Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: EHRC interim guidance recommends the segregation of Trans+ people in public single-sex spaces

Last night, as my friends were dancing to queer country music, and the who’s who of queer activism were at the DIVA awards, at 8pm on Friday evening the EHRC published guidance that set out how the UK will ultimately force the segregation of Trans+ people in public spaces.

On my train home from London to Margate, I held back tears as I wrote today’s explainer - and rewrote an already scheduled newsletter to you.

It's only been one week since the Supreme Court ruled on the legal definition of a woman under the Equality Act. Even without this guidance, the landscape of Trans+ rights in the UK had dramatically changed.

We had previously prepared you an explainer which covered in detail the twists and turns across both Westminster and Holyrood as both parliaments adjust and respond to the ruling. That’s now linked to here, and below as we make room for this horrific guidance. 

Before it came out, our community’s most vulnerable had already been put in the worst position. The news we’re bringing you today is going to hurt - and the Trans+ people you care about, are going to need you. 

This week, I've seen friends become the centre of national newspaper coverage for using a toilet. Colleagues and creatives in the industry navigate the difficult decisions to go 'stealth', and remove mentions of being Trans+ from published information about them to protect their safety. Meanwhile, I've been on the phone with a number of activists as they try to unpick the situation, grasp at analysis and prepare the fightback against the ruling.

The palpable fear in the air, will only increase as many wake up to find that very soon - their entire human rights have been stripped away, by an organisation that as we’ve been covering - has been captured by anti-trans rhetoric. 

But I’m confident this moment has already, and will even more so today act as a catalyst in uniting our sometimes disparate community.

The outpouring of upset and anger has extended far beyond the Trans+ community and the usual queers who understand and speak out. Perhaps it's because the ruling also defined what a lesbian is, to the shock of many. But I suspect, instead, it's because the ruling is a lightning rod; a call to arms.

There have been calls from a wider community, with many attending protests for the first time. I’ve watched as folks in corporates I know have been working at lightning speed to advocate for protections for Trans+ colleagues. My feeds have been filled with women and feminists have taken to their platforms to explain how this ruling will hurt everyone.

And as I've said to many Trans+ people I care about and work with this week: An attack on one of us, is an attack on all of us.

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives. The QueerAF newsletter is written by Jamie Wareham and a different queer creative each week.

💬 This week:

• Supreme Court: We cover everything that's happened since the ruling in the political and social arenas to keep you up to date - including some critical policy U-turns.
• Lesbian Visibility Week: As the awareness week draws to a close, we take a look at its annual study of the safety of LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people around the world.
• Converting to understanding: Awareness is useless if it doesn't lead to action. In this week's Queer Gaze, Ri Baroche responds to the ruling and looks at how we can reclaim visibility - and make it a powerful force.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

Interim EHRC guidance instructs UK to segregate Trans+ people in public single-sex spaces

TL;DR: Interim guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commision, the UK's equalities watchdog, has recommended that in order to comply with last week's Supreme Court ruling public spaces should segregate Trans+ people, and create new mixed-space bathrooms and changing facilities for them to use.