Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson has said the Supreme Court ruling that transgender-identifying men are not legally recognised as women means they should use male toilets and changing rooms.
Speaking on Tuesday, Phillipson called for businesses to provide facilities suitable for all customers, raising concerns that this could lead to increased use of unisex facilities in cafes, pubs and restaurants in order to ensure “dignity” for all people.
She told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme that last Wednesday’s landmark ruling was clear that “services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex,” meaning trans-identifying males should usually use male toilets if there is no unisex facility.
“And I think it is important, and welcome that the Supreme Court have put beyond doubt, that providers can make sure that is done on the basis of biological sex.”
Phillipson, who previously stated trans-identifying men ought to use female facilities, added: “But I know that many businesses, large and small, will ensure that they have appropriate provision in place.”
‘We Don’t Routinely Police Toilets’
Pressed on which toilet a trans-identifying man should use in a pub, she told ITV’s “Good Morning Britain:” “We don’t routinely police toilets and it’s for businesses, including pubs, to decide how they run their premises.“But I would hope that that business would make sure that there is a safe and appropriate place for all people to use, including trans people, who do deserve dignity and respect, let’s be clear.”
Phillipson, who is set to update MPs on the Supreme Court’s ruling, insisted there is unity within Government in welcoming the justices’ unanimous decision.
Rosie Duffield, who now sits as an independent MP for Canterbury, said she felt ostracised by senior members of the party because of her opposition to transgender ideology and her support for women, comparing the treatment she received to her experience of being in an abusive relationship.
Then-Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting apologised to Duffield for the way she had been treated in July 2023, before she resigned from the party last September.
Phillipson said: “I speak for the Government on this matter and I can be crystal clear with you that we welcome the ruling.
“We will make sure that the EHRC (Equalities and Human Rights Commission) work with us to bring forward guidance to address those areas where, through both the guidance and the statutory code of practice, providers have further clarity that is needed.”
‘An Adult Female’
Breaking his six-day silence since the ruling, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told journalists on Tuesday that a woman is an “adult female” and that he welcomes the “clarity” brought by the Supreme Court.In a 2022 Times of London interview, Starmer stated that “trans women are real women.”
When asked on Tuesday if he would repeat that statement now, he replied, “I think the Supreme Court has answered that question.”
Asked if that means he does not believe a “trans woman is a woman,” he told the ITV “West Country” channel: “A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear.
“I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real clarity. It allows those that have got to draw up guidance to be really clear about what that guidance should say.”
Law Has Been Misapplied
In the long-awaited judgment following an appeal brought by women’s rights group, For Women Scotland (FWS) against the Scottish government, the highest court in the land confirmed the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex.”The ruling makes clear that the law has been misapplied for years by allowing trans-identifying males into some single-sex spaces intended for women and girls, as men and boys had no legal right to be in these facilities in the first place.
The legal battle began in Scotland because the Scottish government was wrongly including trans-identified men in its definition of women in its quotas for women on boardrooms.
FWS initially lost the case north of the border, but they appealed, with the battle culminating in the UK-wide Supreme Court in London.
The Equalities Act is not a devolved matter, meaning that the UK court has jurisdiction over the Scottish one.
While there is no legal route of appeal over a Supreme Court judgment, Parliament could in theory pass new legislation to give additional rights to transgender people—although no such plans have been announced.
Statues Defaced by Trans Activists
Seven statues around Parliament Square in Westminster were daubed with graffiti during a protest against the ruling on Saturday, with trans-rights activists in London and Scotland carrying a number of abusive slogans, some calling for women to be hung.A number of placards singled out author JK Rowling, who helped fund FWS, as a “witch” who should be “burnt.”
Other slogans claimed that biological women are “jealous” of the size of the penises or the breast implants possessed by some trans-identifying males.
Statues of women’s rights campaigners were defaced with slogans including “fag rights” on the monument to suffragette Millicent Fawcett, while “trans rights are human rights” was sprayed on the pedestal bearing a memorial to South African military leader and statesman Jan Christian Smuts.
No arrests have been made, but officers are investigating the criminal damage to the statues, Scotland Yard said.
Phillipson said: “What we have seen in recent days, where it comes to defacing of statues, some pretty terrible placards that have been displayed in protests around the country, it really is just completely unacceptable.
“We need to move to a situation where we can just treat one another with dignity and respect, that, yes, we maintain single-sex spaces for women, absolutely, the ruling is clear, but trans people too have a right to live their lives free of harassment, free of discrimination.
“I think that’s a pretty commonsense view that is held by the majority of the British people.”
