A coalition of leftwing councils has agreed to defy new rules around single-sex spaces on the grounds that they are “harmful to the rights of trans people”.

A coalition of leftwing councils has agreed to defy new rules around single-sex spaces on the grounds that they are “harmful to the rights of trans people”.

On Wednesday, a new Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) code of practice stating that sex refers to biological sex came into force. The guidance states that public bodies should operate single-sex spaces on the basis of biological sex – meaning trans people should only access the service corresponding to their gender assigned at birth or use gender neutral facilities.

The leaders of six London councils – Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest – have now said in a letter to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson that they will not enforce the policy.

“We won’t put our staff in the impossible position of policing entry to public spaces,” wrote the council leaders. “We have an unshakeable commitment to ensuring that trans+ residents can access services safely, with dignity and free from discrimination or harassment,” they added.

Islington council leader Una O’Halloran said that the new EHRC code is “contradictory, poorly developed and risks creating a climate of suspicion of trans people”.

According to the Good Law Project, many trans people who are excluded from single-sex spaces will be left without service provision under the new code.

Stephen Whittle, a 70-year-old who has lived as a man for the last 50 years, told the Guardian that he does not intend to use the women’s spaces because of the new guidance.

“Can you imagine what the guy on security would have said if I’d gone to the ladies?” said the trans rights campaigner, who sports a moustache and beard.

The new code of practice comes 18 months after the supreme court ruled that sex in equality law refers to a biological characteristic and not gender identity. Together, the code and the ruling mean that public bodies that fail to align services with biological definitions of sex are likely to lose sex discrimination cases if sued.

After being ranked 1st in 2015, the UK has fallen to 22nd place out of 49 European countries ranked in the ILGA-Rainbow Map, which compares LGBTQ+ rights across Europe.

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