If passed by Darlington Borough Council, the motion will severaly limit trans people's access to public services and spaces within the Council area.

Named “Women’s Privacy, Dignity, and Safety Across Darlington” the motion aims “To fully implement with immediate effect, the Supreme Court ruling across all Darlington Borough Council buildings, services, policies and commissioned activities”.

This in practice would mean the exclusion of trans people from public life as it would ban trans people from using single-sex spaces (like toilets and changing facilities) that match their gender.

It would also greatly increase the risk of cisgender (cis) people facing harrassment/abuse in these spaces for not looking “female or male enough”. This form of harrassment has already taken place in other parts of the UK following the Supreme Court ruling last April.

Motion faces criticism by members of the community on social media

The Darlington community shared their distain for the transphobic motion on Facebook (FB).

Reform UK shared the proposed motion on their Reform Darlington FB page. The majority of comments beneath the post were severely critical.

One user wrote:

“Mate, most people in Darlington could not care less about this. What we do care about is getting out bins emptied, pot holes fixed and our council tax as low as possible. Stay focused on the real and important issues that affect the majority and not these ‘made up issues’ ”.

Another commented:

“Making trans people (particularly trans women) a punching bag? Not enough migrants to whinge about? You lot are just awful people all round.”

One user criticised them for attacking both immigrants, trans and disabled people:

“Is been transphobic the only policy that reform have. So once they have killed off all the transgender community what will be their next mission. Maybe to remove the Gay population, then the disabled population, remove all the legal immigrants, which will include all the NHS staff as the majority are from abroad, hang on that won't matter as they will close down the NHS anyway. Then they will come after women and chip away their rights that have been fought for over the years. Get real and concentrate on running a local council like emptying bins, fixing pot holes and not wasting our money.”

Motion tabled previously.

Reform UK previously attempted to push through the same motion at Bassetlaw District Council back in December 2025.

The trans community remain on edge as transphobic motions and policies are frequently debated in government departments and local councils.

The implementation of such transphobic rhetoric has led to all women in the UK feeling less safe and at greater risk of harm.

The motion is scheduled to be discussed at a council meeting on Thursday the 26th of March.