On 5th August 2026 the new Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on implementing the Equality Act (2010) comes into effect. This guidance says trans people must use facilities and services based on their ‘sex’ as noted at birth. Therefore a trans woman must use facilities marked for men, and a trans man the facilities marked for women.
We at Debt Justice oppose this guidance, which will push trans people even further out of public life.
Trans people already disproportionately struggle to access paid work, healthcare, and essential services. This marginalisation means they are disproportionately exposed to financial insecurity and to problem debt. The EHRC guidance will increase trans people’s risk of falling into debt, as more workplaces and support services become inaccessible due to a lack of safe toilets and places of refuge, leading to growing harassment and marginalisation. The EHRC guidance has given a free pass to anyone who wishes to challenge the presence of a trans person (or anyone they perceive as trans) in such spaces.
The EHRC guidance reinforces false narratives and harmful assumptions that trans people, particularly trans women, are a threat, and seeks to address a problem rooted in prejudice rather than evidence. The biggest threat to cis women in our society is not trans women, it is male violence by cis men.
Trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary people exist. We stand with our trans and non-binary staff, supporters, partners, allies, and the wider trans community in opposition to the EHRC’s discriminatory guidance.