Co-op scraps policy allowing trans staff to use toilets they ‘feel safest’ (www.thepinknews.com)

submitted 6 hours ago by TRAHR@quokk.au to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The Co-operative Group has removed a policy that explicitly allowed trans and non-binary staff to use gendered toilets where they felt “safest”, following new UK guidance on single-sex spaces.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] heliotrope@slrpnk.net 35 points 5 hours ago

Reading the article, it seems that the Co-op are trying their best, in light of the government's shitfuckery.

The updated policy instead says that, wherever possible, the retailer will provide individual, lockable gender-neutral facilities, with decisions about access to gendered spaces made “sensitively and on a case-by-case basis,” as reported by The Sunday Times.

The change follows the UK Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling on the legal meaning of “woman” and “man”, as well as new guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) stating that single-sex spaces should be provided based on biological sex.

A spokesperson for the Co-op, which has been a vocal supporter of trans rights, said it updated the policy following legal advice and consultation with its staff networks “to ensure compliance with our legal obligations and to support our trans, non-binary and intersex colleagues”, in a statement to The Sunday Times.

[-] yakko@feddit.uk 26 points 5 hours ago

That's a lot of nuance hidden by an upsetting headline.

[-] Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 hour ago

While the Co-op may not be transphobic itself, single occupant gender-neutral bathrooms are a solution presented by transphobes who want to continue misgendering trans men and women under the veneer of a discriminatory 'compromise'.

Trans people across the UK are having their rights marginalized.

[-] yakko@feddit.uk 1 points 1 hour ago

Agreed

[-] TRAHR@quokk.au 5 points 5 hours ago

It's segregation unless you meet some nebulous criteria.

[-] yakko@feddit.uk 5 points 4 hours ago

I'm not saying it's good news, it's just more mixed than you'd expect. Just criticising the headline.

[-] TRAHR@quokk.au 4 points 5 hours ago

The retailer’s former CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq had told The Telegraph last May that she would “protect trans people to the end” following the Supreme Court ruling. The Co-op has since been hit by significant leadership changes, with Khoury-Haq leaving earlier this year after claims of a “toxic” culture in the workplace. Chair Debbie White also announced her resignation last Monday (10 August).

How much of this is leadership based.

this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2026

47 points (91.2% liked)

United Kingdom

6865 readers

429 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in !casualuk@feddit.uk or !andfinally@feddit.uk
More serious politics should go in !uk_politics@feddit.uk.

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

tom@feddit.uk

GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk

frankPodmore@slrpnk.net