

The code stresses that organizations need to find a balance between privacy and dignity, Hunte added, and encourages mixed-sex or individual lockable facilities to ensure that trans people are not left without legitimate access. The code's authors wrote that their aim was to adhere to the ruling but prevent discrimination and harassment of trans people and the disabled.

Clubs and associations could, for example, remain trans inclusive, according to the Guardian, by making themselves open to several protected characteristics at once. However, since mixed-sex accommodation is not available in some hospital wards, trans patients must be accommodated on the single-sex ward that matches their biological sex. That's why the code states a trans man cannot be excluded from obstetrics and gynecology outpatient services based solely on the objections of female patients.

When it comes to bathrooms and changing rooms, the burden is on private business owners in England, Scotland and Wales. According to the code, they must decide whether other users of their facilities will "object" to the presence of a trans person. And if those service providers allow trans women into women-only spaces, it's "very unlikely" those facilities will be regarded as a woman-only space under the law, going forward.

Related: Women's Institute to ban transgender women after U.K. Supreme Court ruling

The other complication is money. Thousands of bathrooms and changing rooms had to be changed to meet the new code, SkyNews reported.

The cost of modifying those nearly 13,000 toilets and more than 5,000 changing rooms at gyms, hospitals and leisure centers across Great Britain was estimated to cost millions of British pounds, with at least 18,000 signs needing to be changed as well.

As for schools, no child should be made to feel unsafe through “inappropriate” mixed-sex sport, according to The Independent. The report also says schools and colleges are barred from providing mixed-sex toilet facilities for children aged over eight years old, or mixed sex sleeping arrangements on trips.

The code advises both schools and teachers to make themselves aware of every child’s birth sex, in order to take "appropriate action" where needed; That information is expected to be added to all school and college records.

Transgender advocacy groups had pushed for amendments to the code in April, hoping it might result in a less blanket exclusion, but failed to win support, according to the Guardian.

The government’s own equality impact assessment acknowledged that the likely impact on transgender people is “negative”, but highlighted mitigating factors, such as the ability of service providers to create a “third-space” provision such as a unisex bathroom or private changing room.

The U.K. Supreme Court ruling did not mention intersex people and made only a reference to nonbinary people and their lack of a nonbinary choice on U.K. gender recognition certificates. The Advocate’s search of the code's 142-page document for the words "nonbinary" and "intersex" came up with zero results.

You can read the code document in full by clicking here.