Overview
- The Equality and Human Rights Commission published the full updated statutory code on May 21, 2026, and laid it before Parliament where either House can move to reject it during a 40-day review.
- The code says a service counts as single‑sex only if it is limited by biological sex and gives examples that could lawfully exclude trans people from single‑sex toilets, wards or associations.
- It allows limited, sensitive checks of a person’s ‘eligible sex’ in specific cases and urges practical measures such as unisex lockable cubicles to avoid leaving trans people without access to facilities.
- The guidance bars inclusion of trans people in single‑sex competitive sport by gender identity, prompts immediate operational reviews from bodies like the NHS, and is expected to trigger legal challenges.
- The update implements the Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling that ‘sex’ means biological sex and follows a long delay since an EHRC draft was handed to ministers in September, producing sharply divided responses from women’s groups and trans rights organisations.