Support rises for clarity on sex in law 

A new poll conducted by YouGov for Sex Matters shows that a clear majority of the UK population supports clarifying that “sex” in the Equality Act means biological sex. This support is across all major political parties, based voting behaviour in the 2024 General Election.

Growing support for single-sex provision

The YouGov poll also shows that most people agree that no-one born male belongs in women’s spaces. Support for truly single-sex provision has grown since a similar poll was conducted in 2022.

Five things the government must do

It doesn’t matter whether you see this as a women’s-rights issue that needs to be addressed or a culture war that should be made to go away. The power is with the government to resolve the issues. 

1. Keir Starmer has already said that his government will support the single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act. This was a commitment in Labour’s general-election manifesto. The Prime Minister should therefore state publicly that his government understands the need for a clear, simple definition of sex to protect single-sex services and to protect women and men from sex discrimination and harassment, to be adopted right across government. Depending on the outcome of the For Women Scotland case in the Supreme Court, it may need to amend the Act, or else publish clear cross-government guidance recognising that “sex” in law refers to biological sex.
2. The Secretary of State for Education must issue clear guidance for schools on how to respond to children seeking to be treated as the opposite sex. The Department for Education has already consulted on long-awaited guidance on this topic for schools in England. The Cass Review has shown that medical evidence does not support social transition for children, and the statutory safeguarding guidance has already been updated. The government must publish the finalised schools guidance as soon as possible, ensuring that it is in line with safeguarding principles, the specific legal duties relating to children’s biological sex that bind schools and colleges, the Cass Review and the Equality Act. The government must not backtrack in areas where the guidance has already set up clear standards, such as recording sex accurately, ensuring parents are not excluded from decisions and being clear that children can not use opposite-sex facilities.
3. The Secretary of State for Health must finalise the updated NHS Constitution. This was due to be published in 2024. It must enshrine clear sex-based language and single-sex provision where necessary. This should be adopted across the NHS in England, and raised in dialogue with the devolved nations. Following this it should revise “Annex B” of its policy on “delivering same-sex accommodation”.
4. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport must issue guidance on the protection of the female sporting category, drawing on guidance from the Sports Councils Equality Group showing that it is impossible to include trans-identifying males in the women’s category while securing fairness for women and girls. DCMS should work with Sport England and the National Lottery to ensure that sports organisations receiving public funding do not discriminate against women and girls by failing to have a female-only category.
5. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology should issue a statement recognising that data-protection laws mean sex should be recorded accurately and not confused with so-called “gender identity”. Professor Alice Sullivan’s independent review into data, statistics and research on sex and gender, commissioned in February 2024, will help by identifying obstacles to accurate data collection. It should be published without further delay. The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes and the Information Commissioner’s Office need to be directed to ensure that data-protection principles, including accuracy, are applied to the collection and recording of data on sex.