The UK Government will publish new guidance on single-sex spaces later this month.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has updated its Code of Practice. Details are not yet confirmed but it's widely believed that the new Code will allow for single-sex spaces (such as toilets, changing rooms, and refuges) to be restricted based on “biological sex”.

Once approved it will very likely lead to trans people being excluded from public life as they will be asked by businesses and public institutions to use facilities and services that don’t match their gender. This will negatively impact the lives of thousands of trans non-binary, and gender diverse people. They are set to face widespread exclusion and discrimination.

While many anti-trans groups welcome the update many cis women fear it could harm their access to female only spaces and services.

Fear of Exclusion and Harassment 

Among the many cis women I spoke with, a large number feared potential exclusion from female spaces they have never previously experienced trouble in.

Some feared that being tall or having big feet would lead them to being excluded. One woman said “I worry for my trans family, but I also worry for myself when using the ladies toilets. I'm cis, but I'm tall with big feet, so does that mean by terf  'feminine' standards I shouldn't be in the ladies toilets?”

Another woman expressed concern that black women may face harassment because of an intersection between racism, transphobia and misogyny.

She feels “very worried for my more masc lesbian friends, or anyone more masc presenting and Black friends who are mostly very femme presenting, but i doubt that will stop them being challenged because the terfs really do love racism and transphobia together.”

It's very apparent that many cis women see it affecting all women, not just trans women.

One woman sums it up as “ a brutal travesty for everyone. I think the crucial thing is not so much the possible exclusions (ridiculous) but the premise that underlies them. The hatred. The prurience. All women are endangered by such benighted ‘codes of practice’.”

Solidarity with trans women 

The majority of cis women are supportive of trans people and don't want them to be excluded.

Not In Our Name is a cis female led trans-rights group. They describe themselves as a “collective of women who reject the weaponisation of our identities to justify discrimination. We want the media, government and other bodies to focus on the real threats that prevent women from thriving.”

Over 103,000 cis women have signed their petition that calls on “the media and politicians to recognise that there is a large number of women who are supportive of the trans+ community”

This support of trans women was shared by Fern (she/her) who told me that she “decided some time ago that I won't go anywhere trans women aren't welcome. So if the EHRC guidance is as bad as some predict, and if institutions put it into practice, then I will effectively have to withdraw from "women's" spaces. I've already resigned my WI membership after they capitulated to bigots without a fight”.

Fern expressed to me her worry of harm that will likely arise from a policy of exclusion.

She said, “ I do worry a great deal about my trans and non-binary friends (and to some extent about non-gender-conforming cis friends, although I don't think it would be right to centre them). I will do what I can to defend anyone I see being challenged, but I know the mere existence of these rules will make the world more hostile to them, and indeed more cruel and callous for everyone. 

I think the Supreme Court ruling and the government's response to it are an outrage and a disgrace. Cis people who witnessed this and said nothing will not be judged kindly.”

Journalist Kat Brown (She/Her) believes trans people are being wrongly framed as a threat to women's safety. She believes the true threat to women is from cis men.

In an article for the Independent Kat described the wrongful targeting of trans people. She wrote:

“Focusing on trans people gives a certain type of person a sense of power and a focus for their own rage. They can’t tackle the domination of men – but with extensive backing by secretive donors, organisations like Sex Matters can go back, and back, and back to court about trans people, regardless of overall public thought. It is as appalling as it is un-British.

Logic doesn’t matter to these people, only cruelty and power. They don’t want trans people to exist, full stop. It’s time for them to admit that they find them yucky, rather than dangerous, and stop hiding behind “women’s safety” as an excuse. And listen to the hundreds of thousands of women who are fed up with being used as a deflection from the real issues impacting our lives. And we all know that the threat is not coming from the trans community.”

After speaking to many cis women from different backgrounds it became very clear that only a very small minority of cis women support single-sex spaces and services based on “biological sex”. Many fear it will harm them or their trans and non-binary sisters and siblings. Thousands of cis women support trans people and don't want them to face exclusion. 

This all begs the question, why then is the UK government pushing for an unwanted trans segregation?