Scottish Trans

After taking a few days to read and process the EHRC’s new Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations, we have produced an in-depth summary and analysis of the key changes that it makes and what we believe they mean for trans people and organisations who wish to be inclusive. You can read it in full on our website here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/supreme-court-ruling-on-s*x-in-the-equality-act/our-thoughts-on-the-ehrcs-updated-code-of-practice-may-2026/

Last week, the UK Minister for Equalities laid the Code before the UK Parliament, approving changes made to it by the EHRC in light of last year’s Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of “s*x” in the Equality Act.

While we understand that the judgment has impacted interpretations of equality law, we believe the Code goes above and beyond “necessary changes”, cementing exclusion and segregation into the statutory guidance that businesses, services, and public bodies across the UK are strongly encouraged to follow.

We think that the Code is neither fit for purpose in how it understands trans people’s lives and needs when it comes to service provision, nor is it practical or clear for service providers. It treats trans people as second class citizens and a “third s*x”, an approach that is completely contrary to the original intentions of both the Equality Act 2010 and the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Our summary covers some of the key changes the Code makes on s*x, gender recognition, access to services, harassment, associations, and sports. Following that, it explores in detail how the Code fails the “three tests” we established with TransActual and Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, showing exactly why it is not fit for purpose.

The summary is long, and we apologise that we cannot give clear and simple answers on what the Code says. The fact is, the Code is not in any way clear or simple, and we think it will only make life more difficult for trans people, as well as the organisations that wish to include us. If it comes into effect, we expect that this guidance will result in further harm, litigation, and confusion for years to come.

After 40 days, around 10th July, if there is no objection from the UK Parliament, the Code can be made statutory by order of the Secretary of State, and becomes statutory guidance. There is perhaps a very small chance that a motion could be passed in Parliament to stop this, but there’s no guarantee that a vote on this would be given time.

If the UK Government and the EHRC are correct in their interpretations of what the Equality Act now means after the Supreme Court judgment, we are in a situation where trans people are not able to safely (or at all) access many essential services like hospitals or toilets. Then there is no other reasonable course of action but for the law to be changed to allow us to live in dignity.

The Equality Act 2010 no longer means what it was intended to mean. Trans people’s rights have been pushed back to before the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. The Equality Act needs amended to restore the original intention of Parliament, and trans people’s human rights and equality. Holyrood can’t do this, as the Act is reserved to Westminster.

We will do our best to make the case for this change in Westminster as well as in Scotland, and to share our understanding of how this Code works (or doesn’t) with the community, service providers, and lawmakers. We’ll keep you up to date on any further changes or developments as they occur.

For now, we encourage you to continue to be kind to yourself and your trans friends and loved ones. We may have a long road ahead of us in the fight to restore and improve trans people’s right to public life in the UK, and so it’s important to focus on sustaining ourselves and our communities.

If you need to speak to someone about how this is affecting you, support is available from:
LGBT Health and Wellbeing (https://lgbthealth.org.uk/lgbt-helpline-scotland-developments/) Helpline 0800 464 7000, email [email protected], webchat, available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays (12-9pm) Sundays (1-6pm)

LGBT Youth Scotland (https://lgbtyouth.org.uk/get-support/) live chat Mon 4-6pm, Wed/Thurs 4-8pm

Breathing Space (https://www.breathingspace.scot/how-we-can-help/need-to-talk/) Helpline 0800 83 85 87, available Mon-Thurs 6pm-2am Fri-Mon 6pm-6am

In March we published our Scottish Trans and Non-binary Experiences Disabled People’s Spotlight Report, which you can read here:https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scottish_Trans_and_Non-Binary_Experiences_Disabled_Peoples_Spotlight_Report.pdf

The report was a closer look at the experiences of the disabled people who we heard from in our 2024 Scottish Trans and Non-binary Experiences Research Report. We found that they routinely had worse experiences than the non-disabled trans and non-binary people we heard from.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing some of our findings from each section of the spotlight report. This week we’ll be focusing on the first section: Public Services (p.12-17).

Disabled trans and non-binary people were more likely to have avoided one of the services we asked about due to fear of being harassed, being read as trans, or outed, and were also more likely to have had a negative experience when using these services.

Disabled respondents told us about how they faced barriers to using services because of their disability, because of being trans and non-binary, and sometimes both. People who face multiple forms of marginalisation may then be more likely to experience barriers, and it may be harder for them to find services or spaces designed with them in mind.

Our new trans GP self-advocacy guide includes a range of general advice that should be helpful no matter what issue you’re trying to resolve. You can find it here https://www.scottishtrans.org/gp-self-advocacy-guide/general-self-advocacy-advice/

This page includes advice on: getting organised before the appointment, taking notes (including audio recording), bringing a friend or advocate with you, and asserting yourself and challenging what your GP says if you don’t think it’s correct.

The guide also includes advice on issues with trans admin, trans healthcare, and poor treatment and complaints. We’ve also included pages where you can tell us what worked for you, and help us build a map of friendly GPs across Scotland.