On 13th February 2026, ruling on a case brought by the Good Law Project against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the UK High Court said that trans people can use bathrooms associated with their gender identity at establishments and public spaces like pubs, but not at work. This leaves transgender and nonbinary people in a position where at work we are expected to either use mixed-sex facilities, where they exist, or risk using toilets associated with our assigned sex.
This came about following the Supreme Court ruling the previous April which decided that the definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 refers to ‘biological sex’, and the (now withdrawn) guidance released by the EHRC in response. The EHRC had also actively campaigned for its view that there is no “automatic legal right to access single-sex spaces based on self-identification”, directly resulting in 19 organisations in the policing, education and health sectors withdrawing trans-supportive policies on access to single-sex spaces, while its former chair made statements in parliament denying trans people’s right to privacy.
We looked into what kind of support the seven largest trade unions are able to offer. What we found is profoundly disappointing, with the few unions that responded offering some positive words but no real plan, and a broad unwillingness to support people in continuing to access toilets that they have used without issue for years or even decades.
We contacted our own union, Unite, with the following email text:
“You may be aware of the guidance that has recently come from the Equality and Human Rights Commission which says that transgender and non-binary people must use the toilet which matches their birth sex at work.
I wanted to find out what Unite’s stance on this is?
I am also interested in what support Unite would offer to myself and to other transgender people who are engaging in a campaign of 100% non-compliance?’’
Asking the seven largest UK unions
Personalised versions of this were also sent to Unison and GMB, which are both general unions, the PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union), which is mainly for civil servants and Accord, a banking union.
A modified version was also sent to the NEU (National Education Union), USDAW (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) and CWU (Communication Workers Union) to find out their views.
This covers the seven largest unions in the UK by membership, with the exception of the RCN (Royal College of Nursing), which does not have a single external point of contact for LGBTQ+ queries.
The TUC (Trade Union Congress) was also approached for its views.
Disappointing reactions
At the time of publication – a month later – there has been no response from the GMB, PCS, NEU, USDAW or the TUC.
Unite, which has been our own union for many years, did not respond either, though while we were waiting, we received an email about International Women’s Day which said, among other things:
“As we all know, when legislation falls short and employers drag their feet, it is trade union action that delivers real results.”
Unless you’re a trans woman, I guess.
Unison said that:
‘’UNISON is advocating for a change of the law when it comes to legal gender recognition, and we are continuing to work with members and employers to ensure equality when it comes to policies around bathroom and changing room usage for trans members.
However, we would never recommend that members break workplace policies that could lead to disciplinary action. Instead, we would try to work with both the member and employer to come to an agreed outcome.’’
The CWU simply said:
“From a general point of view, we are very supportive of our Trans members and reps – and in relation to expressing solidarity in regard to the wider struggle that the Trans community faces.”
Accord responded, but asked that the contents of their email be kept private.
It is not impossible that some unions may be waiting for further clarification to the legal position, although further interventions from the EHRC seem likely to be as unhelpful and trans-hostile as previous ones.
Is civil disobedience the answer?
It was Lord Hoffmann who, in 2006, said “Civil disobedience on conscientious grounds has a long and honourable history in this country. People who break the law to affirm their belief in the injustice of a law or government action are sometimes vindicated by history.”
Many transgender people are pursuing a policy of 100% non-compliance with restrictions on their use of single-sex spaces (toilets, changing rooms, etc) on the basis that being forced to use spaces dictated by their assigned sex is unfair, impractical, an invasion of privacy, and often dangerous, putting them at risk of harrassment and assault.
Numerous documented cases exist where trans and gender-nonconforming people, particularly women, have been harassed when forced to use the toilet in public places that matches their assigned sex. There are legitimate concerns that events will play out similarly in the workplace.
A workers’ rights crisis
TransActual, a UK-based, trans-led advocacy, education, and empowerment organisation told us:
“Our survey of over 600 respondents reveals nothing short of a workers’ rights crisis for trans people. Trans workers are being outed in their workplaces, told to work from home when there are no appropriate facilities for them, pushed out of their jobs, and treated as a liability when seeking new employment. Many say the Supreme Court ruling has cost them careers they studied for and developed over years and has forced them to turn to more precarious forms of work.
Unions must take a stand for trans people’s rights to dignity and privacy at work, now more than ever. They must remind employers that trans people are still protected by the Equality Act and that outing, discrimination and exclusion are unlawful. They must also join us in demanding that the government reform the Workplace Regulations 1992, to ensure that trans people can access appropriate facilities at work.”
TransActual also gave us permission to share these two shocking examples of unions failing to support their membership:
“When asking for support, my union and workplace HR suggested I go back into the closet for a few years to get more entrenched into a workplace so they would have fewer opportunities to dismiss me. I have now been unemployed since July.”
And:
“My workplace didn’t want to change its inclusive toilet & shower policies, however we have a few very loud and aggressive gender-critical people who now believe all toilets and showers must be used based solely on sex assigned at birth, except in the case of trans men who present ‘too masculine’. They have become empowered in their bigotry.
“My workplace sought external legal advice and was told that they had to remove their inclusive policy or risk legal action. Unfortunately several key people in our union branch are gender-critical and our larger union seems more concerned about being sued and being seen as ‘impartial’ and so has either supported the gender-critical people or ensured that every critical conversation on this topic gives equal weight to ‘both sides’ which has effectively meant we have been blocked from challenging gender critical ‘beliefs’ on this topic.
“Questions on how to enforce this simply go unanswered by all, including our union. As an Equalities rep, I have fought this at every turn, along with my fellow reps. We managed to leave it so that we will wait until the new Code is published before implementing a new policy, meaning we do not currently have any toilet-use policy for trans people.”
Support for thee but not for me
In their recent article What do trade unions have to do with human rights?, Amnesty International opened with the line, “Trade unions are critical to protecting and promoting human rights including economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to be free from discrimination.’’ and went on to say “… their actions consistently demonstrate the bond between trade unionism and social justice.’’
Unless, that is, you’re a transgender person in 2025-6, in which case your own union is likely to let you down and may not even reply to you in a timely fashion or at all. The few unions that did respond seem to offer superficially kind words, but without any real plan or any meaningful support.
Trans people were arguably treated better in the workplace when they had no rights in law. In a situation that continues to deteriorate due to vexatious legal cases brought by extremely well-funded ‘gender-critical’ activists, it is difficult to see any positive change in the near future.
In a YouGov survey of trans and intersex adults living in the UK in July–August 2025 (original data):
- 84% say that Britain is “fairly unsafe” or “very unsafe” for trans and intersex people;
- of those under 45, 86% say they trust the police “not very much” or “not at all”;
- only 31% trust judges and the legal system;
- 60% distrust the EHRC;
- 26% said they were either fairly likely or very likely to move abroad within the next 10 years.
These findings are unlikely to be a surprise to trans and intersex readers. We face a particular campaign of anti-trans hostility, but migrants and disabled people are also under attack, and trust in the UK justice system has deteriorated more broadly. Following on from its Red Flag Alert on Anti-Trans and Intersex Rights in the UK, The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security explicitly called out recent rollbacks in our rights as “a transparent attempt to eradicate transgender and intersex people from British life,” joining calls from Trans Exile Network, the Trans Advocacy and Complaints Collective, Amelia’s Angels, the Feminist Gender Equality Network, Equality Amplified, and the Manchester and Merseyside branches of Disabled People Against Cuts to end the EHRC’s recognition as a national human rights institution.
If there is to be a path toward justice, trans people and our allies will need to force the issue. So far, legal avenues such as the Good Law Project’s case against the EHRC have only succeeded in highlighting inconsistencies in the law, not solving them. The problem, as indicated by the survey and supported by the Lemkin Institute’s stark warning, is that the courts and the EHRC are transphobic. Until that is acknowledged by unions, the media, and other institutions, no progress is likely to be made.
