In recent months, the United Kingdom has found itself at the epicenter of a heated debate over the meaning of womanhood, the boundaries of single-sex spaces, and the far-reaching consequences of legal rulings on both transgender and cisgender women. The conversation, which has long simmered beneath the surface, has erupted in workplaces, on national television, and in the streets, revealing a complex web of personal experiences, legal definitions, and societal expectations.
Maria Kelly, a people and capability lead at the aerospace firm Leonardo UK in Edinburgh, became an unexpected figure in this unfolding drama. In March 2023, Kelly encountered what she described as an uncomfortable moment: she was leaving the women’s bathroom at work when a trans-identifying male colleague walked in. According to The Mail, Kelly explained, “I had just been washing blood off my hands so I was genuinely quite taken aback so I then started using what we refer to as the secret toilets – they are secret because they are tucked away.” For Kelly, who experiences heavy periods, the need for privacy felt acute, and the presence of trans women in the restroom intensified her discomfort.
Kelly’s response was to join other cisgender women colleagues in using a little-known bathroom at work, one they kept secret from trans women to ensure what she called “increased privacy.” Over the next six to nine months, she began tracking her colleagues’ bathroom usage, identifying three people she believed to be trans who were using the women’s restrooms. “It was running into person B as I was coming out of the toilet that made me think: ‘We are going to have to stop this,'” she told the tribunal, as reported by The Mail. “I am not going to sacrifice my privacy, my dignity, sharing the toilet with a man.”
Her discomfort eventually led her to file an official complaint of harassment and discrimination. When the issue reached a tribunal, Kelly found herself explaining the specifics of menstruation and menopause to three men, a situation she found deeply upsetting. “I couldn’t believe that I had to sit in a room and justify why dealing with menstruation is a specific issue that women need privacy and dignity about, and then have to explain the consequences of menopause and the unpredictable nature of perimenopausal symptoms,” she said.
In 2024, the sign on the secret bathroom was changed from a female symbol to a generic “WC,” a move that Kelly viewed as both symbolic and practical. But the debate was far from over. In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling, declaring that the legal definition of a woman under the 2010 Equality Act is based on “biological sex” rather than gender identity. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) quickly followed suit, stating that access to single-sex spaces should be based on biological sex, effectively excluding trans people from many women-only spaces.
The ruling sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. In May 2025, a group of trans women staged a dramatic protest outside the Scottish Parliament building, standing topless with their arms painted red—a mark of solidarity with anti-fascist feminists across Europe. They held white roses, symbolizing the death of transgender rights in the UK, and wore tape across their mouths to signify the silencing of trans voices by the court’s decision.
But the impact of the ruling has not been limited to trans people alone. On September 30, 2025, the issue took center stage on national television. During an episode of ITV’s Big Brother, housemate Feyisola, a 33-year-old cisgender Black woman, revealed that she had experienced verbal transphobic abuse simply because she is bald. Feyisola recounted to her housemates, “I get a lot of people who make comments that they probably shouldn’t feel comfortable saying. I get a lot of people shouting at me, ‘You’re always going to be a man.’” She described a particularly harrowing incident near her home where two men shouted at her, questioning her gender and leaving her feeling deeply vulnerable. “This man, I didn’t know what he was capable of. I felt so vulnerable and I don’t often feel that way. I did. It wasn’t nice… I get, essentially, transphobic abuse.”
The conversation, which also included 25-year-old trans personal trainer Zelah and 22-year-old farmer Cameron, quickly turned to the broader impacts of transphobia. Zelah explained, “With transgender policies and stuff like that, people say that being against transgender women, also hurts cisgender women. Because what happens is, society’s idea of femininity, usually white femininity as well – that’s usually what it’s based on – anyone that doesn’t match that, for example masculine lesbians, they then get a lot of hurt towards them.”
Feyisola agreed, noting, “I know so many cisgender women who have been attacked because they do not resemble what society deems cisgender women to look like. That whole concept in itself is so problematic but people aren’t seeing it. As soon as I shaved my hair off, I was getting quite a few weird looks. I started wearing a lot more pink; I was doing my nails. What is the idea of femininity? I’ve never been that person; it’s never been important to me. But society then forced me into feeling that it was important to me, which is crazy.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the EHRC finalized updates to its Code of Practice on single-sex services. Among the proposed changes: trans people could be required to bring identification to access single-sex facilities, such as changing rooms and toilets. Activists have warned that these proposals would not only push trans people out of public life but also harm cisgender women who do not fit traditional notions of femininity. According to a report published by TransActual in August 2025, harassment has increased for cisgender, intersex, and trans people since the April ruling. The report cited the case of a cisgender lesbian with a masculine haircut who was told she was not allowed to use a women’s bathroom.
For many, the events of the past year have laid bare the unintended consequences of strict legal definitions and the dangers of rigid gender norms. The line between protecting women’s spaces and policing womanhood has grown increasingly blurred, leaving both cis and trans women vulnerable to scrutiny, exclusion, and even violence. As the UK continues to grapple with these issues, voices from all sides are demanding a more nuanced conversation—one that acknowledges the complexity of gender, the reality of intersectionality, and the basic dignity owed to all individuals, regardless of how they look or identify.
In the end, the debate over who gets to use which bathroom, or who counts as a woman under the law, is about more than signage or policy. It’s about the lived experiences of people like Maria Kelly and Feyisola, whose stories remind us that the struggle for dignity and acceptance is far from over, and that the consequences of these debates ripple far beyond the courtroom doors.
