Judge urges ‘common sense’ as EHRC single-sex spaces guidance upheld

A judge has ruled that it is lawful to ban men who identify as female from women’s toilets.

Mr Justice Swift dismissed the Good Law Project’s (GLP) court case on all grounds. It had attempted to claim that the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) interim guidance on single-sex spaces “dangerously misrepresented” the law.

Following the verdict, campaigners urged the Government to release the equality watchdog’s proposed final version of the guidance, which has been awaiting approval for several months.

‘Blinkered by ideology’

Mr Justice Swift reiterated that “one clear consequence” of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, “was that if, for example, a service provider provided a service to be used both by women and transsexual women, that service would not be a single-sex service”.

He urged people to “comply with the law but also be guided by common sense and benevolence rather than allow themselves to be blinkered by unyielding ideologies”.

The GLP reportedly plans to appeal the judgment.

‘Everyone’s rights’

EHRC Chair Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson said: “We welcome the court’s conclusion that the interim update was lawful and the EHRC did not act in breach of its statutory duties.”

“As Britain’s equality regulator, we uphold and enforce the Equality Act. This is the second time the way we have done our duty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling has been tested in the courts. Both times our actions have been found to be lawful.”

Stephenson concluded: “It’s our job to champion everyone’s rights under the Equality Act, including those with the protected characteristics of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. A shared and correct understanding of the law is essential to that endeavour.”

‘No excuse for delay’

A Government spokesman stated that it expects “everyone to uphold the law and follow the clarity that the Supreme Court ruling provides”, adding: “The EHRC has submitted a separate draft code of practice for services, public functions and associations to ministers, and we are working as quickly as we can to review it with the care it deserves.”

Maya Forstater, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of women’s group Sex Matters, commented: “The law is clear. There was never any excuse for the government, public bodies, regulators, charities or businesses to delay in implementing the Supreme Court judgement.”