A research university in the UK is rolling back its anti-trans bathroom policy following outcry from students. The university has said that the policy was originally posted in “error.” But even as the university apologized, administrators are still “continuing to review” the bathroom policy.
Earlier this week, the University of Warwick updated its Trans Inclusion Code of Conduct policy to exclude trans students and staff from single-sex spaces aligning with their gender identity. Specifically, according to Pink News, the policy said trans people “may use facilities – such as toilets and changing rooms – that are (1) identified as those for the trans person’s sex assigned at birth, or (2) that are identified as gender neutral.”
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The policy change came weeks after the UK Supreme Court adopted a binary definition of sex under the 2010 Equality Act. Subsequently, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued interim guidance on how public facilities should accommodate trans people.
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Confusingly, the guidance states that businesses and public buildings should exclude trans women from women’s restrooms and trans men from men’s restrooms—except under “some circumstances” where trans people must not use any gendered restrooms.
The guidance is non-statutory, meaning it amounts to a recommendation. In spite of this, public organizations like University of Warwick have acted swiftly to update their bathroom policies.
Now, a spokesperson for the University of Warwick has told Pink News that the updated policy was a draft version published in “error” and has now been taken down. While the university offered its apologies for the “pain and upset” caused, it doesn’t sound like this is the last word students will hear on the bathroom policy.
“In light of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s interim guidance and legal developments, we are continuing to review our policy,” the spokesperson said.
Prior to the university’s change of course, students expressed outrage. The student group Trans* Society called out the policy as expressly “hateful.”
“We do not understand why the University is taking this stance, especially against sector advice,” the group said. “We call on the University to reinstate its old code.”
“I was previously strongly considering applying to study postgraduate in life sciences at the university, but with this policy in place that would be absolutely unthinkable,” one student said via the local group Trans at Warwick.
“I’ve felt very afraid, I’m scared to come onto campus now,” another student added. “I was going to stay for further study, but I’m now going to switch and get away from here despite how well I’ve found the teaching and my high grades.”
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