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A protest group has vandalised the headquarters of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to the human rights watchdog’s controversial interim guidance on single-sex spaces. BASH BACK, which has taken responsibility for the vandalism, describes itself as a “trans-led direct action project focused on total transgender liberation”. A minute-long video shared with PinkNews and also shared on social media shows members of the group approaching the the watchdog’s headquarters in London, smashing windows and spraying pink paint in an act of direct protest. The video appears to have been filmed in the early hours of Friday morning (31 October). The EHRC’s widely-criticised interim guidance was published in April in the wake of the landmark UK Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland vs Scottish Ministers, which decided the definition of ‘sex’ for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act means biological sex only. The interim guidance recommended organisations and service providers bar trans men and women from single-sex services and spaces, such as changing rooms and toilets, which align with their gender – but added in “some circumstances” trans people could also be barred from spaces based on “biological sex”. It was later clarified that these “circumstances” referred to situations where “reasonable objection” could be taken to a trans person’s presence, such as in female spaces, when “the gender reassignment process has given [a trans man] a masculine appearance or attributes”. The interim guidance has been criticised by trans, wider LGBTQ+ and human rights organisations, as well as MPs, since its publication. The commissioner for human rights for the Council of Europe, Michael O’Flaherty, outlined in a letter that the UK’s “zero-sum approach” to trans rights would lead to a “widespread exclusion of trans people from many public spaces”. The EHRC sent a finished version of the Code to the equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, in early September and a leak published in The Times suggested the finalised guidance closely resembles its interim version, despite the widespread criticism. As of the end of October, the final version has not been made public but the interim guidance itself has been removed from the EHRC website. A spokesperson for BASH BACK said: “Under the leadership of ‘Baroness’ Falkner, the EHRC has transformed itself into a hate group that wants to shred our rights and liberties. “We will not accept that. Despite intense legal and political pressure they still intend to push their guidance – segregating trans people out of all single-sex spaces – to government, in a cynical attempt to erase us from public life. “In 2022, the EHRC endorsed conversion therapy and opposed reform to the Gender Recognition Act, and ‘Baroness’ Falkner’s overt transphobia created a hostile ‘anti-LGBT’ environment which caused many staff to leave, and yet others called ‘the enemy of human rights’. “In 2024, they welcomed the Cass Review and a ban on puberty blockers. Now they are pushing guidance, based on the For Women Scotland ruling, that would drive trans people out of society altogether. “We demand that businesses, universities and sports organisations dump the EHRC’s hateful guidance.” The spokesperson added: “The EHRC has described human rights as basic rights and freedoms that belong to every human in the world. But they demand certain rights be denied from trans people – denied from us specifically. Are we not human? “This is just the beginning – we can only secure our freedoms through constant resistance. We will not stop until we are free”. This is not the first act of vandalism BASH BACK has carried out in the name of protest. In September, the group targeted the Brighton Centre ahead of the FiLiA Conference. In August, BASH BACK vandalised Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s East London office. The windows were smashed and graffiti – including the words “child killer” – was sprayed on the walls. Last year, Streeting took the decision to ban puberty blockers for trans under-18s. PinkNews has contacted the EHRC for comment.
