Great Britain now bars trans people from many public bathrooms and changing rooms

A new statutory code of practice is now in effect across England, Scotland and Wales that says bathrooms, changing rooms and hospital wards designated for women or for men must exclude transgender men and women. Effective Wednesday, the code issued by the U.K.'s Equality and Human Rights Commission says use of those facilities must be based on a person’s birth sex, and not the gender with which they identify. On that basis, trans people can be lawfully excluded from using those single-sex facilities. However, demanding that an individual provide verification of their birth sex or questioning them at toilet doors is expressly considered inappropriate under the code. And that raises the question: How will the code be enforced?This all follows a ruling in 2025 by the U.K.’s Supreme Court that said that only cisgender women fit the legal definition of a woman in the country. In its 88-page decision announced on April 16, 2025, the court’s five judges said the “concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.” Related: Which country is about to implement a nationwide transgender bathroom ban?The decision was unanimous, declaring that the terms "woman" and "sex" refer only "to a biological woman and biological sex," said Judge Patrick Hodge, the deputy president of the Supreme Court.As the Advocate reported, anti-trans groups cheered that ruling. It followed years of anti-trans organizing within the U.K. and as trans people in the U.S. grapple with similar ramifications, between the Trump administration’s declaration that there are “only two genders” assigned at birth, and its subsequent attempts to enforce that executive order across a wide range of governmental agencies, as Them reported.The biggest exception to the ruling and the code can be found in Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. but is still reviewing the changes in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has distinct and separate legal frameworks regarding transgender