High Court dismisses challenge to single-sex toilet guidance

A High Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge to the equality watchdog's guidance on which public or workplace toilets and changing rooms transgender people should use.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued interim guidance last April and withdrew it six months later. It said single sex spaces, such as toilets and changing rooms, should only be used by people of the same biological sex.

It said that a trans woman, a biological male who identifies as a woman, would be expected to use a gender-neutral toilet or the men's toilets, not those for women.

Campaigners claimed the guidance for employers, such as hospitals, shops and restaurants, was "legally flawed" and "overly simplistic."

The judge, Mr Justice Swift, refused the application by campaign group, the Good Law Project (GLP), for a judicial review, but asked for submissions from all parties on whether an appeal should be allowed.

The EHRC's now withdrawn guidance was issued shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that under the 2010 Equality Act, the words "woman" and "sex" referred to a biological woman and biological sex.

Its full guidance, or code of practice, is currently being considered by the government.