Landmark case under way over trans access to women's changing rooms

A landmark tribunal case is currently underway in Scotland surrounding the access of transgender women to women’s changing rooms.

Dr Beth Upton, a transgender doctor, was given permission to use the women’s changing rooms at Victoria Hospital in Fife; female nurse Sandie Peggie had felt uncomfortable with her presence, and after confronting her over the topic, Dr Upton made a formal complaint, resulting in Ms Peggie’s suspension from work.

When questioned at the tribunal, Dr Upton refused to accept that she did not have a biologically female body, and said: “The term biologically female or biologically male is completely nebulous. It has no defined or agreed meaning in science, as far as I’m aware. I’m not a robot, so I am biological and my identity is female. Without wanting to appeal to the dictionary too much, I’m biologically female.”

She later said when pressed: “There is no agreed definition of biological sex. It’s a nebulous dog whistle.”

A number of concerns have been raised in the last couple of years about the access of transgender people to single-sex spaces, whether it be prisons, women’s shelters, or women’s sports. The tribunal were told that Dr Upton, 28, is 6ft tall, while Ms Peggie, 50, is 5ft 4in.

Dr Upton commented that even if a woman felt uncomfortable about a transgender having access to a female-only space, that “doesn’t automatically override a trans person’s right to access the changing room that aligns with their gender identity…As a trans person, I’m aware that people hold misinformed, biased, unpleasant, bigoted or transphobic views about trans people.”

Ms Peggie herself is a survivor of childhood sexual assault from a doctor, and has said that that incident has informed her wish to have access to single-sex spaces in the workplace.

The tribunal continues.