Overview
- Darlington Borough Council rejected the Conservative and Reform proposal during Thursday's meeting as Labour and Green members voted it down.
- The motion sought to reserve some council-run toilets and changing rooms for women to protect privacy, dignity and safety, and to align policy with an April 2025 Supreme Court ruling that defined sex in the Equality Act as biological.
- Campaigners from Darlington For Justice urged rejection in a petition that drew more than 500 signatures, and officials warned approval could raise the risk of harm for transgender residents.
- Labour councillor Libby McCollom said the plan pushed a harmful narrative that paints transgender and non-binary people as a threat, which she said lacks evidence.
- Reform councillor Michael Walker proposed a specialist panel of councillors, stakeholders and legal experts to review services, pointing to possible further moves to test how single-sex rules could be lawfully applied locally.