Ministers have proposed that many new non-domestic buildings must have separate facilities for men and women Ministers have announced plans that new non-domestic buildings in England must have single-sex toilets. Here we explain how the new law would work and what has motivated it ..read more

Ministers say move will combat growing concerns about ‘privacy and dignity’ in gender-neutral facilities New restaurants, offices, schools and hospitals in England will be required to have separate male and female toilets, in a move ministers say will combat growing concerns about “privacy and dignity” in gender-neutral facilities. The law will mean newly built non-residential buildings require separate facilities, and cannot solely have “universal” lavatories ..read more

Watching Gemma advocate for a vulnerable client, Sam Elkin knew he could tell her about his desire to transition – and that she’d always have his back Gemma and I were both junior lawyers working at a Melbourne legal aid office, providing free advice to disadvantaged people facing eviction. Having experienced housing insecurity myself as a young person, it was a dream to give back to my community by helping others in the same situation. Our office romance began in 2017 after we both attended a colleague’s apocalypse-themed house party in Brunswick West. Gemma had gone to a lot of effort to dre ..read more

The buzzy coming-of-age film, about teens obsessed with a schlocky TV show in the 90s, makes for a haunting allegory As a trans teen in the 1990s, I well remember the flickering glow of the TV screen. Late nights, once everyone else in the house had gone to sleep and I could have a measure of privacy, were the main time in which I could access something even remotely resembling my true self. Watching the trans film-maker Jane Schoenbrun’s new film, I Saw the TV Glow, took me right back to this period of my life. As the title would indicate, Schoenbrun’s movie is all about the small screen and ..read more

Experts fear children questioning their gender may turn to hidden economy to obtain hormones illegally Cross-sex hormones designed to masculinise or feminise a person’s body are available to buy online for less than £11 a month, with experts warning that growing numbers of under-18s may turn to the medicines hidden economy. Last month the landmark Cass review of children’s gender treatment in England concluded there was a lack of reliable evidence supporting the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers by young people questioning their gender identity ..read more

Kim Tatum, Mariah Louca and Reece Lyons combine to call for trans women to be put on an equal footing for cis roles Kim Tatum dreams of playing Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard’s exquisite former star of silent films. Mariah Louca longs to perform as Dangerous Liaisons’ evil schemer Marquise de Merteuil. And for Reece Lyons, it’s the monstrous ambition of Lady Macbeth that makes her the ideal role. But, until attitudes within British theatre shift, it’s unlikely these talented performers will get to play their dream characters. Despite their skill, training and accolades, trans women just don’t ..read more

Scottish government wins vote by 70 votes to 58, with no abstentions after debate where Humza Yousaf defended government’s record Labour has accused Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, of championing single-sex spaces as part of a “culture war”. Speaking about the initiative announced by Badenoch this morning (see 10.10am), Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secreary, told Times Radio this morning: [Badenoch] does love nothing more than a culture war. And it is so transparent what she is doing. She is pitching to Conservative members for the leadership contest to come in the Conservat ..read more

Polling puts Ben Houchen on course to win in Tees Valley with Andy Street just ahead of Labour’s Richard Parker in West Midlands The number of foreign care workers applying for a visa to come to the UK fell by a quarter in six months, PA Media reports. PA says: Health and care visa applications covering 153,500 people were made from October 2023 to March 2024, comprising 40,800 main applicants and 112,700 dependants, provisional Home Office data shows. This is down 25% from 205,800 people in the six months from April to September 2023, comprising 88,800 main applicants and 117,000 dependants ..read more

The singer-songwriter’s brand of stubborn protest songs with a strain of tenderness has kept him relevant for 40 years. Here he talks about why he’s fighting for trans rights, his late-night tweeting habit and his forthcoming tour – with his son Recently, Billy Bragg showed his two young granddaughters a little promo film he put together celebrating his 40 years of making records. The girls were nonplussed by the early scenes on picket lines and spiky festival stages, but towards the end, recognising an avuncular white-bearded bloke with a guitar, they brightened: “Look, it’s Grandad Bill!” th ..read more

When even the Met police and National Trust scones are apparently ‘peak wokerati’, it’s become the establishment norm Is woke dead? Is it over? Has it “peaked”, run its course before we’ve even properly agreed on what this endlessly controversial but somehow never quite defined social justice movement actually was? Though American rightwingers have been hopefully pronouncing its last rites for a while now, until very recently rumours of its death seemed exaggerated in Britain. Sure, some vegan restaurants have gone bust lately, but sadly so have plenty of other restaurants in the face of a cos ..read more