During an interview with trans journalist and writer Izzy Dine, published online on Tuesday (21 October), the women and equalities minister was asked what bathroom she thought Dine and other trans women should currently be using.

In September, Phillipson, who is currently running the Labour deputy leadership candidacy, was handed the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) code of practice on single-sex services, which could result in a bathroom ban for trans people.
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Asked what bathroom trans women should currently be using, Phillipson appeared unable to give a clear answer, instead simply restating the ruling, the full impact of which remains unclear: “As Minister for Women and Equalities, I set out the policies responding to the Supreme Court judgement. The Supreme Court were clear that, uh, for the purposes of the Equality Act, sex is biological sex.

“What’s now happening is the Equality and Human Rights Commission have, uh, have consulted on a code of practice to me as the minister. I’ll then be going through that line by line to make sure we get that right. It’s a 300-page document so it will take some time.”

Dine then pointed to interim guidance from the EHRC, which included a clause banning trans women from men’s toilets as well as women’s. The guidance has since been repealed.