Eight major trade unions representing millions of workers and students have vowed to resist new guidance on access to single-sex facilities based on biological sex.
The unions, which have a combined 3.6 million paying members, have criticised guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) following last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman.
Unison, the UK's largest union with around 1.3 million members, has pledged to “fight” employers over policies it believes exclude transgender people.
General secretary Ms Andrea Egan said more than 600 members had contacted the union with examples of what they claimed were problems caused by the updated guidance.
She said some employers had withdrawn trans equality policies following the EHRC's intervention, describing this as “unacceptable”.
Ms Egan added that she would work with Unison's equality teams to “take the fight to every workplace to make them trans inclusive”.
The National Union of Students (NUS) has also urged members to resist policies it believes exclude transgender students.
The organisation has issued guidance encouraging universities and colleges to establish inclusive sports teams, display trans rights posters on toilet doors and lobby senior management over campus policies.
NUS vice-president for liberation and equality Mr Avery Greatorex accused the EHRC's legal advice of being ideologically motivated and encouraged activists to oppose what they described as “trans-exclusionary policies”.
The EHRC guidance was introduced earlier this month and sets out how organisations should apply the Supreme Court's ruling, which found that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex rather than gender identity.
It applies to service providers including shops, gyms and hospitals, although it does not cover every workplace.
Several other major unions have also criticised the guidance, including Unite, GMB, the British Medical Association and the University and College Union. Equity and the Public and Commercial Services union have also intervened.
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BMA deputy chair Ms Emma Runswick told The Times that doctors wanted to provide care to patients of all gender identities, but warned the new guidance could prove difficult to apply across NHS services.
She said many services were already “ill-equipped to provide safe and dignified care for trans patients”.
The guidance has also prompted changes from employers. Last week, the Co-operative Group watered down its trans-inclusive toilet policy, meaning employees are no longer instructed to use facilities they “feel safest in”.
Campaigners supporting sex-based rights have meanwhile accused the unions of failing to protect women.
Nurse Ms Lisa Lockey, who was involved in a successful legal claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust over a transgender colleague using single-sex changing rooms, said she left Unison in 2024 after three decades as a member.
She accused the union of repeatedly failing to protect the privacy and safety of its female members.
Fiona McAnena, of the sex-based rights group Sex Matters, also accused unions of prioritising transgender rights over women's safety and dignity in the workplace.
Unison said it was complying with the Supreme Court judgment and a recent ruling by the certification officer, while maintaining its position that “trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid”.
The union said it would campaign for a change in the law to reflect its policy, claiming the impact of the ruling and guidance on trans, non-binary and gender-diverse members had been “devastating”.
The NUS similarly said transgender students should feel welcome at universities and colleges and defended its guidance as a means of helping students challenge policies they believe are exclusionary.
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