Virgin Active has announced that its female changing rooms in the UK will now be limited to biological women, following the threat of legal action from GB News presenter Michelle Dewberry.
The international gym chain, which runs more than 230 clubs worldwide and has 1.2 million members, told customers in an email on Friday that its rules had been updated “as required by law”.
The change comes after Dewberry instructed solicitors to challenge Virgin Active’s previous “trans inclusion” policy. That policy had allowed transgender women and non-binary people to use female-only changing rooms.
Dewberry, who won The Apprentice in 2006 and now presents on GB News, said she complained earlier this year after encountering “a man dressed in women’s clothing” in the women’s facilities at her local club. Her position was backed by the campaign group Sex Matters.
In its message to members, Virgin Active wrote:
“We have had to update our club rules so that our changing rooms and bathroom facilities are designated according to biological sex.”
The company added that it was waiting for further guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on how to apply the change in practice.
Backed by Supreme Court ruling
The update follows an April Supreme Court judgment which made clear that the word “sex” in the Equality Act refers to biological sex only, not gender identity. The unanimous decision confirmed that single-sex provisions must be based on biological categories.
The EHRC is expected to publish formal guidance for public bodies and service providers in the coming weeks. This is likely to mean that schools, hospitals, prisons, gyms and shops will be required to restrict female-only spaces to biological women.
Virgin Active has confirmed that its new policy will apply only in the UK. The current version of its Club Rules states:
“By law, our members and visitors who use a changing room marked as ‘male’ or ‘female’ must select the one that matches their biological sex.”
Pushback from activists
Trans rights campaigners have vowed to resist the changes. Activist Sophie Molly has said she is prepared to face arrest “multiple times” in protest.
The EHRC’s stance could also have implications for sport, with governing bodies able to exclude transgender women from women’s competitions under the new interpretation.
Meanwhile, the Good Law Project, led by barrister Jolyon Maugham, has launched a legal challenge against the EHRC, accusing it of undermining the rights of transgender people.
Main Image: For illustration purposed. AI generated.
