The Equality and Human Rights Commission published its updated draft Code of Practice on 21st May, and universities across the country are now deciding what kind of institutions they want to be. Oxford's response has been, on the whole, something to be glad about.

What the EHRC draft guidance actually says

The 340-page document follows the Supreme Court's ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which held that "sex", "woman", and "man" in the Equality Act 2010 refer to "biological sex". The draft guidance goes further, stating that "a trans man with a GRC is a woman and a trans woman with a GRC is a man", and that allowing trans people to use facilities aligned with their gender means those facilities can no longer be treated as single-sex under the Act.

None of that is statute. The Equality Act has not changed. What has changed is one reading of it, and that reading is now being given the weight of settled law by a regulator whose guidance is, at this moment, still draft. The distinction matters, and Oxford's approach seems to understand it.

Oxford's response

The University confirmed it is reviewing its policies in light of both the ruling and the EHRC guidance, while restating its commitment to being "an inclusive university where everyone belongs". The Oxford Student Union went further, reaffirming its Trans, Non-Binary, Gender Diverse and Intersex Inclusion policy and pledging to protect "the rights, safety, dignity, and health and wellbeing" of TNBI+ students. Somerville College published its own independent statement, titled "Including the Excluded", saying directly that trans rights and women's rights are "not in opposition to each other, but as part of the same struggle for dignity, equality and human rights".

These are not revolutionary acts. They are the baseline. But in the current climate, doing the baseline clearly and publicly matters, and I am genuinely glad to see it.

"The product of years of hateful campaigning"

The line I keep coming back to is from the President of Oxford's LGBTQ+ Society, who described the updated Code as "the product of years of hateful campaigning from anti-trans organisations". She is right, and I am grateful she said it plainly. The guidance did not arrive from nowhere. It arrived because a small number of well-funded, highly organised groups have spent years trying to push trans people out of public life, one policy, one ruling, one guidance document at a time. Naming that is not inflammatory; it is accurate.

She also said something that I think is worth carrying: "liberation is the goal, and legal changes can only ever be a part of that". Legal protections matter enormously. But the warmth of a college community, the clarity of a student union's stated values, the existence of a trans community that is vibrant and thriving in spite of national politics, those things matter too, sometimes more immediately than anything a court or a regulator can offer.

What comes next

Oxford for Trans Rights has called a March for Trans Rights at Bonn Square on 30th May. The University's rowing clubs have already changed their competition rules to exclude trans women, generating real concern about privacy and enforcement. The EHRC's employment Code of Practice has not yet been released, so the full picture for staff is still incomplete. And this guidance is still draft; the consultation period is the moment to push back on language that strips trans people of their identity in law.

None of this is over. But Oxford, at least, is starting from the right place.