Councillors accept amended single-sex spaces motion
LDRSCross-party councilllors have agreed to protect single sex spaces but will not introduce blanket exclusions for the transgender community.
Conservative and Reform councillors originally tabled a motion calling on Darlington Borough Council to protect women's "privacy, dignity and safety", but it was slammed by campaigners for being "anti-trans and discriminatory".
Councillors were told, if approved, the opposition plea would place members of the transgender community at "increased risk of harm".
An amendment was tabled by Green Party members who vowed to protect the area's LGBTQ+ community. The amendment included no blanket exclusions for transgender individuals and councillors voted in favour.
Conservative leader Jonathan Dulston had urged the council to implement recent Supreme Court rulings to ensure local policies aligned with the Equality Act 2010's legal definition of sex.
The UK Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that the definition of a woman in equalities law is based on biological sex.
Following that ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued interim guidance and withdrew it six months later. It said where single sex facilities were required under the law, access should be based on biological sex.
The EHRC's full guidance or code of practice is still being considered by the government.
The council's amended motion said it would "fully implement the Supreme Court ruling across all Darlington Borough Council buildings, services, policies and commissioned activities, once the government issues the final, legally binding EHRC guidance for public bodies, to ensure that the council complies with the law".
In January this year, an employment tribunal found County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust had violated the dignity of a group of female nurses who complained about a transgender woman using their changing room.
'Harmful narrative'
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dulston told a previous council meeting: "Women and girls should be able to use toilets, changing rooms and care services with privacy, dignity and safety.
"That's not controversial, that's just the basics for what the vast majority of people in Darlington should expect."
The Eastbourne councillor was supported by Reform's Michael Walker, who suggested the council formed a specialist group of councillors, stakeholders and legal experts to review all council provision and ensure the lawful use of single-sex services.
Facing criticism from across the council chamber, Dulston added: "There is no councillor in this chamber who has done more for the LGBT community than me."
But the move was heavily criticised by the Labour and Liberal Democrat-led administration, with one councillor saying the plea belonged in the 17th Century.
Labour councillor Libby McCollom, cabinet member for stronger communities, said: "The cruel and harmful narrative pedalled by councillors Dulston and Walker in this motion frames transgender and non-binary people as a danger to women.
"There is no evidence that this is true.
"I am really thankful to councillor Dulston for showing that the nasty party is still alive and well in the Conservative group."
More than 500 people signed a petition set up by the Darlington for Justice campaign group ahead of the meeting, urging councillors to reject the motion.
The amended motion, brought by the Green Party, said women "have the right to safety, dignity, and privacy based on their sex, a right grounded in both law and lived experience" but the "legal category of sex must not be used to justify discrimination or the blanket exclusion of transgender people, whose rights are also protected in law".
The council voted to implement the Supreme Court ruling across Darlington Borough Council but said it would not "introduce blanket exclusions of transgender individuals from services".
Councillor Matthew Snedker, Green Party leader, said: "I'm really proud that we have pulled together and held the line against a Reform Trojan horse motion.
"Every person in this town deserves the best.
"We will work to that and protect you."
- Correction 07 April: An earlier version of this article stated that the council had voted against single-sex spaces motion. It has been updated to say that after an amendment by the Green party the motion was accepted. We have also updated the article to give more details about the amended motion, including that the council voted to implement the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling across Darlington Borough Council but said it would not "introduce blanket exclusions of transgender individuals from services". On 30 April we amended the article to make clear that the Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological sex under the Equality Act 2010, as this was not sufficiently clear before. The article also said that "The ruling also makes it clear that if a space or service is designated as women-only, a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use that space or service." This has been amended to make clear that this was referring to interim EHRC guidance, since withdrawn, which said that "…where single sex facilities are required under the law, access should be based on biological sex." The article also now makes clear that the EHRC's full guidance or code of practice is still being considered by the government.
