Supreme Court ruling: MLAs reject Assembly's own legal advice on single-sex toilets in Stormont
Sinn Fein, Alliance and SDLP MLAs have blocked changes to Stormont’s toilets policy – rejecting legal advice to introduce single-sex facilities in light of the recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court.
The News Letter understands that the Assembly Commission – made up of MLAs from the five main Stormont parties – was advised that the ruling by the UK’s top court is effective immediately, and interim measures should be put in place while a full review is carried out.
The legal advice said that in order to deal with the new legal reality and avoid legal risks, all toilets on the Stormont estate which are currently designated as male or female should only be available to biological men and women.
Two existing toilets – one of which is a disabled toilet – would have been redesignated as mixed-sex facilities on a temporary basis, for use by transgender and other visitors.
However, the current policy – which allows people to use the facility with which they identify – will remain in place, leaving all toilets at Stormont mixed sex.
Sinn Fein’s Sinéad Ennis, Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister and the SDLP’s Colin McGrath decided to maintain this policy, with unionist MLAs from the DUP and UUP voting to follow the legal advice.
Parliament Buildings also expects visitors to have ‘chosen pronouns’ respected under rules that were signed off by the Assembly Commission in 2023.
Yesterday, a pro-trans group held an event in the Long Gallery.
The Rainbow Project event sparked attention in recent weeks after it asked attendees to agree to a code of conduct which encouraged supporters to use whichever toilets they “feel best aligns” with their gender.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston accused the group of trying “to enforce its own toilet policy inside Stormont” – saying that cannot be allowed. However, it later emerged that the group’s policy was largely in line with Stormont rules.
Those rules say transgender visitors are “free to use restrooms and facilities belonging to the gender with which they identify from the point at which they begin to present permanently in the sex to which they identify”.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that under the 2010 Equality Act in Great Britain, sex is defined by biology, not how someone identifies. It means a man cannot enter female single-sex spaces, with or without a gender recognition certificate. That ruling is likely to be followed in similar cases here.
The News Letter asked the Assembly Commission, as well as Sinn Fein, Alliance and the SDLP if they are confident that the current policy in the assembly is legal.
At the time of going to print, none of the parties had responded.
An assembly spokesperson said: “The Assembly Commission does not comment on legal advice. In light of the UK Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, the Assembly Commission is undertaking a review of its transgender policy and associated guidance.”
Speaking in the assembly yesterday, before the News Letter revealed that the Assembly Commission had decided not to follow legal advice, the current assembly transgender policy was criticised by North Antrim MLA Mr Gaston. He said the only meaningful consultation conducted on it was with LGBT lobby groups.
He told MLAs the policy “explicitly states that biological males are free to use restrooms and facilities belonging to the gender with which they identify”.
“In plain language, that means a man can use the ladies toilets. It gets worse, the policy demands that official records reflect a person's chosen name and gender identity, regardless of biological reality.
“This guts our system of accountability and undermines basic scrutiny and security. What good are records if anyone can change their identity on a whim? Even more disturbingly, the policy allows complaints to be filed against anyone who fails to affirm a person's gender identity.
“This should be a place of free speech, but that is a policy of compelled speech. This Stormont guidance came into effect in 2023 seemingly without meaningful consultation except, it seems, with the LGBT lobby groups.
“The equality screening form which I have unearthed claims the policy doesn't affect people of faith or those with differing political views. But Christians who believe that God made male and female – well, our concerns are simply disregarded and brushed to the side.”
Mr Gaston continued: “Most gallingly of all, the screening form claims this policy positively impacts women. Where are the voices of women? Who asked them if they agreed to the scrapping of female-only spaces within this building? Was legal advice sought? If so, it must be pretty poor advice. The Supreme Court ruling hasn't changed the law, it has only reaffirmed it. Single-sex protections remain in place.”