Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: Government and NHS roll out trans exclusion in civil service, armed forces, and for patients and doctors

This weekend we bring you a clear and present message, sweeping across UK government-controlled bodies, from the NHS to the civil service and armed forces: It is legal and proportionate to stop trans people from using facilities that match their 'affirmed gender.'

From the NHS saying doctors and nurses should place trans people on wards based on the Supreme Court's definition of 'biological sex'. We also reveal that the Ministry of Defence, and we now also expect from the rest of the civil service, is rolling out guidance that enforces the equality watchdog's recommendations that segregating Trans+ people is proportionate and legal.

But that's far from the end of the story. We also bring you news of a glimmer of hope, as legal action against the interim code of practice takes the next step in the courts.

The fight is far from over.

Sent with solidarity and pride, as ever,

Jamie Wareham
QueerAF Founder

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives. QueerAF is written by Jamie Wareham and a different LGBTQIA+ creative every week.

💬 This week:

• NHS England: Long-expected guidelines for how the NHS in England should place Trans+ people on wards have been released. We examine what it says hospitals should do.
• Permission: Claimants have been given an opportunity to set out why they should be able to challenge the EHRC interim update's lawfulness – we take a look.
• Last Ditch: The viral article that exploited a vulnerable queer community and made huge cash for its publisher ignored the nuanced realities of the lack of queer spaces, especially for disabled people. Aliyy Azad Malik writes the Queer Gaze, in their final piece under our Inclusive Journalism Cymru partnership.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

‘It may lead to deaths' - NHS England criticised for guidance placing Trans people on wards based on 'biological sex'

TL;DR: NHS England has told hospitals that, due to the Supreme Court ruling and EHRC Code, trans patients should be put on wards that align with their 'biological sex', which the court determined to be their sex assigned at birth. It also sets out that it will be appropriate to segregate trans people to separate rooms, which are scarcely available, if it protects the 'dignity' of other patients.