Kemi Badenoch Makes Case for Transgender Rights

UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch has recommended that firms require transgender staff and customers to use disabled toilets, following a recent Supreme Court ruling.

The suggestion has been met with outrage from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, who argue that it is discriminatory and exclusionary.

The Supreme Court ruling, which was handed down over the Easter period, declared that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological definitions, effectively blocking trans individuals from using toilets and changing rooms that match their identified gender.

Badenoch, appearing on Good Morning Britain, discussed the court’s decision and suggested that requiring trans people to use disabled toilets would be a cost-effective alternative to building new gender-neutral facilities.

“Almost all businesses I see have disabled loos. They are unisex, different from gender neutral. Trans people can use those,” Badenoch said. “If you are providing a single-sex space, it has to be a single-sex space.” She emphasized that this approach would avoid the financial burden on firms of building new facilities for transgender people.

However, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have slammed Badenoch’s suggestion, arguing that it is discriminatory and dehumanizing to require trans people to use disabled toilets.

“This is a clear example of the Conservative Party’s lack of understanding and empathy for the trans community,” said a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group, Stonewall. “Requiring trans people to use disabled toilets is a form of segregation and exclusion, and it’s unacceptable.”

The controversy surrounding the Supreme Court ruling and Badenoch’s suggestion has also sparked a wider debate about the rights and protections of trans people in the UK.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has released new guidance in response to the ruling, clarifying that schools must provide single-sex changing facilities for boys and girls over the age of eight, and that trans pupils may require alternative provisions.

Senior minister Pat McFadden confirmed that trans civil servants and public sector workers will be barred from using toilets and changing rooms aligned with their identified gender, but admitted that there would be no active enforcement, saying “there isn’t going to be toilet police.”

The EHRC is developing a detailed code of practice based on the Supreme Court ruling, aiming to submit it to the Government for approval by June.