The EHRC ruling.
Single-sex spaces - such as changing rooms and toilets - must be used on the basis of biological sex, new guidance from the equalities watchdog has confirmed.that this means, for instance, that a trans woman - a biological male who identifies as a woman - should not use female toilets or changing rooms, according to the code of practice.
The ruling is a joke.Bridget Phillipson even said women should not confront any man using women's "spaces" As I and many others have said. How the hell will they know?
If it keeps men who dress and act like men, and use the word "TRANS" as if it is a magical shield for being a perverts and sniffing the seats or whatever they do LOL. Perhaps it will do some good.
I would love to see some trans men going into women's loo's when turfs are present. Saying "This is what you wanted" . But the code states that single-sex toilets and changing rooms should exclude transgender men and women. It mandates that businesses and public bodies must provide alternative, practical spaces (like gender-neutral or individual lockable facilities) to ensure no group is left without access
The guidance, produced by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and now approved by ministers, makes it clear that transgender people should instead be offered a third or a gender-neutral space.
The code states that leaving a trans person without access to any services or facilities would be unlikely to be proportionate and could be discriminatory.
The EHRC said gender neutral toilets or changing rooms should have self-contained lockable areas with floor-to-ceiling walls and wash basins.
The watchdog said it did not think the requirements would be too onerous as services could decide to let trans people use toilets for disabled people, for example.
The EHRC also said if a service just had two toilets - one for men and one for women - they could be changed into unisex facilities.
So how will they know who is or isn't trans? DNA test on the door? Probably turn into a beauty competition. This will affect way more tall and masculine looking women that actual trans women. I really can't see anything changing.
When I'm Leeanna, I do use the "ladies" I always try to make sure it is empty or near empty when I can. Especially careful if there are mothers with children in there. I will just wait until they leave. I would rather avoid trouble if I can.
Comments
EHRC rules and NHS
The point that seems to be somewhat overlooked is that, under the new rules, if we require in-patient treatment then we will be placed on Male wards. This includes those of us who have fully transitioned, including GRS.
Prior to the Supreme Court ruling I had surgery which kept me in for a few days and I was placed in a Female ward as a matter of course. I may well need further surgery which would need a longer stay in hospital, and I absolutely WILL NOT accept being on a male ward. It therefore seems that my retirement savings will need to be used for private medical treatment as the NHS will not keep me safe or treat me with respect.
We are just one small step away from being ordered to wear a large badge with a pink "T" on it to out ourselves to the world. I've already accepted that I will never go to USA again, or even pass through US airports when travelling to Australia or NZ, but I thought more of this country. If I was younger I would be looking very closely at emigrating to NZ claiming asylum from the UK, which I find deeply shocking. Things I have been doing quite legally for the best part of 40 years are now suddenly illegal and we are back in the 1980's or earlier.
Feeling pretty pissed off.
Alison
Maybe not
I have had a small number of in-patient "experiences"[1] courtesy of the NHS and in every ward I ended up, as well as the several beds in the main part of the ward, there were rooms available for single patients.
I have ended up in single rooms on several occasions, once because they thought I had swine flu, another time because my fibromyalgia became so bad after the op that I could not sleep if there was any noise, another time because that was where the only free bed was.
So, unless you are unlucky a quiet word could see you moved somewhere that would'nt cause problems with the other patients.
Obviously, my sample is small and I can't answer for hospitals elsewhere in the country.
Penny
[1] I liken any in-patient stay in hospital as being a visit to the First Circle of Hell. No peace, endless noise, no sleep, often far too warm. Twice I was handed other people's medications and had to refuse them. Make sure you know what yours looks like.
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
Government Involvment
Everyone should understand and remember this Hell On Earth transgender go through is because those in government get involved. Hitler's Germany, Trump's U.S. and virtually every single attempt to erase transgender comes from laws and lack of understanding or hatred from those in government. With the passage of laws trans were a protected species, every pervert and misguided soul realized women's spaces and sports were a golden opportunity. Did anyone with any understanding not see the boomerang laws coming?
No one cared if I used the ladies. No one took second looks to check if I was a female. No one cared if someone changed their name as long as it was not to avoid a crime. No one outside family cared if I wore a dress and heels or jeans and work boots until government got involved in anything, anyone transgender. We went from having a freedom of choice to needing psychiatric evaluation for any medicine we purchased or any legal changes in our lives. It all changed from a transgender girl requesting and receiving medical aid and a sex change if she could afford it to now needing government permission for any and everything she does.
I've been fortunate to have been in the same time frame in history as April Ashley, Lynn Conway, and all the path finders in the transgender understanding. I've been unfortunate to live long enough to see all the damage and the resulting laws from those who are trans demanding more because they are trans. I'm not going to live long enough to see this whole mess swing back where trans are no longer prosecuted or a protected species, but just simply human. Laws are too easy to make when passed in the heat of the moment and almost impossible to unmake.
Transgender are part of God's great diversity of the human genome and will be as long as humanity exists. We are "part of" not a special class.
Hugs Leeanna19
Barb
Life is a gift, live it as such.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Pushback
I've been waiting for this for a few years now and, to some degree we've brought it on ourselves. I've said it before, but the demands for access to competitive women's sports has given our enemies a wedge issue to exploit. I don't agree that we have any place in women's competitive sports and that insistence by a few has now dragged us back to the '80s or earlier.
I no longer feel able to go on holidays or other trips unless I can guarantee being able to find a private toilet before I need one - mobile home or boating holidays still work, but a long drive doesn't work if it's 200 miles or more - I'll need to recharge my car and if I'm out for that long I'll need the toilet unless I deliberately allow myself to dehydrate.
Over the last almost 40 years it's been interesting to find that 100% of the grief and abuse I've been given has come from men. Women who realise my past have always been welcoming.
Alison
Re: Pushback
As BarbieLee wrote:
And AlisonP wrote:
That confirms my argument over the last nearly a decade. When people (whether cis or trans) develop an attitude of entitlement, and start demanding [through the media and the courts] what they feel they are entitled to, that is when the social backlash tends to happen and politicians become involved with legislating restrictions!
With civil rights this becomes a tightrope act. There is a very fine line between demanding some right or benefit for the good of a significant minority of society as a whole and demanding some right or benefit for the personal gain of one [entitled] individual.
Contrast the cases of Rosa Parks (1913-2005) and Renée Richards (*1934) as an example. The former fought against discrimination suffered by a significant portion of the population, and received very little personal [economic] benefit from that fight. Meanwhile the latter fought against a discrimination that affected mainly herself, and she reaped significant personal [economic] benefit. (She has since reconsidered her opinion regarding the tactics she used.)
Also, the celebrity Caitlyn Jenner (*1949), of Kardashian clan fame, with her sensationalized transition on reality TV, has become a rather toxic „trans-advocate“ that is causing more harm than good for the greater trans community.
I will also cite the case of a non-trans, but very entitled, buffoon who is causing a lot of backlash for the governance of his country: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew. So much so, that for several months now the media is full of reports of the abdication of his brother King Charles III. The British society had given a lot of leeway to the financial management of the British Royal Family (a.k.a. The Firm). But with the continuing scandal, fueled by Andrew's entitled attitude, both Society and Parliament are starting to demand more and more scrutiny and accountability of both The Firm and also the members of the extended Family.
Another damaging case for the trans-community here in Germany, is the case of the Neo-Nazi Marla-Svenja Liebich, who changed her name and gender marker as a form of provocation and to evade judicial accountability. After being sentenced for incitement of the people to [racial] hatred, she fled the country. But after being arrested, a court in the Czech Republic decided on 2026-06-01 to extradite her to Germany, though that sentence is not yet binding.
While in France a week or so ago,
There was a long queue for the ladies so without batting an eyelid two women came into the men's toilet, used a cubicle, did their thing and left.
No comments, no nothing.
Yet, according to some in the UK the mere presence of both sexes in the same toilet should be regarded as a hanging offense.
Bah humbug,
Samantha
Quite
Some years ago my wife and I were riding our tandem across Belgium and the Netherlands to Germany and had an evening meal in a restaurant in Antwerp. The toilet facilities were somewhat primitive with the urinals in a narrow corridor along which users of the cubicles had to push to reach them. We were giggling about it as we rode back to our campsite afterwards.
We've found that mainland Europe has a relaxed attitude to human necessities of all types :)
I understand women feel very vulnerable (as do I at 86) and suffer at the hands of a significant minority of men but how many transwomen are there to assault women?
Quite
Several decades ago, when I was in Edinburgh, I had to use the bog in a pub and found it as you described in Antwerp. One restroom for everyone, a wall with the urinals which had to be passed to reach the stalls by either (or any) sex. And nobody was a bit bothered by it. I supposed now that wouldn't be allowed.