06/08/2026
Yesterday we reached a new low in our country's treatment of Trans+ people with the implementation of the single s*x space guidance provided by the“Equality and Human Rights Commission”.
First and foremost this guidance is abhorrent.
It not only excludes Trans+ people from public spaces, now clear and overt segregation against people who identify as Trans+, but also further encourages the harassment of gender nonconforming individuals.
The purported rationale behind this guidance is to protect women and girls, framing Trans+ people as the villain skulking around women’s spaces waiting for an opportunity to pounce, an issue that has seemingly never existed until political parties realised the profitability of culture wars.
This is nothing new, and we all know the “first they came” by Martin Niemöller who emphasises the pattern of attacking the minorities first; so make no mistake, this WILL infringe on your rights.
Not only do Trans+ people now have to make the horrible choice to no longer use public facilities or face potential violence (which is becoming more and more frequent), but the risk in women’s spaces is now higher.
We now live in a country of gender policing, there are extremely limited ways for members of the public to verify others’ assigned s*x at birth, and this guidance encourages that.
We have seen it around the country and around the world, women and gender non conforming people being followed into toilets, cameras pointed under doors. It happens to us, and it will happen to you.
This guidance is not fit to be enacted on, and Hull Pledge encourages our local MPs Emma Hardy, Karl Turner, and Diana Johnson to demand this guidance is scrapped as soon as possible. If you truly care about public safety, if you truly want to avoid assaults in public facilities then this is the only way to do so.
I also have to highlight the aspects of this guidance that is not broadly talked about, this is not “just” toilets, this is social groups, clubs, gyms, refuges, safe spaces, hospitals.
We WILL see a marked increase in Trans+ self harm, and there WILL be a marked increase in Trans+ people taking their own lives. Due to loneliness, due to feeling cast out by society (more than we already were), due to being villainised, sensationalised, segregated.
It will also cause an increase in severe physical and mental health conditions, potentially life ending conditions, due to the fear of being forced into unsafe settings such as wards for genders we do not identify as.
I have to call on all wonderful spaces that represent themselves as Q***r Friendly to reject this guidance and refuse to enforce it, you have the opportunity to be a saving grace to our community.
The list of abhorrent effects of this guidance goes on, but time is not on our side.
Emma, Karl, and Diana, you must demand the scrapping of this guidance or accept responsibility for the assaults, harassment, and deaths that follow.
This is not hypothetical, this is not a debate, this is not sensationalism, this is real life, real lives, real human beings.
Your inaction will Kill.
