Equality Commission to publish guidance on Supreme Court ruling

Northern Ireland's Equality Commission has said it aims to publish new formal guidance in June after the Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex.

The court had been asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Great Britain but not in Northern Ireland.

The Equality Commission said it would "advise all employers and service providers, including councils, to review any policies that the Supreme Court judgment may impact on".

"As always, we advise them to come to us for advice relevant to their particular circumstances prior to making any changes," it added.

The Supreme Court ruling has major implications for single-sex spaces in Great Britain, such as female changing rooms and toilets.

BBC News NI's The Nolan Show asked a number of public bodies in Northern Ireland - including health trusts, government departments and councils - how they planned to react to the Supreme Court's ruling.

The Department of Finance, the Department for Communities and the Department of Health also stated they were considering potential implications.

While most councils also said they were still considering the ruling's implications, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council said it would be "developing new guidance for the use of changing rooms at leisure facilities and toilets".

The council added that it would "review the equality screening of our policies to identify any anomalies that may have arisen as a result of the Supreme Court ruling".

"Should the screening highlight any particular issues or concerns which require amendment or new policy development, these may be the subject of public consultation."

It later said there had been "no amendment to council practice or policy in relation to the management and operation of our facilities".

Sinn Féin's Debbie Coyle, who sits on Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, said the comments "issued by council officials... were not made on behalf of, or in consultation with, democratically elected councillors".

"Sinn Féin will raise this at the next council meeting," she said.

"It is our opinion that council and other public bodies should await guidance, particularly from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, before considering any further action."

Alexa Moore of the LGBT charity the Rainbow Project and said that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council had "jumped the gun".

"It's quite concerning for trans [people] but also wider LGBT communities in Fermanagh because you have to ask the question: 'How is this going to be enforced?'

"Are we going to have council workers paid to stand on-site and do genital inspections on people trying to use leisure facilities?'

"It's frankly bizarre and I do think they're really jumping the gun here," Ms Moore said.

Omagh Pride said it was "dismayed and angered" by the council statement on the Supreme Court ruling.

"This is yet another decision that would have a deeply adverse impact on trans people, adding to isolation and putting their safety at risk," it said in a statement.

"We call on our local elected representatives to immediately and clearly speak out against this statement from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and to ensure that no changes to policy are implemented which would undermine the rights and risk the safety of trans people."

BBC News NI asked some people on the streets of Omagh about the possibility of the council changing its policies.

Mandy McClelland from the town does not think there should be a "hard and fast rule".

"If you need the toilet, you need the toilet, whatever gender you are so that wouldn't bother me in the slightest."

She said she would not mind sharing a toilet with a transgender person, adding: "Live and let live is my motto."

Demi Whelan said that if she or her daughter Tilly needed to use a toilet and only the men's was available, they would still use it.

"If it's clean enough for us to use we're going to use it," she said.

"I think if you needed to go to the toilet there shouldn't be any fuss of whether you need to go - if it's available you're more than welcome to use it."

Billy Naylor said he did not think a male who had changed their gender to female should be able to use a female bathroom.

"If that's their decision, to be what they want to be, [then] when it comes to public toilets, no, a man's toilet is for a man, a women's toilet is for a woman," he said.