The landscape of Relationships, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE) in England is continually evolving, with new statutory guidance set to become effective from 1 September 2026. This updated framework presents a crucial opportunity for schools to reinforce and deepen their commitment to an inclusive environment for all pupils, especially trans and gender-diverse young people.

At GIRES, we agree with many other organisations that the new guidance lacks clarity and that the needs of trans and gender-diverse children and young people have not been considered.

However, our core objective is to support educators in delivering an inclusive environment and curriculum confidently. While the guidance introduces specific parameters, it does not diminish a school’s fundamental duty to foster a space where every child feels safe, respected, and able to thrive.

The key lies in strategic interpretation, comprehensive planning, and confident communication, all firmly grounded in the spirit of inclusivity and adherence to the law.

GIRES Navigating the New RSHE Guidance_Summary

GIRES Navigating the New RSHE Guidance

For nearly 30 years, GIRES has been a trusted voice in trans research, education, and advocacy. From shaping inclusive training for professionals, to preserving decades of vital trans history, we’ve worked tirelessly to listen, represent, inform, support, and empower.

Now, we’re asking for your help

GIRES is facing serious financial pressure. Without urgent support, we risk losing one of the UK’s most valuable sources of trans knowledge, resources, and community advocacy.

That’s why we’ve launched a crowdfunder to raise £10,000 – to help us stabilise the charity, protect our research archive, and begin building a new chapter. We’re repositioning GIRES as a resource hub for the organisations, educators, and professionals who need access to trusted, evidence-backed tools and training.

Your donation will protect:

• Decades of research and inclusive training materials
• TransWiki and our Trans Autism Resource Directory
• The Being Ready and Legacy of Kindness work
• Our ability to continue providing trans-led, lived experience informed support

Every donation – no matter the amount – helps us survive, grow, and continue serving the trans community.

On 1 September 2025, more than 100 partner organisations sent a joint statement to MPs across the UK. The letter calls for proper Parliamentary scrutiny of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) forthcoming Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations.

Why this matters

If Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, does not schedule a debate in Parliament, the new Code — effectively a bathroom ban — will come into force automatically. This would happen without MPs ever having the chance to debate or vote on it.

This automatic process is set out in Section 14(8) of the Equality Act, which gives a 40-day period for the Code to be challenged. If no debate is scheduled in that time, the Code simply takes effect. This is highly significant, as it could bring the biggest changes to equality law since the 2010 Equality Act itself.

What the draft Code says

The draft Code from the EHRC sets out a framework of exclusion and segregation. It undermines the rights and dignity of both trans and cisgender people, and it also creates major risks for businesses, service providers, and public bodies.

Concerns have already been raised by:

• UN human rights experts
• The Scottish and Northern Irish Human Rights Commissions
• Professional associations

These groups warn about its legality, its costs, and whether it is compatible with fundamental rights.

Impact already being felt

Even before it has been finalised, some businesses have started implementing the draft Code. Research by TransActual shows the harm this is causing. Both trans and cisgender people have already faced:

• Humiliation
• Being forcibly outed
• Violence and vigilantism
• Exclusion from services

People are limiting their daily lives out of fear — a fear that is well-founded.

Why Parliamentary scrutiny is essential

Any change to law or policy that risks people’s human rights must be properly examined by Parliament. That means:

• Full scrutiny
• Meaningful debate
• A free vote by MPs

Allowing the Code to come into force automatically, without these steps, would be a serious failure of democratic duty.

What you can do

We are calling on MPs to write to the Minister for Women and Equalities and the Prime Minister, demanding that this Code goes through a full democratic process.

We also encourage individuals to act. TransActual has created a template letter you can use to write to your MP, explain your concerns, and ask them to push for proper scrutiny. It is vital that MPs hear directly from the people whose lives will be affected.

Write to your MP using this template here: Template letter for individuals to write directly to their MP

The EHRC launched a consultation to gather the views of individuals, legal professionals and organisations on the proposed updates to the Code of Practice, following the Supreme Court’s judgement on For Women Scotland vs. The Scottish Ministers. The EHRC have stated that they will consider every response.

GIRES Submission to the EHRC Consultation

Information about the Consultation

The EHRC’s Code of Practice is primary guidance for employers, sporting bodies, schools, services open to the public (e.g. hospitals, restaurants, shops, refuges, pubs) and other groups to interpret their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

We agree with Liberty, Liberty launches legal action against EHRC over ‘unlawful’ Code of practice consultation, other trans organisations and 33 labour MPs who have written to Baroness Falkner, that the 6-week consultation period fell far too short for a measured response. The High Court ruling in the case of Clifford vs. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions ruled that any consultation focused on a vulnerable group should be 12 weeks long. The ruling stated that the, DWP consultation on disability benefits that was 8 weeks, did not provide “adequate time to consider, take advice upon and respond to the proposals’.

Following the completion of the consultation, the CoP will be amended where deemed necessary. The EHRC has stated that they aim to provide the updated Code of Practice to the Minister for Women and Equalities for ministerial approval in the summer, ahead of the full draft Code being laid in Parliament after the summer recess. If approved, it acquires statutory status: it becomes law.

The EHRC previously published interim guidance on the 25th April 2025 (roughly a week after the UKSC delivered their judgement on the 16th). We found some of the content troubling, in particular:

• trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities, as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities and must be open to all users of the opposite sex
• in some circumstances, the law also allows trans women (biological men) not to be permitted to use the men’s facilities, and trans men (biological women) not to be permitted to use the women’s facilities

In essence, this implies that the EHRC is suggesting there are circumstances where transgender people are not permitted to use gendered facilities of any sort. While they do then state that ‘where possible, mixed-sex […] spaces’ should also be provided, we do not endorse this as a substitute for permitting transgender people to use facilities congruent to their identified gender.

Challenges to the Interim Guidance

The Good Law Project challenged the EHRC interim guidance, raising two main points. First, the EHRC was wrong to say employers need to provide gendered toilets. This led to the EHRC changing its guidance. Second, that it is permissible to provide trans inclusive men’s and women’s toilets (and indeed other facilities). They are bringing the challenge together with a trans woman, a trans man and someone who is intersex. The High Court has granted them anonymity. GLP Director, Jo Maugham’s witness statement explains why anonymity is so important for trans people who want to access the law.

What can you do now?

The best way for trans+ voices to be heard is to ensure that those hearing them are our elected representatives, to motivate action and meld individual striving into collective action. As such, one of the most important thing you can do right now is to write a letter to your MP. Prof Stephen Whittle has written an excellent guide for doing this on TransLucent: https://translucent.org.uk/a-guide-to-how-to-write-a-letter-to-parliament

Our MPs are best equipped to represent their constituents when they’re armed with facts and understand from a human perspective why certain issues are important.

Nobody is more equipped to explain this than transgender people themselves, either by sending a letter (electronic or physical) or meeting them in person.

With that in mind, we encourage everyone to read the letter TransActual has written to the Prime Minister, which raises many important points worth considering and, together with Prof Whittle’s advise, should provide the foundations to help you frame your concerns to your MP:

https://transactual.org.uk/blog/2025/04/22/letter-sent-by-transactual-to-the-prime-minister-keirstarmer-on-the-recent-ruling-by-the-supreme-court/

Please let TransActual know that you’ve done this

Since the recent Supreme Court decision on For Women Scotland vs. The Scottish Ministers and the publication of interim guidance by the EHCR, a number of organisations have changed their policies towards transgender people. Very frequently such policy changes have targeted transgender women specifically.

To date this has included the British Transport Police who have decided that transgender women will now be strip-searched by officers who are cis men and vice versa (it is unclear how officers will confirm if someone is transgender, even if they protest otherwise). The FA have also banned transgender women from participating in its leagues (despite having previously operated a case-based policy requiring prospective players to undergo an assessment and there being some 30-odd among a pool of millions).

Recently another organisation changed their policies to reflect a similar change in values: Barclays Bank. Barclays’ Group CEO, C.S. Venkatakrishnan informed reporters on a recent media call that:

“Following the Supreme Court ruling… we believe that we have to comply with that by not allowing trans women to use female bathrooms.”

Adding:

“We strive in every way to make the appropriate facilities available in a comfortable way for people to use and to provide equality of opportunities and development,”

We would like to remind everyone that neither the UKSC’s judgement nor the EHRC’s guidance are law, neither do they form a binding obligation to exclude transgender people. The former is a clarification of technical language, the latter is simply advice.

For obvious reasons this is highly disappointing. None more so than Barclays having historically being a supporter of the LGBT+ community: as a founding member of OutBritain, a regular member of Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers and taking pride in their own successes in trans employees succeeding and making accommodations for gender diverse customers (this page is no longer active on the Barclays website).

It is therefore with regret that GIRES must announce we are terminating our account with Barclays.

As a prominent UK trans charity we cannot in good faith continue to offer our custom to Barclays while they operate what we consider to be an outwardly discriminatory policy that rescinds one of the most basic dignities that can be afforded.

GIRES will instead be moving to The Co-operative Bank. In part this decision was influenced public commitments made by The Co-operative Group’s CEO, Shirine Khoury-Haq in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement, particularly contrast to those of Barclays and we commend her support.

We call upon Barclays to re-consider this policy and consider the impact it will have.

GIRES has always valued itself on our unique service, training delivery and has some recently revised ideas. These include core training sessions designed to empower teams with practical knowledge and insights:

Introduction to Trans & Gender Diversity

Lunchtime Talks (1 hour) — These sessions are ideal for all staff, providing an introduction to trans and gender diversity that addresses key topics such as terminology, misconceptions, the importance of pronouns, and how to be a good ally.

Trans & Gender Diversity Management Training: 1/2 day or full day

Tailored for managers, HR, and senior leadership, these sessions dive deeper into best practices for supporting trans and gender-diverse staff, covering areas such as recruitment, communication, leadership, and compliance with UK law.

Both sessions include powerful video stories from people with lived experience, and participants receive helpful handouts summarising the content. 

Contact Camilla Thrush for more details.