Trans civil servants will be forced to use toilets matching their biological sex and could face misconduct investigations if they repeatedly deadname or misgender colleagues, according to a leaked government policy document that has sparked fury from both trans rights groups and gender critical campaigners.
The model policy, circulated by the Cabinet Office in May but refused publication by ministers until finalised, warns trans staff they “may not use facilities of your affirmed gender which are designated as single-sex”. Instead, they must use mixed-sex or unisex toilets, or opt for facilities that match their biological sex – and any access arrangement “cannot be decided by you alone”, requiring discussion with a line manager.
“Leaked government guidance forces trans civil servants to use toilets by biological sex, risking outing, sparking outrage from both sides.”
Steph Richards, CEO of advocacy group TransLucent, described the requirement as a “coercive trap”, adding: “Trans staff may be put into a position to ‘out themselves’ to managers, directly violating their right to privacy under Article 8 of the ECHR.” The guidance itself states there is “no legal requirement for you to tell anybody” that they are trans, yet forces disclosure through the manager approval process.
The policy, marked “sensitive”, also notes that holding a Gender Recognition Certificate “does not alter your sex” when accessing single-sex spaces – a position that follows last year’s Supreme Court ruling that a GRC did not make a person legally a woman in respect of such facilities. Staff who repeatedly deny a colleague’s trans identity could face a misconduct probe.
The revelations come as Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new administration faces its first public test of opinion. In the High Peak area of Derbyshire, voters were approached to give their first impressions of Burnham and his reshuffled cabinet, but the trans guidance leak threatens to dominate the early days of his premiership.
Ministers had refused to release the document to journalists before it was finalised, but Metro obtained a copy. The controversy pits the government against both transgender campaigners – who warn of forced outing – and gender critical activists, who have also condemned parts of the policy as discriminatory. The Good Law Project has also flagged legal concerns.
With public bodies scrambling to align transgender policies with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling, Burnham’s government now faces the delicate task of finalising guidance that satisfies no one while avoiding a full-blown privacy and equality backlash.
