Charlie Alford

TransActual says ‘Know Your Rights’ following the EHRC transphobic code of practice

Post author:Grace
Post published:20 August 2026
Post last modified:20 August 2026

Trans-focused advocacy organisation TransActual has updated its ‘Know Your Rights’ guidance following the implementation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s transphobic code of practice for service providers on 5 August. An explainer like TransActual’s is sadly necessary because — as many critics have highlighted — the EHRC code of practice is desperately unclear. As such, many organisations have lurched to adopt trans-hostile policies, even where there is no legal requirement to do so. Know Your Rights TransActual’s explainer therefore sets out to clarify how the law applies to trans people, whether or not they hold a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).…

Good Law Project says EHRC anti-trans code misinterprets the law

Post author:Grace
Post published:7 August 2026
Post last modified:7 August 2026

On 5 August, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) new transphobic code of practice came into force. However, on that same day, the Good Law Project (GLP) announced that it would support Leigh Day solicitors and two claimants — a “trans person and a trans-inclusive organisation” — in a legal challenge to the code. As the Canary previously reported, the code doesn’t carry legal weight in itself. Instead, it offers an interpretation of equalities law — specifically, the 2025 Supreme Court ruling that trans people should be treated as their assigned sex for the purposes of the Equality Act. The EHRC’s…

‘I hope the EHRC code of practice haunts its architects’

Post author:Grace
Post published:5 August 2026
Post last modified:5 August 2026

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) transphobic code of practice — which recommends organisations that offer ‘single-sex’ spaces and services should exclude trans people — takes effect today. The Canary has already highlighted the problems with the code at length. It’s utterly opaque, non-functional, and a blank cheque to harass trans, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals. This article isn’t about the contents of the code. It’s not even about how this sorry shithole of a queer-bashing country got to this point. Rather, this article expresses a heartfelt wish: that this code haunts its architects within Labour and outside of, in just the…

EHRC Code protests across country on 9 July

Post author:The Canary
Post published:9 July 2026
Post last modified:9 July 2026

On 9 July at 6pm there will be protests across England and Scotland against the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Code of Practice. It leaves trans people with even fewer rights than before the Supreme Court judgment in April 2025. The EHRC Code of Practice was laid before parliament on 21 May for a 40 day scrutiny period, which is due to expire soon. After the 40 days end, if there are no objections from the Houses of Commons or Lords, the Code can be made statutory by order of the secretary of state. Groups including the BAD Coalition…

165 MPs have signed a motion to reject the EHRC transphobic Code of Practice

Post author:Grace
Post published:9 July 2026
Post last modified:9 July 2026

The Early Day Motion to reject the Equality and Human Rights Commissions (EHRC) transphobic Code of Practice has now hit 165 signatures. As such, the motion’s author — Nottingham East Labour MP Nadia Whittome — has called for equalities minister Bridget Phillipson to withdraw the code. The milestone means that over a quarter of all MPs have now signed the forlorn-hope statement. However, time is now running desperately short, as Whittome explained on social media on 8 July: The scrutiny period for the EHRC’s draft Code of Practice ends this week. This Code will enforce trans people’s segregation, out them to others,…

New EHRC guidance both clarifies and complicates the legal rights of trans people

Post author:Em Colquhoun
Post published:22 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

There is a familiar refrain that follows my partner and I as we navigate the UK’s public bathrooms. As a gender-nonconforming couple, we’re painfully aware of the transphobic discourse that overshadows our daily lives. Approaching a set of bathrooms whilst out and about, and not wanting to draw more attention to ourselves, one or both of us will groan, before announcing with resignation: Time to do ‘gender’… It will be a situation familiar to many trans people. The so-called ‘bathroom ban’, fought for by anti-trans activists, has become notorious for making the lives of cis and trans people alike more complicated.…